A Great Promise

I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, 

"Fear not, I will help you."

How can we fail when we have a friend such as this.  The God of the universe loves us so much that He watches and will grasp us with His right hand and will keep us from harm.  He tells us in this reading from Isiah that we are to fear not for He will help us. 

Look around the world today.  If there ever was a time when we needed the strong right hand of God to grasp us and pull us out of the pit it is today. Mind you, the world is still a very beautiful place.  There are abundance and plenty all around us. The sun rises and sets as it always has, the tides of the ocean are regulated by the moon. Plants take in the sunlight and grow and are nurtured by God's mighty hand and the animals of the forest find their food provided for them.  Yet, God in his love has done so much more for those of Adam's race.  Time and time again he has come to the aid of His children and all of us while at first grateful, later we fall away from His counsel, forget His laws, and we wander off on our own way again.  Does God turn His back as we would to one who offended us greatly? No, with infinite patience, care, and love He extends His hand in friendship ready to accept any and all that want to return to Him. 

In this season of Advent, I ask you to be cognizant of the state of your soul. Are you wandering down a path that will lead to your spiritual ruin?  Do not give the devil a victory by thinking you have not sinned.  This lie is the evil one's sharpest tool and one that is used to separate man from God. When was the last time you approached the Lord in the sacrament of reconciliation?  A year ago? Five years? A quarter of a century ago?  It does not matter how long it has been, make plans to receive the mercy and love of our God in the confessional.  He knows your sins already, you will not be telling Him anything He doesn't know.  But to heal you have to tell Him what you have done and apply for His forgiveness and mercy.  He has never rejected anyone who has come to Him in tears and sorrow, even if it took years and years to come to the realization that sin was present in life.

Forgiveness and healing are but steps away.  Show your love and faith in God by admitting your wrongs and resolving to do right.  Then the coming Christmas holy day will mean more to you than it did when you were a child because you will know the love and mercy of the God of the universe and He will grasp you with His strong right hand and never let you go again.  

Today would be a great day to say the rosary for the Poor Souls in Purgatory, it is the memorial of St. John of the Cross. Please remember the poor souls, they cannot pray themselves out of purgatory, they need your help.  Remember, my friend, as they are, perhaps someday you shall be. 

What Do You Think?

Goodness Gracious it is good to be a Catholic!  Why?  Well, I am glad that you asked.  It is because I am Catholic I do not have to really think about the following stumpers. 

1. If Sola Scriptura is really true, please show me where it is taught in the Bible.  Search high and low, through the Old Testament, through the New Testament, and you will not find it mentioned.  So, Sola Scriptura is not scriptural. As a Catholic, we know that God's truth is found both in the Bible and in Sacred Tradition. I can depend as a Catholic, that my Church will not teach error. 

2. If the message of the Bible is so simple that anyone can read it and interpret the truth it contains on their own because the Holy Spirit will guide them, then why don't all of the Protestant denominations believe the same things?  As a Catholic, I can depend on my Church to tell me exactly what a particular passage means and how to incorporate it into my life.  The Church bases her teaching on Sacred Tradition of which the Bible is part of, plus all of the truths that have been passed down through the ages, especially from the Church Fathers who lived in the early centuries of the Church. 

3. Protestants of an earlier generation recognized abortion as the murder of innocent life.  Today, many of the denominations fight for the right for a mother to murder her unborn child.  This change in belief usually comes from a synod where the matter is voted upon and the side with fifty point one percent of the votes wins and thus truth is changed by a simple majority. How very democratic.  Catholics have not forgotten that the Kingdom of God is just that, a kingdom. We have no right to change the truths taught by Christ, as it is His Church and his Kingdom.  As a Catholic, I can depend on the fact that our doctrines have not changed, that they are the same things that we have believed from the beginning.  The Holy Spirit protects the Catholic Church and keeps its teachings pure. 

4.  I find the belief of "once saved, always saved" a curious belief at best when you extrapolate what that means as far as it can go. For example, let's say one day I decided to be saved. I have an evangelical friend who leads me through the "sinner's prayer" and I accept Jesus into my heart as personal Lord and Savior. He tells me that is all I need to do to secure a place in heaven, I am saved. He tells me that my place in eternity, real estate bought by the blood of Jesus on Calvary is mine forever.  My name has been inscribed in the Lamb's Book of Life, never to be effaced.    I smile and thank him.  I then ask him if I can continue to go to the Catholic Church?  He says, "Oh no, you have to quit the Catholic Church and go to my Church of What's Happening Now."  So, I tell him that actually being saved is not actually enough. I need to be saved AND I need to go to his church. I go one more step, I ask, "What if I rob a bank and kill the teller, will I still get into heaven even if I was not sorry for it and did not repent of it?"  He tells me that I have to repent, so now to get into heaven I have to; accept Jesus, Quit the Catholic Church and join a Protestant church, and finally, I have to repent. If I miss even one of these steps, I guess my name would be erased from the Lamb's Book of Life. It would seem that once saved always saved does not quite work out. This doctrine fails to take into account God's justice. Of course, once saved, always saved is put to rest by Jesus Himself. We can see how he views this teaching if we read this in the Bible in the tale of the sheep and the goats in Matthew Chapter 25.

I am not pointing these things out because I think that only Catholics go to heaven.  The people born into other denominations are NOT guilty of the sin of schism.  That sin was committed by the so-called reformers who broke the unity that Christ wanted for us as stated at the Last Supper.  The people born into other denominations are guiltless of the sin of separation. They are brothers and sisters in the Lord, they are just not in full communion with the Catholic Church, the church that Christ established on earth. Many of them love the Lord and follow His teachings in their everyday life.  God will not turn them away.  

The Mercy of God is for Everyone.  For me, I prefer to live the way of a Catholic.  As they say on EWTN, the Catholic Cable Channel,  Live Truth, Live Catholic!