Posted on 06/13/2010 12:16:24 PM PDT by markomalley
.- 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.
You seem to have a problem with Ephesians 2:8,9. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto (KJV) good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2)
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17).
At the moment of salvation by grace through faith, we are are NEW CREATURE. Created unto good works. The good works comes AFTER salvation. Not before or during. You can't be created if you're still trying to create (good works) yourself.
Your entire post is about me in violation of the rules. Try demonstrating that you are capable of understanding and observing them before you begin acting as an undeputized hall monitor.
It's either dishonest or careless.
The heart of Jesus' teaching are the Beatitudes that call us to deeds. Perhaps that is why Calvin had such problems with them.
Stop breaking the rules by making personally derogatory comments. Learn to discuss the issues and not other posters.
“Was there an actual point buried somewhere within that multicolored mess?”
Truely, a sad multicolored mess of bandwidth killing nothingness.
As usual a meaningful discourse is ruined by the same old same old babble.
I posted the link to your shrinking church. If you didn't read it, here it is. If you can't read it, ask for help.
No other religion in the United States has lost more members to other faiths, or to no faith at all, than Catholicism, according to the new survey released by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The survey, conducted in 2007, found that 31 percent of Americans were raised Catholic, but less than 25 per cent of them still identify as Catholic...
The heart of the Gospel of your salvation in the dispensation of the Grace of God is in Paul’s Epistles. (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). You seem to be searching for your salvation in the Dispensation of Law. It’s postponed for now. Israel has been set aside. And God has given us a message of salvation through His grace. It’s found in the Pauline Epistles. It’s free.
Who were the audience of the the Sermon on the Mount? They were believers. Therefore, the good works Christ instructed them in were not requirements for their salvation which they had already obtained by their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior; good works were and are part of the job description for Christians. They are part of our sanctification; not our justification which was accomplished by Christ on the cross.
Perhaps that is why Calvin had such problems with them.
lol. By the grace of God, Calvin "had problems" with the error of Rome's antiScriptural works-based salvation which denies the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice, once for all the sins of His flock.
Calvin knew the Scriptures. You can, too, God willing.
AMEN!
May God give them the grace to know the depth of that truth. It's all mercy and not debt.
AMEN!
Heavens no!
UNMITIGATED BALDERDASH.
Your own cited verse speaks against your perspectivev.
LOL.
INDEED.
INDEED.
Your posts generally do not discuss the topic; they discuss the poster. And that's against the rules.
It's not up to you to tell me or anyone how to post to suit your temperament or else you'll fling pejoratives at us.
INDEED. Well and accurately put. Thanks.
However, I try and have some compassion for the thin-skinned folks of the rabid cliques. It must be frightful to run around loose under constant threat of various body parts falling out willy nilly because of such thin skins.
INDEED.
The Bible does not say that all the crowd was believers, or, explicitly that any of them were.
Matthew 4: 17 7 From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 18 8 As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. 19 He said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 9 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. 23 10 He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, 11 proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people. 24 12 His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them. 25 And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, 13 Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
Presumably here, those cured were believers, but it does not say that explicitly. It only says that people followed this new famous preacher and curer of ills.
Matthew 5:1 1 When he saw the crowds, 2 he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 He began to teach them, saying: 3 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, 4 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 5 Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 6 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
6 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 7 for they will be satisfied.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 8 Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, 9 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me.
12 10 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 11 12 "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. 16 Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.
17 13 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 14
20 I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
21 15 16 "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.' 22 17 But I say to you, whoever is angry 18 with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna. 23 Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, 24 leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.
26 Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny. 27 19 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 20 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.
31 21 "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.' 32 But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 22 "Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.' 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all; 23 not by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 24 Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one. 38 25 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'
39 But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. 40 If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. 41 Should anyone press you into service for one mile, 26 go with him for two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. 43 27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
46 For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors 28 do the same? 47 And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? 29 48 So be perfect, 30 just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Job description? In a way, I suppose. If you do not fulfill your job description, you are fired. In the same manner, if Christians do not behave in this fashion, and repent of their evil ways, they will be fired. Their Judgement will go against them in front of the Almighty.
Calvin? Calvin had these verses in his Bible. I notice, though, that we have had 500 years of Calvinists attempting to minimize them or explain them away.
Matthew 25: 14 6 "It will be as when a man who was going on a journey 7 called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.
15 To one he gave five talents; 8 to another, two; to a third, one--to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately 16 the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. 17 Likewise, the one who received two made another two. 18 9 But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money.
19 After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. 10 He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.' 21 His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.' 22 (Then) the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, 'Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.' 23 His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'
24 Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, 'Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; 25 so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.'
26 His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant! 11 So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? 27 Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? 28 Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. 29 12 For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
30 13 And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'
And 500 years of Calvinism has attempted to explain these verses away also. Catholicism is the result of ALL of God's revelation to man. All the Bible. All the Apostles. And following them, all the Church Fathers. Calvin was most definitely not a Church Father.
Eph 2:8 — For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:...
Faith is the vehicle that grace comes in on ..and that faith not self generated..but a gift of God..So God provides the means of grace and the grace... all for the Glory of God ..Soli Deo Gloria !!!!
Soli Deo Gloria !!! - The Glory of God Alone
Unwarranted confidence in human ability is a product of fallen human nature ... God's grace in Christ is not merely necessary but is the sole efficient cause of salvation. We confess that human beings are born spiritually dead and are incapable even of cooperating with regenerating grace. We reaffirm that in salvation we are rescued from God's wrath by his grace alone. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life. We deny that salvation is in any sense a human work. Human methods, techniques or strategies by themselves cannot accomplish this transformation. Faith is not produced by our unregenerated human nature.
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