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Posts Tagged ‘Catholic Church’

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Correct Answer? By J. Reagan

In 08 Musings by Jack Reagan on 2012/11/02 at 9:11 AM

THE PROBLEM: Pollsters who deal only in religious matters tells us that between 75% and 80% of those who live in the U.S. Label themselves  as “Christian”.  This means that between 225 and 240 million people label themselves as followers of Jesus Christ.  Yet, by any theological, moral, philosophical, or cultural standard, the US is a pagan nation with a notable lack of Christian morality: 50 million abortions, rampant pornography, illegal drugs, greed (often called “inflation”).

Does anyone really think that  all this can be attributed to the 20% of non-Christians in the country? Pollsters further tell us that Catholics are no better than any others in espousing the cultural immoralities. Between 60-80% of Catholics approve abortion, divorce, pre-marital sex, cohabitation, Mass  as optional, same-sex relationships etc.

The same high percentages do not accept/ believe some of the basic doctrines of the faith.  63% do not believe that Christ is really present in the Eucharist under the appearance of bread and wine.  Some do not think morality is any of the Church’s business, especially regarding sex and marriage. I wonder if this is why Our Lord spoke of hell far more than of heaven.

HOW DID WE GET TO THIS POINT? During the Middle Ages, the Church took the best of the ancient Greek and Roman  world and Christianized it.  The Renaissance  took some of the worst of the ancient world, ignored the Church’s contribution, secularized society and philosophy, and declared, “Now we have the answer”.  The Reformation  took the truths of Revelation and reason, and disputed, distorted, and destroyed many of them.  And they cried, “Now we have the answer”.

Rationalism/Enlightenment said religion is the cause of too many problems.  Man needs only his reason the build a perfect life for himself. Forget the supernatural nonsense. We will think our way to a Utopia on earth.  Science became the new religion.  And they smiled and said, “Now we have the answer.”

Romanticism- it took no time at all to discover that people do not really want to think very much. Rousseau said that everyone can’t think well, but everyone can feel.  Emotions and feeling became to the guidelines and norms.  And they danced for joy and said, “Now we have the answer.

On and on the crazy ideas went until nowadays we are told…there is no objective truth;  truth is subjective; contradictions are quite acceptable; opinion is what counts; moral and intellectual judgments are taboo; religion has the status of a hobby; God is made in man’s image….if He is thought of at all.

THE EFFECTS: The result of these centuries of false and anti-human philosophies is a crushing and  irrational secularism sweeping the part of the world that was once called “Christendom”. Religion, the most far-reaching and important activity of humans has been relegated to  the level of one’s personal likes, such as television programs, in the dominant cultural philosophy.  But religion is still given lip-service once in a while and Jesus Christ is usually listed as a “great philosopher”, a great moralist, a great teacher in the same breath as Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius or Lao-Tse.

In reality, that idea simply does not work. Christ is  either God or a fraud…often, as we say, a nutcase. Why? Because too many times He claimed to be God. The first sign hat He might be what he claimed lies in the hundreds of prediction about Him and His life, made by many prophets, who did not know one another because they lived at different times. All these prophecies were centered on one person and every one was fulfilled in that same person. No one predicted Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Martin Luther etc.

Imagine trying to predicts particular details of the life of descendant who will live five centuries from now.Impossible. Yet, this is just what happened in the case of Christ…and no one else.

Jesus Himself prophesied the betrayal by  Judas, the denial by Peter,  His own resurrection, and the destruction of Jerusalem.

We are familiar with the Gospel miracles so we need not labor over them. They are historical facts. And there were at least hundreds because the Gospels, in several places, tell is that “He healed all in that district”.  These miracles were done on His own authority and using his own power.  No other religious founder claimed to be God or  performed miracles. At most, they claimed a special relationship with God.

We must remember that the Resurrection is the one surpassing miracle never duplicated in the entire history of the world.  It is a  historical fact.  We have conquered space and the ocean, but not the six-foot hole.

CONCLUSION: But what about us? We don’t live in  the time of Christ. How do we connect?

Our Lord told us that He would be with us for all time. He is with us and we are with Him in the Catholic Church. The Church is the visible representative of Christ on earth. Like her founder, she is the only source of salvation, the only source of truth, infallible and miraculous in her spiritual activity: the Sacraments.  The Catholic Church is the one true Church.All other churches that call themselves Christian are deficient to some degree. But, this is not a good time to be a Catholic because of the scandals. The Church has never enjoyed a “Golden Age”.  Our Lord predicted multitude of trouble and so has it been .mostly because of the clergy.  However, He promised : “I am with you all days…the gates of hell will not prevail.” The scandals prove the divinity of the Church, the two natures in the Church. The Church will survive.

