Priests are a gift from the Heart of Christ, Pope Benedict says

CNA ^ | 6/13/2010

[markomalley]

Vatican City, Jun 13, 2010 / 10:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Thousands of pilgrims and faithful gathered at noon Sunday in St. Peter’s Square to pray the Angelus with the Holy Father. Before the prayer, he said that the fruits of the recently ended Year for Priests could never be measured, but are already visible and will continue to be ever more so.

“The priest is a gift from the heart of Christ, a gift for the Church and for the world. From the heart of the Son of God, overflowing with love, all the goods of the Church spring forth,” proclaimed Pope Benedict XVI. “One of those goods is the vocations of those men who, conquered by the Lord Jesus, leave everything behind to dedicate themselves completely to the Christian community, following the example of the Good Shepherd.”

The Holy Father described the priest as having been formed by “the same charity of Christ, that love which compelled him to give his life for his friends and to forgive his enemies.”

“Therefore,” he continued, “priests are the primary builders of the civilization of love.”

Benedict XVI exhorted priests to always seek the intercession of St. John Marie Vianney, whose prayer, the “Act of Love,” was prayed frequently during the Year for Priests, and “continues to fuel our dialogue with God.”

The pontiff also spoke about the close of the Year for Priests, which took place this past week and culminated with the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He emphasized “the unforgettable days in the presence of more than 15,000 priests from around the world.”

The feast of the Sacred Heart is traditionally a “day of priestly holiness,” but this time it was especially so, Benedict XVI remarked.

Pope Benedict concluded his comments by noting that, in contemplating history, “one observes so many pages of authentic social and spiritual renewal which have been written by the decisive contribution of Catholic priests.” These were inspired “only by their passion for the Gospel and for mankind, for his true civil and religious freedom.”

“So many initiatives that promote the entire human being have begun with the intuition of a priestly heart,” he exclaimed.

The Pope then prayed the Angelus, greeted those present in various languages, and imparted his apostolic blessing.

[The Comedian]

What about the US? A Protestant President driving the country into the ground. Nope.

Behold the honesty and wisdom of the Romanist as he sets himself up for comparison next to Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, and Joseph Biden.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[MarkBsnr]

Each member of the Trinity is God.

Co eternal, co equal God. Yes. As agreed upon at Nicea.

God the Father is God; on that Paul and all Christians (except for some Pentecostals) agree.

Romans 9: 5 theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah. God who is over all 3 be blessed forever. Amen.

Read the punctuation. This does not say that the Messiah is God. It says (from verse 4) that the Messiah is from the Jews. And it also says that God who is over all be blessed forever, presumably for sending the Messiah to to the Jews. Not proof.

Colossians 2: 9 Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name 7 that is above every name,

This is a completely subordinationist verse and STILL does not say that Jesus is God. It only says that Jesus has a name exalted and above every name (presumably every human name).

Hebrews 1: 8 but of the Son: "Your throne, O God, 4 stands forever and ever; and a righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.

We don't even know that Paul wrote Hebrews, but still, looking at the verses, we can apply the notes in the NAB: 4 [8-12] O God: the application of the name "God" to the Son derives from the preexistence mentioned in Hebrews 1:2-3; the psalmist had already used it of the Hebrew king in the court style of the original. See the note on Psalm 45:6.

Are these the only proofs? Let us continue:

1 Corinthians 3: 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

This does not address any Trinitarian formula.

Peter called Pauls writings scripture.. but it seems that catholics think the pope has inspired writings..but not the scriptures.. as I said before, those people that have a hard time with PAUL want to build their own god, cause they do not like the one that scripture reveals..

I will remind you that many people here regard Paul as a GOD and Jesus is merely a figurehead and a name to appeal to. We need to concentrate on Jesus' words first and foremost. Else, why would you wish to to be known as Christian?

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Ping to 1560.

And Obama is not a Protestant. He's muslim.

But Biden is Roman Catholic.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

No, you may imbibe freely.

[MarkBsnr]

Perhaps it would help you to read ALL of Acts. You do have a Bible, don’t you?

One or two, yes. I've read all of Acts. The real Acts does not say what the Reformed would have us believe that it means.

[kosta50]

So this could be rendered ..Happy are the poor in spirit ...

I have to disagree. True, the Greek the word to bless (verb) is eulogeo (eflogeo), which means to "confer benefits." Thus, the word blessed is the adjective of the bless, meaning "that upon which benefits were conferred" or simply exalted, saved, consecrated.

You and your source are, of course correct that makarios means happy, but it also means blessed. In the KJV, the word makarios is translated 44 times out of 50 as "blessed" and only five times as "happy"!

In other words the predominant usage of the word makarios is such that in 88% of the cases it means "conferred benefits" rather than happiness, or some internal smugness. All other English Bibles except the Young's Literal version translate the makarioi in the beatitudes as "blessed" (meaning conferred benefits be upon you...") and not "happy are you..."

All one has to do is look at the context. "Happy" are the persecuted? The hungry? Those in mourning, etc? That is silly. Obviously these have been conferred special favor from God for their suffering innocence. And the beatitudes make it clear that these blessings means rewards in heaven, which means they are from God, and not some internal 'oh boy, am I happy' state of mind.

Thus, the context of the Beatitudes shows that we are talking about the kind of "blessing" that confers benefits (and obviously happiness in addition to that), and not just happiness.

In fact "happy" is a secondary meaning of makarios to the meaning blessedness. There is a reason why KJV and other translations did not use the for "happy are those..." in the Beatitudes

[Dr. Eckleburg]

The benefit conferred upon Mary was the privilege of bringing the Christ child to term and being given the responsibility of raising Him.

