Tag: protestant

Is the pope Catholic?

Does he believe in the Real Presence?

I encountered the same lack of teaching from my priest recently when talking about similar clearly Eucharistic passages which gave opportunities to teach the Real Presence but where he chose to teach other aspects eg. “Feeding on God’s Word”.

Jesus is really truly present and alive in the Blessed Sacrament! He has repeatedly confirmed this in word, miracle and other signs. This is not an option to believe. It’s the greatest honour for our unworthy souls. Those who do not preach maybe do not see the Crisis of lack of faith and equally do not see “The Solution”. The immense power of this Sacrament means Satan works really hard on this one.

By the way, I’ve worked out (God or Blessed Mother gave me to think…) that at the slightest temptation or doubt/thought first entering your head, stop and pray 3 Glory Bes immediately and then implore briefly God’s help – Gods wisdom will quickly, if not instantly, drive the thought away!

Wish I figured that out before! Could have saved a lot of struggles!

Anyway, bless yourself then read this story.
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Donna

Remnant Clergy from Biblical False prophet site posted: “Some good observations from two articles at St. Corbinian’s Bear:

Francis provides Protestant Explanation of the Eucharist

Following are excerpts. For full article go to:
http://corbiniansbear.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/pope-francis-mum-on-real-presence-again.html

Pope Provides Protestant Explanation of John 6
On Sunday, August 23, 2015

… Today Pope Francis managed to explain today’s Gospel reading without a single reference to transubstantiation. In fact, he went one better. He said that what Jesus meant by that flesh and blood talk was the “sacrifice of his very life.” That’s right. It was not that bread and wine would actually become His Precious Body and Blood. Forget that. Our Lord was merely challenging people with the fact of his coming death, His “failure” as Messiah.
… Pope Francis does violence to the text, because he ignores where Jesus says: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” John 6:56. How does one reconcile this with the claim that Jesus is merely referring to his death on the cross? Immediately after Jesus says this, John records the following in v. 60: “Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?'”
Pope Francis goes on to talk about walking, “always on a journey,” in some nice but not particularly Catholic language. You will be glad to know you are not “chained” to Jesus, but “profoundly free.”
… Did he deny transubstantiation and the traditional Catholic interpretation of this passage? No. But when he took it upon himself to preach from it, he didn’t affirm it, either. A Lutheran or an Anglican or a United Church of Christ member or a Presbyterian could have heard this without a single objection. Perhaps that’s the point. [indeed it is!]”

Pope Francis Misleads on Real Presence Again

The next day
“… Pope Francis insisted then, as he did during his most recent angelus message, that the “bread” relates not to the Eucharist, but to Jesus’ death on the cross.
But Pope Francis explained that, “knowing he will have to die on the cross for us, Jesus identifies himself with the bread broken and shared, and it becomes for him the “sign” of the sacrifice that awaits him.”
Interestingly, here is how a footnote from a popular Protestant study Bible, the English Standard Version, deals with v. 6:51. (“I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”) Since there is strong risk of confusion, what immediately follows is the Protestant explanation.
6:51 living bread. The “bread” Jesus gives is his flesh (a reference to Jesus’ death on the cross). Jesus’ statement intermingles physical and spiritual truth. Jesus is not talking about literal “bread,” but he is the true “living bread” in the sense that those who believe in him have their spiritual hunger satisfied. He becomes this spiritually satisfying “bread” by sacrificing his own physical body in his death on the cross, and in that sense he can say that this spiritual bread is my flesh.

Note the same misdirection by Pope Francis and the Protestant study Bible. Both identify Jesus’ “bread” as his flesh on the cross.
• Pope Francis: “knowing he will have to die on the cross for us, Jesus identifies himself with the bread broken and shared, and it becomes for him the “sign” of the sacrifice that awaits him.”
• Protestant study Bible note: “The “bread” Jesus gives is his flesh (a reference to Jesus’ death on the cross).

