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.
However, it is good to look at the Ten Commandments as well as the list of Cardinal Sins for one's own examination of conscience, which can lead to a good confession. It is of course even better to avoid any such violations in the first place.
It is, of course, a satanic idea that one can violate them with imputiny because they are Hebrew Law.
No one is arguing simply against Law -- which, Christ said, is fulfilled rather than abolished. Law is not salvific. It does not mean violating the Law is not condemnable.
Yes. I agree. As a corollary, most "criticism" of Catholic soteriology that we've seen here is based on the ignorance of the critics.
No, the scripture does not say that. It says that God knows how we shall be judged -- He knows His elect. He may even help His elect along and pass over the reprobates, the process knows as predestination. But the judgement, as Matthew 25 or Romans 2 indicate, happens after the works are done, -- or not done.
No, according to Mt. 25 it is not. It is given both sheep and goats symmetrically basedon their works.
If one is trying to work their way into heaven than their "works " are not done for the glory of God..but for the salvation of themselves
.. which is not a bad motivation at all. It is not perfect, but it still leads to individual salvation.
the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works
Yes, blessed is he. But it doesn't say that good works are not required for salvation generally. Obviou they are nto required, for example, for babies who die, or to people God chose to forgive seing their repentance, like King David.
Catholic theology makes God mans debtor
God gave us His son. He did not have to. Our works obligate God only in the sense that God already told us how He will judge us. Had he not told us, we would not be expecting salvation; since He has, we do.
The goats were always goats.. the sheep were always sheep
No; the passage in Matthew 25 does not say that and there are many examples of goats converting and sheep losign salvation in the gospel. At any rate, your remark does not alter that fact that the judgment is by the works according to Mt. 25.
They were not seeking Christ or His approval or His reward for their work.. They were just being sheep
They were just doing good works in His grace, not even knowing it. That part proves that works are salvific even in the absence of conscious faith.
Yes, of course. The moment man is born, his eternal life has begun. The question is, what is he going to do with it.
Amen to your remarks, and thank you.
Because your church is not the church of the scripture...Because the scripture says the Holy Spirit will open our understanding, not some fallen men from some religion...Because the scriptures tell us to search the scriptures to know we have eternal life, not a man made religion...
I could list a hundred biblical reason why one should never trust your religion, or any religion on matters of faith or authority...
My thanks to both of you for your contributions to this thread.
Thanks for being here and posting.
Amen for that post and Praise God, for being God...
There wasn't a born again Christian in the entire bunch...They were all Jew or proselytes...The Gospel of the Grace of God was not in effect, or even known...Salvation by Grace thru faith without works was revealed by the Apostle Paul to the Gentile adopted Christian church...
Being dispensationalist, I am convinced this is doctrinally for another people, another time...But for a Christian, it has plenty of Spiritual application...
They that have done good have turned to Jesus Christ...They that have done evil have rejected Jesus Christ...
But how can that be??? Christians always sin...We do evil deeds in the sight of EACH OTHER...
Many folks really hate it when someone posts these verses...They can not accept what Jesus says sometimes...
Rom 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
We are not under the law...We are under grace...There is no sin under grace, to the Christian...
Well yes there is...We are living proof that there is sin...But then Jesus goes on to explain:
Rom 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
That's us...Although we sin, continuously, the Lord does not hold it to our account...The penalty for sin has been paid...
When we get to the Judgment seat (of Christ), those sinful works will burn up and will be gone, forever...Only the good works survive the fire...
The Catholic position is always that, 'you think you can willfully sin and still go to heaven'...They sin just like we do but they often don't call it sin...
And of course, a Christian would be foolish to claim there is no ramifications for committing sin...But sin however, will not keep us out of heaven...
We have done the 'good'...We have trusted Jesus to do for us what we could never do for ourselves...
The 'evil' on the other hand, think they somehow have the capacity to do something good enough that Jesus didn't have to pay their debt...They'll pay it themselves...
The will of God is to believe on His Son...
So anyone who cries out "Lord, Lord" but does not pray and live piously and charitably (i.e. does not do the will of His Father in Heaven) will be condemned.
Jesus says that if we repent and turn to Jesus, we are no longer in condemnation...I believe Jesus...
You nor your religion are afforded that privilege to judge other people...We are instructed in the scripture to be holy and have love, which includes charity but we, when we judge, judge the outward appearance...God judges the heart...
As a metaphor, consider the words of God as if they were a multi-faceted diamond. And God is Light.
A person looking at the diamond from one facet might see reflections or images of himself or others whereas another person looking at a different facet might see only the light.
The former would see a role for man in his own salvation. He would emphasize willful obedience and good works. For instance, he would probably highly value Mary's consent - the part she played:
As for me, the Light from the diamond blinds me to all other images. Compliments make me uncomfortable.
But at the same time, I do not perceive that those who see images in the diamond are in error and would only caution them to keep their priorities straight because "no light, no images."
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.
And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. – Matthew 22:35-40
Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. – Revelation 2:1-5
Then it is clear that you understand nothing of either the Holy Spirit or the Catholic Church. And again, you demonstrate that Protestantism is not identified and organized by what it is for, but rather defined by what it is against; the Catholic Church.
You guys have got your own method of reading scripture which doesn't jibe with scripture...When things change in the scriptures, you have to follow that change...
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
BUT NOW...
Everything up til then was one way...NOW, it has changed...A whole new thing is starting...
BUT NOW...
TIMES PAST
BUT NOW
AGES TO COME
So you leave out that part of the Lord's prayer?
Salvation by Grace thru faith without works was revealed
We know that's your interpretation of Scripture. That's what's under discussion.
“Isaiah 64:6
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
This does not relieve anybody from having faith in Christ and executing good Christian actions and works.
“Compared to Christ’s Standard, God’s Standard, that’s the verdict. Scripture is quite clear.”
Scripture is clear in its entirety.
“Laying SALVATION ASIDE”
We shouldn’t do that, we all need to do better as the imperfect sinners that we are.
Yes, that's the truncated gospel message under discussion. The majority of Christianity teaches that you must believe on His Son and you must practice brotherly kindness and love, as Scripture tells us. It's not either/or.
Jesus says that if we repent and turn to Jesus, we are no longer in condemnation...I believe Jesus...
But don't neglect the rest of the gospel message. Pick up your cross daily. I'm sure you must have read that Christ calls for a radical conversion, not just a "faith declaration". Without love, we are nothing. Without faith, we cannot love properly. Separating faith from love is senseless and is against His teachings.
You nor your religion are afforded that privilege to judge other people
That's why I don't. I thought we were discussing, not judging.
God judges the heart.
And in that heart there better be charity.
“Vatican rubber ‘Bible’
rubber dictionaries,
straw dogs”
Sweeping generalizations allow many to “escape the burden of thought”...
“It’s embarrassing on your behalf to think that y’all believe such stuff!”
As it is vain on your behalf to think y’all know something when the reality is that Y’all lack comprehension to take in all of Scripture.
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