Do Nor Be Deceived About The End of the World ! ! !

Then they asked him, "Teacher, when will this happen?  And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?"
He answered,

"See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.'  Do not follow them!
When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end."  Then he said to them,

"Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues
from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky."

In this last week of the church year, we are reminded that one day all of the things that we are familiar with, all of the things of this world will end. Jesus tells us that there are those out in the world that do not have our best interests at heart and who will attempt to tear us away from Him.  They will spend their lives proving that the time set for the end by God is now and many of them will say that they know this to be true because they are God or that they are Jesus in the flesh. Do not believe them even if the display signs and wonders. We must not allow them to drive us out of our flock for what awaits those that leave the side of the Good Shepherd is spiritual death. 

But how will we know what is true?  How will we know who to follow?  How can we keep ourselves safe from being drawn away from Jesus by a false prophet who seems to be mighty in words and deeds?  We have been given our anchor, our solid rock.  We have the Catholic Church. The Church operates under the protection of the Holy Spirit. She holds the keys to the kingdom of God and where Peter is, there is the Church.  But doesn't the Bible say that the Church will be the home of the antichrist?  No, it doesn't.  As a matter of fact, it says the exact opposite, Jesus Himself founded the Church and said that the gates of hell will never prevail against her.  But how do we know where the "real Church" is?  Where there is Peter, there you will find the Church. Listen to what she says, listen to her through the Pope and the Magisterium. It is through Rome you will get the truth about the end times and nowhere else. 

The Poor Souls have the assurance of heaven and that fills them with a joy that is greater than anything we can experience here on earth.  But they still have to make amends and purify themselves before they can see God face to face. They cannot do a thing to help themselves and they depend on us to pray and sacrifice for them. Please, pray for the mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers who are in this place. They will be forever grateful.  Rember too, that as they are now you may one day be. 

It's Not The Pope's Church !

When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. "It is a ghost," they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once Jesus spoke to them, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."
Peter said to him in reply,  "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."  He said, "Come."  Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, "Truly, you are the Son of God."

I have always been rather conservative in my thinking except when I was young.  Today I am mystified with the news that is coming out of Vatican City.  The Pope and his posse are coming out against the conservatives in the United State. The so called conservatives are the ones that are championing the cause of traditional Catholic teachings and why a pope or any other cleric should be against the things we have been taught from early age on is mystifying to me.  

I grew up and grew old through the reigns of Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and finally Francis I.  

Although before I was born, Pius XII was held hostage during World War II when the fascists occupied Rome. But that did not stop him from helping thousands of Jewish men, women, and children escape the horror of the Holocaust.   John XXIII opened the windows of the church and let the wind of the Spirit renew the Church even though some of the reforms were misunderstood. Paul VI followed who fleshed out some of the reforms and who helped strengthen the Church.  John Paul the First. died too quickly to leave much of a mark because of his reign. John Paul II brought down communism and was a Pope of the People.  Benedict XVI had more credits to his name when he was prefect of the Congregation of the Faith where his sharp mind clearly brought Catholic teachings so that they could be understood more easily.  For some reason, supposedly for health, he abdicated and we elected Francis I. 

When Francis was elected he broke the mold of what being the Pope meant.  He declined to live in the Apostolic Palace preferring a hotel room in Vatican City instead.  He condemned shows of wealth by the clergy and took up the cause of the poor. He disliked limousines and when he flew to South Korea, he waved to the people from the back of a black Kia Soul!  Francis does have a tendency to talk off of the cuff too much and he fails to recognize, maybe by design, that what he says carries the weight of his office even when he is not speaking from the Chair of Peter.  

The current calamity is an attack on conservative Catholics in the United States.  Francis does not like it when people disagree with him.  He may be a humble man, but he tends to be an imperial pope even though he does not dress the part. I am confused with this man.  He is doing so much good in the Vatican, making finances more transparent and coming out against the mafia which has had a stranglehold on the people for hundreds of years.  He embodies many good things but I do have an unease about the man.  He seems to want to undo centuries old teachings about marriage and divorce, but he does not say so, as a matter of fact, he says nothing about it and lets others do the talking about it.  His rule has stirred up some confusion in the pews and he says nothing to bring light to important subjects.  We hear that there is a gay influence that penetrates to this highest ranks of the Curia and Francis does nothing, at least publicly, about that. 

