Hurt and Humiliated

Sometimes when I hear Peter Kreeft and read Catholic blogs I am hurt and embarrassed. Being Catholic keeps you humble... at least me. I am not smart enough to be Catholic.

Confess It All Commercial and Others....

The ConfessItAll brothers have several more youtube video shorts that are good! But they won't let you  embed them.... So you will have to look them up. God bless!

David Fry, Jr. Requiescant in Pace Amica Mea.

Novels by David Fry about the End Times

This morning my faith flourishes. And I am broken with tears of gratitude to Jesus. Monday I prayed that when it was time for my uncle, David,  to be received into the arms of our Lord, that our Lady of Sorrows, the Blessed Mother would come and escort him to meet Our Great God. And last night, she did. 
Pie Jesu

Uncle David hasn't been suffering long, for he was diagnosed with an incurable and rare liver disease this year, at age 75. This particular disease usually strikes when someone is in their fifties, so God blessed David. He has only been in hospice a couple weeks with no pain. Now he will never know pain or suffering ever again. 

What a joy to know that he is in purgatory (or in heaven) his body sleeping peacefully here and his soul beginning eternal bliss. 

David wasn't perfect. Few of us are. But that is irrelevant, for Jesus was. And this morning my sorrow is mixed within an ocean of pure thanksgiving to the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus has given me joy for in my sorrow I am bursting with love for Christ for being my uncle's Savior. 

I can rejoice in the Savior of the World for He now has my uncle. By His death and resurrection, I can proclaim the mysteries of faith: "Dying You destroyed our death, rising You restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory."

We talk about salvation and see its earthly rites in baptism, but at this moment, the moment of death of our Christian loved ones, we see the miracle of the Cross through the eyes of faith. Here is where our faith meets reality, in the last breath as it ascends into heaven to be with Christ. As we see the earthly remains of our dearest loved ones and we cherish the knowledge that they have gone to a much, much better place. And we can be happy for them.
For David, 
May the angels lead you into paradise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-j7sb0Z_TY

Holy Father, may my thanksgiving this morning ascend into heaven as an everlasting offering pleasing to you for holding my precious Uncle David in your care by virtue of Christ's infinite merits applied to his soul.  

Your love conquered death. Hallelujah! 

Please say a prayer for my uncle and thank you!

THOU ART KEPHA AND UPON KEPHA I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH

Matthew 16:13-19

"Who do people say the Son of Man is?" Jesus asked. "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." The disciples replied. "But what about you? Who do you say I am?"  "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Simon Peter answered. "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven," Jesus replied.

I will be building a case as to the Catholic view of this text and the Protestant’s misinterpretation.

JESUS SPOKE ARAMAIC

“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (Matt. 27:26) is Aramaic for “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” which Christ cried out on the Cross. When Christ spoke the above text to Peter, He did so in Aramaic. Because Jesus spoke Aramaic. Most ancient Biblical scholars believe Matthew was originally written in Aramaic as well as second-century Church Fathers who record that the Greek was a translation of an earlier Aramaic transcript. Therefore to really understand what Jesus meant and clear up any translation misunderstanding we need to go back to how Christ actually said it.

The original, spoken by Jesus more like, “you are Kepha, and on this kepha I will build my church.” The Aramaic is very close cognate to the Syriac dialect written in The Peshitta which uses the exact same word for both Peter and rock. This is the closest to what Christ would have spoken. (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 8, Zondervan, 368.)

TRANSLATED INTO GREEK
The person who translated Matthew into Greek, during the first or second century, had a grammatical problem. You see, the current word for rock had a masculine and feminine version. The grammatically correct word in Greek was “petra” but that was a feminine noun and it wouldn’t work to call Simon “petra” so “petros” was used. The second “kepha” could then be used with the grammatically correct “petra.” So it ended up being “You are Petros and upon this petra...” As awkward as this was, it was grammatically correct.

Scholars admit that the original Aramaic play on words is lost when translated into Greek with the petros/petra distinction. Then when the English is translated from Greek there is a further loss of the pun as well as the meaning. It should read in English: “You, are Peter and upon this peter (rock) I build my kingdom.” Then you would catch Jesus’ play on words--a very Hebrew thing to do.

