Just a couple of thoughts on forgiveness no longer being available. It could be that sacramental forgiveness may be restricted because it will be hard to get to confession. It could be that there will be a massive increase in sin against the Holy Spirit for which there is no forgiveness. It may be that those who are so entrenched in their error have created a gulf so deep and wide while on earth that they can no longer access the gates of heaven, their mind is so made up that they cannot unmake it. They are completely given over to their own conviction and are possessed by error. I am no theologian. These are just some thoughts that may relate to people's opinion about the Exhortation.
Again no one has said that blind allegiance is either good or desirable. No one has said that his every word carries the promise of infallibility. No one has said that anyone who disagrees with some of what he says is an apostate. What has been said us that it is wrong to falsely accuse him and bear false witness agsinst him by accusing him of heresy as has been done on this forum from the top down.
This is sad, that it had to come to this. And if anyone thinks the victims of Joe's attacks are happy or pleased by this development, get yourself to confession for ascribing false and erroneous motives.
Oh no. That's a bit extreme. The suggestion of a cooling off period seemed reasonable, maybe even closing the thread for a while but a ban seems harsh. If anyone is in touch with Joe, please tell him that I will miss him.
I think we may see Joe again at some stage. Heck ,even BH had 4-5 lives here. If anyone really wants to contact Joe , PM me . I have his Email.
Would he approve of your giving his email to strangers? If so, I would like to be able to send him a message. Thanks for the offer.
I am new to this forum and a practicing Catholic. Lets be realistic and accept that Francis is causing confusion and division within the Church and confusion does not come from God. Jesus said the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church but that does not mean the Church will not go through severe trials at the hand of satan. The Church is not the Pope. Jesus is the Church and we are members of the body of Christ. The Pope is a servant and he is not above the Master. God comes always before man If anyone attempts to change the teachings of the Church and the Ten Commandments (including through stealth) then that person, including a Pope is not acting as a member of The Body of Christ. They are in rebellion against God. There are a number of Bible passages and prophecy that warn of the times we are currently in. The CCC675 also speaks of these times. The Church's ultimate trial 675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.574 The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth575 will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.576 Can you not see that humanism is now given greater importance in the Church under Francis than the salvation of the soul? Do not leave the Church because of these great trials it is our job to defend the Truth and stand by Christ and His Church. Trust in God. Before the return of the Lord the wheat will be separated from the chaff. Read 2Thessalonians The Man of Lawlessness 2 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters,[c] 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one[d] is revealed, the one destined for destruction.[e] 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? 6 And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed when his time comes. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus[f] will destroy[g] with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, 10 and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false, 12 so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned. Chosen for Salvation 13 But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters[h] beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news,[j] so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers and sisters,[k] stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17 comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word. And remember ... Matthew 5:37 Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
Oh dear. We have lost the good and faithful Joe (albeit rather argumentative ) to be replaced, it would seem, with another full blown critic of good Pope Francis.
I am very fond of Joe. No doubt he will be back in the future when he is a bit calmer. It is not what people post ,so much as the manner of the postings. I have no riot police in reserve here just myself I did not mind Joe insulting me, it is water of a duck's back, but I think I have a duty to ensure that others are not grossly insulted, a duty of charity. I have fulfilled that duty of charity by insuring that they are not insulted anymore from this source. Joe is quite welcome back when he agrees to stop with the insults.
Davidtlig. The Church cannot be united through a false ecumenism, you know this. It can only be united in Truth.
Just my usual reminder : Careful, respectful criticism of the Holy Father's personal decisions, comments during interviews, cultural preferences, etc. is perfectly fine. I sometimes do this myself; even publicly. Criticizing a Magisterial Document (which Amoris Laetitia is, like it or not) is a whole 'nother ball game. One I know full well I am not worthy of; and I doubt many, if any, are.
A magesterial document, like the one on global warming is an article of faith? Is that what you are saying?
Just caught the News and it's bad Islamic Terrorists in France now and, no doubt, more to come.... everywhere. The EU is imploding and the USA is rudderless with no moral compass. EVIL is rising ...everywhere! I'd suggest that we worry a lot less about Magisterial "Documents" and a lot more about more pressing matters .... like keeping Body & Soul together over the near term. I'm guessing that when The Lord comes to The Rescue, a lot of Magisterial "Documents" will end up in the Circular File"! GOD SAVE ALL HERE!!
"Article of Faith" is not the equivalent of "Magisterial Document," but both should be respected by all Catholics nevertheless. Did you read Laudato Si? I did; very carefully. No offense intended, but I cannot help but assume you didn't, because it is only the mainstream liberal media that calls it "the one on Global Warming," so as to conveniently label it according to their own left-wing narrative. In reality, "Global Warming" is only a very small part of Laudato Si. Furthermore, Pope Francis does not attempt to actually teach, in Laudato Si, that anthropocentric global warming is definitely happening. As a Catholic I completely submit to that document, and yet I remain very skeptical about man-made "global warming" or "climate change."
I am sorry to see Joe banned, even if it is temporary. There are several people who I believe could be banned for the very same reasons Joe was banned. Like many others I do not post on the threads highly critical of the pope anymore because of the tone and arrogance of the responses most get when a different viewpoint is taken. I like others have hit the ignore button on several members not because they post hard or bad news about the church, but because of uncharitable and insulting responses towards other posters. I will pray for you Padraig! I know you are doing your very best and will never please everyone. I would not want to be in your position! God bless you Padraig!
Thanks Cathy, I hope all is well with you and that you are growing holier by the millisecond. It's true sometimes I do not like to be in my position either. But I cheer myself up thinking that I can only respond to grace by doing my best. Generally I must admit the frorum has been a very gift from God when I inteneded it to be be a very small gift from me to His Mother. He never lets us away with anything and always outdos us. I admit there are times though when I feel like a little ship far out to sea without a compass, but it is times when we are most lost that Christ most finds us. I think as Crewdog Denis says , coming and current events will make a lot of our concerns now, meaningless. We will see. Look at those poor folks in Orlando, who knows the day or hour? In fact the forum has been one of the greatest spiritual gifts of my life, I keep learning from it. Just today I got taught a great lesson on Charity from someone.
Luadato Si 175. The same mindset which stands in the way of making radical decisions to reverse the trend of global warming also stands in the way of achieving the goal of eliminating poverty. A more responsible overall approach is needed to deal with both problems: the reduction of pollution and the development of poorer countries and regions. The twenty-first century, while maintaining systems of governance inherited from the past, is witnessing a weakening of the power of nation states, chiefly because the economic and financial sectors, being transnational, tends to prevail over the political. Given this situation, it is essential to devise stronger and more efficiently organized international institutions, with functionaries who are appointed fairly by agreement among national governments, and empowered to impose sanctions. As Benedict XVI has affirmed in continuity with the social teaching of the Church: “To manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority, as my predecessor Blessed John XXIII indicated some years ago”.[129] Diplomacy also takes on new importance in the work of developing international strategies which can anticipate serious problems affecting us all. Sorry - you do not even have to read between the lines to realise that this paragraph from L/S is politically correct nonsense. But I am glad to be a Catholic because the Catholic is one who lives by faith and reason. God had given us an intellect to use. And using my intellect I conclude that we do no have to submit to this politically correct B/S.
