Posted on 03/23/2020 8:03:09 AM PDT by Salvation
Jesus said something in yesterday’s Gospel (4thSunday in Lent) that I think we can apply to our current troubles:
While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work (John 9:4).
A purely natural understanding would be that the passage is merely noting that worked stopped at sundown by necessity in those times, but of course the text is far deeper. Let’s ponder two related spiritual meanings and apply them to this time of crisis.
First, as St. Ambrose observes of this text, “Daytime is this present life; night is death and the time that follows death” [*]. He then warns us have a sober fear of death and to realize that now is the time to accept what God is offering because tomorrow is not promised.
In the midst of this pandemic, we are enduring something of a foretaste of “death.” For most of us the crisis will not result in our physical death, but many things we freely did just a couple of weeks ago are for the time being dead to us. We cannot do much of the work we normally do; we cannot follow through on most of the plans we made. A “night” of sorts has come upon us. However, many things arestill available to us, things we may have previously neglected: prayer, reading of Scripture, repenting of our sins, spending time with family, calling old friends. How will we use this time?
Second, this passage resonates with the great battle between light and darkness, the predominant theme of John’s Gospel.The battle cry is announced in the Prologue:
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it(John 1:4-5).
In John chapter 3, Jesus sets forth the drama of the battle for each individual:
And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God(John 3:19-21).
In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus heals the man born blind and brings him into the Kingdom of Light. This Gospel also demonstrates the spiritual darkness of those who stubbornly resist Jesus, the Light of the World. From Jesus comes this warning and judgment:
For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind(John 6:39).
And then Jesus’ “hour” came: the hour to confront the kingdom of darkness through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Judas goes out to betray Jesus, and of this event John simple writes,
And it was night (John 13:30b).
Jesus’ words in Sunday’s Gospel remind us of the great battle that is all around us. It is a battle for souls, beginning with our own, but extending to family and friends. In our complacency, we often forget this great and dramatic battle. Many of our diversions and preoccupations are not available to us in this crisis; we are heading into a kind of spiritual desert. We have to take the time to ask ourselves important questions: Where am I going with my life? Do I know the Lord? Are my priorities pleasing to Him? Am I fulfilling my responsibility to teach the faith to my family and to announce the kingdom to others? For what sins do I need to repent? For what should I be grateful? When “normal life” resumes, what will I have learned? Will I apply it?
Yes, in a time like this we can see more clearly the dramatic battle that each of us is caught up in. Take some time to better engage the battle, for yourself and for others. If you find a good fight, get in it. The fight for souls is a good one! Pray, fast, talk, and witness. Seek the light of the many online offerings from the Church and from fellow believers that have proliferated in recent weeks.
Use this time wisely. The virus may go away, but the battle will continue until your final breath.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
‘Monsignor Pope Ping!’
has he thought to ask God why he inflicted this virus, or any other deadly pathogen, for that matter, if He only wants the best for us...?
So you believe that God caused this virus? Perhaps you don’t know how much God loves us that He gave His only son to die for our sins?
Perhaps you could examine your own sins to determine if they caused this virus? Why do we all play the part of the victim and not accept the consequence of our cumulative actions?
Causes of death came into existence as a result of sin, and the natural and logical consequences of sin are permitted by God, not created or inflicted by Him.
We don't know exactly how that happened, but the effects of the Primordial Sin were cosmic.
But why are they permitted?
That's very tough. You will ponder it every day of your life, especially when you look at the Crucifix. Why didn't God even get His Own Beloved Son off the Cross? Why?
Even Jesus asked that --- on the Cross, if you remember: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
I'm on my way to Adoration at my parish church. I'm going to look at the Cross. And ask -- with Him. Let me take this up when I get back.
Caused....or allowed?
Perhaps you don’t know how much God loves us that He gave His only son to die for our sins?
Yet it is Roman Catholicism that tells us that is somehow insufficient for forgiveness.
The Roman Catholics must do works, be dedicated to Mary, must attend certain days of obligation, must participate in Mass, will probably wind up in purgatory for who knows how long and a whole bunch of other stuff the Roman Catholic has to do.
