www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News These are the problems with churches!!!

First off, I guess you must be a bishop, because you say that Fr. Benedict is in heresy.

Second, Jesus was a Jew. Jesus came to reform Judaism and not found a new church.

Third, we are all Christians, and it is people like YOU that is going to keep us apart by stupid insensitive comments like that.

Peter

Well im a 21 year old person.

"" jesus was jew, he did not found a new church ""

you call yourself catholic? do you read scripture?

"" Upon this rock i will build my (church) ""

"" I will give you the keys to the kingdom ""

"" whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and i in him ""

"" unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you have (NO) life within you ""

"" Unless you are born again of water and the spirit you cannot enter into the kingdom of god ""

notice (water).

"" Behave in the church of the living god, the (pillar) and foundation of (truth) ""

these are all in scripture, he created one true church for our salvation with the sacraments of perfection.

those outside the church are not with christ.

Im not ignorant, i just have faith in jesus and his church and know there is no other church.

peace.

Matt,

Your points are well-taken, but let me help you out by telling you that you do not want to offend people here, or the Administrator will bar you from the Forum. So as long as we keep it respectful, feel free to express your opinions.

First of all, I think Jesus came to both found a New Church and to reform Judaism. It has always been the Church's stance that she is the "New Israel", the fulfillment of Judaism. Judaism was and is an imperfect precursor to the perfect Body of Christ.

Secondly, I completely agree with you that Anglicanism, no matter how much it may outwardly resemble Roman Catholicism, is a heresy. I, also, do not believe any faithful Catholic should deny this. But, why is Fr. Benedict in heresy for asking God to bless the Episcopalians? Everyone needs God's blessing, especially those who are without His Church. If God chooses to bless them in the fullest way possible, they will became faithful and obedient Catholics.

I don't see how it is wrong to ask God's blessing on a group of people; this can only be a good thing.

Dominus vobiscum,
Logos Teen

Slava Isusu Christu!

The Purpose of the Church is the Salvation of the Soul, its deification, energetic union with the Trinity and to uncover the glorious Image of God expressed in our soul and body.

There is NO sin that cannot be forgiven! We must pray for Father Gera. I am sure he has used the Mystery of Repentance to start the healing process in his soul, like we all do or need to do.
We cannot call ourselves followers of Christ if we do not show forth the attributes of that same Christ who indwells us by Grace.

Satan hates the Catholic Faith, East and West! When a priest falls we must also take the blame. We must ask ourselves, "did we pray enough for our priests, did we visit them so they would not be lonely, did we care for them like our own family, did we make sure they were not hungry or have any needs, did we take time to talk to them and get to know them instead of using them as "sacramental dispensers". Now, some men who have assumed the Order of the Presbyterate have not been examined thoroughly enough or who had concealed mental illnesses which led to things we see and hear daily in the news. These men must be removed from the Priesthood, on a case by case basis, after guilt has been proven, but they still need our prayers and love. For Christ is still in that person calling out to us to offer the wine and vinegar to quench his thirst on the Cross. We must also focus on the healing of the faith and innocence of the Victims.

The point is human nature naturally loves gossip and hate-mongering, BUT as Catholics such things are grave sins. This group the "Roman Catholic Faithful" is evil. Never in the history of the Catholic Church has it ever been appropriate for the Catholic faithful to create witch-hunts for their clergy. Discipline of the Clergy is the jurisdiction of the Hierarchy, not the faithful. So the "Roman Catholic Faithful" are in reality the most unfaithful, because they utilize gestapo tactics instead of prayer to deal with the crisis in the Church today.

In Mary,

Robert

Slava Isusu Christu!

In regard to the Episcopalians in spite of their heretical beliefs they deserve our immense respect. The Episcopal Church in this country has helped the Eastern Churches immensely. Many times they have lent their Churches for free to Eastern Christians to have Divine Liturgy and other services. There has historically been a close relationship between the Anglicans and Eastern Christians.

They must be applauded for standing in solidarity with Latin Catholics in light of the current crisis in that Church.

God bless the Episcopalians!