As I said, Francis confuses me.  But I live my life with a few constants that will never change.  First and foremost, I believe that no pope, not even Francis, owns the Catholic Church.  The Church belongs to and is headed by Jesus as its King and Ruler.  I also believe that Francis will never teach error because no pope ever has and no pope ever will because Jesus promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against HIS church. And God help me, I truly believe that where Peter is, there is the Church. 

Serve or Serve its Your Choice

It

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt.

But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;

whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave."

Americans are not the type of people that want to be servants.  Oh, we will take a job that at first blush seems beneath us but we will only tolerate it for only the minimum amount of time required to move up the ladder to a position where we can call the shots.  We prefer to be the ones that tell someone else where to move that heavy piece of furniture instead of being the one that moves it.  We go through life not seeing those that have taken the jobs we consider menial. The Latino gardener mowing the grass, the janitor with mop and bucket, the hotel maid, the busboy and waitress, all of these people are invisible people.  They are there, we acknowledge that but then we do not see them anymore, they fade into the background.  Please understand that I am not looking down on these people. This is just how it is. 

Well, here is a news flash for you.  No matter who you are in the world, no matter if you are a CEO of a giant corporation, world famous surgeon, President of the United States, or even the Pope of Rome, you are the servant of someone.  That someone might be your stockholders, your patients, the citizens that elected you or the clerics and people of your church, somewhere you owe service to another person or group of people.  We all have an obligation to fulfill to others. We are all servants and of course, we are all servants of God.  I  do mean all of us are servants of God.  We may be good servants, mediocre servants or bad servants, but servants we are.  

What exactly does God expect of His servants? Let's start with His chief employee here on earth, Pope Francis.  The Pope is the prime minister of the Kingdom of God on earth. The prime minister acts in place of the king while the king is absent.  It is expected that the prime minister will know the will of the king and handle the king's affairs accordingly.  How do we know what that word accordingly means in this case?  It is simple.  The Pope functions as the servant of the servants of God. Jesus washed the feet of His disciples and that is what Francis I is supposed to do.  Here he is, a man that seems to hold unlimited power in his hands, and what is he to do with that power? The Kings says to wash the feet of his fellow servants. 

If we were to realize that our vocation is to be just like that of the Pope, that of foot washing servants to one another, we would be falling all over each other trying to meet the other's needs with charity and love.  Next time you see a person mowing the lawn, packing grocery bags, waiting tables, or mopping floors, remember this, they are not invisible people, they are our fellow servants.  Treat them with the kindness and respect you would give to visiting royalty or better yet, treat them as if they were Jesus and He was performing this service for you.  It will change your life and how you look at people.  God bless. 

Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Aunt, Uncle, Grandmother, Grandfather, who do you know that might be in purgatory?  The Holy Souls in Purgatory cannot pray themselves out of there and into heaven, they need us.  An Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be takes only a few moments of our time but it means so much to those in purgatory.  Remember to pray for the holy souls...do it now!  

  

The Reach of The Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is the one institution that has had the most impact on this world, bare none.  No other organization has lived through so many different world orders.  Many different world orders have seen their sunrise, their flourishing, and their sunset. The Church has been there and has witnessed it all. 

The Catholic Church has been a beacon through many tough periods in history. During the Dark Ages, she kept the light of human knowledge burning through her monasteries and learned monks. She formed the first institutions of higher learning, gave birth to what we call the modern hospital, and through it all she has always taught the truth of the Gospel without change and without bowing to the wisdom of the current trends in secular thought. For the Church, the truth that Christ taught, the truth that the Holy Spirit infused into the Church, the truth that the apostle passed down from the beginning remains the truth that is taught today. She has been a faithful steward of and protector of the Deposit of Faith. 

The Catholic Church alone bears the marks of what the true church should be.  She is one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic.  She seeks to unite all under One Body and One Blood. The denominations by their very nature only serve to weaken the unity that Jesus Himself called for at the Last Supper.  When Martin Luther, filled with sinful pride, to an ax to the root of the one, singular, holy church that Christ founded he began a process that continues until today, the removal of pebbles from the Rock that is the foundation of the Church.  The Church is in no danger of falling as Jesus promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against her.  So despite the miasma of a multitude of "truths" being taught in the name of Christ, the Roman Catholic Church remains today as it was in the beginning, the organization that keeps alive the true teachings of Jesus Christ on earth.  

