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.

[RnMomof7]

We are saved by grace through faith and conditional on our good works (Eph. 2:8-10). We are not saved by works alone or by faith alone.

Double talk ..

Eph 8:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ, (by whose grace you are saved,) 6 And hath raised us up together, and hath made us sit together in the heavenly places, through Christ Jesus. 7 That he might shew in the ages to come the abundant riches of his grace, in his bounty towards us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God; 9 Not of works, that no man may glory. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them.

Read this my friend..Our salvation is a completed work of Christ, He has already raised us to heavenly places

No where does this say that our salvation has ANY dependance on works, it says the saved will do works.. but not works they do from their own design . but works God has designed for them

[Natural Law]

"Only if you cherry pick scripture."

Make yup your mind. Are you accusing Catholics of acting outside of the Revealed Word or using "cherry picked" Scripture?

[RnMomof7]

Monks, on the other hand, structure their lives toward the reception of grace, and live in a state of grace often without an interruption.

Sin is found in the heart ..not ones physical surroundings

They were sinners just as much as an MTV star today ..

The monks brought eastern religious meditation and practices into the church ...that were 'borrowed" from the Hindus and Buddhists .... the self flagellation and some of the other practices show they had no understanding of the mercy or grace of God

[RnMomof7]

Did Jesus write that in the sand??? You certainly can't take that from the scriptures since Jesus did not write the scriptures...
You guys sure come up with some goofy arguments...

This exchange made me LOL ....

[RnMomof7]

That’s not parallel to the priesthood, that’s some pretty sloppy hermeneutics to try and make that fit with priesthood authority!

Exactly

[RnMomof7]

AMEN

[small voice in the wilderness]

The redemption is past tense. The individual salvation depends on what the individual does with these things.

You said Could I have a scripture on that? lol! I was thinking "I didn't say that, why is Rn posting to me?" O.K. got it now! and THANKS for including me in your response. Maranatha!

[ForAmerica]

The lie of transubstantiation tickles the ears of those who cannot rely on the spiritual things of God, so they insist on dragging Christ down to their level by morphing Him in to consumer goods, ignorant of the fact that God and Christ and the Holy Ghost are all spirit, spiritually-discerned.

That was the thrust of the Reformation. Redeemed men are to use their minds, renewed by the Holy Spirit, to understand God and salvation and their place in His universe through the written words of Scripture. The empty rituals and pagan superstitions which fill the senses only deflect the glory that is absolutely knowable by the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
______________________________________

Amen!

Romans 12:2!

[RnMomof7]

Both

[Iscool]

1. That Tradition is an anathema and is absent in the Protestant heresies.
2. That the Christian faith is based exclusively on a book.
3. That 100% of the revealed Word of God is contained within Scripture. 4. That salvation is attainable through faith alone.
5. That the revelation of Jesus Christ ended with the death of the last Apostle.

You claim these are Protestant traditions...I assume you must call them that because your religion has told you it's true...

One would think you'd find it interesting that so many millions of Protestants who have never met, who do not recognize a popelike leader or magicstereo to tell them what to think, who make no claim of authority outside of the Holy Spirit and the written words of God, come to the same conclusions on these matters and agree that the scriptures have revealed them to us...

As I see it, most or no Catholics actually study the scriptures so it is all foreign to you guys...Most everything in the scriptures is a metaphor or an allegory because you just don't get it...The scriptures, like you are told to think of your religion, are a complete mystery to you...

You guys can't even discuss the scriptures except that you can post the cut and paste cliffnotes put out by your religion...

What in the world even qualifies you guys to discuss the scriptures when you haven't studied them for yourselves???

[Iscool]

And faith follows grace. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ. It is a free gift. And from that gift flow good works, which are the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

That is the plain reading of the scripture...They don't like the plain reading...They must change it to mean something that it doesn't say to fit their non-biblical religion...

[Iscool]

That puts you in agreement with the likes of Muhammad and Mao.

You are correct...They had better sense than to believe that nonsense...We are also in agreement with the scriptures, the Apostles, the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ and God...

[bkaycee]

Zero is the number I expect you to actually address, but rather than put out an extended listing I will start with five (the same number as the TULIP heresy) for you to obfuscate, deny and ignore:

You totally ignored my original question!

Which is, what Apostolic traditions (given by the Apostles) that are NOT recorded in Scripture.

Changing the subject, is NOT an answer.

