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Hi, Craig —
I'd like to respond to a few comments
that your ex-girlfriend has made.
She said:
I believe that
when Christ ascended into Heaven
and gave us the Holy Spirit, that
is how he is one in us. That's how
I understand what he did there.
I'm sorry, this makes no sense. Before
Our Blessed Lord ascended into Heaven
he said:
"All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to
me. Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that
I have commanded you; and
lo, I am with you always, [to
the close of the age.|to the end
of time.]"
(The End of Matthew's Gospel -
28)
If your ex-girlfriend is correct,
how can [Our Lord, Jesus|God], who
can neither deceive, nor be deceived,
allow over 30,000 Protestant denominations
to break from the Church He founded
on St. Peter? Certainly,
this can't be the Holy Spirit making
us ONE with Him.
No, there has to be another logical
meaning; it is through the Blessed
Sacrament where we are ONE with Him.
As Catholics, we can have confidence
in this. Why? Not because it's our
Church, but because historically
the Catholic Christian Church is
the ONE and ONLY Church Jesus established
on St. Peter and His successors.
This is where we get our confidence!
She said:
Christ doesn't
need a physical medium to be in us
Of course, he doesn't. He can chose
any means to be with us, He is God, but because
Our Lord, CHOSE to become an incarnated
(physical) man, like us, for our
salvation, before He ascended into
Heaven he CHOSE to give us the seven
sacraments to transmit His Grace
through the priesthood by physical
means. Remember what a sacrament
is:
It is an outward sign, instituted
by Christ, that gives (sanctifying)
Grace.
A sacrament always has a form (the
words) and matter (the substance).
Through Baptism, Christ dwells within
the Christian, but to strengthen
the Christian in confusing times
like ours, before he ascended into
Heaven, he told his disciples at
the First Eucharist or Last Supper:
DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.
Not, do this, if you feel like it.
When we go to Mass on Sunday, in
a manner we can only accept in faith,
we enter into that ONE sacrifice
of Calvary, and receive many graces
to help us discern good, holy choices
from bad, demonic choices for that
week. In the same way the Israelites
were told to eat the passover lamb,
each Sunday we eat the New Testament
Passover Lamb, Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament.
She said:
What about the
secret underground Christians in
China? They don't go to Mass every
Sunday, but I don't believe they
are sinning or have Christ in them
any less than a weekly Catholic.
Who says they don't go to Mass every
Sunday? The underground Church in
China just celebrates its Masses
underground. Why? Because they, like
all Christian obey the ten commandments,
not suggestions. The third commandment
tells the Christian to keep the Lord's
Day Holy. Catholics do this by at
least attending Mass on Sundays and
on Holy Day's of Obligation.
If any Chinese Catholic cannot make
it to Mass for a good reason, they
would be excused for that week but
should say a
Spiritual Communion.
She said:
What about the
people who don't go to church but
read their Bible, pray, and love
and help others daily by following
the commandments Christ laid out?
- they will be responsible at their
particular judgment for what they
knew.
- they will NOT be responsible
for what they did not know YET
- will be responsible if they purposely
ignored the obligation of forming
a Christian conscience or the
promptings of the Holy Spirit
from within, if they are non-Christians.
Being a "good person" is
NOT enough. Why? Because each person
has their own definition of what
a
"good person is". The Church
defines it, ideally, as a practicing
Catholic.
She said:
Church is a privilege,
not an obligation!
- Has she read the third of the
ten commandments?
She said:
I'll try to have
a few more verses next time.
Great! You can have some more verses
for her too!
http://www.askacatholic.com/ScripturePassages
Hope this helps,
Mike
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