A Tale of Two Churches

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American Law Is Officially Telling Its Citizens What Values to Hold and How to Think, Warns Cardinal George

By Francis Cardinal George

CHICAGO, September 16, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Once upon a time there was a church founded on God’s entering into human history in order to give humanity a path to eternal life and happiness with him. The Savior that God sent, his only-begotten Son, did not write a book but founded a community, a church, upon the witness and ministry of twelve apostles. He sent this church the gift of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of love between Father and Son, the Spirit of the truth that God had revealed about himself and humanity by breaking into the history of human sinfulness.

This Church, a hierarchical communion, continued through history, living among different peoples and cultures, filled with sinners, but always guided in the essentials of her life and teaching by the Holy Spirit. She called herself “Catholic” because her purpose was to preach a universal faith and a universal morality, encompassing all peoples and cultures. This claim often invited conflict with the ruling classes of many countries. About 1,800 years into her often stormy history, this church found herself as a very small group in a new country in Eastern North America that promised to respect all religions because the State would not be confessional; it would not try to play the role of a religion.

This Church knew that it was far from socially acceptable in this new country. One of the reasons the country was established was to protest the king of England’s permitting the public celebration of the Catholic Mass on the soil of the British Empire in the newly conquered Catholic territories of Canada. He had betrayed his coronation oath to combat Catholicism, defined as “America’s greatest enemy,” and protect Protestantism, bringing the pure religion of the colonists into danger and giving them the moral right to revolt and reject his rule.

Nonetheless, many Catholics in the American colonies thought their life might be better in the new country than under a regime whose ruling class had penalized and persecuted them since the mid-16th century. They made this new country their own and served her loyally. The social history was often contentious, but the State basically kept its promise to protect all religions and not become a rival to them, a fake church. Until recent years.

There was always a quasi-religious element in the public creed of the country. It lived off the myth of human progress, which had little place for dependence on divine providence. It tended to exploit the religiosity of the ordinary people by using religious language to co-opt them into the purposes of the ruling class. Forms of anti-Catholicism were part of its social DNA. It had encouraged its citizens to think of themselves as the creators of world history and the managers of nature, so that no source of truth outside of themselves needed to be consulted to check their collective purposes and desires. But it had never explicitly taken upon itself the mantle of a religion and officially told its citizens what they must personally think or what “values” they must personalize in order to deserve to be part of the country. Until recent years.

In recent years, society has brought social and legislative approval to all types of sexual relationships that used to be considered “sinful.” Since the biblical vision of what it means to be human tells us that not every friendship or love can be expressed in sexual relations, the Church’s teaching on these issues is now evidence of intolerance for what the civil law upholds and even imposes. What was once a request to live and let live has now become a demand for approval. The “ruling class,” those who shape public opinion in politics, in education, in communications, in entertainment, is using the civil law to impose its own form of morality on everyone. We are told that, even in marriage itself, there is no difference between men and women, although nature and our very bodies clearly evidence that men and women are not interchangeable at will in forming a family. Nevertheless, those who do not conform to the official religion, we are warned, place their citizenship in danger.

When the recent case about religious objection to one provision of the Health Care Act was decided against the State religion, the Huffington Post (June 30, 2014) raised “concerns about the compatibility between being a Catholic and being a good citizen.” This is not the voice of the nativists who first fought against Catholic immigration in the 1830s. Nor is it the voice of those who burned convents and churches in Boston and Philadelphia a decade later. Neither is it the voice of the Know-Nothing Party of the 1840s and 1850s, nor of the Ku Klux Klan, which burned crosses before Catholic churches in the Midwest after the civil war. It is a voice more sophisticated than that of the American Protective Association, whose members promised never to vote for a Catholic for public office. This is, rather, the self-righteous voice of some members of the American establishment today who regard themselves as “progressive” and “enlightened.”

The inevitable result is a crisis of belief for many Catholics. Throughout history, when Catholics and other believers in revealed religion have been forced to choose between being taught by God or instructed by politicians, professors, editors of major newspapers and entertainers, many have opted to go along with the powers that be. This reduces a great tension in their lives, although it also brings with it the worship of a false god. It takes no moral courage to conform to government and social pressure. It takes a deep faith to “swim against the tide,” as Pope Francis recently encouraged young people to do at last summer’s World Youth Day.

Swimming against the tide means limiting one’s access to positions of prestige and power in society. It means that those who choose to live by the Catholic faith will not be welcomed as political candidates to national office, will not sit on editorial boards of major newspapers, will not be at home on most university faculties, will not have successful careers as actors and entertainers. Nor will their children, who will also be suspect. Since all public institutions, no matter who owns or operates them, will be agents of the government and conform their activities to the demands of the official religion, the practice of medicine and law will become more difficult for faithful Catholics. It already means in some States that those who run businesses must conform their activities to the official religion or be fined, as Christians and Jews are fined for their religion in countries governed by Sharia law.

