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.
Mine and my wife’s favorite show bar none. We never miss an episode.
They went out from us because they were not of us...
You can have those who are not chosen of God.
Millions Of Latinos Have Abandoned Catholic Church Since 2010, Pew Says:
“More than 4 million Latinos in the United States have left the Catholic Church since 2010, according to a new Pew Research Center survey that spotlighted the church’s ongoing exodus of Latinos, a group seen as pivotal to the future of Catholicism.”
I’ll see you one poorly catechized Presbyterian and raise you 4 million Hispanics...
Just in the US.
Home ain’t what it was when you left.
Boo hoo sour-grape, hop off your bicycle.
Lost is as lost does...
Whatever.
Well, eternity is at stake and apparently at God’s direction he opted out.
Says you. I am continually amused that Protestants simultaneously scorn the idea of a pope while apportioning to themselves greater infallible discernment than a pope has ever claimed.
No mention if he’s following Christ. He just changed denominations.
When the rcc decides if the first 11 chapters of Genesis is literal or symbolic get back to us. Then we can talk.
An apostolic teaching must come from an apostles. For an apostolic teaching to be trustworthy, it must either come from an apostle directly or it must have many witnesses that can attest to the apostolic origin on the teaching.
The letters of the apostles have been authenticated by the witness of Christians since the beginning of the church.
Outside of the Bible, there are no apostolic teachings that are trustworthy. If you doubt this statement, read the church fathers. When they quote an apostles, they quote from the Bible. They never mention any teaching that had been passed down from oral tradition.
You probably won’t be laughing when this is over...nor will the man who swam the Tiber.
The Catholic Church is founded by Jesus Christ; hence, he is following Christ.
He just changed denominations.
Catholicism is not a denomination because it's the Church Christ instituted. Other Christian sects arose from it.
The roman catholic church is not seen in the NT. No pope, no indulgences, no hail mary's, no worship of mary, no prayers to the dead, no priesthood, no nuns, etc.
Matthew 23:2
Just before launching into a blistering denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus delivers this command to the crowds: "The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice" (Matt. 23:2-3).
Although Jesus strongly indicts his opponents of hypocrisy for not following their own teaching, he nevertheless insists that the scribes and Pharisees hold a position of legitimate authority, which he characterizes as sitting "on Moses’ seat." One searches in vain for any reference to this seat of Moses in the Old Testament. But it was commonly understood in ancient Israel that there was an authoritative teaching office, passed on by Moses to successors.
As the first verse of the Mishna tractate Abôte indicates, the Jews understood that God’s revelation, received by Moses, had been handed down from him in uninterrupted succession, through Joshua, the elders, the prophets, and the great Sanhedrin (Acts 15:21). The scribes and Pharisees participated in this authoritative line and as such their teaching deserved to be respected.
Jesus here draws on oral Tradition to uphold the legitimacy of this teaching office in Israel. The Catholic Church, in upholding the legitimacy of both Scripture and Tradition, follows the example of Jesus himself.
In addition, we see that the structure of the Catholic Church—with an authoritative teaching office comprised of bishops who are the direct successors of the apostles—follows the example of ancient Israel. While there are groups of Christians today that deny continuity between Israel and the Church, historic orthodox Christianity has always understood the Church to be a fulfillment of Israel. This verse about Moses' chair illuminates why we say that the successor of Peter, when he gives a solemn teaching for the whole Church, is said to speak <ex cathedra> or "from the chair."
Whereas under the Old Covenant the administration of God’s people came from the "chair of Moses," Christians under the New Covenant look to the "chair of Peter" for direction on questions of faith and morals. But there is a notable difference between the magisterium under the Old Covenant and our teachers under the New Covenant. The successors of the apostles, and especially Peter’s successor, have the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth, and they have Jesus’ promise that the "gates of hell will not prevail" against the Church (Matt. 16:17-19). ref
He also condemned their tradition on more than one occasion.......
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