Posted on 10/26/2015 2:22:44 PM PDT by NYer
Marcus Grodi’s pun for life could be “Done Roman” because when he was received into the Roman Catholic Church the former Protestant pastor had found his spiritual home and was finally “done roamin’.” Grodi was brought up in a nominally Christian home, trained as a chemical engineer and eventually, after a profound adult conversion experience, trained to be a Presbyterian pastor.
However, his experience welcoming new members from other Protestant denominations to his church began to disturb his Presbyterian certainties. Protestant pastor Grodi explained his Presbyterian beliefs from the Bible, but the other Protestant Christians responded by quoting the Scripture verses that supported their different convictions. Marcus began to realize that his interpretation of the Bible was filtered by his Presbyterian assumptions and traditions. Furthermore the same was true of the other Protestants. A conversation with his friend Scott Hahn helped him discover some Bible verses he had never seen before.
Scott asked, “What is the pillar and bulwark of truth?”
As a good Protestant, Grodi answered, “The Bible of course!”
Hahn replied, “But what does the Bible itself teach about that? Let’s look up 1 Timothy 3:15.”
Together they read the St. Paul’s words, “I am writing to you…so that you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”
Grodi explains, “I had simply never seen that verse. I had no answer. If the church was the pillar and bulwark of the truth where could I find such a church? Clearly the thousands of Protestant churches with their contradictory doctrines and disciplines could not be that church.”
Another key passage was 2 Thessalonians 2:15 in which St. Paul writes, “So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.”
If the Sacred Scriptures were the sole foundation for Christian doctrine and discipline, as the Protestant doctrine of sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) asserts, then why was St. Paul telling the Christians in Thessalonica to “stand firm and hold fast to the teachings” he had passed on by both “word of mouth and by letter”?
Grodi was seeing for the first time that the apostolic teaching was not only in written form, but also through a living oral tradition. The Catholic Church was the only Christian body that affirmed both the authority of Scripture and a dynamic, ongoing voice of authority in the church.”
Eventually Grodi resigned from his post as senior pastor of a large Presbyterian congregation and was received with his family into the Catholic Church. In 1993 he established an apostolate to assist other Protestant pastors on the same journey “home to Rome.” About the same time he was invited to host a new program for the Eternal Word Television Network called The Journey Home. Each week Grodi interviews a convert to Catholicism, and over the years the Journey Home program has become one of EWTN’s most popular shows.
Grodi is more than a Catholic television personality. He has written or edited seven books and contributed to several others. In addition to the weekly TV show, Grodi’s apostolate sponsors conferences, has hosted a radio show, publishes a regular newsletter and works quietly and confidentially with clergy converts as they enquire about the Catholic faith.
He and his team at The Coming Home Network are in constant contact with an increasing number of Protestant clergy. While their work is approved by the church, they fund their work through donations, receiving no formal financial support from diocesan authorities. Over the years they have assisted nearly 1,000 into full communion from over 100 different denominations. They maintain a nationwide network of 1,500 mentors who have already made the journey and put enquirers in touch with a local friend who will answer their questions, pray for them and support them and their families in their quest.
The difficulties potential clergy converts face are daunting. A Protestant pastor who hears the call to become Catholic not only faces the loss of his rewarding job, vocation and livelihood, but also a huge upheaval and radical uncertainties. Usually the man has a wife and children to support, and has trained for no other career. Salaried posts in the Catholic church are hard to come by and without job experience outside the church, he faces unemployment and the rigors of re-training and rejection in mid life. Very often the man’s wife will not be at the same place of spiritual acceptance. Marriage problems develop and strains within his network of family and friends can develop into broken relationships, alienation and rejection.
We often think of ecumenism as consisting of no more than friendly talks with Christians of non-Catholic denominations. The Coming Home Network approaches the question of church unity with practical apologetics, pointed advice and practical assistance. They realize that unity amongst Christians is a reality when, one by one Protestant pastors come to accept the claims of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and take the first step on the long journey home.
To learn more about the work of Marcus Grodi and the Coming Home Network visit their website.
If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die?
Merchant of Venice
Act 3, Scene 1,
William Shalespeare
I accept your explanation. You may not have known that ealgeone, a frequent contributor to what you call paranoia, and I call an antiCatholic alliance, has recently taken the habit of calling me Clintonian or Clinton (but had not yet used Hillary IIRC), as a synonym for lying. Is he part of your use of we ?
Catholics can write the same sentence in all truth and sincerity. It is our love of the Gospel that stirs up our defense of it.
