Posted on 09/07/2013 5:48:38 AM PDT by markomalley
Christians must never forget that the centre of their life is Jesus Christ. That was the message of Pope Francis at Mass this morning at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope emphasised that we must overcome the temptation to be “Christians without Jesus” or Christians that seek only devotions, without Jesus.
Pope Francis dedicated his whole homily to the centrality of Jesus in the life of the Christian. “Jesus,” he said, “is the centre. Jesus is the Lord. And yet, he maintained, this is not always understood well, “it is not easily understood.” Jesus is not a lord of this or that, but is “the Lord, the only Lord.” He is the centre that “regenerates us, grounds us”: this is the Lord, “the centre.” The Pharisees of today’s Gospel, Pope Francis noted, “make so many commandments the centre of their religiosity.” Even today, “if Jesus is not at the centre, there will be many other things,” so that “we meet many Christians without Christ, without Jesus:
“For example, those who have the sickness of the Pharisees and are Christians that put their faith, their religiosity in so many commandments, so many. ‘Ah, I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this. Christians of this attitude . . . ‘But why do you do this?’ – ‘No, it must be done!’ – ‘But why?’ – ‘Ah, I don’t know, but it must be done.’ And Jesus – where is He? A commandment is valid if it comes from Jesus: I do this because the Lord wants me to do this. But if I am a Christian without Christ, I do this and I don’t know why I have to do it.”
There are, he added, “other Christians without Christ: those who only seek devotions . . . But Jesus is not there. If your devotions bring you to Christ, that works. But if you remain there, something’s wrong.” There’s another kind of Christian without Christ, he continued, “those who seek things that are a little uncommon, a little special, that go back to private revelations,” while the Revelation concluded with the New Testament. Pope Francis warned about the desire of these Christians to go to “a spectacle of revelation, to hear new things.” But, the Pope exhorted them, “take the Gospel!”:
“‘But Father, what is the rule for being a Christian with Christ, and not becoming a Christian without Christ. What is the sign of a person that is a Christian with Christ?’ The rule is simple: only that which brings you to Jesus is valid, and only that is valid that comes from Jesus. Jesus is the centre, the Lord, as He Himself says. Does this bring you to Jesus? Go ahead. Does this commandment, this attitude, come from Jesus? Go ahead. But if it doesn’t bring you to Jesus, and if it doesn’t come from Jesus, but . . . if you don’t know, it’s a bit dangerous.”
And again the Pope asks, “What is the sign that I am a Christian with Jesus?” The sign, he said, is simple. It is the sign of the one born blind that prostrated himself before Jesus to adore Him:
“But if you aren’t able to adore Jesus, you’re missing something. A rule, a sign. The sign is: I am a good Christian, I am on the path of a good Christian if I do that which comes from Jesus and if I do that which leads me to Jesus, because he is the centre. The sign is: I am capable of adoring, the adoration. This prayer of adoration of Jesus. The Lord makes us understand that He alone is the Lord, the unique Lord. And He gives us, too, the grace of loving Him so much, of following Him, of going along the path that He has shown us.”
BECAUSE I believe the Bible is the word of God.
Knowing it protects you from falling into that kind of error.
And Catholics put their faith in the traditions of man on just those guy’s say so.
And that’s better than believing the God breathed, Holy Spirit inspired Word of God?
Why?
What do you mean, *Where does your faith come from*?
Everyone has faith. It's simply a matter of what it's put in.
I'm pretty sure observant Jews revere the Word of God, what we call the Old Testament.
So, if the Bible is to be dismissed, where else do you propose that we learn about God? What other special revelation is there to give us those details?
OK, back to my questions then....
Just what are those traditions Paul was referring to that he handed down that we are to keep that were not included in Scripture?
How do you know?
How do you know they have been passed down faithfully?
What is your source for verifying all of the above?
And how did you learn all that and where?
You believe because you believe. Turtles all the way down...
You mean like...I don't know...the pillar and bulwark of the truth?
How did the Corinthians and Galatians and Phillipians and Romans learn it?
Jesus Christ. Who speaks through his apostles.
Thanks for asking.
And that is different from anyone else just how?
Paul wrote it down in the letters he sent them.
And who are His apostles and which ones are still alive today?
This is not about dismissing the Bible. This is about the weirdness of a faith in a Bible that rests on itself.
Go out and find for me an orthodox Jew who believes his faith because he read all about it in the Torah. Go on. I’ll wait.
You can't do it.
If the Mormons had got to you first you'd be wearing special underwear right now. If the muslims...a burqa. You believe a text justifies itself. Say -- why not write one of your own?
Nope, sorry. They were already Christians when those letters were written. How did they get that way without a book?
Hmm.
Hmmm...
psst...for a hint, look in your B-I-B-L-E.
When God speaks, people should listen and not bray.
Or say, “shut up; can’t you see I’m reading?”
I’m leaving this to you. Fonzie has jumped the shark for me.
Wait.. what????
You mean that *just a book* that you dismissed back in post 138?
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