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.
****You don’t suppose taking one verse and making Peter the rock of the church contrary to everything else that scripture teaches would be included in that idea would you? How about praying to those who have passed from this life? ****
This just illustrates yet again the absolute void in your understanding of the Church. There is much more than one verse which supports the Church’s teaching on Peter as the head of the earthly Church.
Not only that, one has to ignore that it was God who named Simon, Rock and why God changed the names of certain people in Scripture.
One would also have to ignore the fact that Jesus quoted Scripture and clarified what the Scripture actually meant.
Scripture is God’s Word, Jesus is God the Son, are you saying that Jesus contradicted Himself when He called Peter, Rock?
***Taking everything the writer writes rather than just snippets to find the truth! Who would have ever thought?***
Mere hubris, protestants removed from their Bibles anything they thought supported Catholicism.
Protestantism, the pick and choose method for tickling the ears.
How about scripture teaching that all Christians are a priesthood rather than just some hierarchy?
Like what?
****pondering a possible epiphany if they would just allow their common sense to take over****
Common sense according to whom? You?
Physician heal thyself.
Then why do they and the church take our verse out of context in Matthew and build the papacy on it?
And why do they take one verse out of context and build the priesthood on it?
And why do they take one verse out of context and have Mary be immaculately conceived and ever virgin?
And why do they cake one verse out of context and make works based salvation out of it?
Catholics don't memorize Scripture to their detriment.
Psalm 1:1-3 1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
Psalm 119:11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
God's word is God's thoughts to us. When you memorize God's word, you're thinking God's thoughts.
Ephesians 6:16-18 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
It's a sad commentary on Catholics that they know the CCC and opinion pieces of the ECF's better than they know the word of God.
Umm.. sola scriptura, sola fide, OSAS... No memorizing of scripture can result in these doctrines.
>>>”God’s word is God’s thoughts to us. When you memorize God’s word, you’re thinking God’s thoughts.”
Perhaps next, thinking God’s thoughts, you too will claim to be able to tell who is saved and not, who will be in Heaven and who in hell...
Peter 1:20 Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation.
All of the many, predictable, fables the anti-Catholic crowd posts, and everything they advocate is based on exactly what Scriptue says it should not be based on. Private Interpretation. And the dispensationalist rapture crowd are even directly and clearly redefining everything to fit with the private interpretation of one girl who made her prophecy and personally interpreted it in 1830. When you get right down to it, the entire doctrine of “Scripture Alone” is nothing BUT priavte interpretation of prophecy and everything else in Scripture. Yet, we get such cute little whimpers from one little kitty or another about how it’s others who don’t know or believe Scripture because they don’t agree with the interpretation the sad little kitty came up with or bought into.
Maybe one of these days some of the dispensationalist rapture folks will realize just how wrong they’ve been and change directions to accept Christ rather than following along behind those who worship their own Most High and Holy Self. Until then, all such folks are clearly condemned by their own judgement.
Titus 3:9 but avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law. For they are unprofitable and vain.
Titus 3:10 A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, avoid:
Titus 3:11 Knowing that he, that is such an one, is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned by his own judgment.
Those who continue to deny the deity of Christ can fool themselves however they like, but they should get used to the idea of hearing, "I never knew you" from the very Jesus Christ they deny is God.
Seven books from the OT.
It goes with the whole “pick and choose” nature of protestantism.
****It’s a sad commentary on Catholics that they know the CCC and opinion pieces of the ECF’s better than they know the word of God.****
It’s a sad commentary that protestants expound so forcefully and falsely regarding things of which they are so devoid of knowledge and understanding.
One verse out of context?
There’s that mantra again.
One verse!!! One verse!!! One verse!!!!
Brrrrrraaaaakkkkk!!!
Only in a protestant dream.
Speaking of the “one verse” fallacy...how about the fact that they take two words, “rightly divided”, to build a whole new religion.
We'll wait.....
“At mid-century study of Bible texts was not an integral part of the primary or secondary school curriculum. At best, the Bible was conveyed through summaries of the texts."
(The Catholic Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 1990, p. RG16) While that amount has increased since Vatican Two, only going to Mass will not give one a functional knowledge of Scripture. The average Catholic does not even get to Mass weekly, less alone daily as would be needed to get just 12.7% of the Bible over the two year reading cycle,94.4% of Evangelical Protestants and 84.9% of Catholics believe that Jesus is the son of God. 42.1% of the former and 46.1% of the latter say they pray once a day or more. http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf
47.8% of the Evangelicals and 11.8% of Catholics affirm the Bible is Literally true. 6.5% of the former and 19.8% of the latter see it as an ancient book of history and legends. ^
42.1% of Evangelical Protestants and 7.1% of Catholics Read Scripture weekly or more. ^Among 7,441 Protestant pastors. Asked if they believed that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God: 87% of Methodists said no. 95% of Episcopalians said no. 82% of Presbyterians said NO. 67% of American Baptists said no. http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/54
Bible Reading: the highest was 75%, by those going to a Pentecostal/Foursquare church who reported they had read the Bible during the past week (besides at church), while the lowest was among Catholics at 23% ^
25% of Evangelical Christians read the Bible on a daily basis along with 20% of other Protestants. Just 7% of Catholics do the same. At the other extreme, 44% of Catholics rarely or never read the Bible along with only 7% of Evangelical Christians and 13% of other Protestants. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/december_2008/catholics_protestants_practice_faith_in_different_ways
The typical Catholic person was 38% less likely than the average American to read the Bible; 67% less likely to attend a Sunday school class; 20% less likely to share their faith in Christ with someone who had different beliefs, donated about 17% less money to churches, and were 36% less likely to have an "active faith," defined as reading the Bible, praying and attending a church service during the prior week. Catholics were also significantly less likely to believe that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches. 44% of Catholics claimed to be "absolutely committed" to their faith, compared to 54% of the entire adult population. However, Catholics were 16% more likely to attend a church service and 8% more likely to have prayed to God during the prior week than the average American. Barna Reaearch, 2007, “Catholics Have Become Mainstream America” http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/100
I do not admit nor accept the false premise. This "three-legged stool" is a Roman Catholic Church construct that seeks to assert equal authority to tradition and the magesterium as to that of Holy Scripture. They cannot be equal because of the simple truth that only Holy Scripture is the infallible, inerrant, God-breathed and revealed truth. If the supposed traditions or dogmas passed down from church "fathers" and the magesterium go against Holy Scripture, then Scripture has priority. God's truth - as revealed in the Bible - is to be upheld and supported by the Church of Christ, his body, by both its behavior and by its preaching.
In Scripture, the person of God and the Word of God are everywhere interrelated, so much so that whatever is true about the character of God is true about the nature of God's Word. God is true, impeccable, and reliable; therefore, so is His Word. What a person thinks about God's Word, in reality, reflects what a person thinks about God.
-John MacArthur
Basil the Great (ca.329–379)
On the Holy Spirit, 7.16
“We are not content simply because this is the tradition of the Fathers. What is important is that the Fathers followed the meaning of the Scripture.”
I Thess. 5:19-22 Quench not the Spirit; despise not prophesyings; prove all things; hold fast that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.
Pentecostal/Foursquare therefore have the most correct beliefs and doctrine.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.
Like the bodily assumption of Mary and that Mary is the queen of heaven?
You mean the ones that have so many errors that there is no way they could have been inspired by God?
Ah, the mind of Christ that enables you to tell which individuals going to Heaven and who to hell?
Still with that unproven accusation I see.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.