So, the Christ..God or Fraud. Does It Really Matter? Absolutely. It’s a matter of life and death;.eternal life or death. Unless we answer this question correctly and live accordingly, we may hear some the most frightening words in the Bible, “Because you have denied me before men, (and that’s what an incorrect answer is.) I will deny you before My Father.” Those who have the correct relationship with Christ and the Church will be able, not only to say, but to know:”Now we have the answer”.  And there is no other.

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The Coming Storm by J. Reagan

In 08 Musings by Jack Reagan on 2012/02/11 at 9:11 AM

Ponder these possible headlines:

Homeowner arrested for allowing Bible study in his house.

Catholic Church loses exemption from property taxes based on discrimination.

Law enforcement officials given authority to collect evidence based on Confessions.

Catholic bishop sued for refusing to ordain a practicing homosexual.

State officials to determine how diocesan money is to be spent.

To protect children, an accusation of molestation will be enough to presume guilt of priests.

If you think these are exaggerated or cannot happen here, let me assure you that each of the above is either a law, a proposed law or an actual event.

One does not have to be a prophet to predict what is the probable future of the Catholic Church in the United States … persecution. In fact, it is already in progress. For many years now, groups like the ACLU along with liberal judges have been attacking Nativity scenes, public and private prayer, Christian moral codes and the like. Physical persecution is taking place in China, India, Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, Iraq, Pakistan and other places. In every case, Government officials are either behind attacks (Sudan) or refuse to do anything about them (India).

Can physical persecution happen in the U.S.?  Certainly it can, and may arise within 5-10 years.  American history has numerous incidents of anti-Catholic activity.  Our Lord told his disciples that the world hated Him, and the world will hate them (and us) because of Him.  The Church has been persecuted from its very beginning (with intermittent periods of relief) while rarely have other Churches or religions been so attacked.

The U.S. has become a secular society, the hallmark of which is to relegate religion and religious practices to the level of the ignored, if at all possible. One may prefer to be religious, but he will be advised to keep it to himself. Religion is to have no role in public society. Thus, God has been banished from the government at all levels, from education, from bio-medical research, from business and the secular media. (The effects have not been pretty.)

Then, too, the Catholic Church claims to have a complete hold on divine truth (as opposed to the partial truth of Protestantism).  A secular philosophy does not approve of this at all because modern society claims that no one can have a monopoly on truth in the non-physical sphere. It denies the very idea of objective truth. Truth becomes little more than opinion, and contradictory opinions are quite acceptable.  After all, who of us is capable of judging another?

The Catholic Church is also contra-cultural. The Church’s moral code is based on divine Revelation and human reason. Contemporary culture bases its “moral code” on consensus and self-gratification. Each one may decide his own moral conduct based on not much more than whim. In any case, who’s to judge?

Persecution of the Church is always inspired and led by Satan and his human agents.

Since the Catholic Church contains irrefutable proof of it doctrines and morals, it is the Church that Satan tries to destroy. Those humans, under the control of Satan, fear and hate the Catholic Church.  If they  were honest and acknowledged the truth of Catholicism, they would have to repent of their merry lifestyles and abandon them … not very appealing.  Better to attack the Church.  (Note that while it is politically incorrect to judge others, it is never out of line to judge the Catholic Church falsely.)

How likely is persecution in a more blatant form? Just recently the Obama regime decreed that Catholic institutions would be compelled to commit sin in order to comply with the latest dictates of this administration. Anti-Catholics have jumped right up to declare that the Church is trying to do damage to women’s health. However, none of the proposals actually involve health. (In fact, if all Americans observed the Catholic Church’s moral code regarding sexuality, think of all the current problems we would NOT have.)

Eventually the ignorant, the disgruntled and the unstable will want to “show these Catholics”.  Can it happen?  The moral level of the U.S. has been declining for a long time, and it is morality and conscience that deter immoral actions. Less morality, less deterrence! The picture is made worse by the huge number of “Catholics” who do not live their faith anymore. Polls have shown that the attitudes of both “Catholics” and non-Catholics in the matter of favoring abortion, same-sex marriage, birth control among others, are about the same. This should not be.

Any solution? Probably not! Of course, there is always prayer for divine mercy, but what reason would God have for granting mercy to this country? He has been outlawed in some quarters. His moral code is treated as a joke.  And, on it goes.