The Catholic Church reaches deeply into modern society.  She is the voice that will not allow the conscience of man to fall asleep. She is hated by those who would rather give vent to the evil in their hearts.  She is despised by those who want to live in the cold and silent darkness of sin and who perpetuate a culture of death.  

The Church through the centuries has been the first to dispense alms to the needy, to victims of famine, and disease.  She is the only organization who waits for opportunities to be of service. In her charity, she does not ask a man's religion nor does she weigh his wallet.  Where there is a need she gives. 

She is the very Bride of Christ but those that hate her describe her as the whore of Babylon because their eyes are blinded to the good fruit the Catholic Church has brought forth through the centuries. Instead, she is accused of killing more people than were alive at the time of the Inquisitions, while the truth is that few perished because of these courts and many more were brought to salvation.  In our own times, she was accused of working hand in glove with the Nazi government and keeping a sinful silence at the plight of the Jewish people at the hands of Hitler.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Pope Pius, at the end of the war, received and thanks from many Jewish leaders for the people he saved by hiding them in monasteries and in Vatican City itself.  

The Roman Catholic Church is the Church that Christ founded. As such, she is the vehicle of salvation for mankind.  Other denominations cannot say this about themselves.  The fact remains that the very Bible that these denominations, was pulled together under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  The Church decided upon the Canon of Scripture that served everyone for fifteen-hundred years until the reformers led by the arch-criminal Luther removed from the Sacred Pages whole books that did not fit into their novel and unbiblical views of salvation. 

The Roman Catholic Church, the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic organization was firmly built by Christ on the rock that was Peter.  The current Pope can trace his lineage back in an unbroken line to Peter.  Never in two-thousand years has even one Pope taught error from the Chair of Peter and there have been some very bad popes indeed!  In spite of the fact that there were some popes who had only their own pockets in mind, even they did not endanger the purity of God's truth by teaching error. Quite the contrary, the evil popes taught nothing as they lined their pockets and ran roughshod over the commandments of God.  The fact remains that the good popes have outnumbered the bad ones by a vast majority.  It should be noted that the Pope is protected from teaching error, but he is not protected from committing sin. Those that state that the Catholic Church cannot be the church of God because these bad popes ruled forget that these men were just that, men, able to commit acts of great turpitude such as the evil popes did or committing acts of great holiness as the saintly ones did. 

So, reject the Catholic Church at your peril. The Church believes that everyone who calls Jesus "Lord" is a fellow Christian even if they are not in full communion with the Church and they can and will attain heaven if they lead holy lives for God sees no difference in Gentile or Jew, man or woman, slave or free.  However, he has given His Church great tools and powers in the Treasury of Faith to ensure that we come to be with Him in heaven.  The way to heaven is a narrow and sometimes steep road.  The Church provides places in which to place your feet and stepping stones to help ease the journey.  The Church will bring you to the Valley of Peace, where pain no longer exists and we will once again be one flock with one Shepherd who is the Lord. 

What The Protestants Don't Understand About The Catholic Church # 1 of a Series

Maybe the title of this post is just a bit too broad.  The truth be told there is a lot of things that the Protestants do not understand about the Catholic Church in general.   I don't want you to think that this post is going to serve as a general condemnation of those who are outside of the Catholic Church, far from it. Those entrapped in Protestant denominations are there because their parents were Protestants and their parents before them, going down a long line until we arrive in the 1500's when a Roman Catholic monk and priest tore asunder the unity of the Church and in doing so stepped outside of the will of God as expressed to us by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Martin Luther made a huge mistake when he decided to carve up God's kingdom on earth.  For 1500 years there was, as Jesus wanted, unity in the Church. There were no questions about the things that we were to believe because in the face of controversy there was an authority to bring these issues to for final determination.  That authority was the Pope.  But, Jesus never did create an office of Pope, that is not in the Bible!  Jesus did create a leader for His Church and that leader was Peter.  In later years we began to call the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.  It is a title that differentiates the Bishop of Rome from all of the other bishops. While he is a man and as a man is capable of sinning and of making mistakes, it is Catholic belief, backed up by scripture, that the Pope when teaching on faith or morals from the chair of Peter, that he is protected from teaching error.  For two thousand years, there has never been a pope that has taught error or heresy. And please note that I am including the bad popes, the ones who are most likely teaching religion to Judas and bin Laden in the deepest, hottest, and most forlorn regions of hell.  These bad popes had no time to bother about religion.  They spent their time engaging in pursuits of the flesh and making money and keeping their power and so they never taught heresy or error, they never taught anything. 