So, once again, Pope Francis avoids Catholic content and preaches a bland message to which few Protestants could object. Why is it too much for Catholics to hope for the Pope to boldly preach Catholic teaching? …

The Pope further diluted understanding of the Real Presence by making this Protestant-like closing statement. In it, “He who eats this bread” is a metaphor for “living in communion with Jesus on this earth.”
In conclusion, the Pope recalled Jesus’ words, “He who eats this bread will live forever”. He then explained that by living in communion with Jesus on this earth we can look forward to the voice of the Risen Lord who calls us when we finally close our eyes.
… What does the Pope believe? …

The Hail Mary of a Protestant (A true story)

A little six-year-old Protestant boy had often heard his Catholic companions reciting the prayer “Hail Mary.” He liked it so much that he copied it, memorized it and would recite it every day. “Look, Mommy, what a beautiful prayer,” he said to his mother one day.

“Never again say it,” answered the mother. “It is a superstitious prayer of Catholics who adore idols and think Mary a goddess. After all, she is a woman like any other. Come on, take this Bible and read it. It contains everything that we are bound to do and have to do.” From that day on the little boy discontinued his daily “Hail Mary” and gave himself more time to reading the Bible instead.

One day, while reading the Gospel, he came across the passage about the Annunciation of the Angel to Our Lady. Full of joy, the little boy ran to his mother and said: “Mommy, I have found the ‘Hail Mary’ in the Bible which says: ‘Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women.’ Why do you call it a superstitious prayer?”

On another occasion he found that beautiful Salutation of St. Elizabeth to the Virgin Mary and the wonderful canticle MAGNIFICAT in which Mary foretold that “the generations would call her blessed.”

He said no more about it to his mother but started to recite the “Hail Mary” every day as before. He felt pleasure in addressing those charming words to the Mother of Jesus, our Savior.

When he was fourteen, he one day heard a discussion on Our Lady among the members of his family. Every one said that Mary was a common woman like any other woman. The boy, after listening to their erroneous reasoning could not bear it any longer, and full of indignation, he interrupted them, saying:
“Mary is not like any other children of Adam, stained with sin. No! The Angel called her FULL OF GRACE AND BLESSED AMONGST WOMEN. Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ and consequently Mother of God. There is no higher dignity to which a creature can be raised. The Gospel says that the generations will proclaim her blessed and you are trying to despise her and look down on her. Your spirit is not the spirit of the Gospel or of the Bible which you proclaim to be the foundation of the Christian religion.”

So deep was the impression which the boy’s talk had made that his mother many times cried out sorrowfully: “Oh my God! I fear that this son of mine will one day join the Catholic religion, the religion of Popes!” And indeed, not very long afterwards, having made a serious study of both Protestantism and Catholicism, the boy found the latter to be the only true religion and embraced it and became one of its most ardent apostles.

Some time after his conversion, he met his married sister who rebuked him and said indignantly: “You little know how much I love my children. Should any one of them desire to become a Catholic, I would sooner pierce his heart with a dagger than allow him to embrace the religion of the Popes!”

Her anger and temper were as furious as those of St. Paul before his conversion. However, she would change her ways, just as St. Paul did on his way to Damascus. It so happened that one of her sons fell dangerously ill and the doctors gave up hope of recovery. Her brother then approached her and spoke to her affectionately, saying:
“My dear sister, you naturally wish to have your child cured. Very well, then, do what I ask you to do. Follow me, let us pray one ‘Hail Mary’ and promise God that, if your son recovers his health, you would seriously study the Catholic doctrine, and should you come to the conclusion that Catholicism is the only true religion, you would embrace it no matter what the sacrifices may be.”

His sister was somewhat reluctant at the beginning, but as she wished for her son’s recovery, she accepted her brother’s proposal and recited the “Hail Mary” together with him. The next day her son was completely cured. The mother fulfilled her promise and she studied the Catholic doctrine. After long preparation she received Baptism together with her whole family, thanking her brother for being an apostle to her.

The story was related during a sermon given by the Rev. Fr. Tuckwell. “Brethren,” he went on and said, “the boy who became a Catholic and converted his sister to Catholicism dedicated his whole life to the service of God. He is the priest who is speaking to you now! What I am I owe to Our Lady. You, too, my dear brethren, be entirely dedicated also to Our Lady and never let a day pass without saying the beautiful prayer, ‘Hail Mary’, and your Rosary. Ask her to enlighten the minds of Protestants who are separated from the true Church of Christ founded on the Rock (Peter) and ‘against whom the gates of hell shall never prevail.'”

This story was related by our priest as a sermon on Our Lady. It really touched my heart. I found it later at :   http://www.olrl.org/stories/