A reader of the tale of two churches, an outside observer, might note that American civil law has done much to weaken and destroy what is the basic unit of every human society, the family. With the weakening of the internal restraints that healthy family life teaches, the State will need to impose more and more external restraints on everyone’s activities. An outside observer might also note that the official religion’s imposing whatever its proponents currently desire on all citizens and even on the world at large inevitably generates resentment. An outside observer might point out that class plays a large role in determining the tenets of the official State religion. “Same-sex marriage,” as a case in point, is not an issue for the poor or those on the margins of society.

How does the tale end? We don’t know. The actual situation is, of course, far more complex than a story plot, and there are many actors and characters, even among the ruling class, who do not want their beloved country to transform itself into a fake church. It would be wrong to lose hope, since there are so many good and faithful people.

Catholics do know, with the certainty of faith, that, when Christ returns in glory to judge the living and the dead, the Church, in some recognizable shape or form that is both Catholic and Apostolic, will be there to meet him. There is no such divine guarantee for any country, culture or society of this or any age.

Cardinal Francis George is the Archbishop of Chicago.

As a closing note by the producers of this website, Seeking Divine Mercy, No doubt as unwavering as the Words of Jesus Christ are; as unwavering as is the Covenant Jesus made with His Church, She WILL be here to meet with Him “until the end of days”. No other source can sustain over her. SeekingDivineMercy.org

Catholicism – What is “the Fullness of Christianity"?

 

Many non-Catholic Christians have at times asked what is meant when one speaks of the fullness of Christian teachings in Catholicism and how can the Catholic faith claim to possess this fullness. For those who know the history and lineage of the Holy Bible, it is recognized the Bible’s origin is the Catholic Church. The many versions today and the alterations that are contained in those versions range from a subtle difference to a major redefining of what was intended in the original volumes dependant on the founder of the particular system of beliefs that took it for his or her own use while promoting their own assumptions of what it teaches. But the common factor among the majority of protestant denominations is the assumption that any person can read verses from scripture and determine what it means to them personally. Those verses that conflict with either the individual’s personal interpretation or the system of beliefs of their denomination are routinely disregarded as though holding no significance and this is a common practice.

 

The reason the Catholic faith is referred to as the fullness of the teachings of Christ or of Christianity is because in Catholicism, no verse is disregarded. The bible can, when kept in its entirety offer its own confirmation as to the accurate interpretation from one verse as compared to another. No verse in scripture is to be considered insignificant or to be disregarded, but all to be recognized as the “Inspired Word of God”. The practice of reading one verse or passage and self interpreting it while disregarding other verses or passages that conflict with ones self interpretation is misguided as scripture does not conflict with itself. When a person concludes through their own interpretation that a particular verse means one thing but opposes or conflicts with something else in scripture, it is a flawed interpretation. This is not to say there are parts of scripture that can speak to us personally but scripture in its entirety brings forth the intended teachings of Christ, not the intended opinions or desired wishes of others. By discovering we have interpreted a verse that does conflict with another verse, we should immediately go back and reconsider what the first verse is intending to tell us.

 

In Catholicism, all scripture is valid and to selectively choose to interpret some verses to support what seems more flexible or suitable to us and disregard those that conflict with our opinions, is to diminish the very intent and validity of all scripture, as there is nothing to validate our own choice in passages or verses with our personal interpretations as more valid than that of the verses we disregard.

 

An example of the many losses Christians suffer due to the disregard of parts of scripture in Protestantism as apposed to the true relationship one can embrace in understanding Christ's teachings in their fullness, one can reflect on the existence today of over thirty thousand non-Catholic denominations, all teaching or proclaiming various differences in their systems of belief. Yet according to scripture we are told; “God is faithful: by whom you are called unto the fellowship (solidarity) of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no schisms among you; but that you be perfect in the same mind, and in the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians CH1: vs9-10). As the source of the Holy Bible and the one Church founded by Christ to teach and guide the faithful until the consumation of the world, it stands to reason that the fullness of Christianity can be found within her.

 

Let us consider the totality of scripture and its origin that we may be guided by the Holy Spirit in truth and not misled by false direction.

 

A Prison Mentor’s Reflections

(This blog is written by a Christian volunteer who has been mentoring at a Federal Women’s prison for approximately five years through the Life Connections Program, a faith based organization bringing the message of faith and hope to those anticipating release. It is the reflection at the close of a single evening.) 

