First off, I say to my protestant friends, I love you and I am not in any way picking a fight. My Lord Jesus Christ reminded me this morning at mass:
“Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.”
After a heated debate last night on the difference between the Catholic Church VS the 45 thousand denominations of protestant churches, I fell asleep praying and pondering the subject and woke up this morning, continuing to ponder the persecution of “The Bride Of Christ” by the bride of Christ..
I have heard many who follow the protestant faiths, state we are all the bride of Christ, we all believe the same thing and my Catholic Faith teaches me, and what we believe:
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son*.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
I can honestly say, since my conversion back to the Catholic Church, I personalty, have been more persecuted by those who proclaim to be the “bride of Christ”, then from those who do not know our Lord. I to, in my “Ignorance” and pride, “Thinking” I had all the answers, and knew EVERYTHING, persecuted the true “Bride Of Christ” until the Holy Spirit plowed my heart, removing my pride, replacing it with humility, allowing me to see, I knew nothing about her. I could not see her beauty, because of my own jealousy of her, thinking I was more beautiful.
If as the protestants say, we are all the bride of Christ, then why so much animosity towards the Catholic Church?
If we believe by the words of my protestant friends, all the same things, how then can you find room in your hearts, to persecute her, because then if what your saying is true, your only persecuting, yourself. And if you say the Lord is with you and in you, then who are you persecuting but the Lord, Jesus Christ, himself.
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church: (Please go to the link and read the entire passage)
The Church- foreshadowed from the world’s beginning
760 Christians of the first centuries said, “The world was created for the sake of the Church.”153 God created the world for the sake of communion with his divine life, a communion brought about by the “convocation” of men in Christ, and this “convocation” is the Church. The Church is the goal of all things,154 and God permitted such painful upheavals as the angels’ fall and man’s sin only as occasions and means for displaying all the power of his arm and the whole measure of the love he wanted to give the world:
Just as God’s will is creation and is called “the world,” so his intention is the salvation of men, and it is called “the Church.”155
I also ask you to read
FOUR MARKS OF THE TRUE CHURCH
Let me then point out: : “and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one.”
This morning at mass, and every mass, I see this when the priest breaks the body of Christ. The whole Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity, is truly, really, and substantially contained in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Transubstantiation!
DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME!
This morning in particular, I was blessed to have seen it, sitting directly in front of the altar. I sat in the back row and Sister Gloria, walked in on the arm of an older woman. There was an empty seat next to me, so I got up and moved to the empty seat in the front, so the two could sit together. The priest broke apart the Body of Christ, the rite of fraction and commingling mind you, I was moved to tears at the thought of my own sins that caused His pain and suffering. A suffering He FREELY accepted. The Body of Christ with His grace, love and mercy, was then given to those where the two became one.
“He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Acts 9:4
And of course:
John 15:18-21
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If the world hates you,
remember that it hated me before you.
If you belonged to the world,
the world would love you as its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
because my choice withdrew you from the world,
therefore the world hates you.
Remember the words I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too;
if they kept my word, they will keep yours as well.
But it will be on my account that they will do all this,
because they do not know the one who sent me.’
Please Share The Good News
Peg Pondering Again 