Posted on 01/18/2012 3:19:15 PM PST by NYer
.- Pope Benedict XVI said today that achieving Christian unity requires more than “cordiality and cooperation” and that it must be accompanied by interior conversion.
“Faith in Christ and interior conversion, both individual and communal, must constantly accompany our prayer for Christian unity,” said the Pope to over 8,000 pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall on Jan. 18.
The Pope’s comments mark the start of the 2012 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that runs until Jan. 25. It will be observed by over 300 Christian churches and ecclesial communities around the globe.
The Pope asked for “the Lord in a particular way to strengthen the faith of all Christians, to change our hearts and to enable us to bear united witness to the Gospel.”
In this way, he said, they “will contribute to the new evangelization and respond ever more fully to the spiritual hunger of the men and women of our time.”
The Pope explained that the concept of a week of prayer for Christian unity was initiated in 1908 by Paul Wattson, an Episcopalian minister from Maryland. One year later, he became a Catholic and was subsequently ordained to the priesthood.
Pope Benedict recalled how the initiative was supported by his predecessors Pope St. Pius X and Pope Benedict XV. It was then “developed and perfected” in the 1930s by the Frenchman Abbé Paul Couturier, who promoted prayer “for the unity of the Church as Christ wishes and according to the means he wills.”
The mandate for the week of prayer, the Pope underscored, comes from the wish of Christ himself at the Last Supper “that they may all be one.” He observed that this mission was given a particular impetus by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) but added that “the unity we strive for cannot result merely from our own efforts.” Rather, “it is a gift we receive and must constantly invoke from on high.”
The theme for 2012 Week of Prayer – “All shall be changed by the victory of Jesus Christ our Lord” – was crafted by the Polish Ecumenical Council. Pope Benedict said it reflects “their own experience as a nation,” which stayed faithful to Christ “in the midst of trials and upheavals,” including years of occupation by the Nazis and later the Communists.
The Pope tied the victory the Polish people experienced over their oppressors to overcoming the disunity that marks Christians.
He said that the “unity for which we pray requires inner conversion, both shared and individual,” and it cannot be “limited to cordiality and cooperation.” Instead, Christians must accept “all the elements of unity which God has conserved for us.”
Ecumenism, the Pope stated, is not an optional extra for Catholics but is “the responsibility of the entire Church and of all the baptized.” Christians, he said, must make praying for unity an “integral part” of their prayer life, “especially when people from different traditions come together to work for victory in Christ over sin, evil, injustice and the violation of human dignity.”
Pope Benedict then touched on the lack of unity in the Christian community, which he said “hinders the effective announcement of the Gospel and endangers our credibility.” Evangelizing formerly Christian countries and spreading the Gospel to new places will be “more fruitful if all Christians together announce the truth of the Gospel and Jesus Christ, and give a joint response to the spiritual thirst of our times,” he explained.
The Pope concluded his comments with the hope that this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will lead to “increased shared witness, solidarity and collaboration among Christians, in expectation of that glorious day when together we will all be able to celebrate the Sacraments and profess the faith transmitted by the Apostles.”
The general audience finished with Pope Benedict addressing pilgrims in various languages, including greeting a group of men and women from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, before leading the crowd in the Our Father and imparting his apostolic blessing.
Hey judge, see http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/inspiration.asp
Here is what was read out loud at almost all Latin Rite services today:
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Weekday
First Reading: 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51
Psalm: Psalm 144:1-2, 9-10
Gospel: Mark 3:1-6
The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment: the law of his God is in his heart.
— Psalm xxxvi. 30-31
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 3:15
So, what is the Gospel, according to the RCC? Is it a verse of Scripture I can go to? Just what is the gospel of your salvation? If the Pope preaches it every day, what is it?
The “ignorant sects”, as you call them, are like the Communist Parties. Can they ever admit to having been wrong? They have painted themselves into corners (and are in the process of doing, as new Protestant sects are born to collect cash from the naive), from which there are no escapes. Their attacks against Rome are no different from the myths about alien invasions, Roswell and so on. Self sustaining, immune to facts, logic, reason. Mock ‘em, as Saul Alinsky would!
Some people prefer prejudice to education.
ACTS 2:
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “SAVE yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
“SAVE yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
What are you getting Technical about?
WE are his instruments in Him to Save!
HELLO!!
So, what is that gospel that was preached unto them? Simple question.
ROTFLMAO!
Word warbling is always a hoot. Hey, not that I expect an answer, but what odd sect teaches you these bizarro falsehoods?
I’m so glad you’re humored by the gospel of your salvation questions. One day it won’t be so humorous to watch. Or understand.
So, what is that gospel that was preached unto them? Simple question.
>>John 3:16
Here is a simple question, what odd sect teaches you these bizarro falsehoods? Jehovah Witness? That funny comet sect? Branch Davidian?
s
“rightly dividing” is a snap when it’s just you deciding what’s rightly divided.
Odd though that you don’t accept other’s rightly dividing. If you can rightly divide all on your own, it would make sense to let anyone else do it as well.
How’s that work without some cognitive dissonance going on?
Says you cupcake.
What do they teach at your church? The Gospel of Self-Righteousness.
Hey, you’re the one who said your Pope preaches the Gospel every day. I asked you what that gospel is. And where I can find it in Scripture. Word warbling? I think it’s called ducking the question...
“I think it’s called ducking the question...”
Yep, that is what you are doing.
Again, here is a simple question, what odd sect teaches you these bizarro falsehoods? Jehovah Witness? That funny comet sect? Branch Davidian?
Or, maybe what I actually said instead. Reading comprehension is a good thing.
One day it won’t be so humorous to watch. Or understand.
Someone else on here claimed they knew exactly who was going to heaven and who wasn't. Claimed they could see this like they were Jesus. Is this one of your powers as well?
The Gospel of Self-Righteousness.Aha, a Calvinist!
"In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ ACCORDING TO MY GOSPEL." Rom. 2:16.
That "MY GOSPEL" would be the gospel of the grace of God. That was committed to the Apostle Paul to preach. Better get busy, cupcake, looking for that Gospel. You WILL be judged by it one day. That's what God says. Not your church.
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