LITTLE ROCK

If the translator had wanted to get across the meaning of Peter being a little rock, he would have used the Greek word lithos which was generally, but not always, a more common word for a small stone. Peter would later call Christians lithoi or little stones in I Peter 2: 5. There is also a third option to convey the meaning of little rock--psephos meaning pebble. (Rev. 2:17) In fact, nowhere in the New Testament is petros used as small rock. So the Aramaic to Greek translator did not choose petros to mean little rock. Scholars have also found that after the fourth century B.C. in Koine Greek petra/petros were not meant as little or big rocks but simply as rocks--with no distinction in size.

However, in the end, we need to build our theology not on a translation but on what Jesus actually said, in His own language. That helps with the nuances of understanding his meaning.

PETER’S FAITH

The rock is often argued to be Peter’s faith and indeed Catholics believe that there is no real discrepancy with that view and theirs. Jesus is talking about both. It is Peter’s faith that opened up a way for the Father to tell him that Jesus is the Son of God. For Catholics it is not an either/or interpretation. It is a both/and. It is Peter and his faith upon with the church is founded.

It is interesting to note though that a favorite Protestant Greek dictionary “Gerhard Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, agrees with the Catholic interpretation:

Petros himself is this petra, not just his faith or his confession. . . . The idea of the Reformers that he is referring to the faith of Peter is quite inconceivable. . . . For there is no reference here to the faith of Peter. Rather, the parallelism of "thou art Rock" and "on this rock I will build" shows that the second rock can only be the same as the first. It is thus evident that Jesus is referring to Peter, to whom he has given the name Rock.  (See also: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 6, Eerdmans, 98–99, 108)

Some Protestant apologists will argue that Jesus addresses Peter in the second person and the rock in the third. But Jesus often used metaphors in the third person even when He was referring to Himself. (See Matt. 21:42-44)

THE REVELATION

Oft overlooked is this part of the pronouncement: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”

Jesus is blessing Peter. Jesus is pointing out that Peter, rather than the others, knew He was the Son of God. Peter didn’t discover this on his own, the Father revealed it to him. The Father was now speaking directly to Peter and Jesus was acknowledging that this was important and special. Peter was hearing the voice of the Almighty.--like Jesus was. How vital would that become when Jesus placed upon Peter His very own title of authority--Rock.

NEW NAME, NEW TITLE

When God changes a man’s name, it is usually because he is to be a great leader of His people. Remember Abram was renamed Abraham, and Jacob was renamed Israel. Just as Abraham was a father to Israel, so is Peter was father to Christians. (Luke 16:24; Rom. 4:1–18; Jas. 2:21).

But this was even more than giving a new name to a leader, Jesus was giving Peter His own title. Throughout the Old Testament God was referred to as the rock, (Ps. 18:31, I Sam. 2:2) even Jesus was called the foundation and cornerstone (I Cor. 3:11; 10:4). This is an enormous gift of authority. This is not new, the priests of Israel were referred to with God’s name, Abraham was referred to as rock in Isaiah 51:1, 2 and in Eph. 2: 20 and Rev. 21:14 the apostles are referred to as the foundation of the church. God shares His title with His leaders.

SON OF DAVID

Christ’s first title in Matthew is “son of David.” Jesus came to restore and fulfill the kingdom of David. So, like the kingdom set up in Israel, the king had a prime minister or better said, master of the household. This prime minister placed the keys to the kingdom on his shoulder as his visual badge of authority. 

Jesus commissioning of Peter in Matthew 16 resembles Eliakim’s authority who had the “key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” Isaiah 22: 20-22. So we can see, like Eliakim, Jesus is giving Peter the authority of the keys like a prime minister.

CATHOLICS AND THE KEYS

Catholic interpretation of Matthew 16: 18 is based upon solid exegesis, hermeneutics and Christian history. But it is a hard pronouncement of Christ. It’s not easy following Peter and his successors. In fact it is hard. We don’t follow Peter because we want to because frankly we live in a society that teaches us we should be independent and free. We follow Peter because Christ placed him as our leader. We do it to please Christ.