Dear Friends,

To correct the record, I never said that Fr. Benedict EVER said, "God bless the Episcopalians."

I was the one who said that at the end of my post.

I said it because a) I wish God's blessings on everyone, sedevacantist or not; and b) I especially wanted to bless those Episcopalians who provide such a great Christian example by being supportive of the Catholic Church.

To call someone a "heretic" is an overt breaking of the public rules on this forum governing the rules of courteous discourse.

All of us here could just as well say that anyone who is a sedevacantist is a true heretic and schismatic, having broken away from the Church of Christ that Christ Himself in the Gospels said the gates of hell will never prevail against it, that He will be with it always, even unto the end of the world, and that we should never listen to anyone who would lead us out of it.

But we are too nice to say that . . .

Alex

I must throw my two cents in here in defense of Father Benedict Groeschel. Fr. Groeschel, living and ministering in and around the Bronx has established close and respectful relations with Jews, Protestants, and people of all faiths. At the same time, his commitment to Christ and His Church is second to none. He is a most faithful Catholic and Christian servant of the Lord. By no means is he trying to deny the current problems in the Church.

Khrystyna

[QUOTE] Second, Jesus was a Jew. Jesus came to reform Judaism and not found a new church. [/QUOTE

With all due respect to the Jewish people whom I believe are still beloved of God, nevertheless Jesus tells us that old wineskins cannot hold new wine. The establishment of His universal Church is the new wineskin which expanded the ethnic and religious roots of Judaism to include all people as spiritual descendants of Abraham. In the mystery of salvation both faithful Jews and Gentiles will enter the Kingdom.

Khrystyna

Dear Khrystyna,

You are right about Fr. Groeschl.

Apart from his difficult surname , he is a great example of the kind of heights a Christian may attain through a marriage of deep religious faith and the social sciences.

I think that anyone who doesn't like him is a heretic . . .

Once he was giving his Christmas message and he mentioned that his only real Christmas "celebration" was to have a sip of sherry.

He received bottles and bottles of sherry the next week, mostly from Episcopalians who watch EWTN.

And he thanked them, saying he knows Episcopalians like sherry . . .

The Anglicans and Episcopalians I know are just Catholics who like the Pope but who aren't in communion with him yet.

And that means they are a lot better off than, say, sedevacantists . . .

Alex

TraditionalRC,

A Christian is well withing his rights to wish blessings any who are baptized, especially when it's the recipients desire to draw closer to the Church, even in a small way.

Blessings bring Grace, Grace brings Faith!

Yours in Christ,

Brendan ( also an RC)

Dear Scotus,

Thank you for defending me, friend . . . sniff . . .

Alex

Touche, Alex! I will always treasure my Book of Common Prayer, it is one of the finest contributions from the Anglican/Episcopal tradition.

Khrystyna

Dear Khrystyna,

As you know, the Antiochian Orthodox Church has the Western Rite of St Tikhon which is the Anglican tradition using a form of the BCP and the AV of the Bible - you know, the one St Paul used!

(And there is an Anglican Use in communion with Rome - but I'm done telling you things you already know!).

There is something so linguistically mnemonic or whatever about the AV that it allows one to easily memorize it.

Thomas Cranmer memorized it in under a year and Nicholas Ferrar's family knew the Psalms and the Gospels off by heart.

But then again, they did recite it in total twice in one day . . .

As the Ukrainians say, "a horse would learn . . ."

Alex

But Anglicans also do not posses valid Orders, or a true Eucharist, etc. all of which Sedevacantists have.

Logos Teen

Dear Teen Logo,

Actually, Episcopalians, Lutherans et al. have been born years away from their founders who first broke with Rome.

As St Augustine taught, such cannot be "heretics" in any way.

But sedevacantism willfully breaks itself off from communion with Rome over its own (prideful) perceptions of what "should be."

It is therefore and formally in both heresy and schism, from the Catholic POV.

We cannot have any communion with it for its willful act of both heresy and schism - rooted largely in denying Christ's Words that He will be with His Church for all time.

Off hand, I say anyone who denies Christ's Words has no valid anything.

Alex