But why do we need a pope at all?  Martin Luther and other reformers taught that the Word of God could be understood by the simplest person with the help of the Holy Spirit. Well, when you have a lack of authority you have anarchy. The spirit of anarchy haunts the Protestant church to this day.  If you want proof, just look to history.  Martin Luther cut asunder the Church, which did need some reforms when he did so, there is no doubt about that. If after he did so there remained only the Catholic Church and Luther's creation, then maybe there would be a case for the reformation being decreed by God.  But that did not happen.  Not long after Luther left the Church, some of his fellow reformers found fault with some of his ideas and they broke away and formed another body of believers.  Soon, scripture was interpreted again and there were more splits.  Today, there is the Catholic Church and about forty-thousand denominations.  These denominations owe their birth to forty-thousand different interpretations of scripture. This presents us with a problem.  It is said that the Holy Spirit will help a person interpret scripture. So, my question is simple. Is the Holy Spirit psychotic? Does He keep changing His mind about what the scripture He inspired means?  If something in Scripture is true for the Lutherans, then why is it not true for the Baptists? 

The fact is Jesus knew that questions would come up. Remember that he was fully human, he knows how we think and act.  He was one of us and experienced life just as we do,  He was aware of our limitations.  In his final prayer to the Father, he made it a point to say that we should be one as He and the Father were one.  Earlier he provided us with His solution to the fact that humans would be running His Church.   He appointed Peter as the first leader and gave him the keys to the kingdom.  He was in fact made the prime minister of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.  Secondly, Jesus made it clear that Peter would be endowed with a special charism in that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church of Jesus.  Jesus created an earthly authority and protected that authority by placing it under the protection of the Holy Spirit. 

This authority is exercised by Peter and his successors.  The Bishop of Rome is where the buck stops.  In scripture, we see that when the Church had a problem, such as the discussion of circumcision for non-Jewish converts at the Council of Jerusalem, there was a lively discussion but it ended when Peter stood up and told them it was not right to put this burden on the Gentile converts.  Peter, the chief Apostle, the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, made the decision. The others accepted the decision because Peter was the authority.

So, Martin Luther got it wrong. He used an axe and cut the Church into pieces and that division continues today,  So, in conclusion, we humans are walking, talking ego's and we do not like to listen to others especially when it comes to religion.  But Jesus knew how important it would be to have an authority and so He decided to appoint a prime minister for His Kingdom.  He also would protect his minister from teaching error and thus keep his kingdom whole. 

There is much more to say on this subject, but the Church has a document that is much more erudite than I am that goes into greater detail.  It is called the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  It is available free online and it tells all of the beliefs of the Church along with the scriptural basis for the teachings.  The sad part of it is that many Protestants, especially "evangelicals"  would rather live in ignorance of what the Church really is about because to know the truth would challenge the basis of their faith. 

Trusting In Jesus - His Mercy

My Jesus I Trust In You

We put our faith into many things over the course of our usual day. We trust that the others on the road will in fact obey the red light so we can enjoy using the green light.  We bury our noses and out attention into our smart phones and trust that when the elevator door opens that the elevator will certainly be there.  We trust that the doctor has a diploma and that he or she has prescribed the correct medicine.  We trust that the electrician has wired the house up properly and that we will not get electrocuted the first time we turn on the dishwasher. So you see that we place our faith into many things routinely every hour if every day.

Through Sister Faustina, a Polish nun who spoke to Jesus we are told to trust in the mercy of Jesus. We are being given an extraordinary time to accept the mercy of Jesus as the final sunset draws nearer every second.  Jesus loves you so much and He wants you to be happy with Him in heaven. He died for our sins, His Sacred Heart was pierced because of them. Mercy flows from His Sacred Heart and we need to accept it.  Each of us has to look at how we are living our lives and we have to give up those things that offend God. We have to turn to God now while there is still time to do so.  If we do not repent and accept the mercy of Jesus then we will have to accept His justice when he comes again. 