On a personal note… The next presidential election is the most important in U.S. history.  I think it is imperative for the country not to elect Obama again. (My voting registration is Independent.)  The most important possession we all have is life itself.  Obama favors killing fetuses, partially born babies, babies who survive abortion and human embryos.  One who favors killing the helpless for someone’s convenience lacks any normal sense of morality. Since these are all considered sinful by the Catholic Church, no Catholic should even think about voting for a man who endorses so much sin.

I hope I am wrong about the coming storm, but when it passes, and they always do, the Catholic Church will still be there with its doctrines and morals intact. Heaven will gain newly martyred citizens and the Catholics who survive will be Catholics, not “Catholics”.

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Dr.Tim O’Donnell – Glory of the Papacy

In 15 Audio on 2011/10/12 at 7:13 AM

The Glory Of The Papacy

Host – Dr. Timothy O’Donnell

Dr. Timothy O’Donnell teaches about the lives of some of the great popes and the turbulent historical periods in which they lived.

Please click on this link to access these programs: http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/seriessearchprog.asp?seriesID=6138&T1=Dr.+Tim

The Glory Of The Papacy

1.Introduction

2.The Great Commission entrusted to Peter

3.The Good Shepherd

4.The Primacy Begins

5.Peter’s Teaching Authority as Reflected in the Scriptures

6.The Last Testament of St. Peter in Sacred Scripture: 1 Peter and 2 Peter

7.The Traces of Peter and Paul in Rome

8.The Bones of Peter

9.The Martyrs

10.Martyrdom (Cont’d)

11.The Witness of the Faith as Found in the Roman Catechisms

12.The Pontificate of Pope Leo the Great

13.The Early Middle Ages

14.Alexander II 1061 – 1073, Pope Gregory VII

15.Gregory the Great 590 – 604

16.Ireland, England and the Frankish Kingdom

17.The Reforms of the Church in the Middle Ages: Lay Investiture, etc.

18.Pope Celestine V and Boniface VIII

19.St. Catherine of Sienna and Gregory XI (The Babylonian Captivity)

20.The Western Schism

21.Martin V: 1417 – 1431 and the Reformation of the Church

22.The Renaissance

23.Renaissance Popes

24.The Renaissance Popes up to Julius II

25.Julius II, Cont’d up to early Reformation Popes

26.The Transitional Figure: Pope Paul III

27.P. St. Pius V and Pope Gregory XIII

28.P. Gregory XIII, Cont’d up to P. Paul V and the struggles of the Papacy with the Italian Republics including Venice

29.Paul V, Cont’d and the triumph of the Reformation of the Catholic Church up to Innocent X, 1644 -1655

30.Jansenism, and the Peace of Westphalia and the beginning of modern secularism up to Alexander VII and Bernini

31.Blessed Innoncent XI up to Pope Benedict XIV

32.P. Benedict XIV 1740-1758 up to Clement XIII

33.P. Clement XIV, 1769 -1774 and the Jesuits up to P. Pius VI and the Reign of Terror

34.The French Revolution and Napoleon

35.Pope Pius IX up to Pope Leo XIII

36.P. Leo XIII, cont’d up to Pope St. Pius X

37.P. St. Pius X up to Pius XI

38.Pius XI up to Pius XII

39.Pius XII up to Paul VI

40.Paul VI up to John Paul II

41.Veritatis Splendor and its call to “Obedience”

Please click on this link to access these programs: http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/seriessearchprog.asp?seriesID=6138&T1=Dr.+Tim

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Fr. C. John McCloskey w. Harry Crocker: Great Moments in Church History

In 15 Audio on 2011/08/18 at 10:07 PM

Fr. C. John McCloskey w. Harry Crocker: Great Moments in Church History

Please click on this link to access these programs: http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/seriessearchprog.asp?seriesID=6713&T1=crocker

Fr. McCloskey & Harry Crocker have produced a first class series entitled: Great Moments in Church History

1.From Christ to Constantine

2.The Christian Empire and the Barbarian Invasion

3.Beginning of the Middle Ages

4.The Crusades

5.The Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance

6.The Protestant Revolt

7.Henry VIII’s Revolt and the Counter-Reformation

8.The Church Versus the Total State and Revolution

9.The Church in the United States

10.The 19th Century Catholic Revival

11.The Century of Martyrs

12.The Church in WWII and the Cold War

13.Vatican II to John Paul II

Click here to access the programs: http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/seriessearchprog.asp?seriesID=6713&T1=crocker

 

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What Has the Catholic Church Ever Done For Me?