That certainly sounds like a different theology than the one your espousing.
It's Catholic dogma that the merits of the Cross are infinite.
It's Catholic dogma that the merits of the Cross are infinite.
When mixed with the "treasury of merit" consisting of...wait for it the righteous works of Mary and other saints.
If, as you claim the merits of the Cross are infinite...then why are the "righteous works" of Mary and others needed??
Perhaps you don’t know how much God loves us that He gave His only son to die for our sins?
Your response: “Yet it is Roman Catholicism that tells us that is somehow insufficient for forgiveness.”
I guess you haven’t learned that love goes both ways. God doesn’t require that you accept and return His love, but our acceptance of His love requires our faith in Him through Baptism and keeping His Commandments.
Yes we show our love for God and His people by action. Worshiping God at Mass on Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation (Christmas, Easter, etc) as Jesus commanded, honoring our Blessed Mother, willing to do penance for our sins even in Purgatory and following Jesus and His teachings (instead of man made versions).
Teacher,* which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37j He said to him,* “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39k The second is like it:* You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40* l The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40
Forgiveness of sins after Baptism comes from God through his appointed representative on earth, a Catholic Priest in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
“Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know they breed quarrels.” 2 Tim 24
One day if you truly seek God’s Truth you may understand the Catholic faith as founded and taught by Jesus.
Ealgeone, I hate getting angry in any sort of dispute, especially a religious one, and extra-specially during Lent. But I owe it to you on the basis of long-standing friendship to tell you this: What you said is a falsehood.
AND you've been told this by multiple people, over and over, through a period of months and years.
And you are deterred neither by evidence nor civility, nor love nor reason, it seems, from habitually repeating your own seriously distorted, fragmentary and garbled opinions about Catholicism, and passing that off as Catholic doctrine.
I am at my wit's end. I don't know what to do with you.
Say whatever you want--- it's a free forum and a free country. About your *own* opinions, doctrines or convictions.
But do not attribute this to Catholicism. You are plain wrong. Bearing false witness against a neighbor is still against the Commandments.
If this doesn't make sense to you, you could ASK.
You could have gotten this in five minutes with simple Catechism search words:
Ask. Search. Over and out.
Did you click the links? It’s written in paragraphs. Read paragraphs. Thank you.
Your response: “Yet it is Roman Catholicism that tells us that is somehow insufficient for forgiveness.”
Oh, trust me...I am very well aware that only faith in Christ is what saves us. Nothing else.
The Roman Catholic cannot make that claim as evidenced all throughout these threads.
However, my point remains. For the Roman Catholic the Cross is insufficient as Rome as added to the Cross what must be done for salvation.
For example, Unam Sanctum.....
Forgiveness of sins after Baptism comes from God through his appointed representative on earth, a Catholic Priest in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The thief on the cross says...what??
And please, none of this baptism of desire business.
Baptism isn't what forgives your sins....it's faith in Christ. Baptism is the public response to following Christ.
I guess you haven’t learned that love goes both ways. God doesn’t require that you accept and return His love, but our acceptance of His love requires our faith in Him through Baptism and keeping His Commandments.
Our love for God cannot compare to His love for us. No way.
Yes we show our love for God and His people by action. Worshiping God at Mass on Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation (Christmas, Easter, etc) as Jesus commanded, honoring our Blessed Mother, willing to do penance for our sins even in Purgatory and following Jesus and His teachings (instead of man made versions).
Here again Rome has added to what Scripture records is necessary for salvation. There are no "days of obligation". If you miss Sunday you are not going to Hell!
You omit that half of the days of obligation are for Mary. Here again Rome has gone beyond Scripture and is honoring/worshiping the created vs the Creator.
This is the same error the Jews of the OT made with disasterous results.
Teacher,* which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37j He said to him,* “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39k The second is like it:* You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40* l The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40
Yes, and there is NO provision for loving Mary or being dedicated to her or any of the other things Rome says you must do regarding Mary.
One day if you truly seek God’s Truth you may understand the Catholic faith as founded and taught by Jesus.