This evening, as I drove home from the prison after an hour of mentoring with the light of a full moon and listening to Andrea Bocelli singing Ave Maria, I could feel God's presence all around me. I told the Lord I was tired as I usually am after an intense hour of dialogue with a prisoner.  Emotions run high.  But knowing God was with me, I told Him I had missed that feeling of closeness with Him on occasion this week, mostly due to my wandering mind; not being focused on Him and letting other things invade my space.  Prison mentoring brings me back to center.  My inmate is grateful for my presence; it gives her chance to vent, share, cry, and wish for freedom, privacy, and time alone with her Lord.  We on the outside have freedom. We are not locked up and no, we have committed no crime for sure.  All they want is to know that someone cares; someone from the outside; someone who can bring the outside inside with a message of hope and of God’s love.  We get so caught up in our own petty worries and fears that we really do not realize those who are trapped behind bars, admittedly through their own fault, but never the less still are looking from behind bars for a glimpse of freedom, while we look from the outside through the bars with freedom at our side. When the sound of the gate closes as we enter or leave, there is a large "bang". When entering the prison we are subjected to the usual security measures similar to the airports; pat downs, metal detectors and hands being stamped for our safety and God forbid, we become involved in a prison riot. We realize we cannot leave unless granted permission with an escort to take us back out of the confines of the unit.  Freedom is precious.  The slamming of the gate is a reminder of just how precious it is.  It is a sound that resonates throughout the room and one a person never forgets or gets used to.  

We all tend to get caught up in the moment but I realize every time I enter those prison gates, how grateful I am for that freedom which God has blessed me with and all of us with.  I wonder sometimes how the early martyrs felt when the gate slammed behind them.  When their freedom was extinguished because of their faith, did the sound of the gate, the dark of the dungeon, the loss of light and separation from loved ones cause them anxiety, fear, doubt and pain?  

When walking through Mamertine Prison in Rome where St. Peter was imprisoned for some months awaiting his death, I pondered all the feelings he must have had.  Interestingly enough, he converted almost all the guards who watched over him. 

I have been asked many times “how can you go to the prison?”  I could never do what you do”, they say.  Of course I remind them of Mathew’s passage in chapter 25: 35-36 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.” (NAB)  I continue to tell them, it is a “calling” that I cannot ignore. 

I read an article recently that said “Each year, more than 700,000 individuals are released from state and federal prison.  Another 9 million cycle through local jails.  When reentry fails, the costs—both societal and economic—are high.  Statistics indicate that more than two-thirds of state prisoners are rearrested within 3 years of their release and half are re-incarcerated.” (Taken from Reentry in Brief, a product of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council) 

I hope I can, at the very least, bring the light of God's love to those I mentor.  If I can even save one soul for Christ out of all I interact with or at the very least keep one inmate from returning to prison, I will feel some sense of accomplishment.  I do not ask for God's glory, just his love and strength to do this which gives me the confidence and courage I need to show the outside to those on the inside. To soften the "bang" of the gate a little and give hope to the hopeless, love to the loveless and the love and peace of Christ to all who desire it........ I continue to thank my Lord and Savior for this opportunity.

 JRB (A Contributor to SDM)

A Lesson in Patience

When the Holy Spirit put it on my heart to transition back into the Catholic faith a year ago, I knew this journey would be one of extreme discomfort for not only me but those around me. I knew the journey would be a very painful one but never did I think for a moment this pain would continue to follow me even after I became once again fully Catholic. I was naïve enough to think there would be the strong possibility of my family embracing the faith as well or at the very least be understanding of my transition. Once I could show what a rich and full life the church could provide, others would follow.  But this was not to be and as others before me have experienced, I am convinced it will take an extreme amount of patience on my part for some time to come to be accepting of that realization.

We have all experienced those moments when we run out of patience and someone says “Patience is a Virtue”. According to Wikipedia: The seven heavenly virtues were derived from the Psychomachia ("Contest of the Soul"), an epic poem written by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (c. AD 410) entailing the battle of virtues and evil. The intense popularity of this work in the Middle Ages helped to spread the concept of "Holy Virtue" throughout Europe. Practicing these virtues is considered to protect one against temptation from the seven deadly sins, with each one having its counterpart. Due to this they are sometimes referred to as the contrary virtues. Each of the seven heavenly virtues matches a corresponding deadly sin.”

I heard a marvelous sermon not too long ago at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York by Archbishop Timothy Dolan on patience. He spoke of patience with ourselves, others and God. He mentioned patience with God is a difficult one as most of us when we pray want God to answer our prayers immediately and he likened it to us putting our request into the microwave oven and “zap” it is answered when in reality God puts it in a crockpot and lets it simmer a bit. My request for family to embrace the faith is in the crockpot and will probably simmer until there is no liquid left and the ingredients burn up!

