10-31-06
Greetings!
A frequent difficulty protestant students of history have is determining when the "Catholic" Church split from the "true Church" (as they put it).
A reader pointed out the following website and note attached to it: http://godandscience.org/doctrine/creeds.html
"Note: When the term "catholic" is used in the creeds, it refers to the true Christian church of all times and all places. It is not a reference to the Roman Catholic Church."
That is interesting. It looks like a decent site. The historical creeds looks to be accurate. Although he is wrong with that opening statement. The people who drafted those Creeds certainly considered themselves Catholic. And would no doubt be horrified by the extremely large number of protestant groups out there today. For the very reason they created those Creeds was to define what was "True" and to therefore also define and clarify what was "false."
This is a common problem protestants run into historically, when exactly did the "Catholic" Church go bad? The early Church was One, (that's why they were able to differentiate between "true" teaching and "heresy". So if the Catholic Church as it's known today, is not the "true church" of ancient times….at what point did it stop being the "true church"? And then when did the "true Christian Church" begin? Some would argue Martin Luther began it. But what about the preceding 1500 years? Was it just chaos? And besides, the Lutherans still profess many of the ancient Creeds that were produced by the Catholic Church. Some would argue, the Catholic Church went "bad" with Constantine in the 300's. Yet, they still accept the Nicene Creed, produced after Constantine's conversion. And for that matter, what of the formal Canon of the Bible? Finalized by Church Councils in Hippo 393Ad and Carthage 397AD?
To quote Ven. John Henry Newman, "to study the history of Christianity, is to cease being protestant."
Phil's Tidbits:
The University of Wisconsin-Waukesha now has a "Pagan Student Alliance" student organization:
Via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 10-22-06 by Scott Williams
Braun, who describes herself as a witch, said the UW-Waukesha club has attracted students from a variety of backgrounds, including some who are surprised to learn how closely paganism matches their own personal beliefs.
-I guess that statement shouldn't be overly surprising as our culture moves toward a "practical paganism/atheism". Of course they'd find that their personal beliefs match. It's always wonderful when we can get God or religion to fit our own notions and lifestyle…..
"People are actually finding their own little paths to the group," she said. "It's cool that we can help."
Officially recognized by the student government about two weeks ago, the club hopes to promote understanding of paganism through public informational efforts and demonstrations.
The club's vice president said there are many similarities between paganism and other religions. For example, the Wiccan ritual of casting spells, she said, is not much different from the Christian tradition of prayer.
-Come again? Casting spells implies a personal power over something/someone. The Christian tradition of prayer invokes the Power of another (God) in service to someone else, according to the Will of Someone Higher. It is not for no reason that we pray "Thy Will be done."
From the Board of the National Coalition of American Nuns in "A Letter to American Catholic Voters:
3. We encourage respect for the moral adulthood of women and will choose legislators who will recognize the right of women to make reproductive decisions and receive medical treatment according to the rights of privacy and conscience.
The full letter can be found here(although I warn you it's far from edifying): http://systersnet.typepad.com/ncan/2006/10/an_open_letter__1.html
-What is this? I haven't heard much from this group, and I guess there's a reason why. This is just sad. And certainly not in line with Catholic teaching. These types of groups, certainly not representative of the vast majority of nuns in America, are typically made up of people who have rejected much of what the Church stands for. In a certain sense, one can ask the question, why remain Catholic, much less a nun? Indeed, no one forces anyone to be Catholic—it is a free choice. But if you call yourself "Catholic" at least have the moral honesty to not work to undermine what the Church teaches.
On the flipside, we have the courageous words of Bishop Fred Henry of Canada, who is certainly not afraid to say what the Gospel demands. In his normal, straight-forward way he hits the nail on the button.
Via Lifesitenews.com 10-26-06: Asked why he is not afraid to say such things in Canada where many voices have been cowed into silence, Bishop Henry replied, "Well I guess it's because I read the last chapter of the book and we win in the end." He added, "I mean if you really believe that the Spirit of God is with you, what have you got to fear?"
"The challenge for any believer is to get out of the upper room," he said. "The apostles were locked up there after the resurrection, and the biggest challenge was that the lock was on the inside of the door. They had to get out of that upper room onto the streets of
Jerusalem and talk about faith and the good news of salvation, and I suppose in some way for all of us it's still the same story. If we really believe in our baptism we've got to be courageous people, the Spirit of God is with us.
Also of note is the new bishop of Sioux Falls, SD. Bishop Paul Swain. Within an hour of being installed: said that he was proud his first vote as a citizen of South Dakota would be in favor of the abortion ban passed there, now on referendum next Tuesday. Incidentally, Bishop Swain is from Madison, WI. He was a lawyer, converted to Catholicism at age 39 and then felt the call to the priesthood. Praise God for courageous bishops!
As the rhetoric continues to heat up concerning the gay marriage amendment, those against it are trying to rally religious groups to their cause. The Central Wisconsin Sunday (10-29-06) editorial page featured a piece by the Rev. Scott Marrese-Wheeler, Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Marshfield. The title of the piece "The moral issue of poverty is not addressed in marriage amendment" aptly describes his point. Because poverty is not talked about in the gay marriage amendment, we shouldn't vote for it. Hunh? The whole several hundred word piece follows that same trail. Only one problem---it doesn't have anything to do with the amendment and does not follow a logical path.
Should we not discuss immigration laws because it doesn't address the moral issue of the death penalty? Or Iraq, because it doesn't address the moral issue of the environment? That would be silly. They are both worthy of discussion, and the absence of one does not mean the other is automatically disqualified.
If you're interested Rev. Wheeler's full article can be found here:
Fr. Kevin C. Louis, STL, Pastor at St. Peter's had an excellent this piece (and pretty much every week!) on the upcoming election. The bulletin article can be found at: www.saintpetercatholic.com
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This is a nice idea. It echoes the "All Saints" parties that have grown in popularity of late. Our parish just had its 6th Annual All Saints Party this past weekend and well over 100 people—adults and children attended.
Halloween Making Way for "White Feast"
Initiative Aims to Restore Original Meaning of Event
SANTIAGO, Chile, OCT. 26, 2006 (Zenit.org).- A 6-year-old initiative to change Halloween from a night of fright into a celebration of joy and hope is gaining ground in Chile.
The "White Feast of All Saints," the night of Oct. 31, is growing in popularity in families, parishes and communities, and especially in schools, according to the Chilean bishops' conference.
The initiative, the idea of Jos
e Miguel Carafe
, has children dress up in costumes and express, with entertainment, their gratitude to the families that give them sweets.
Leaflets and suggestions for activities for the occasion have already been distributed to all of
Chile's education vicariates so that in turn they are made available to educational establishments, kindergartens and parishes that request them.
Positive elements are being retained, such as costumes and sweets for children. But customs that glorify death and darkness have been replaced by those that promote joy and life.
Thus, far from opposing Halloween, there is a return to the original meaning of this date, the eve of All Saints Day, said the episcopal conference.
Under the program, children are taught that they must give of themselves to achieve their objectives, that it is better to show respect than to scare people. Above all they are being taught that positive and constructive values must always prevail, such as life, love, peace, joy and selflessness.
The children will wear costumes that give a positive message, and go out into the streets with an adult or responsible youth, to collect sweets. They will only call at houses with a white mark of some sort on their doors or fences, thus indicating that they want to take part in the celebration.
To receive sweets, the children must give a "grace" in exchange, which can be a drawing, a joke, a prayer, a flower, a card, etc. When calling at a home they must say: "Sweets for graces."
ZE06102624
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ZENIT News Agency, The World Seen from Rome
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