[blue-duncan]

“No, you may imbibe freely.”

Is that unconditionally, without guilt or.........any bitter after taste?

[small voice in the wilderness]

The real Acts does not say what the Reformed would have us believe that it means.

MARK, LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!! Have you read this???? I don't even know what this MEANS!!!!!lol!!! Please sir, I beg you, make sense, man. I cannot take a stand when I'm thrown out on the floor laughing!lol!!!

[Dr. Eckleburg]

The after taste is usually a pizza.

Although pizza trumps beer in our house. Too many calories in beer. Pizza and diet root beer.

I’m hungry.

But I thought Baptists weren’t supposed to consume spirits.

[boatbums]

I do say, though, that based upon the Pauline writings of Scripture, that he never supports the idea of the Triune God that Christians today believe in. It was a more simple belief - that God the Father was THE GOD, and that Jesus was subordinate to God the Father. It seems as if Paul's revelation was not entirely communicated as the Nicene Council later decided.

Well, Mark, the good news is that one doesn't have to believe the apostle Paul defined the Nicene Creed to be saved or otherwise. That comes by faith in the saving blood of Jesus Christ. FTR...sola scriptura is not defined by your narrow version of it. I thought we were having a discussion about Paul's statements on the trinity. You have said in the past, and even now, that you don't see that he understood the concept. I have tried to show you from epistles written by Paul that certainly prove he well grasped the belief. The verses discussed do appear to me to make the statements necessary to conclude his undestanding and, because his words were inspired by the Holy Spirit would not contradict the true nature of the trinity.

For reference, the Nicene Creed of 325 explicitly affirms the divinity of Jesus, applying to him the term "God". The 381 version speaks of the Holy Spirit as worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son. These verses do that too. I am glad you believe in the trinity. It is not an easy thing to try to describe and define it in ways everyone can understand. It takes faith to accept God at his word. I have no doubt Paul "got it" and also taught it.

[metmom]

Not very familiar with Scripture, are you?

Ever read Acts 2?

43And fear came on every soul, many wonders also and signs were being done through the apostles,

44and all those believing were at the same place, and had all things common,

45and the possessions and the goods they were selling, and were parting them to all, according as any one had need.

[blue-duncan]

“But I thought Baptists weren’t supposed to consume spirits”

I’m an Old Testament kind of Baptist. Deut. 14:26 is our 90 proof text.

[metmom]

Calvin ruined Geneva, perhaps for all time. He sucked the life, the very heart of the lighthearted and happy burghers of Geneva. It took two centuries after his death to even birth a man who was not despondent.

And you know this how?

Were you there?

Did you interview everyone personally who lived there at that time?

Are you a trained psychologist who is capable of evaluating the mental state of thousands of dead people?

[Quix]

Behold the honesty and wisdom of the Romanist as he sets himself up for comparison next to Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, and Joseph Biden.

---

THAT ALONE has to foster a LOT of evil vibes on the wires. LOL.

[Natural Law]

"According to the CIA Factbook, the list of countries by real GDP growth rate reveals that Ireland's GNP ranks 203rd..."

I know this will be hard to comprehend but Dr. Eisegesis knows less about economics than Scripture and the Catechism. Considering that Ireland has less than 5 million people ranking 203 is phenomenal. By her standards atheistic China and Islamic Dubai are the new promised lands.

[metmom]

Unsubstantiated anecdotal evidence. I must say that Reformed doctrine is built on even less...

Less than what the Catholic Church uses to justify the papacy, one verse?

Or maybe like the RCC and their doctrine about......

The Immaculate Conception- zero verses of Scripture.

The perpetual virginity of Mary - zero verses of Scripture.

The Assumption of Mary - zero verses of Scripture.

The priesthood of the Catholic Church - zero verses of Scripture.

Papal succession - zero verses of Scripture.

Canonizing saints - zero verses of Scripture.

Praying to saints - zero verses of Scripture.

Purgatory - zero verses of Scripture.

Indulgences - zero verses of Scripture.

Celibate priesthood - zero verses of Scripture.

And since there is so little Scripture to support so much of Catholic Church doctrine, the RCC has to dictate that the traditions of the *church fathers* are of equal standing with Scripture to justify their fantasy fairy tales that they made up centuries after the fact and threaten church members with eternal condemnation (maranatha anathema) for not believing them, because otherwise nobody in their right minds would believe them.

[Belteshazzar]

Well, Mark, sorry. What a baseless reply.

Look at what the colonial powers of Europe left in their wake following the great period of the so-called colonization of the world. South America was a basket case, and still is saddled with bad government. All is a direct legacy of Spain and Portugal. Latin America ... basically the same story, and a direct legacy again of Spain, chiefly, and latterly, in the case of Mexico, France. Africa, simply look at who was the colonial power and then how the now independent nation was fared and is faring. South and Southeastern Asia, again, simply look at who was the colonial power, if it was Spain, Portugal or France, they have not fared very well. It is was England or, to a lesser extent, the Dutch, they did much better.

This is a line of argument you don’t want to take up if you are a Roman Catholic. Open your eyes and simply read.

To try to write off four hundred years of bad government and abuse of the individual on the basis of a few recent economic quirks that can be viewed in a more favorable light is not, shall we say, convincing, believable, or seriously taken. What you want to believe and what is believable are two entirely different things. Roman Catholicism breeds bad government because they do not properly separate the kingdom of God (spiritual) from the kingdom of power (secular). The pope dreams that he rules over Caesar, over the king. And in this he is completely wrong.

[metmom]

Both of whom violated their oaths before God.

And priests and popes never used nuns in inappropriate ways either?

[metmom]

Everyone is having trouble posting.

It’s not you.