The thing is, if you believe Jesus, in the Incarnation, there is nowhere else to be except in the Catholic Church, which is what this convert is saying:
My longing to become a Catholic boils down to the fact that I believe that the Bible is the Word of God and I take Christ at his word when he says to St. Peter,
‘thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth it shall be loosed also in heaven” Mt 16: 18-19.So if Jesus says He is building a church on St. Peter there is no other church that fits the bill. Either that or this verse means nothing, therefore the Bible means nothing (it cannot be the Word of God) and Jesus cannot be whom He claimed to be, etc. Either Jesus is God, the Christ, the Second person of the Trinity, and He keeps His promises and the Word of God means something (everything) and has to be taken seriously or it is all a load of rubbish, as Jesus said, ‘a house divided upon itself cannot stand’.
5 comments:
Having followed the link given I have read all the entries there starting with the earliest with great interest and was astonished and delighted to see the last sentence! Being on the internet the gentleman's parish could have been anywhere in the world.
I enjoyed the mention from someone of the 'Tiber Swimming Club.' Could we not have one at St MM? Even one get-together a year would be welcome - we all have one thing in common searching and eventually finding probably through many different routes. Strangely it is only since having a computer that I had even heard the expression 'swimming the Tiber.' I don't know whether it existed 46 years ago but I do not remember ever hearing the expression then.
May I take this opportunity of wishing the new parishioner every happiness in his new found Faith.
Fr.,
One way I see it is that the Catholic Church is not a sect, it is the universal Church, intended for all, therefore by definition it must contain good bad and indifferent.
Research in America (Miller report) has shown for instance that the rate of abuse by Catholic clergy was way below that of other churches and institutions,yet we alone seem to get all the blame for what is now seen to be one of those strange phenomena of the 60s and 70s.
True, many incidents were badly handled, unlike with the other institutions mentioned above, but then perhaps we are less used to having to field this sort of tragic thing.
It never ceases to amaze me that many Protestants have dozens of bible verses memorised, but do not dispose of the elementary logic and common sense of this sensible, practical, intelligent man.
Catholic theology may well be complicated but in the end, Truth is a very straightforward thing.
Mundabor
Another, more conspicuous, convert is off to Texas, moving house having crossed the Tiber but having encountered a problem in his well-publicised "homecoming".
Is that the last we will hear, the end of the "Liturgical Notes" forever?
@ Michael
I wonder what he will make of televangelism. I hope he's not tempted to try to replace the "black sheep dog". Very distressing news for many.
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