I myself am a poor sinner.  I do not mean that my sins can compare with some of the most offensive behaviors in the world today.  For example, I have not murdered anyone, I have not counseled any person to seek an abortion, I don't even read the horoscopes, since I believe in Christ and not in some goofy Greek and Roman gods. I have sinned in the past, I have repented in the past, and I have been forgiven in the past because I professed both my sorrow and my firm resolution to mend my ways. I've confessed my sins to my pastor who gave me absolution acting in persona Christi in accordance with Jesus' instructions in John 20:23, "Whose sins you forgive they are forgiven, whose sins you retain, they are retained." 

So, if this is the case, why am I crowing about trusting in Jesus? I believe that all sin, no matter what sin we are speaking about, has its origin in a basic lack of trust in the providence of God.  We set up false god's because we don't trust in Him to give us all of the good things that we need. The best example we find in the Bible is that of Adam and Eve, they had everything they needed.  Yet they did not trust God enough to stay away from what was not allowed. In our world today we touch enough forbidden fruit to make a snazzy fruit salad!  We kill children in the womb in the interest of making our own life easier.  Our families are but a shadow what they were in previous generations.  We do not take care of our children,  we put them in day-care and put their early nurturing into the hands of strangers because we are afraid that the sacrifice of caring for them will cost us too much financially and our lives will be less comfortable than they could be.  We do not honor our father and mother anymore but we send them to nursing homes where strangers care for them on a daily basis and we console ourselves that this was for their own good while it makes our life easier.  In previous generations parents would be cared for and loved in person by their sons and daughters.  We steal, we cheat, we look to take advantage of our neighbors, we envy and allow greed to control our lives.  I think you get the idea here. Each sin we commit or cause to come into being by omitting a good demonstrates a lack of trust in Jesus. 

We have to Trust in Jesus.  We have to repent and flee to Him for He wants us with Him. There is good news here.  THE MERCY OF JESUS IS GREATER BY AN INFINITE FACTOR COMPARED TO OUR SINS!  There is no need for a soul to choose hell over heaven.  Whatever we have done or failed to do we can throw ourselves on the mercy of Jesus and we will be forgiven. Think of some of the most terrible people on history.  Do you realize that in their last moment they may have converted in their heart and begged for forgiveness and thus became eligible to an eternity in heaven?  St. Stalin?  St. bin Laden?  don't laugh, while it is improbable you have to admit that it is possible. 

Every sin on our soul is important, those small white lies, stealing that box of paperclips, walking past the beggar, going to the game rather than to worship all these sins are important and if you don't think that they are, then simply look at a crucifix: 

Do you see the Man on the cross? He died for YOU in reparation for the sins you committed.  He died for perpetrators of the Holocaust, for the people ensnared in ISIS, for the child that disobeys his parents, for the young girl who had an abortion, for the man who stole the paperclips from his employer.  The arms of Jesus were stretched out on the cross for every human that ever lived and for every human that will live after our turn on earth is done.  The Sacred Heart of Jesus in an inexhaustible well of mercy that was and is being poured out on His children.  The nails were not needed because Jesus would have held himself on the Cross because of His great love for us, his children. 

The time to rely on the Divine Mercy is NOW.  If we refuse the Divine Mercy, committing the one sin that cannot be forgiven, the refusal of God's mercy, than be ready for eternal darkness, sorrow and suffering. But, if we accept the Divine Mercy, make a firm commitment to repent, now our sins will be forgiven and we will be shown to our place in Heaven next to others who will love God and be with Him forever. 

Challenge:  Remember my Protestant friends, I am waiting for you to tell me where the Catholic Church is wrong and why I should convert to your denomination.  So far, no one has been brave enough to take on the challenge.  I will take on all comers.  Bring your evidence that the Church is wrong and that Protestantism is the way to go.   I am waiting, ready and willing.   

The Visit of Pope Francis - What it Means

I am anticipating the end of the visit of Pope Francis to the United States because at the time I wrote this he had just completed his visit to the maximum security prison and his next event will be the procession / motorcade / parade back to the circle where he will celebrate Mass, the final event on his whirlwind tour. 