Brother, as I've said before....I have faith in Christ and Christ alone for my salvation...nothing else.
Can you say that?
>> Ealgeone: "Yet it is Roman Catholicism that tells us that is somehow insufficient for forgiveness."<<
*****
Ealgeone, I hate getting angry in any sort of dispute, especially a religious one, and extra-specially during Lent. But I owe it to you on the basis of long-standing friendship to tell you this: What you said is a falsehood.
Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff. [emphasis mine]
*****
Hence, if anyone shall dare — which God forbid! — to think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment; that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith; that he has separated from the unity of the Church; and that, furthermore, by his own action he incurs the penalties established by law if he should are to express in words or writing or by any other outward means the errors he think in his heart.
The Immaculate Conception
*****
Regarding the "treasury of the church"...."This treasury includes as well the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are truly immense, unfathomable, and even pristine in their value before God. In the treasury, too, are the prayers and good works of all the saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps of Christ the Lord and by his grace have made their lives holy and carried out the mission in the unity of the Mystical Body. CCC 1477
SO, in addition to the Cross, Rome has added these things. And this is the tip of the iceberg.
*****
I can think of no better time to accurately proclaim the Gospel than Lent.
It is my sincere hope and prayer Roman Catholics come to a saving knowledge of faith in Christ...and only Christ.
for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." Romans 10:13 NASB
8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, 9if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, 10let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. 11“He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone.
12“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:8-12 NASB
Your big, overall problem, is that you are assuming you have an absolute right of private interpretation of Catholic documents, rather than the more reasonable assumption that the Church has a right to interpret her own documents.
That seems to be why you consistently fail to consider or discuss other expressions of the Church's view of herself (as in Lumen Gentium for instance) rather than just one 1302 encyclical, Unam Sanctam in really, one sentence in that one encyclical. But this is a mistake.
The ONLY reasonable course is to ask questions about what a document means in its historic context--- which is to say, what it means in the ongoing life of the Church.
For instance, you could ask
The discussion on the the nature of the Church and the proper scope and structure of Church authority has been ongoing from Acts (80 AD) to, say, Lumen Fidei (2013) and beyond. It is not to be summarized in a one-sentence Twitter-sized tweet written by one Pope 700 years ago. Nobody is simpleton enough to think that.
Good article on that HERE, and please click and read.
So that's the first problem: individuals interpreting Church documents and doctrines in a sense contrary to the way the Church herself understands them.
A second and related problem, is habitually reading what the Church says about what we do IN Christ, and what Christ does IN us, as if it were all outside of Christ, or in addition to Christ, rather than IN Christ.
For instance the question of merit. If you clicked on those three Catechism links I sent, you would see that we know we have NO merit on our own, but that Christ's merit is infinite and all-sufficient. And all the "merit" we have ("we" = all the saints, Peter Paul & Mary, Ealgeone, the Pope, your pastor, Mrs. Ealgeone, your Christian buddies) is what Christ is doing FOR us, THROUGH us and IN US.
We (and this includes you, ealgeone) are, in fact, members of His Body, mutually members of one another, living and acting in Him as He is living and acting in us. That is why we can say we participate in Christ's all-sufficient merits, because we are in Christ. Only these are our merits--- only those of Christ.
When we intercede for each other, we intercede in Christ,who is the only intercessor, the only mediator. If we honor each other, we honor what Christ has done and is doing in us, through us, and for us --- we have no other honor. That goes for Mary or anyone else.
That is why we can say Christ's infinite and all-sufficient merits are in us because we are in Christ. Only these are merits--- only those of Christ.
As the saying goes, "I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you."
So. About Catholicism: don't make statements. Desist. You just produce confusion.
Ask questions.
I'll do the same for you. I think, in fact, I have been pretty conscientious about not telling you what your church teaches. I wouldn't presume to know. If I want to know, I'll ask.
Peace. That is all.
I have faith in Christ and Christ alone for my salvation...nothing else.
• "Does Unam Sanctam mean the Church teaches that Orthodox and Protestants are going to hell?"
That is exactly the position of many of your fellow Roman Catholics today and was the position of Rome prior to Vatican 2.
