Things you may hear in Rome during holy week:
“It is more important that men and women become holy,” Cantalamessa said, “than that they know the name of the one Savior.”
“Without the Madonna, we can’t go forward in our priesthood!” Francis said.
“Each one of us has entered into our own personal tomb,” Francis said, in the one extemporaneous addition to his homily. “I’m inviting you to come out.”
“God loves like this: Until the end, giving his life for each one of us,” Francis said in his homily. “It’s not easy, because all of us are sinners, we have limits, flaws. Yes, we all know how to love, but not like God loves, without looking at the consequences, until the end.”
Could this kind of teaching be the reason the Roman church is facing a shortage of priests?
Father Douglas Grandon is one of those rare exceptions – a married Roman Catholic priest. He was a married Episcopalian priest when he and his family decided to enter the Catholic Church 14 years ago, and received permission from Benedict XVI to become a Catholic priest.
Even though Grandon recognizes the priest shortage, he said opening the doors to the married priesthood would not solve the root issue of that shortage.
“In my opinion, the key to solving the priest shortage is more commitment to what George Weigel calls evangelical Catholicism,” Grandon told CNA.
“Whether you’re Protestant or Catholic, vocations come from a very strong commitment to the basic commands of Jesus to preach the Gospel and make disciples. Wherever there’s this strong evangelical commitment, wherever priests are committed to deepening people’s faith and making them serious disciples, you have vocations. That is really the key.”
If it’s broke, why convert?
Old Life 
the link, the Pope:“The Lord is alive! He is living and he wants to rise again in all those faces that have buried hope, buried dreams, buried dignity,”
Happy Easter!
Jesus:
Grace to you and peace, Rev 1:5 from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 2: 4God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Romans 810 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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“It is more important that men and women become holy,” Cantalamessa said, “than that they know the name of the one Savior.”
ugh. so despicable (continued)
-at the name of Jesus every knee will bow Phil 2:10
-And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
-Peter: “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
-John: these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:31 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. John 3:23;
-Paul: that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thess 1:12
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I obviously agree with the central point of the post, but I believe Protestants have a lot to learn from Catholics as well. The statements listed in the post are problematic (especially the first), but is the low regard for Word and Sacrament found in many Protestant churches any better? Is Joel Osteen’s preaching any better than Pope Francis? Is the extremely callous and perfunctory manner in which the Lord’s Supper is celebrated in most Protestant churches any better than transubstantiation? Is the hyper-emotional, theatrical, musical worship of most Protestant worship any better than Roman Catholic liturgy? I would argue that the Protestants (broadly speaking) are worse on all counts. I’ll take the reverence and catechizing nature of a Catholic Mass over the borderline blasphemous evangelical service found in most Protestant churches today.
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Vae vic, is the low regard for the Sabbath at Redeemerish churches any better? Professional football? At least give it up for Lent.
Wait.
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DGH – fair point, if you are referring to strict Sabbath keeping in accordance with the WCF. As it is, I – along with the vast majority of Reformed folk, I would guess – take exception to the “recreation” aspect of Sabbath in the WCF. Both Exodus and Leviticus make clear the Sabbath is a time of “refreshment.” I am definitely refreshed by the NFL.
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Vae Vic, you mean NFL players play for free? Only the refs work? You pay people to violate the sabbath?
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“Is the hyper-emotional, theatrical, musical worship of most Protestant worship any better than [modern] Roman Catholic liturgy?” For me, Yes. Because you have to include the Catholic music in the equation, and because there is nothing worse than modern Catholic music. The Star Trek-like robes, the Brazilia-like architecture, the overbearing cantors and the oversized candles all induce anxiety, but nothing tops the joyless music.
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DGH – Ha! Well, potential Sabbath-breaking should be the least of Greg the Terrible’s concerns. Have you seen those cheerleaders? Definitely pornographic….
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“The heart of the pope’s case to priests was that the Christian Gospel “is not an object, but a mission,” and that a mission is always expressed in the small, concrete details of life that add up to a joyful commitment.” Once again, Rome failing to understand the gospel as they turn it into law. Kind of similar to the sign on Quest Church’s building (the old Mars Hill bldg) “Act justly, love kindness, walk humbly”. Law law law.