In 07 Observations on 2011/07/19 at 8:22 PM
This is a question many might ask with more than a touch of pique in their voice.

You might like not like the Catholic Church, but let me tell you what She has done for you:

The Catholic Church preserved apostolic Faith.

The Catholic Church preserved the original writings of the Apostles and the Early Church Fathers.

The Catholic Church gave you the books of the Bible and set up the  Canon of the Bible.

The Catholic Church preserved Western Civilization.

The Catholic Church Christianized and civilized barbarians.

The Catholic Church established law and order.

The Catholic Church created institutions to take care of the poor and the sick.

The Catholic Church  established universities.

The Catholic Church encouraged a moral code based on reason and faith

The Catholic Church established consistent liturgical services.

So, you might not like or agree with the Catholic Church, but we all owe Her a debt of gratitude for preserving order, preserving culture and preserving Truth.

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Correct Answer?

In 08 Musings by Jack Reagan on 2011/04/11 at 5:50 PM

THE PROBLEM: Pollsters who deal only in religious matters tells us that between 75% and 80% of those who live in the U.S. Label themselves  as “Christian”.  This means that between 225 and 240 million people label themselves as followers of Jesus Christ.  Yet, by any theological, moral, philosophical, or cultural standard, the US is a pagan nation with a notable lack of Christian morality: 50 million abortions, rampant pornography, illegal drugs, greed (often called “inflation”).

Does anyone really think that  all this can be attributed to the 20% of non-Christians in the country? Pollsters further tell us that Catholics are no better than any others in espousing the cultural immoralities. Between 60-80% of Catholics approve abortion, divorce, pre-marital sex, cohabitation, Mass  as optional, same-sex relationships etc.

The same high percentages do not accept/ believe some of the basic doctrines of the faith.  63% do not believe that Christ is really present in the Eucharist under the appearance of bread and wine.  Some do not think morality is any of the Church’s business, especially regarding sex and marriage. I wonder if this is why Our Lord spoke of hell far more than of heaven.

HOW DID WE GET TO THIS POINT? During the Middle Ages, the Church took the best of the ancient Greek and Roman  world and Christianized it.  The Renaissance  took some of the worst of the ancient world, ignored the Church’s contribution, secularized society and philosophy, and declared, “Now we have the answer”.  The Reformation  took the truths of Revelation and reason, and disputed, distorted, and destroyed many of them.  And they cried, “Now we have the answer”.

Rationalism/Enlightenment said religion is the cause of too many problems.  Man needs only his reason the build a perfect life for himself. Forget the supernatural nonsense. We will think our way to a Utopia on earth.  Science became the new religion.  And they smiled and said, “Now we have the answer.”

Romanticism- it took no time at all to discover that people do not really want to think very much. Rousseau said that everyone can’t think well, but everyone can feel.  Emotions and feeling became to the guidelines and norms.  And they danced for joy and said, “Now we have the answer.

On and on the crazy ideas went until nowadays we are told…there is no objective truth;  truth is subjective; contradictions are quite acceptable; opinion is what counts; moral and intellectual judgments are taboo; religion has the status of a hobby; God is made in man’s image….if He is thought of at all.

THE EFFECTS: The result of these centuries of false and anti-human philosophies is a crushing and  irrational secularism sweeping the part of the world that was once called “Christendom”. Religion, the most far-reaching and important activity of humans has been relegated to  the level of one’s personal likes, such as television programs, in the dominant cultural philosophy.  But religion is still given lip-service once in a while and Jesus Christ is usually listed as a “great philosopher”, a great moralist, a great teacher in the same breath as Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius or Lao-Tse.

In reality, that idea simply does not work. Christ is  either God or a fraud…often, as we say, a nutcase. Why? Because too many times He claimed to be God. The first sign hat He might be what he claimed lies in the hundreds of prediction about Him and His life, made by many prophets, who did not know one another because they lived at different times. All these prophecies were centered on one person and every one was fulfilled in that same person. No one predicted Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Martin Luther etc.

Imagine trying to predicts particular details of the life of descendant who will live five centuries from now.Impossible. Yet, this is just what happened in the case of Christ…and no one else.

Jesus Himself prophesied the betrayal by  Judas, the denial by Peter,  His own resurrection, and the destruction of Jerusalem.

We are familiar with the Gospel miracles so we need not labor over them. They are historical facts. And there were at least hundreds because the Gospels, in several places, tell is that “He healed all in that district”.  These miracles were done on His own authority and using his own power.  No other religious founder claimed to be God or  performed miracles. At most, they claimed a special relationship with God.