Compiled from:
Tim Staples and Karl Keating of Catholic Answers A.D. Carson Oscar Cullman ________________________________

Suggested DEBATES to listen to:
(you can download them and listen to them online or download them onto via MP3)

ON THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE OF SOLA SCRIPTURA

A Catholic/Protestant debate on sola Scriptura

Patrick Madrid & Karl Keating vs. Bill Jackson and Ron Nemec $6.00

This debate took place before an audience of nearly 600 people at a Fundamentalist Baptist church in Denver, Colorado, during the Pope’s visit there in the summer of 1993. The debate theme was framed as “Does the Bible Teach the doctrine of ‘The Bible Alone’?” In this rollicking and sometimes humorous exchange, you’ll hear veteran Catholic apologists Karl Keating and Patrick Madrid square off against two Fundamentalist Baptist ministers as they disect the Reformation notion of sola Scriptura, using Scripture and the facts of history. Informative, thought-provoking and dramatic.

https://store.patrickmadrid.com/the-bible-only-debate-mp3/

DOES THE BIBLE TEACH SOLA SCRIPTURA? $ 5.00

Patrick Madrid debates James White on the question “Does the Bible Teach Sola Scriptura?” Hard-hitting, penetrating exchange on the central slogan of the Protestant Reformation.
https://store.patrickmadrid.com/does-the-bible-teach-sola-scriptura-mp3/

SOLA SCRIPTURA
Youtube debate with Robert Sugenis and David Hester
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuvG5eqqOCE

PURGATORY: (two parts, turn up volume)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioglywNenA8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4O25zrIv_g

SACRIFICE OF THE MASS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngjs-X-ItqU

PREDESTINATION (You can find all the series of video at this first link)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8luXFgYY5B8&list=PLCE8C010392DB23E1

Not debates but links to Catholic information:

PETER’S AUTHORITY

Radio
http://www.catholic.com/radio/shows/peters-authority-7622

http://www.catholic.com/radio/shows/the-primacy-of-peter-6711

http://www.catholic.com/video/is-peter-the-rock-in-matthew-1618

APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION

http://www.catholic.com/tracts/apostolic-succession

http://www.catholic.com/tracts/apostolic-tradition

http://www.catholic.com/video/why-be-catholic-apostolic-succession

MARY WAS SINLESS?

The Immaculate Conception

The mother of our Lord, Mary, was conceived by  natural  reproduction, but Catholics teach that God intervened in a special way and kept her from the stain of original sin. She was preserved from a corrupt nature with a unique gift of God's grace. 

Why? What would be the purpose of Mary being sinless? 

Being chosen to be the bearer of God is the highest honor ever bestowed upon a human. Mary held God within her. She contributed half of Jesus' chromosomes. When we see Jesus, we are seeing the genetics of Mary. Her face is in His. Divinity  within Mary's humanity and Mary's humanity within His Divinity. Mary was part of the greatest miracle of cosmic history: God becoming man. She was not only created for this purpose, she was given the grace needed to be able to hold within her body the Holy God. A sinful human body could never have been impregnated by the Holy Spirit and held God. 

Mary was given the grace of sinlessness not  because of a willful act on her part but a gift for Christ. Mary being immaculately conceived was not to elevate her to divinity, but was for Christ. 

So if she was sinless she was like God and didn't need a Savior!

Adam and Eve were born without original sin and that didn't make them like God. Most angels are without sin and they are not divinity. Christians would not claim that the perfect souls now in heaven are in competition with God. 

Mary was born as all of us were originally created to be born if we had not sinned. Mary is our hope. Mary shows us what Christ meant for us and what He plans for us. When we look at Mary we are seeing a prophecy of the future of each of God's faithful. With God's grace we, like Mary, will be perfect. 

The Catholics teach that Mary was "redeemed in a more exalted fashion by reason of the merits of her Son." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 492.) Being saved from ever sinning by God's redemptive blood is just as much being saved as those who fall and must seek repentance. It is still God's merits not Mary's and she still required a Savior for if God's miraculous intervention had been withheld she would not have been "full of grace." 

My Bible translation says Mary was "highly favored" not "full of grace." (Luke 1:28) 

The Greek perfect tense verb that is translated in these phrases is Kecharitomene. It would have been understood by the reader in Christ's day as a permanent grace beginning in the past and continuing into the future. The archangel wasn't at this point bestowing God's grace on her, but addressing her as queen and recognizing her gift of grace. 

The texts that support the Catholic belief can be found in this video: 

But Mary being sinless is against scripture?

