BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Catholicism If a Faith is not "True" it is "False" - debate

Apathy -

It'll take months to read through the material. If I read it I will need my hip boots to wade through it. It was written in 1832 and today is 2009. I'm already into Paul of Tarsus and taking my time as there are only so many hours in the day. I'm not rigid nor am I apathetic. I am sorry that there is no conversation with you but we are poles apart. It sort of reminds me of watching liberal media news and Fox News.

I grew up in a NYC and I went to Catholic school. Over the years I have been very involved in RCIA as a sponsor. Our Creed says, "We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sin." I am very happy to be Catholic and there is no where else I would want to be.

Angie,

The Catholic Church is Universal - this means two things: "Always" and "Everywhere."
What you are implying in your post, is that the Catholic Church in 1832 is somehow a different Church than now, in 2009: that is impossible (in *Reality*).
The Church in Her Faith and Morals cannot change. What was taught in the years 70ad, 1000ad, 1832ad, MUST be what is taught in 2009ad.
What is happening now (recent modern history) is that the liberals and pseudo-theologians (you will know them by the fact that they are not titled "Father of" or "Doctor of" or even "Saint of" the Catholic Church) are teaching a different doctrine than what has ALWAYS been taught, and sentimental weakness is winning over the weak �faithful.�
A Truth cannot change - what is bound cannot be unbound, or interpreted to mean something different (in *Reality*.)
Those having itchy ears have listened to false prophets and have accepted a doctrine that is not truly Catholic.
"I do not know you" - weak Catholics should prepare to hear these words. The fear of humans and the �things of this world� is their downfall (they will not be alone where they go, many people have fallen from it throughout time), but the fear of God is not considered much anymore. The reason is that the sting of ridicule, persecution and hatred are felt here and now- while God�s punishment is not felt by most, here and now.

You may be right; that we are poles apart from each other - I hope to God you are right - I know that defending my Church and Her defined dogmas (to the death if need be) will not be punished. But allowing the watering down and weakening of Her and the propagation of lies, will be.

You don't believe, as it would seem, the Creed you quoted in your post; since you have denied both precepts contained in the small segment: you deny that there is only One Church, and, you deny that there is One Baptism to forgive sins� so why did you quote it?


*Reality* is what God exists in � the opposite of this, is what the weak men of today are living in, by believing they can change what God (and His Church) has commanded, and it seems they have convinced, terrorized and mesmerized you and thousands of other Catholics into believing that it can be done by them. They will be hearing "I do not know you" as well.

If you ever decide to Fight the Good Fight, instead of just joining the Darkside, I can help you to not be afraid of losing human respect - I'm kind of an expert at it.

Angie,

It has occurred to me that in your post you expressed victory in being a liberal/modernist � I didn�t see it, for what it was because such a confession would be quite �self-uncomplimentary�, since Christ and the Church has promised to damn such people. But, being involved in RCIA, you wouldn't have much of an idea about what Christ damns or doesn't damn- since you have pretty-much been "untaught" the basics of our Faith there.
Hopefully, I am wrong about what I think you were saying in that part of your post; but if I am not, I trust that you are not too proud to accept some instruction in the True Faith for once (completely backed up with the highest level of documents and authority � and not just some random hell-bound cleric or lay-person's ideas on it, of course).
I am sure that you have the time � all you need to do is cut yourself off from commenting on the completely un-important posts in the forums.
I am sure the salvation of your eternal soul is worth the effort - know what I mean?

What being a Liberal means to a real Catholic.
Read the artcle below by a good Priest.

Human Life International's Statement on the Passing of Senator Edward Kennedy

We must, as a matter of precept, pray for the salvation of heretical Catholics like Senator Edward Kennedy, but we do not have to praise him let alone extol him with the full honors of a public Catholic funeral and all the adulation that attends such an event. There was very little about Ted Kennedy's life that deserves admiration from a spiritual or moral point of view. He was probably the worst example of a Catholic statesman that one can think of. When all is said and done, he has distorted the concept of what it means to be a Catholic in public life more than anyone else in leadership today.

