In a world where malaria could be stopped dead by using DDT but environmentalists still yell about birds eggs being harmed...
In a world where we are depriving starving people of food, because we are using it to fuel our cars....
In a world where we wash our cars with fresh drinkable water that millions would love to have...
One beacon of hope shines brightly for all people. The Pope.
His message of love, sharing and hope, is not just for Catholics, it's for all people in this world of ours. In this world where easy sex, and child porn is prevalent, where swingers clubs are just fine, and drugs are killing our children... Where morals have disappeared and the "if it feels good" crowd scorns anyone who is moral, in this world, a beacon shines, giving hope to all who are open to his message. The Pope.
So I thank Fox News, who broadcast the whole Mass from Yankee Stadium, it is the closest thing to being there.
Yesterday, CTV news had 45 seconds on his visit and over 5 minutes from someone who had been abused, not exactly balanced. Today they at least showed his visit to ground zero.
In this world of strife, disasters and hate between groups of people, a beacon of light shines. Pope Benedict.
My husband is Presbyterian but he enjoys going to Mass, he likes the pageantry, the sense of belonging, and most important the clear rules that Catholics follow. Lately we have seen the United Church become a religion of nothing, the Anglicans are splitting up over various issues, and all religions are under pressure from the "progressives" to lighten up on their morals.
These "progressives" will be satisfied with nothing less than the destruction of religion, as it is a threat to their agenda. Socialism is not about helping all people, it's about helping yourself, making yourself elite, so you can rule over the "little" people and tell them how hard you are working on their behalf. It's a sick lie.
Catholics like Paul Martin put politics ahead of their religion, they sell out to the greater god, money and power. Thank goodness, we have one beacon in this world, who teaches, love not power, sharing not greed, and hope not hate. Will the "progressives" listen, or are their hearts hardened to the message of moral values?
15 comments:
Amen.
Great piece, Elmer - you are encouraged to change your hat for a Mitre...
Lemon, it's Hunter, not Elmer, I'm as bad a hunter as he is, but every once in awhile even Elmer hit's something.
even Elmer hit's something
Yeah he was pretty good at shooting Daffy's beak off and that'ssss dissspickable
As a devout Christian I admire the Roman Catholic Church for it's constancy even when I disagree with the point it is being constant about. I only wish that the RC would be more effective in communicating the core of the belief and less effective in adhering to the fringes of the faith and finally less bullying of other churches.
Joe, a lot of the time it's the Catholic faith that is under attack from all sides. Sometimes they deserve it, sometimes not.
I'm not sure how they bully other churches, give me an example so I can understand.
Most Catholics I know, just go to Church, abide by the rules and hope to make a difference for people less fortunate.
The one thing they have that most other religions lack, is the Pope. He sets clear guidelines. You either respect them or you are out. That is where other religions seem to be getting into trouble, no clear guidelines, and letting everyone determine what the rules should be.
I guess what I was saying when I mentioned 'bully' was the primacy and infallibility claimed by the RCC.
The primacy irks me because of the example of the apostles jostling for position and Jesus' gentle rebuke about the greatest must be the least. Mark 9: 30-40.
Then of course the error of infallibility. Since the key to the Kingdom is repentence. It is impossible to enter the Kingdom without admitting fallibility. Put another way read Luke 18: 18, 19.
In my church any baptized believer with clear concience can partake in Communion. I, an ordained pastor, can not partake in a RC Mass because I do not attend the RC church.
In my ideal world (cough cough) each Christian church would recognize each other's differences in the inconsequentials and hold to unity in the essentials.
Joe, the Pope is infallible only when it comes to dogma since it is inspired by God. In other areas - like church rules - he can be fallible.
What the RCC has over the other churches is it's belief that a truth cannot be changed to suite the times. Otherwise, it would not be a truth.
Under Vatican 2 the church became more "liberal" and we saw the results of that experiment: increased cases of abuse of alter boys, a massive dropping off in new priests, dwindling church attendance, etc. Since Pope John Paul 2 the church has steadily gone back to its "conservative" position. Today, the number of cases of alter boy abuse is drastically down, there is an influx of fresh blood in the priesthood, church attendance is up to the point that Latin Masses are full every week, the RCC is the fastest growing Christian religion in the world, etc.
Your Church may be open to all and so is the RCC. Only difference is the RCC demands much of you to live up to its standards vs the "liberal" churches which demand much of the church to live up to modern standards.
Since you do not understand the basics of the RCC how can you say that even as an ordained pastor that you are qualified to profess its teachings?