Without the Madonna they can’t go forward in their priesthood. Good, please don’t go forward. We need shepherds not priests. Lady Madonna gets in the way of so much. God has kept her from knowing Rome’s worship of her.
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In reply to “Go Prots!”…….YES. One of the many reasons Catholics are not Christians is because they seek to be saved by the law. The catechism explicitly says you must keep the 10 commandments to be saved (CCC 2068). THE BIBLE DOES NOT. Thus, that ALONE is “another gospel” per 2 Cor 11:4. Scripture emphatically declares that if you seek to be justified by the law, “you have fallen from grace” (Gal 5:4) and are under a curse if you don’t continue to do EVERYTHING written therein (Gal 3:10; James 2:10). Needless to say, no Catholic has ever kept the law perfectly, and so they are all cursed, each and every one of them, period, end of story. They fail to realize that, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes” (Romans 10:4). THE END! He has fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law perfectly in our room and stead, as well as taking the penalty of breaking that law, so that we would not have to (Gal 3:13). That being so, we do not trust inwardly in our own “right-doing”, but to his, to the extent that he may be called, “The Lord our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6). Which means adherence to the Mosaic law will NOT bring salvation and NO ONE will be justified by it (Acts 13:39). Since Catholics WANT it to be efficacious for the purpose of salvation, “Christ has become of NO effect to you” (Gal 5:4). The law was indeed “glorious” for its time and purpose (Romans 7:12; 2 Cor 3:9) but that which replaced it; namely, the grace of God shown in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6), is far better. Those who trust exclusively in his merits alone will be saved. Those who ADD to that work by trusting in other things, like papal subordination, are, we repeat, CURSED (Gal 3:10). For example, Boniface VIII said, “It is altogether necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff” (Unam Sanctam). NO! THAT IS A FALSE GOSPEL.
Roman Catholic foot-soldiers simply cannot deal with the fact that the Mosaic code has passed away. Paul is clear that the believer in Christ is no longer under the Law: “We were held in custody under the Law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the Law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian” (Galatians 3:23–25). “Know that a person is not justified by the works of the law” [i.e. ANY works whatsoever, per Titus 3:5 and contrary to CCC 1821] because by the works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16).
Now we are blessed to be under “the law of Christ” (Romans 8:1; Galatians 6:2), which essentially means we become a new creation through faith in him by caring for the spiritual and temporal needs of another. We say YES to good deeds, but Catholics convolute the plan of salvation by saying those deeds are salvific and will open heaven’s gate (CCC 1821). NO!
Catholics, WAKE UP! The Mosaic law was simply UNABLE to justify a sinner, whereas trusting in the finished work of Christ, can! “And by him, all that believe are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39), instantly refuting CCC 2068 which says the very opposite! It is clearly obvious that die-hard fans of the Pope are seeking to be justified by law-keeping and good works, both of which Scripture explicitly condemns in no uncertain terms. They fruitlessly go about trying to establish their own righteousness (Romans 10:3) by a balancing act of trying to keep the law of Moses on the one hand, and through an array of good deeds on the other, which they ignorantly think will open the gates of heaven (CCC 1821). Instead, Scripture declares they will be issued a passport to hell, despite all their “Mother Teresa” type qualities (Matt 7:21-23). Indeed, as Paul said to the Galatians, “Oh foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?” (Galatians 3) so we say, “Oh foolish Catholics, who as bewitched YOU?” The Galatians were seeking to add just ONE THING to the merits of Christ in order to be saved. Catholicism has added FAR MORE. All of this is absolutely unbiblical.
The man in the temple “THANKED GOD” for being such a fine fellow (Luke 18:14). This is EXACTLY what Catholic theology teaches at its core. They thank God for the “grace” (i.e., that spiritual kick-in-the-pants received by the sacraments, per CCC 1129) to run around doing good deeds that they THINK is the key to heaven per CCC 1821. BUT THEY ARE WRONG. Paul refutes such a scheme, saying he labored and did many good works with the grace of God that was with him (1 Cor 15:10) but yet was adamant that we are not saved by any works of righteousness whatsoever (Titus 3:5). Hence, Catholicism is counterfeit Christianity and Satan’s masterpiece of deception.
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