Obviously we don't know the state of Senator Edward Kennedy's soul upon death. We don't pretend to. We are told by the family that he had the opportunity to confess his sins before a priest, and his priest has said publicly he was "at peace" when he died. For that we are grateful. But it is one thing to confess one's sins and for these matters to be kept, rightfully, private. It is another thing entirely for one who so consistently and publicly advocated for the destruction of unborn human beings to depart the stage without a public repudiation of these views, a public confession, as it were.

It is up to God to judge Senator Kennedy's soul. We, as rational persons, must judge his actions, and his actions were not at all in line with one who values and carefully applies Church teaching on weighty matters. Ted Kennedy's positions on a variety of issues have been a grave scandal for decades, and to honor this "catholic" champion of the culture of death with a Catholic funeral is unjust to those who have actually paid the price of fidelity. We now find out that President Obama will eulogize the Senator at his funeral, an indignity which, following on the heels of the Notre Dame fiasco, leaves faithful Catholics feeling sullied, desecrated and dehumanized by men who seem to look for opportunities to slap the Church in the face and do so with impunity simply because they have positions of power.

It is not enough for Kennedy to have been a "great guy behind the scenes" as we have seen him referred to even by his political opponents. It is also not praiseworthy to put a Catholic rhetorical veneer on his leftist politics that did nothing to advance true justice as the Church sees it or to advance the peace of Christ in this world. Every indication of Senator Kennedy's career, every public appearance, every sound bite showed an acerbic, divisive and partisan political hack for whom party politics were much more infallible than Church doctrines. Whatever one's political affiliation, if one is only "Catholic" to the extent that his faith rhymes with his party line, then his Catholicism is a fraud.

As the Scriptures remind us, there is a time for everything under the sun. This, now, is the time for honesty about our Faith and about those who are called to express it in the public forum. If we do not remind ourselves of the necessity of public confession for public sins such as Senator Kennedy was guilty of, then we are negligent in our embrace of the Faith and we are part of the problem. As Pope Benedict has reminded us recently, charity without truth can easily become mere sentimentality, and we must not fall into that error. A Catholic show of charity for the family must not eclipse the truth that is required of all with eyes to see and ears to hear.

Senator Kennedy needs to be sent to the afterlife with a private, family-only funeral and the prayers of the Church for the salvation of his immortal soul. He will not be missed by the unborn who he betrayed time and time again, nor by the rest of us who are laboring to undo the scandalous example of Catholicism that he gave to three generations of Americans.

Sincerely,


Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International

Without a public confession from Kennedy - I doubt he was able to save his eternal soul. As Our Lord and the Fathers have said: 'as a man lives, so shall he die.'

"The most Holy Roman Church believes, professes, and teaches that none of those who are not within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews, and heretics, and schismatics, can ever have a share in eternal life, but that they will go into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels unless before death they shall have entered into the Church; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those abiding within this unity can profit from the Sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and that they alone can receive an eternal reward for their fasts, their almsgiving, their other works of Christian piety and duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may be, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the name of Christ, can be saved unless he abide within the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church." - Pope Eugene IV

We are not the judges. I have not agreed with Sen. Kennedy's philosophy for many years and recall the incident at Chappaquiddick and the alcoholism and womanizing over the years. Only God knows the state of his soul and sorrow for his sins at the time of his death.

God's Mercy and Senator Kennedy

Reflection Written by Benedict

We must judge actions. How else do we weed out those who refuse to submit to Our Lord and those who insist on having Him bow before THEM. Pride.

We judge people and actions all the time.
How else do we teach children right from wrong.
How else do we write laws to protect people and their rights.

If you think about judging people from the beginning of time, in the 1700s, 1800s, 1900s even the 1950s and compare to how we judge on the same values today, it's amazing.

But, we are not the final judge of souls. He is.

Matthew Chapter 25:
31 And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty. 32 And all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. 34 Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.