"In a world where priests get away with diddling...oh wait, scratch that last one....in a world where AIDS sufferers are taught not to use condoms...oh sh*t, scratch that, too"
Anon 9:40
You just made my point even as you tried to destroy it.
The basic beliefs of Christianity are for all times but the small matters of practice are temporal and not eternal. What you just mentioned are temporal and thus open for discussion.
As for the "infallable pope" HAHAHAHA. If you are the only one who is claiming infallability and EVERYONE else is saying that is not true then maybe you are the one that is deluded. I'm not saying this as an evangelical Christian I am saying this in the light of every other ancient church also denying infallability.
BTW I do agree with you on Vatican II. But the problem I have with the communion service is that the RC church is not holding anyone to a standard in this practice. In fact they are lowering the bar by being divisive for the sake of being divisive.
Jesus teaching is quite clear that not everyone has to agree on every detail in order for there to be unity. In fact I believe that appart from the basics there is room for great diversity. A thousnad years ago the east and west church split over the mother of God/bearer of God issue and to what end? I hold to the eastern view but I don't think it appropriate to sever communion over an opinion.
I didn't agree with John Paul II's Mariology but had he walked through the door while I was serving communion I would have served him as well. I would have done so because it is not my place to judge. As St Paul said anyone who eats or drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation unto himself. In other words "Its God's call not ours".
Joe, Communion in the Catholic Church is a sacrament, that is why people of other faiths can not just go up and receive it. As a Catholic you also can not receive it if you have not gone to Confession, another sacrament. So, if a Catholic misses a Sunday Mass one week, they can not receive Communion until they have gone and confessed the sin.
You can go up and receive a blessing, my husband does that all the time because he is not a Catholic. He always laughs about being struck down by God, but he willingly goes up for the blessing.
People need to believe in a higher being than themselves, but they need a clear vision, not political correctness, that is what is tearing the Anglican Church apart, and it pains me deeply to see that happening.
It is the very sanctity of Communion, that makes it uplifting, and encourages people to strive harder to be moral. If anyone could receive it, the meaning of Communion would be diluted. It's part of the fiber that keeps the Catholic Church alive and united.
Communion is a sacrament in all Christian Churches, Hunter, which is the point I'm trying to make. To my mind, Christian unity is more important than silly little man-made rules. With all the opposition to the Christian Faith the fewer petty divisions the Faith presents to the world the stronger the Faith remains.
Joe, I'm no pastor, and I agree with you that someone with a pure soul should be allowed to take Communion, but, correct me if I am wrong, I don't like many Churches have Confession, which is vital to being able to take Communion.
I am often upset because I wasn't able to make it to Confession, and therefore can not take Communion.
I see too many Churches falling under the sword of political correctness, I do not want that to happen with the Catholic Church. As a Pastor, you need to be elected to your Church, we have no say in who our Priest will be, this I agree with.
I have for years thought that women should be allowed to be Priests, and that Priests should be allowed to marry, but at the same time, I am happy that the Church remains resolute on those issues. It provides me with a compass, a plan, a direction.
So our faith will remain strong, only if the Church remains strong, and provides clear direction.
Actually Hunter the Bible doesn't say you need to go to confession before you take communion. The scriptural injunction is that you examine yourself to make sure you have a clear concience before you partake. 1 Cor 11. Obviously if you have wronged someone or have sinned against God you make it right before you partake and yes the Bible says that we are to confess our sins one to another but it doesn't say that the confession must be to a member of the clergy.
Finally as we always say this is not my table but rather this is The Lord's Table and any baptized believer is welcome to partake for the sake of unity amongst the believers. I really don't think that Jesus on the night before He was crucified instituted communion service so we can create division amongst His disciples by excluding one another from His Table.
God Bless
These "progressives" will be satisfied with nothing less than the destruction of religion, as it is a threat to their agenda. Socialism is not about helping all people, it's about helping yourself, making yourself elite, so you can rule over the "little" people and tell them how hard you are working on their behalf. It's a sick lie.
No, it is you that is a liar. Socialism is about helping all people, not just those your unelected spiritual leader chooses to help. The Pope would be shocked to hear you say such lies about socialism.
You could try claiming socialism is bad because of communists, or even claim it is bad because Hitler called his party "socialism" (it was anything but).
But if you make such a claim, then you must claim the Roman Catholic Church is bad, because of all the evil that has been done in its name in the past.
I don't hate the Church. Why are you so full of hate towards what you call "leftists"?
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