psalm123

Here's a cool and inspirational ordination video.

Another good response from the bishops.

Los Angeles, Dec 6, 2008 / 01:37 pm (CNA).- The bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, led by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, issued a letter to homosexual Catholics on Friday seeking to ensure them that the Church’s support for Proposition 8 was not meant to diminish their dignity or their membership in the Church. The true aim of the Church’s support, the bishops write, was to “preserve the ordered relationship between man and woman created by God.”

The pastoral letter, which was printed in the archdiocesan paper The Tidings, is written to all homosexual members of the Church as well as the rest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. According to the bishops, its purpose is to offer reassurance to gays amidst the fallout surrounding Prop. 8’s success that they are “cherished members of the Catholic Church, and that we value you as equal and active members of the Body of Christ.”

The letter then states the reason that the Church supported Prop. 8 was to “resist a legal redefinition of marriage.” “Our support for Proposition 8,” the bishops say, “was in defense of the longstanding institution of marriage understood as the life-long relationship of a man and a woman ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of their children."

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Continuing the tract taken from http://www.catholic.com 

This evening I attended the Confirmation mass for my students at Divine Child parish in Dearborn. The mass was celebrated by Bishop Daniel Flores. The liturgy was very well done.  I really can't believe that a whole school year (catechism) is over. Wow, the time flew by.  If you would have told me a few years ago that I would be teaching 8th grade Catechism, I  would have thought that you were way off in your prediction. The experience was challenging at times. I was privileged to be able to assist in preparing the students for the Sacrament of Confirmation.  I learned a lot about how to teach 13-14 year-olds about the Catholic Faith. I'm going to miss them. We had some real good kids.  I think I am going to give this teaching thing another go in the fall. I have the summer to come up with some good lesson plans. 

I made a brief intro to the sacraments of the Catholic Church by basically defining what a sacrament is and the effects they have upon us. There is much more to the Christian belief in the sacraments than a brief definition of what me mean by a sacrament.  The very life of the Church takes place in and through the sacraments of the New Covenant. 

It should be stressed again that a sacrament is a sign or symbol of something else. It is an outward sense perceptible sign of the inner, mysterious activity of Jesus Christ in sanctifying mankind.  For example, in baptism, the washing with water, along with the words " I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", the water and the words are external sense perceptible signs of an interior grace and transformation that occurs in the soul. In other words, something is actually happening during the sacrament. A sacrament is not merely symbolic. The grace of God is conferred to the soul of the person receiving the sacrament in ways we will expand upon in the future.

FYI:   The English word sacrament comes from the Latin word sacramentum-" a sacred or holy thing". The Greek word for sacrament is mustyrion- which in English means mystery.

I. Three basic elements that constitute a sacrament in the Church:

1) An external, sense perceptible sign of sanctifying grace. (We haven't discussed sanctifying grace at this point.

 2) A sign that causes grace. The sacraments signify sanctifying grace, the divine life of the soul. However,  the  sacramental signs(water, oil...) are different from all other signs in that they not only signify something
else (divine grace) but they also give it, confer it, or cause it in the soul of the recipient.

3)The sacraments were instituted by Christ. This is important in that it tells us that God desires to communicate to us in and through certain definitive outward signs. The Church did not invent the sacraments; rather she received them from her divine founder.


   

 

 This is a very important story and one that brings out many issues that we can talk about.   Some topics of interest include the Sacramental system within the Catholic Church, proper form and matter of the Sacraments and legitimate authority as it concerns the doctrine of the faith.



First lets begin with a definition of a Sacrament. There are different variations of this definition. I used a definition that covers the essential elements of a Sacrament while remaining theologically simple (relatively).

1. Sacrament-- A sense perceptible sign instituted by Christ by which grace and inner sanctification are communicated to the soul. 

A. The Catholic Church has 7 Sacraments. The sacraments of the New Testament were instituted by Jesus Christ and entrusted to the Church. They are Gods gift to mankind that allow us to come into closer communion with his divine nature.  They are signs and means which express and strengthen the faith, render worship to God, and effect the sanctification of humanity.

B. The seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church are: Baptism, Confession, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation,  Matrimony, Anointing of the sick, and Holy orders.

We will look into the first Sacrament of the Church.... Baptism in the next entry.

Taken from http://www.biblechristiansociety.com

Q: Why do Catholics confess their sins to a priest, rather than going directly to God?

A. Well, the quick answer is because that's the way God wants us to do it. In James 5:16, God, through Sacred Scripture, commands us to "confess our sins to one another." Notice, Scripture does not say confess your sins straight to God and only to God...it says confess your sins to one another.

In Matthew, chapter 9, verse 6, Jesus tells us that He was given authority on earth to forgive sins. And then Scripture proceeds to tell us, in verse 8, that this authority was given to "men"...plural.

In John 20, verses 21-23, what is the 1st thing Jesus says to the gathered disciples on the night of His resurrection? "Jesus said to them, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.'" How did the Father send Jesus? Well, we just saw in Mt 9 that the Father sent Jesus with the authority on earth to forgive sins. Now, Jesus sends out His disciples as the Father has sent Him...so, what authority must Jesus be sending His disciples out with? The authority on earth to forgive sins. And, just in case they didn't get it, verses 22-23 say this, "And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'"

Why would Jesus give the Apostles the power to forgive or to retain sins if He wasn't expecting folks to confess their sins to them? And how could they forgive or retain sins if no one was confessing their sins to them?

The Bible tells us to confess our sins to one another. It also tells us that God gave men the authority on Earth to forgive sins. Jesus sends out His disciples with the authority on earth to forgive sins. When Catholics confess our sins to a priest, we are simply following the plan laid down by Jesus Christ. He forgives sins through the priest...it is God's power, but He exercises that power through the ministry of the priest.