The CHURCH is ONE

I have heard it said that the Catholic and the Orthodox are two different churches but I don’t buy that. There may be a fissure in the full unity, but they are not two different Churches. I believe this because after all these hundreds of years the Holy Spirit has preserved orthodoxy in the whole. Oh there is a fissure, made by man, maintained by man, but the guardianship of the Holy Spirit is evidence to me that both are part of God’s one Church. God has one Church (visit the Bible to read up on this). You can recognize … Continue reading

Pentecost

Today is Pentecost. Descent of the Holy Spirit and Birthday of the Catholic Church are celebrated on this day. This is lovely ancient music. Latin Veni,creàtor Spìritus, mentes tuòrum visita, imple supérna gràtia, quae tu creàsti péctora. Qui dìceris Paràclitus, donum Dei,Altìssimi, fons vivus,ignis,càritas, et spiritàlis ùnctio. Tu septifòrmis mùnere, dextrae Dei tu dìgitus, tu rite promìssum Patris, sermòne ditans gùttura. Accénde lumen sénsibus: infùnde amòrem còrdibus: infìrma nostri còrporis virtùte firmans pérpeti. Hostem repéllas lòngius, pacémque dones pròtinus: ductòre sic te praevio vitémus omne nòxium. Per te sciàmus da Patrem, noscàmus atque Fìlium, te utriùsque Spìritum credàmus omni témpore. … Continue reading

Voluntary Charity

VOLUNTARY CHARITY IS THE WAY GOD MEANS FOR MAN TO CARE FOR THE POOR. “The wealthy should help the poor. Jesus taught that. The Church Fathers taught that long before modern popes wrote encyclicals (just read St. John Chrysostom or St. Augustine of Hippo). But what Jesus, the Acts of the Apostles and the Church Fathers all had in common in this regard is that they were talking about voluntary charity. They were not talking about the state.”  <http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/03/why-a-religious-model-for-the-state-is-not-good/> (boldface my emphasis) I’ve written on this topic on a number of occasions and am delighted to present to you the … Continue reading