Thank you for proving my point. I never said what you stated. At least you included a complete quote of my text, but you failed once again to READ it. You latched onto one word and made the spurious claim that I said something that I clearly DID NOT SAY! A simile is all I used. It followed a post from a Roman Catholic cultist that intimated that I was a vampire.
It is one thing to make a statement. It is another to tell a lie. I will leave it to the readers to determine the veracity of our posts...
Yes, you do seem Clintonian! They excel in slicing, dicing, and lying!...
Is ... is!!!
AF, what you and WVK say between each other is between the two of you. I do not intend to be drawn into highly personal “us versus them” tangles, on several grounds:
1. As a matter of Christian principle, I oppose division among brethren, especially in the family of Christ. When a person uses a vivid analogy like that, the charitable thing to do is to look at the central meaning and understand what is being said, not to assume the worst.
2. I believe these complicated “us versus them” tangles are so inherently personal they violate forum rules, even when that is not the intent. To me it represents a degenerative stage of a conversation, where the large ideas are lost in the scuffle to attack and defend the individual participants. It throws reason to the wind, and fosters foment rather than peace. I believe the forum rule that prohibits going personal is an excellent bit of guidance and I intend to follow it to the letter.
3. Tactically, this is like the moderators at the CNBC GOP debate trying to set each of the candidates against each other. It is a divide and conquer strategy, and no one with any sense will get caught up in it.
4. It serves no purpose in any effort to compare and contrast Roman versus evangelical claims of unity. Catholics have a semblance of formal unity. Evangelicals have substantive unity. But neither all Catholics nor all evangelicals are cookie cutter people. A person may well be my brother and do and say things differently than I would, and visa versa. That is not a valid critique of our unity. It’s just people being real. If you have an issue with someone’s analogies, take that up with them. Leave me out of it.
5. Back to unity for a moment. I just came from the Lord’s Supper this morning. There is no symbol more profound of our unity in Christ that our remembrance together of what He has done for us. Christ died for every one of His beloved children. How can I come from such a blessed moment of treasuring my unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ, only to come back here and submit to an interrogation that, to me, looks like an attempt to divide us? We are going to have our differences, but yes, in Christ, it is “we” for us. May God heal our infirmities.
Peace,
SR
Well, now there you go again.
Exhibit D- Hater=critic!
Mark 7: 6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
"These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.'
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions."
Exodus 20: 4 "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."
In other words, and much more succinctly in one sentence, there is an antiCatholic alliance.
Patently false; your post was in response to post 91 which is not in any way as you claimed. Anyone can follow the chain to see you brought the vampire reference into the conversation uninvited. Perhaps you are Pentecostal and you became confused in the give and take of the comments. Was that the cause ?
Exhibit B: WVKayaker (who apparently thinks I, and other Catholics, are vampires. - AFV still confused?
Anyone can follow the chain to see you brought the vampire reference into the conversation uninvited. Perhaps you are Pentecostal and you became confused in the give and take of the comments. Was that the cause ? < -confused? AFV
The original post to me (making intimations that I was a vampire) was removed (not by my request!). But, anyone can clearly see that I did NOT call anybody a vampire. I used the analogy/simile comparing the distaste Roman Catholics have for obedience to the Word of God.
Got any other spinning to do? You're failing quite well already! Watch that your nose doesn't grow longer!
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
No, there is a pro-Gospel alliance, which is quite different. You may think whatever you like. The reader is invited to make up their own mind.
Peace,
SR
It had nothing to do with my posts. You apparently think I, and other Catholics, are vampires, otherwise what was the point of posting that polemic simile to me ?
Are you aware that antisemites have traditionally referred to Jews as vampires ? Is antiCatholicism the new antiSemitism ?
It is an alliance of hatred against the Catholic faith, and it is evident in very many posts, albeit not by all in the alliance.
"To many Roman Catholics, the Word of God is more like garlic to a vampire!" wvk post #99
Wow! Critical thinking seems to be another weak spot. Reading, thinking...and obedience to Scripture seem to be a common failing among too many of you and your brethren!
Your post is just another crock of warm ...!
Think about what you plan to say before you write it! And, try reading my post again and see where it says that Roman Catholics are vampires. I simply meant they avoid Scripture, like vampires do garlic. That is an analogy, not a claim about Roman Catholic cultists!
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Romans 7: ...14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Does anyone in the pro-Gospel alliance apprehend the utter hypocrisy of the two aforementioned statements ? But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
James, Catholic chapter three, Protestant verses eight to twelve,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James
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