Today at Holy Mass St Paul addresses the Corinthians…The Church is divided into factions - Sound familiar?…Paul attempts to reason with the various factions…..Today our Church in many ways is no different….Look at Catholic Social Media….How can this be?….Each of us should be on guard for this very real danger…..St Augustine addressed the same issue Paul addressed today… “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity”…..Is this what you see on Catholic social media?……The Sacraments should unite us all…Why? - Because we ALL need them…..When we go to Mass - Do we hear the words of the Creed, which we all recite before we receive the Blessed Sacrament?….”I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come”…..If you believe all the words of the Creed, and are in the state of grace - You are free to receive the Blessed Sacrament…But if you do not believe these words - You should not receive the Eucharist….And pray and reflect as to what your “issue” is……We do not get to personally define what the Church is…The Catholic Church belongs to Jesus Christ…We are just members…The Deposit of Faith is not to be “manipulated” like lawyers manipulate words in corporate board rooms…The Deposit of Faith is actually very simple and easy to understand - Sadly, we make what is simple complex…..Sadly, when I “scroll” through the many voices on Catholic Social Media, what I see is described today by St Paul to the letter!…..And St Paul gives us the answer to this current dilemma………”What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul? Ministers through whom you became believers, just as the Lord assigned each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor. For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building”……Pray for the Church - Pray and Fast for her…That we all may be one!
“The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives”
Before I was married, I served with Mother Teresa’s sisters in Manhattan for seven years…I was their driver on Saturday….The Missionaries of Charity are many things - One of those things, they are fiercely obedient - To the Church - To what the Church teaches in the Catechism - To their superiors…..Over the years I got to be good friends with many of the sisters…I remember what Sister Vineeth told me about the call to prayer..”When the bell rings for prayer - The bell is the voice of God - You drop everything”…..Is this how we approach what the Church teaches?….The Catechism of the Catholic Church, if you ever take the time to read it is very clear….For the life of me I do not know how there can be so much confusion in the Church - Yet there is - And I know why?….Because of our fallen human nature….This is why we must all fast regularly and pray daily…This is why we must go to confession monthly and receive the Blessed Sacrament often…..Simply reading the Catechism will not bring unity in the Church - Only Grace can do this…And we must avail ourselves to this Grace…So our “eyes can see” - And our “ears can hear”
“Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he has chosen for his own inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down; he sees all mankind”
Today at Mass we hear how St Paul tries to bring unity amongst the believers….Arguably one of the biggest scandals to ever rock the Christian faithful, are the many divisions that have been created…From the Protestant Reformation - To Martin Luther - To the many “camps” within the Catholic Church today….SCANDAL!!!…There is no such thing as “Conservative Catholics” - “Liberal Catholics” - “Progressive Catholics” - “Traditional Catholics”…….And any Christian denomination outside of the Catholic Church was created by “man” and has absolutely no authority - NONE!….Jesus Christ was one man - Who created one Church…"And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it”…..But knowing humanity as Jesus did and does to this day, he understands what happens to us….We make complicated what is so simple!…More reason why we need to pray and fast….And to live Sacramentally….Without grace - We fail….Its that simple!…….One of the last prayers Jesus prayed before he was killed addresses unity within the family of believers…."I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me”…..Is the division we see today in the Church - The Church’s problem? - Or is the problem within us?……“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity” - Words to live by….JMJ
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