Patience as defined in the dictionary says:

A Lesson in Humility

Written by a follower of SDM

It has occurred to me within the last week, the very thing causing me to anguish over loss of previous church relationships of another denomination, abundant blessings from ministries in that denomination and recognition for those ministries, is the virtue of humility. This very virtue if not recognized, can cause prideful feelings to creep into the soul which in turn can keep one from intimacy with Christ.

I recently was privileged to attend Vespers with the Conferral of Pontifical Honors at the Cathedral of St. Patrick’s in downtown Ft. Worth, Texas. A new Catholic friend of mine and future spiritual advisor was receiving the Benemerenti Medal for her work within the diocese in forming the Permanent Deacon program. This medal was created by Pope Pius VI in the late 1700’s in recognition of those individuals who have exemplified service in the Church. Following this service all were invited to attend a reception in a very large and new parish hall adjacent to the Cathedral. It was an enormous hall with many faces, none of whom I knew. Fifteen individuals received the various medals and of course many families and friends from local parishes were in attendance.

As I made my way around the room with a friend from St. Andrew’s, which is now my parish, I came to the realization this was the first very large reception I was attending at a Catholic function in which I knew no one. Having lived in Ft. Worth for the past 30+ years, been active in the Methodist community and a part of the pastoral family of ministers, this was an eye opening experience and very humbling for me. Had it been at a Methodist gathering, I would have known many of the pastors and laity and felt very much at home. Here I was just another Catholic in a sea of faces unknown to them and likewise they were unknown to me.

Fellowship vs. Faith

Fellowship among congregants of any Christian faith is certainly beneficial and is extremely influential in many Protestant born faiths but to what degree of importance should fellowship play on a personal level in one’s relationship with Jesus Christ? Loyalty and devotion belong to Our Lord and fellowship must grow from it; Loyalty to the congregation equal to or stronger than the devotion to God is misplaced. When fellowship becomes the influential factor equal to or greater than one's relationship and devotion to Our Lord or it is the foundation or key enticement to one’s faith, it becomes a detriment to true devotion to God and instills a resistance against seeking the fullness of knowledge and truth over what one may have believed in the past. It is at this level one either intentionally or unintentionally abandons the very devotion he or she claims to live by, most commonly for the sake of pride.

The unrealized negative influence of fellowship as it pertains to conversion from many Protestant systems of beliefs to Catholicism is the difficulty one finds in separating from the communal aspect of their congregation as oppose to the devotion toward seeking truth and fullness in Christ. Such instills an opposition to the personal desire to return to that path of true growth and fulfillment in the most intimate of relationships possible with Jesus Christ. The reliance upon such a fellowship tends to serve more as a means to pacify the longing for answers to unresolved questions and inner conflicts our soul knows must exist but our system of beliefs does not provide.

Each heart knows when there is something lacking even if not knowing what it is consciously. How many of our Christian brothers and sisters from various Protestant faiths have questions but find no answers and just accept it that way because they don't know where the answers may be found or fear where the truth will lead them? Yet seeking and acknowledging the truth is crucial to our level of intimacy with Jesus Christ.

We are of a physical nature and more easily relate to what and who we sense around us and it is most difficult to completely relate to God until we have developed the strength, trust and confidence in our personal faith to center our devotion and desire to learn upon Him rather than the support of “personal” relationships built upon the congregants around us. If the foundation of our faith is formed on those around us we hinder the growth in that most intimate of relationships with Christ and center it on the congregation first; the warmth of others instead of the warmth of Jesus. However, the discovered beauty of separation from this level of fellowship is answered questions and the fulfillment of that intimacy with Jesus Christ. Rationally speaking, when we know intimacy and devotion with one person, everyone else comes after that person. This is where fellowship should grow from and where its place should be; never the fellowship foremost, then Jesus.

It is only right that we recognize the sincere difficulties others have faced in their own personal separation anxieties from the fellowship state of mind during conversion. It is after all, this "personification" of faith that is the alluring force of attraction exercised by many Protestant denominations. Physical signs of affection; live forms of entertainment, refreshments provided in what should be respected as a house of God, the new media fad of mega churches and alike are often the means of allurement and expressing fellowship yet such should never be the influential means to base one’s faith. On the other hand, those who have entered a truly intimate relationship in its fullness with Jesus Christ express true devotion as they relate to their Christian brothers and sisters because of that union with Jesus Himself; not vies versa. Although misguided devotion is unintentional on the personal level, it has been the intentional means of attraction on the denominational level.

