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.
The Fatima apparitions - “She opened Her hands once more, as She had done the two previous months. The rays [of light] appeared to penetrate the earth, and we saw, as it were, a vast sea of fire.” http://www.theimmaculateheart.com/ THE POPES AND FATIMA Theologians like Karl Rahner argued that Popes, by authoritatively fostering the Marian veneration in places like Fatima and Lourdes, motivate the faithful into an acceptance of divine faith [65] Popes Pius XII, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI all voiced their acceptance of the supernatural origin of the Fátima events in unusually clear and strong terms. The Vatican responded with granting indulgences and permitting special Liturgies of the Mass to be celebrated in Fatima.[15]
Popes and Fátima http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_F%C3%A1tima#Official_position_of_the_Catholic_Church
"You see Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If they do what I will tell you, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace... But if they do not stop offending God... He is going to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, of hunger, and of persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father."
II Peter 2:1-3:
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive [damnable, KJV] heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
The Devil’s attempts to deceive through false teaching have never stopped. Jesus warned in Mark 13:22 that, as we approach the end, it will be especially intensive; “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” He warns that, if it is possible for us to be deceived, we will be deceived by false doctrines.
The source of false doctrine is demonic. Paul writes in I Timothy 4:1-2:
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.
Paul is writing of men who listen to, consider, follow and then teach doctrines twisted from their biblical base (II Peter 3:16).
He adds in II Corinthians 11:13-15 that, though the false doctrine comes through a man, the real source is Satan. The man is just a servant:
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”
So there's no reason not to accept the wager, right? Is this an "I accept"?
Now I understand how the Catholics came up with the idea that if scripture doesn’t say Mary wasn’t assumed into heaven we can say that she was. It’s sort of like playing house with all the make believe. LOL
Non sequitur.
What’s your answer to the actual post?
****It would be a lie to include those Old Testament saints with the New Testament saints which we are concerned with in this case.****
Where in Scripture does it say that God differentiates between NT saints and OT saints?
See, you can’t have it both ways.
Either one believes what is in Scripture and discounts what is not, or one accepts that there are things we can know based on Scripture even if it is not explicitly said there.
For example, Scripture does not say those who rose from their graves were taken into heaven with Christ.
But, knowing what we know from Scripture that is a reasonable conclusion.
So glad to know I brought a smile to your face this day. Let me remind you that my comments were directed at your seeming rejection of the author of the Gospel of Mark. You stated:
We don’t know for certain that this same Mark is the one who wrote the gospel bearing his name.
So what I demonstrated was that there is no need to doubt the author was indeed the very same Mark that was the interpreter and disciple of Peter. I'm delighted you don't really question this fact, but I think you can understand why what you said might cause others to doubt you.
What you have written regarding any familial relationship between Peter and Mark is not from the NT, but early church writers. And among them there is some disagreement about Mark, the companion of Peter and Mark the Evangelist who wrote the gospel.
So what that there may be some disagreement? What matters is we do most certainly have the writings of early believers (i.e.; Irenaeus) that attest to the authenticity of the writing. As the author of the article I linked stated, there would have to have been a reliable and authenticated backdrop for the writing to be accepted by the early church.
Either way, I said in my post this all assumes that the authors of the those gospels are indeed who it is claimed they are. To some, the authors are unknown and the attribution to them is an early church tradition.
I know I'm not the first non-Catholic Freeper to state this, but I have no problem with the writings of the early church "fathers" being used for back up and attestation of the Scriptures as they were received and used throughout the congregations of the believers during those early centuries. The fact that these documents were openly accepted and counted on as the source for the truths of the faith as taught by Jesus and his Apostles is how we can know without doubt that we have copies of the manuscripts in their original languages to stand as our authority today. I've heard that the entire New Testament can be extrapolated just from the writings of these early leaders. And as far as "tradition" is concerned, I also have no problem with accepting the place of these teachings. But, unless they can be verified by Holy Scripture and as long as they do not contradict Scripture, they are part of the history of our faith. But, outside of Holy Scripture, there is no other authority we have above them and that is why God gave them to us.
However, as much as you sound like you want me to admit that this "proves" the case for Apostolic Succession, I heartily disagree. The ONLY way anyone can know if teachings are Apostolic today is if they can be proved by Holy Scripture. Rather than presume the Catholic Church today has an Infallible Magesterium that alone has authority to interpret Scripture because of this supposed succession, why not allow what Scripture clearly states which is that the Bible is the infallible, divinely inspired and inerrant word of God and the Holy Spirit is given to each believer to "lead us into all truth"?
God certainly DOES differentiate between NT saints and OT saints. One concerns a NATION of believers. The other concerns a BODY of believers. One has its inheritance here on earth and the Millenial Kingdom of Christ on this earth, according to the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants God made with them. The other has its inheritance in the heavenlies. One is to be a Nation of priests and a blessing to all nations HERE ON THIS EARTH, during the Millenial Reign. The other is going to judge angels and saints. One concerns prophecy. The other concerns the mystery, hid in God from the foundation of the world. One is Israel. The other is the One New Man, the Church the BOdy of Christ.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
That’s right, ignore Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians.
I agree. There is no need to wait until I get to church to adore Christ as he is always present with me and within me. The observance of the Lord's Supper is a wonderful time to remember his sacrifice for me and the unity we have together as the Body of Christ. When I first trusted in Him, I received him, I "ate his flesh" and "drank his blood" because I accepted Him into my life and heart and I was sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of my redemption.
Evidently, your hearty laughter suggests you are neither IN CHRIST, nor is He IN YOU. That is, unless you have Him placed on your tongue and swallow Him down with a sip of wine. How often? Once a week? month? day? It really doesn’t matter. If you believe that is how Christ is IN YOU, laugh while you can.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Why did Paul speak all night in Troas and only take a break to receive communion if there was no more to it that symbol?
Read where Paul recounts the words of Jesus at the Last Supper.
Read where he speaks of the body and blood being unworthily received.
Read where he speaks of those who do not profess the bread and wine as being the body and blood of Christ.
Read where he takes bread, offers thanks and breaks it, exactly in the same way Jesus had done on the night before He died, and then again on the road to Emmaus.
Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not have life within you.
Talk about someone babbling. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Just keep vainly repeating the mantra.
Hint. Old Testament saints died under the law and waited till the veil was rent to be able to go to heaven. New Testament saints have access to the Throne of God through Jesus and go directly to heaven upon death.
One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing, we though many throughout the land, we are one body in this one Lord.
There is no difference in God’s eyes between those to whom He first revealed Himself and those to whom He revealed Himself through Jesus.
Jesus is the only thing that separates them, once Jesus lived, died and rose, we are all the same. The veil was rent for all of us, because we are all freed from the law by Jesus.
Wow! Thanks for sharing! What an artifact.
AUGUSTINE “Christ was carried in his Own Hands when, referring to His Own Body, he said, ‘This is My Body’ [Matt. 26:26]. For he carried that Body in His Hands” (Explanations of the Psalms 33:1:10 [A.D. 405]).
That still doesn’t give the right to change the words of scripture. Find where Mary was a separate resurrection if you think that.
>>The veil was rent for all of us, because we are all freed from the law by Jesus.<<
Not Catholics. They still have to abide by the law for salvation per RCC.
So Augustine is scripture to you?
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