I have to say that the man impresses me greatly.  He is a genuinely good human being who emulates the teachings of Christ.  How does he compare with John Paul II?  He doesn't compare at all to JP2.  But I mean this in a good way.  He is a genuine person.  His exterior mirrors his interior.  I think that he is much more practical than John Paul II was.  I think that he is a good politician, wise in the ways to use the world's leaders to accomplish the most good.  He has the common touch.  He is the Vicar of Christ on earth but he remembers at the same time that he is a man that must be completely open to the call of Christ in his life.  He is a man that will tolerate no cover-ups, no hankie-pankie with the Church's funds and demands complete and total honesty for all those that work with him.  On the other side of the coin he is a man that will make every attempt to extend mercy to others.

It is funny how the religious lunatics out there are claiming that this pope is the Antichrist.  They interpret the events of today in light of their erroneous exegesis of the Book of Revelation.  If Francis is the Antichrist, well, he certainly not acting as one.  He is humble and preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ and tells us how to make the Gospel work in our life.  Last night he had the audience in the palm of his hand.  It was not because of the great oratory, fare from it. As an orator he is fair but not earthshaking.  His words and the way he set them before us were the words of a humble man stating simply what he knew to be true.  

The Catholic Church has come through some hard times.  A small minority of our clergy sometimes aided by their bishops caused the scandal of child abuse to tarnish the Church. The sun is starting to set on these events and the perpetrators are all receiving justice.  The Church has placed safeguards into place and has instituted a zero tolerance policy.  Francis is being used by God to breathe new life into the Church.  He is setting an example that we are to follow.  The example he is setting is not new.  He is living his life and following Christ by carrying his cross daily. 

What Francis has called us to do is to respect life, respect the family, and to take care of the young, for they are the future and to take care of the old for they are the memory who will pass on the family traditions including the teachings of the Church. 

We are called to a life that will not be easy.  The Church is a rock in the shoe of the world, a sore that will not heal because we point out the way of God, they way we are to live.  Today that is very dangerous because those in power, the Obama's of the world have no desire to see religion regain the control it had over the nation after world war 2.  It is easier, but unfulfilling to live the life of a pagan. The happiness thus attained is of a transient nature.  To live the life of a Christian is to live a life where you expend yourself to the betterment of others.  This is the true road to happiness.  I have never engaged in a ministry that once completed where I have not felt that I received more than I gave. 

I believe in one, holy, Catholic Church with Francis the First as the Vicar of Christ. 

Why Do We Need A Pope Anyway?

His Holiness Pope Francis I

Welcome Holy Father to the United States of America.  We Catholics are glad you are here!  But some of my Protestant friends see no need for a Pope.  As a matter of fact they say that the word Pope never appears in scripture!  Heavens to Betsy say it isn't true! 

Actually I have to concede the point that the word "pope" does not appear in scripture.  But a lot of words that we associate with God, Jesus and His Church do not appear either.  For example, the word Trinity never appears in the Bible at all yet mainstream Christians believe that God a single being in three divine persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  We use the term trinity to describe the unique character of God even though we do not understand how this can be.  

When Jesus began to build his Church He was well aware that He would not be on earth to guide it over the long years so he delegated a man to be in charge, to make the hard decisions, a man of rock, a man called Peter. How do we know absolutely that Peter was the man Jesus put in charge?  Well first we have the words of Jesus.  He tells Simon: "Thou art rock and upon this rock I shall build my Church."   Further on He gives Peter, and only Peter, they keys to the kingdom of heaven. Peter was therefore the first in a long line of men who would head the Church founded by Christ.  We know he was the one that the others accepted as head because when issues were debated, the debate ended when Peter spoke.  Also he is always listed first in any listing of the apostles while Judas is always listed last. 

But why do we need a pope at all?  Well every organization has to have a leader.  The Church too needed a leader once Jesus ascended to heaven. Peter was chosen. He made the hard decisions and his descendants through the years continued to make them.  

In the 1500's an evil arose and a man named Martin Luther attempted to pull apart what God had joined together.  As a result today we have over 30,000 Protestant denominations, each with a slightly different interpretation of the Bible, each claiming to be the carrier of the truth. 

The Catholic Church is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit that the gates of hell will never prevail against her.  The Pope is there to make the hard decisions.  When it concerns faith and morals it is he like Peter who relying on the Spirit proclaims what we should believe. 

This man, for the pope is only a man, is not worshiped or considered on a level with God by Catholics.  As a matter of fact Pope John Paul II went to confession weekly.  So the Pope can sin.  The only thing he cannot do is to proclaim a heresy as being true. We are guaranteed that what the Pope proclaims from the Chair of Peter, is the truth and nothing but the truth. 