[ForAmerica]

You claim these are Protestant traditions...I assume you must call them that because your religion has told you it’s true...

One would think you’d find it interesting that so many millions of Protestants who have never met, who do not recognize a popelike leader or magicstereo to tell them what to think, who make no claim of authority outside of the Holy Spirit and the written words of God, come to the same conclusions on these matters and agree that the scriptures have revealed them to us...

As I see it, most or no Catholics actually study the scriptures so it is all foreign to you guys...Most everything in the scriptures is a metaphor or an allegory because you just don’t get it...The scriptures, like you are told to think of your religion, are a complete mystery to you...

You guys can’t even discuss the scriptures except that you can post the cut and paste cliffnotes put out by your religion...

What in the world even qualifies you guys to discuss the scriptures when you haven’t studied them for yourselves???
____________________________________________________________

Exactly, discussing the scriptures with them is like trying to nail jell-o to a wall.

1 Cor. 2:10-13

[Natural Law]

"Exactly, discussing the scriptures with them is like trying to nail jell-o to a wall."

Catholics are smart enough to know that frozen jello nails real good.

[ForAmerica]

Catholics are smart enough to know that frozen jello nails real good.
__________________________________________

That’s cold! ;)

[count-your-change]

I know of no person who believes Peter, a fisherman, was given the task of feeding woolly, four legged animals when Christ said , “Feed my sheep”, because it was appropriate to the language and the context.
So too with Jesus saying, ‘eat my flesh, drink my blood’ since even before that last meal he had called himself “bread” though he certainly resembled a loaf only in a figurative sense.

Even David had said that drinking water obtained at the risk of his men's life was drinking their blood in a figurative sense something he reused to do.

That is the nature of the language. And yet a long and tortured dogma is built not on what Jesus said (it was deduced) but a misunderstanding on both the part of both the Pharisees and some of the disciples.

Again the the figurative language is used to state a concrete idea as Paul did at 1 Cor. 10:2. He said the Israelites were baptized into Moses by the water and the cloud. Marching across the Red Sea floor is baptism? Paul said it was. Yet no one had a bit of water on them.

“For believers it is the body and blood of Christ and elevates the presence of Jesus beyond the hypothetical. For those with weak faith there will always be a need to put your fingers in the wounds.”

There's a difference between credulity and faith and even the weak in faith know the difference between putting their fingers into flesh and poking a finger into a loaf of bread. You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.

[count-your-change]

And squeeze the cherries through a filter of unbiblical tradition.

[blue-duncan]

“We are saved by grace”

Grace is the motivation that moves God to share himself with his creation; who thinks that the best gift he can give his people is Himself. Grace is God’s means to Himself. It is based on the self-sufficiency of God. God cannot be deficient in anything or defective or needy in any area. Therefore he cannot respond to us out of need for our works. God can only relate to us out of fullness and self-sufficiency, and therefore, out of freedom. He can never be bargained with, because there is nothing outside of God that hasn’t come from God and that does not already belong to God.

The means He uses to draw us to Him and free us from sin is intentionally designed to preserve and exalt his own supremacy and centrality in the process of salvation and give him all the glory. He raises us from spiritual death. It isn’t something we perform in order to be acceptable to God. If it is going to happen, Another must do it to us and for us, freely. Absolutely freely. That means: by grace.

When God chooses to raise some sinners from spiritual death, call them, create them, beget them, and atone for their sins, then he must be making choices according to some principle or some purpose. These choices are made without reference to us doing anything good or evil. It is not based on anything we will do or be; they are made to “show his wrath and make known his power...…… in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory” i.e. the “purpose” is that God might make known the incomparable riches of his glory for the enjoyment of the vessels of mercy.

We did not merit the life-giving work of God. It was entirely grace – absolutely free and unconditional. It was not based on our prior choices. Grace created our choice. Paul says (in 2 Tim.1:9), that this calling “was not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.” (Eph. 5:14; Rom. 8:30)

[RnMomof7]

When God chooses to raise some sinners from spiritual death, call them, create them, beget them, and atone for their sins, then he must be making choices according to some principle or some purpose. These choices are made without reference to us doing anything good or evil. It is not based on anything we will do or be; they are made to “show his wrath and make known his power...…… in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory” i.e. the “purpose” is that God might make known the incomparable riches of his glory for the enjoyment of the vessels of mercy.

That is why we call them the doctrines of grace :)