Now, non-RCs are called "separated brethren".
That's a lot of change for the group that claims they've never changed.
•"Does this document absolutize vassal relationships as the essential form of Church governance?"
Unam was a sweeping power grab by the pope.
•"Does this establish the Pope as feudal overlord of France?"
Not only France....but the world. That was the intent of the papacy at this time....maybe even later.
•"Is the meaning of Unam Sanctam conditioned by the fact that it was one repartee in the heat on an ongoing, volley-after-volley clash between Boniface VIII, Frederick II, and King Philip the Fair?"
Nope.
•"Lifted out of its medieval political setting, what theological points DOES THE CHURCH SAY have permanent, ongoing validity?"
Again, the claims of Unam were sweeping in nature. It was the ultimate power grab by Rome during this period. Had subsequent events not happened in world history there is no doubt the attempt to grab power by Rome would have continued unabated.
You see, Mrs.D….I understand the circumstances of this dogmatic proclamation by the pope. I know a lot of Roman Catholics run from this one like its COVID-19. However, you, as a lay Roman Catholic, and no disrespect is intended in this statement, really have no say in what is or is not still valid for Rome.
Some of your more "aggressive" fellow Roman Catholics maintain a person has to be a member of the RCC to be saved and claim Peter was given the keys to the Kingdom. Now, IF, all that is true (and you know I do not accept that claim), how is what Unam wrote still not valid for Rome?
Of those five positions in the document you provided...which are you?
*****
For instance the question of merit. If you clicked on those three Catechism links I sent, you would see that we know we have NO merit on our own, but that Christ's merit is infinite and all-sufficient. And all the "merit" we have ("we" = all the saints, Peter Paul & Mary, Ealgeone, the Pope, your pastor, Mrs. Ealgeone, your Christian buddies) is what Christ is doing FOR us, THROUGH us and IN US.
Well, you and I are not a saint as defined by Roman Catholicism....so I would question what merit there would be through Rome's eyes.
Now, IF, as you write above that Christ's merit is all sufficient, there is no need for the "treasury of merit" from all the others you listed is there??
You're tying yourself up in knots with this RC theology and your personal beliefs it seems.
*****
When we intercede for each other, we intercede in Christ,who is the only intercessor, the only mediator. If we honor each other, we honor what Christ has done and is doing in us, through us, and for us --- we have no other honor. That goes for Mary or anyone else.
Except that Rome teaches Mary is co-redemptrix….among others.
You may not see the problem with this due to your lifelong (?) membership in Roman Catholicism.
However, for the outsider this is easy to see. And yes, one can see the errors of Rome as one can see the errors of Islam or Mormonism.
*****
So. About Catholicism: don't make statements. Desist. You just produce confusion.
No. One can evaluate Roman Catholicism as one can evaluate Islam or Mormonism. IF we were to take your position you close catholicanswers.com or any other attempt at apologetics.
One can evaluate another belief system.
I'll do the same for you. I think, in fact, I have been pretty conscientious about not telling you what your church teaches. I wouldn't presume to know. If I want to know, I'll ask.
Oh, don't worry about that....Rome has done a sufficient enough job on that over the years.
*****
Your big, overall problem, is that you are assuming you have an absolute right of private interpretation of Catholic documents, rather than the more reasonable assumption that the Church has a right to interpret her own documents.
And your problem is dismissing those very documents when they don't agree with Mrs D's version of Roman Catholicism. But you're not the first to take this position when confronted with Rome's history.
"With Christ I am nailed to the cross. And I live, now not I; but Christ lives in me." -Gal 2:19–20
I am encouraged you cite this verse.
I am greatly encouraged to read this.
God did indeed cause death as the penalty for sin. He warned of the consequences ahead of time and pronounced the sentence when His law was broken. Could you imagine if sinful man lived forever in his fallen state?
Please give Scripture references for holy days of obligation, purgatory, the need for further pennance after death, honoring Mary, or the need for a Roman priest to administer baptism for it to be effective. I’m sure there’s more but these should have you chasing your tail. twisting Scripture for a while.....
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