So that is why we need a pope. As always I welcome questions about the Catholic Church or Christianity in general.  Hate mail will not be responded to. 

May the light of Christ bring you home. Amen. 

A Response to a Very Hateful Young Lady

Want to Learn about the Eucharist?
See the Gospel of John Chapter Six

Today I was reading a news article about rule changes that Pope Francis is going to make in the annulment process.  This article as any article about the Catholic Church brought out a lot of people who really hate the Catholic Church.  The one that wrote the next paragraph styles herself as “Lovely One Jones.”  I looked up other stories she has commented on and most of her comments are tirades against the Catholic Church.  In the example she treats us to below she is quite mild compared to some of her other comments about the Church. Her rages against the Church run the gamut and normally I would just shake my head and move on but she insulted the Holy Eucharist.  She can insult the pope, claim that Catholics worship Mary, you know air out all of the Jack Chic ringers but to ridicule and mock the Holy Eucharist earned her a response.  The next paragraph is what she wrote, it is in italics.  My response follows and is in bold print.

“We Christians can tell you that Catholics are not Christians. Catholics are a strange cult, an off-shoot of regular Christianity if you will. It is similar to other cultist religions that claim to fall under our Christian umbrella. Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses do the same thing. They go around claiming to be Christians, when in fact they are just cults. Catholics worship a pope. Catholics pray to Mary and to their pope. They also pray to people called "saints". When confronted on their poly-theism, they claim that they pray to these PEOPLE to intercede on their behalf. This is just crazy double talk. The fact of the matter is that they think the saints are little tiny gods. They put little idols of their gods on the dashboards of their cars and hope that their god will protect them from getting into a crash. Catholics believe that their statues come to life and start crying too. It is also well documented that the clergy of this Christ-cult enjoys a practice called pedophilia. Yes it is true; their priests like to rape little boys. Catholics also like to eat cookies in their church and they call this cookie Christ and they think that they have Christ in their tummies and in their intestines when they leave their cult rituals. No, this is not Christianity at all. Anyone that is not Catholic can see this. They are just a strange cult, nothing more. All REAL Christians know of these truths.”

Let's address the nonsense you wrote point by point. 

1. The Catholic Church is the Church started by Christ and up until the 1500's it was one Church holding one belief. Since then besides the Church you have 30,000 or so denominations, each one claiming to have the truth. 

2. I do not know where you got the idea that Catholics worship the pope, we don't. Just as the early Church had a leader, so does the Church of today. We do not worship him - he is but a man. We believe in the promise of Jesus that He will send the Holy Spirit to protect His Church from harm. 

3. Yes, we pray to Mary and the Saints, we ask them to pray to Christ for us. If that is wrong then it is not lawful for one Christian to pray for another Christian. For example if I ask you to pray for me is that wrong? Hardly, consult Scripture and you will see we are told to pray for one another. People pray for other people all of the time. So tell me how that is wrong. Besides, we as Christians believe that death is not an end but life is changed in the twinkle of an eye. Who better to pray for us than one of God's beloved who see Him Face to Face all the time? 

4. Statues are like the pictures of loved ones that you carry around in your wallet. We use statues in a like manner to remind us of a loved one, whether that loved one be Mary or one of the saints. We know that a statue is wood, or stone and has no power at all. No sane Catholic worships a statue. 

5. Sad to say a small percentage of our clergy fell into sin, weather that is that they abused a child or children, or covered it up. There is no way to say that this did not happen. However, the Church has taken steps to insure that this sort of thing does not happen again and if it does there are procedures to be followed to expose the perpetrator and see to it that it never happens again. These things happen because humans are human and they do sin. Examine the record and you will see that there are more offenses committed outside of the Catholic Church then there ever was inside of it. 

6. I find your comments about the Holy Eucharist most offensive. People such as yourself need to study the Scripture and see what Jesus says about the Blessed Eucharist. Read John Chapter six. It is all there in black and white. The Eucharist is the way Christ decided to be with us always. The Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ as He is Today, triumphant in heaven. And yes when we receive the Sacred Body and Blood Jesus is truly present inside of us. You cannot get any closer to God this side of heaven. 