We must remember that the Resurrection is the one surpassing miracle never duplicated in the entire history of the world.  It is a  historical fact.  We have conquered space and the ocean, but not the six-foot hole.

CONCLUSION: But what about us? We don’t live in  the time of Christ. How do we connect?

Our Lord told us that He would be with us for all time. He is with us and we are with Him in the Catholic Church. The Church is the visible representative of Christ on earth. Like her founder, she is the only source of salvation, the only source of truth, infallible and miraculous in her spiritual activity: the Sacraments.  The Catholic Church is the one true Church.All other churches that call themselves Christian are deficient to some degree. But, this is not a good time to be a Catholic because of the scandals. The Church has never enjoyed a “Golden Age”.  Our Lord predicted multitude of trouble and so has it been .mostly because of the clergy.  However, He promised : “I am with you all days…the gates of hell will not prevail.” The scandals prove the divinity of the Church, the two natures in the Church. The Church will survive.

So, the Christ..God or Fraud. Does It Really Matter? Absolutely. It’s a matter of life and death;.eternal life or death. Unless we answer this question correctly and live accordingly, we may hear some the most frightening words in the Bible, “Because you have denied me before men, (and that’s what an incorrect answer is.) I will deny you before My Father.” Those who have the correct relationship with Christ and the Church will be able, not only to say, but to know:”Now we have the answer”.  And there is no other.

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Catholic Christian?

In 08 Musings by Jack Reagan on 2011/04/08 at 6:14 PM

A Baptist friend of ours in California asked the following question.

As my only resident expert on Catholicism, I have a question……do you regard Catholics Christian? If yes, why…and if no, why….I know virtually nothing about their beliefs and hear that they are not Christian…and just want to know what you think…thanks…

Reply: This accusation is an old one from years and years ago when there was much overt anti-Catholicism in the US. There is absolutely no foundation for such a charge. It is based on abysmal ignorance of the Catholic Church.

If you define a  Christian Church as one that believes in the God of the Bible, the Trinity, the Second Person of that Trinity taking on human form while still remaining divine, accepting death for human sin to make salvation (heaven) possible again, that He rose from the dead and is now very much alive in heaven, then the Catholic Church is totally Christian. It believes all that and much more found in the Bible.

In some denominations, the Sunday service includes the recitation of the Nicean Creed, a creed set up by the Catholic Church in 325 AD at the Council of Nicea.

If you say that the Catholic Church is not Christian, then you have to say that the Christian Church did not begin until the time of Luther. Prior to him, there was no other Church except the Catholic Church. It would ignore the facts of history and human psychology for a founder to say that he would set up a church 1500 years AFTER his death.  Never happens.  Luther never said the Catholic Church was not Christian; he did say it had too much corruption at the time (which was true).

If the Protestant Churches were the beginning of the Christian Church what were they protesting?

Perhaps a more relevant question today is whether some Protestant denominations are still Christian.  Too many have succumbed to the siren of the culture and accept practicing homosexuals as they are.   Regardless of the cultural PC involved, the Bible condemns homosexuality in several places. Last time I looked, there was nothing in  the Bible about  the divine moral code being subject to contemporary human vote.

One reason the Catholic Church is not liked is because in all it history (2000 years), it has never made the current cultural attitudes the norm of its doctrine. To be specific, the matter of abortion.  The US Supreme Court can declare a divine law void, but God does not agree. The Catholic Church condemns abortion because it is evil in itself. Abortion is not a “Catholic” sin; it is a sin against nature. You can successfully argue against abortion and not mention religion because it is a sin against nature itself. What kind of society kills off 50,000,000 unborn people (humans) mostly because someone finds them inconvenient? That has nothing  to do with religion; is  naturally irrational.

To say that Catholic Church is Christian is NOT to vouch for all its members, past and present. In fact, if you look at the history of the Catholic Church, it is a wonder it has survived at all when you look at some of its members (even popes). The Catholic Church, like all churches has more belongers than believers. The Protestant Churches have broken up into about thirty THOUSAND denominations. The Catholic Church has no denominations. The doctrine of the Catholic Church is that Christ founded the Catholic Church and protects from collapsing into chaos.

Both the Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches are Christian.  Both urge their members to seek a salvific relationship with Jesus Christ. I can’t imagine that a just God would exclude Rev. Charles Stanley from heaven because he happens to be a Baptist. If more Catholics and Protestants had his faith, we’d all be better off in the USA.

Hope this helps you understand the question better.