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:22-23

This is the Protestant "gotcha" text whenever they inform a Catholic that the Immaculate Conception is heretical. Yet logic will tell you that Paul's "all" didn't really mean all as in each and every individual human conceived or Jesus himself would be included. And what about the babies that die before the age of consent when they would be personally responsible for their sins? (Even Paul admitted that babies were sinless in Rom. 9: 11)

How strange for a Protestants to believe the Bible could be immaculately conceived--a book be saved from stain of sin and corruption--and yet God wouldn't do that for His Mother? If God kept the book who held the written Word infallible, could He not also making the woman who held the physical Word infallible?

Do not hate Mary because she is beautiful. She is the blessed mother of God and Jesus is showing us through Mary, who we are, who His church is. We are to be exalted and glorified just as Mary. And because the Trinity, the very Godhead addressed her with the title of queen when they said "Hail" through the angle Gabriel, so should we treat her with utter respect. Mary prophesied that "all generations will call me blessed." And so we do, Blessed Mary.


FOR MORE INFORMATION

The papal encyclical on Mary:

http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pi09id.htm

The Catholic Encyclopedia on Mary:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm

Catholic encyclopedia about the Immaculate Conception:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07674d.htm

List of recommended books about the Catholic Dogmas of Mary:

Hail, Holy Queen by Scott Hahn

http://www.amazon.com/Hail-Holy-Queen-Mother-Word/dp/0385501692/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375911343&sr=1-1&keywords=mary+scott+hahn

Mary: Mother of the Son by Mark Shea (a Trilogy)

http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Mother-Son-3-Set/dp/1933919272/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375911387&sr=1-4&keywords=mary+Mark+Shea

Queen Mother 

http://www.ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/Home+Page/BOOKS/Marian/QUEEN+MOTHER.axd

_______________________________________________________________________________

From the New Advent website (under: Immaculate Conception). Here is a list of Church Fathers and early Christian writers who helped develop the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception from what Christ and the Apostles taught. 

Mary as the second Eve

This celebrated comparison between Eve, while yet immaculate and incorrupt — that is to say, not subject to original sin — and the Blessed Virgin is developed by:

• Justin (Dialogue with Trypho 100),
• Irenaeus (Against Heresies III.22.4),
• Tertullian (On the Flesh of Christ 17),

• Julius Firmicus Maternus (De errore profan. relig xxvi),

• Cyril of Jerusalem (Catecheses 12.29),

• Epiphanius (Hæres., lxxviii, 18),
• Theodotus of Ancyra (Or. in S. Deip n. 11), and
• Sedulius (Carmen paschale, II, 28).

The absolute purity of Mary

Patristic writings on Mary's purity abound.

• The Fathers call Mary the tabernacle exempt from defilement and corruption (Hippolytus, "Ontt. in illud, Dominus pascit me");

• Origen calls her worthy of God, immaculate of the immaculate, most complete sanctity, perfect justice, neither deceived by the persuasion of the serpent, nor infected with his poisonous breathings ("Hom. i in diversa");

• Ambrose says she is incorrupt, a virgin immune through grace from every stain of sin ("Sermo xxii in Ps. cxviii);

• Maximus of Turin calls her a dwelling fit for Christ, not because of her habit of body, but because of original grace ("Nom. viii de Natali Domini");

• Theodotus of Ancyra terms her a virgin innocent, without spot, void of culpability, holy in body and in soul, a lily springing among thorns, untaught the ills of Eve, nor was there any communion in her of light with darkness, and, when not yet born, she was consecrated to God ("Orat. in S. Dei Genitr.").

• In refuting Pelagius St. Augustine declares that all the just have truly known of sin "except the Holy Virgin Mary, of whom, for the honour of the Lord, I will have no question whatever where sin is concerned" (On Nature and Grace 36).