I am not naive enough to think that this short discourse will have any effect on someone such as yourself that is so full of hate for the Church. I do recognize that you are a person full of passion. I will pray that the Lord helps you to extinguish the part of your passion that fuels such hate and that you begin to learn that the message of Christ is not one of division but rather one of unification. It is sad that in the fifteen hundreds a monk pulled away from the Church and caused such disunity. Be at peace brother and may God lead you and give you light.

Catholic Church Exposed ! ! ! !

At long last here is the absolute truth about the

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church bases her teaching upon one source: The word of God. This divine revelation is transmitted in two ways: through Scripture and apostolic tradition. Many assume that only the writings of the apostles are the word of God. However, their oral transmission of the faith is also considered the word of God (1 Thess. 2:13). Few Protestant groups today accept the validity, let alone the authority, of tradition. In fact, many believe that Scripture is the only definitive source of divine truth. For this reason, they are critical of certain doctrines of the Catholic Church, which, according to them, have no basis in Scripture. In fact, those who embrace the theory of sola scriptura attempt to use the Bible to contradict, to prove baseless, certain Church teachings, such as the Real Presence and the existence of purgatory. However, these teachings are reflected in Scripture, as the passages we will look at illustrate.

Our purpose here is not to dissect the opposition. Rather, our purpose is to provide a scriptural evidence for these doctrines. Under each Catholic doctrine in the list that follows are passages from Scripture that witness to the doctrine’s divine origin. For the Catholic, what follows will make clear the harmony of Scripture and tradition: truth cannot contradict truth. Whether God speaks to us through the Bible or through the voice of tradition, the word spoken is always a true and steadfast guide.

Please note that all scriptural citations are taken from the Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition of the Holy Bible.

Scripture and Tradition

"I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you" (1 Cor. 11:2).

"Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us" (2 Tim. 1:13-14).

"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter." (2 Thess. 2:15)

"You, then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:1-2).

"First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:20-21).

"‘Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink, but I hope to come to see you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete" (2 John 12).

Faith and Works

"‘Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven’" (Matt. 7:21).

"‘Why do you call me "Lord, Lord," and not do what I tell you?’" (Luke 6:46).

"For he will render every man according to his works . . ." (Rom. 2:6-8).

"For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified" (Rom. 2:13).

"For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgments . . . (Heb. 10:26-27).

"What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?" (Jas. 2:14).

"So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (Jas. 2:17).

"But some one will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. . . .Do you want to be shown, you foolish fellow, that faith apart from works is barren? (Jas. 2:18-20).

"You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (Jas. 2:24)

The Trinity

"Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . .’" (Gen. 1:26).

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19).

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)

"But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’" (Acts 5:3-4)

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor. 13:14).

Christ’s Divinity

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’" (Is. 9:6).

"Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven’" (Matt. 16:16-17).

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

"Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58).

"‘I and the Father are one’" (John 10:30).

"For in him [Christ] the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily" (Col. 2:9).

"In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power . . ." (Heb. 1:1-3).

"But of the Son he says, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, the righteous scepter is the scepter of thy kingdom. . . . And, "Thou, Lord, didst found the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of thy hands." (Heb. 1:8, 10)

Real Presence in the Eucharist

"‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed’" (John 6:47-55).

"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant of my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes" (1 Cor. 11:23-26).

"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:27).

The Papacy

"And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter . . ." (Matt. 10:1-2).

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’" (Matt. 16:18-19).

"‘Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren’" (Luke 22:31-32).

"He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, ‘So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas’ (which means Peter)" (John 1:42).

"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep’" (John 21:15-17).

Purgatory

"For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin" (2 Macc. 12:44-45).

"Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny" (Matt. 5:25-26).

"Each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire" (1 Cor. 3:13-15).

"For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey . . ." (1 Peter 3:18-20).

"But nothing unclean shall enter it [heaven] . . ." (Rev. 21:27).

Honor Due to the Virgin Mary

"And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’" (Luke 1:41-43).

"And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name’" (Luke 1:46-49).

"If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together" (1 Cor. 12:26).

Praying to the Saints

"‘And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"? He is not God of the dead, but of the living . . .’" (Mark 12:26-27)

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely . . ." (Heb. 12:1).

"And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (Rev. 5:8).

NIHIL OBSTAT: I have concluded that the materials
presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors.
Bernadeane Carr, STL, Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004

IMPRIMATUR: In accord with 1983 CIC 827
permission to publish this work is hereby granted.
+Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004

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