In many locations the Catholic Church is lacking in the appropriate support new entrants to Catholicism should have available to them to adjust in this realignment of priorities. But because of the Church's growing recognition of this and the return and conversion of so many, we are growing in our ability to provide such support; further growth is ahead of us. In reality this support should be from the faithful parishioners with the guidance of the Church, not "the Church" itself. It must always be recognized that it is our devotion in our relationship with Christ, not fellowship, that is to come first and foremost and again, that Godly relationship must be the source of a properly placed fellowship. Today it is more commonly the Protestant converts to Catholicism who know through their past experiences how to maintain a proper perspective and instill fellowship from a relationship with Jesus Christ rather than fellowship being the primary devotion. With the growing number of those returning “home”, scripture most certainly will be fulfilled through the reunification of that one earthly Body of Christ and source of the Holy Bible all Christians refer to, His Church.

Conversion of Faith

Struggles in Returning “Home”

written by a follower of SDM

The intent of this article will be to hopefully help those who may be struggling with their return to the Catholic Church due to either conflict within family members or friends who are not supportive of a denominational change or personal conflicts in making a decision to leave belief systems that one has been a part of for many years. I was a part of both of these conflicts and I hope to offer some hope to those desiring to return to a Church, 2,000 years old; rich in both history and beliefs that I had discovered to be full of wonderful grace and solace to a very weary traveler.

As I traveled across West Texas recently on a trip to the New Mexico Mountains, I noted with certain sadness how dry, hot and parched the land was. As far as the eye could see, the land, which normally is rich with a mix of dark and light greens of the mesquite and cedar trees and farmland the color of red soil growing cotton and various other crops needed for a thriving economy, was sadly dying from lack of rain. Farm equipment lay to the side of the road and in some cases had “for sale” signs on them. Tractors were abandoned in the fields. Many ranches have had to sell their cattle and the small deer that roam the plains have left their fawns due to lack of water. I saw some of those on the side of road, fed on by those roaming scavengers looking for a meal.

Observing all this while driving down the long stretch of highway, I was reminded of how I felt a year ago when I began searching for fulfillment in a faith that had become for me, unsatisfying. I was parched, dry and thirsty. I was unable to grow spiritually much like the crops of Texas. I began searching for the flowing waters that would soothe me and bring me to that green, grassy pasture of my soul where I could lay down by those streams and cool my parched lips bringing me closer to the One I needed so desperately. As the psalmist sings in Psalm 23:2 “In green pastures you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me; you restore my strength.”

When I began contemplation of returning to the Church of my childhood, I knew it would conflict with those closest to me. Having been married 41 years and part of the Methodist Church during that time, I realized this would take me on a journey requiring much prayer, knowledge of the Catholic faith and most importantly spiritual guidance. For one contemplating this return, these three essential elements are needed in order to complete the journey, remaining somewhat intact and able to weather those developing storm clouds on the horizon that may occur.

The most important beginning of any journey is prayer. One must develop a deep relationship with the Holy Spirit in order to be able to recognize the call to return to the Church. It is a “spark” that may lie dormant for many years but once rekindled will burn out of control requiring immediate attention and the realization that God is at work in you. I actually “wrestled” with the call and found myself in a state of some deep depression for a while because I resisted the “call”. I fought it with every fiber of my being even though I knew this was what I had been searching for over a period of many years...

Second Coming of Christ - A Commentary

Predicting the second coming of Christ (Parousia)

(Matthew Ch24; v36) "But of that day and hour (Parousia - second coming of Christ) no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”

For those who persistently claim they can predict and know when the second coming of Christ will occur, and those who go even further by misleading others into believing they as self proclaimed prophets have the true word and teachings of eternal life, consider the defiance such predictions truly are against the testimony of Jesus Christ. Is anyone more righteous than the Son of God or the Angels in Heaven that he or she may know what the Messiah would not?

Pride is the driving factor that consumes such people into believing they can reach above the limits God declares are beyond us. Like the main root of the mature tree feeds its countless branches, pride feeds countless ways to fashion sin. Such self proclaimed entitlement to this knowledge is just one more branch on that tree. It is using fear to minipulate and control fellowship of those less knowledgable of the written word of God. The fact is, for one who lives a truly Christian life it makes no difference beyond that desire to be with God, when the second coming may occur because for that person the result will always be the same and those who live awaiting the return of the loved one most dear to them will rejoice.

For those who must predict the second coming against the Words of Jesus Christ, know that it will occur during a time when no man or women’s pompous predictions hold any claim and each person’s true nature will be uninhibited.

May the Holy Spirit Guide us.