• Mary was pledged to Christ (Peter Chrysologus, "Sermo cxl de Annunt. B.M.V.");

• it is evident and notorious that she was pure from eternity, exempt from every defect (Typicon S. Sabae);

• she was formed without any stain (St. Proclus, "Laudatio in S. Dei Gen. ort.", I, 3);
• when the Virgin Mother of God was to be born of Anne, nature did not dare to anticipate the germ of grace, but remained devoid of fruit (John Damascene, "Hom. i in B. V. Nativ.", ii).
• The Syrian Fathers never tire of extolling the sinlessness of Mary. St. Ephraem considers no terms of eulogy too high to describe the excellence of Mary's grace and sanctity: "Most holy Lady, Mother of God, alone most pure in soul and body, alone exceeding all perfection of purity ...., alone made in thy entirety the home of all the graces of the Most Holy Spirit, and hence exceeding beyond all compare even the angelic virtues in purity and sanctity of soul and body . . . . my Lady most holy, all-pure, all-immaculate, all-stainless, all-undefiled, all-incorrupt, all-inviolate spotless robe of Him Who clothes Himself with light as with a garment . . . flower unfading, purple woven by God, alone most immaculate" ("Precationes ad Deiparam" in Opp. Graec. Lat., III, 524-37).
• To St. Ephraem she was as innocent as Eve before her fall, a virgin most estranged from every stain of sin, more holy than the Seraphim, the sealed fountain of the Holy Ghost, the pure seed of God, ever in body and in mind intact and immaculate ("Carmina Nisibena").

• Jacob of Sarug says that "the very fact that God has elected her proves that none was ever holier than Mary; if any stain had disfigured her soul, if any other virgin had been purer and holier, God would have selected her and rejected Mary". It seems, however, that Jacob of Sarug, if he had any clear idea of the doctrine of sin, held that Mary was perfectly pure from original sin ("the sentence against Adam and Eve") at the Annunciation.

RITUALS

“Good rituals help prevent bad habits.” 

Teresa Beem

(explanation coming...)

Everyone Has To Suffer

[I]f children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8: 17

“Hey, if you’re sufferin’, ya made a couple bad choices in your life.” Some Christians say with a compassionate tough-love talk expression on their faces, “Christ can’t bless ya. He’s turnin’ up the heat in your life, man, so you will come back to Him.”

Okay, that may be true for some people. But what about people who have made good choices and have been sacrificially obedient to God and yet they also go through the fires of financial crisis or poverty? They are victims of crime, or divorce or infidelity? What is God doing when good people are struck with cancer or the death of a child? 

We don’t say it aloud, but it plays out in our subconscious: there is a spiritual shame to suffering. We have failed if we are not happy and prosperous. God is withholding His good favor from us. Within the American Protestant culture is the subliminal assumption of a merit-based system of punishment and rewards. If things are going well, then “praise the Lord for He is good to me.” In bad times one is receiving the wound of God, not His blessings. 

Pondering the above video, it struck a deep and tender part of my spirit. Because of sin, we all suffer. We all suffer--those who are not of goodwill, those who are good and those who are very good. Saints suffer.

We need not allow suffering to cause resentment or defensiveness towards others who are not at the moment enduring agonies. We need not fear, nor feel as if we’ve failed when we are innocent victims of other people’s bad choices or even simply victims of the pains that come from living and dying. We all hurt. We all hurt because sin is crushing our world. 

Original sin condemned every human to endure physical and emotional pains.

[I]f you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. I Peter 3:14 (see also I Peter 2: 20; 3:17)

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, I Peter 1:6 (See also Acts 5: 39-42; Rom. 8: 17; I Cor. 12: 26; I Thess. 3:4; Rev. 2: 10)

Because of the passion of our Lord, Christians’ sufferings take on a wonderful new meaning. We are brought into the salvation of Christ’s Cross and we become like Him.

[I]f...we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Rom. 8: 17

We freely lift up our pain to God uniting it with the Passion and death of Christ. This is what Christ wants, for He told us through St. Paul:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. Col. 1: 24

Being very moved by the video, first thing this morning the Lord put before me, in His written word, this verse:

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Ps. 97:1

It dawned upon me, God isn’t blind nor naive. He sees the wretchedness of the earth. Yet even within the context of a wicked and oppressive world, God tells us that because He reigns, we can rejoice. God doesn’t mean we are to ignore the pain or distract ourselves from it with drugs or false celebrations or entertainment. It means even as we acknowledge and embrace  the heartbreaks we go through and grieve with those who are in crisis; through our tears we face our pain and bravely offer it up to God. Standing firmly in our faith, we rejoice, for we know we have a very good God. 

The last scene of the video says it all... 

As Christians, we pick up our cross and follow Him. He who bore the sins of the world, His suffering was redemptive and so our suffering is redemptive too.