“I am Catholic” I was contemplating the use of the words “ I am Catholic” and wondering when and why it became necessary to say that. A rant: Today, unfortunately it’s not enough to say I am a Christian as that doesn’t describe your faith and your belief system. Christianity has in many cases been hijacked by the very opposite of what it means to be Christian You have some “Christians” that believe a third temple needs to be built so that a red cow can be sacrificed before Jesus returns. These “Christians” believe that killing the enemy of this plan is Gods will. How does anyone who read the bible with the key to understanding it being Jesus in the NT reconcile with this? When people try to justify violence or the destruction of “enemies,” the New Testament leaves no room for it. Jesus consistently confronts the human impulse to harm, dominate, or destroy those we fear or dislike. His words cut directly against injustice and the taking of life. 1. Jesus commands love, not violence, toward enemies. He says plainly: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5). This is not sentimental. It is a direct prohibition against treating enemies as disposable or less human. 2. Jesus rejects retaliation and cycles of harm. When Peter tried to defend Him with a sword, Jesus stopped him: “Put your sword back… for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” He refuses to let violence, even “justified” violence, define His movement. 3. Jesus exposes the injustice of harming others in God’s name. In Luke 9, when the disciples wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village, Jesus rebuked them. He shuts down the idea that God endorses destroying people who oppose or offend us. 4. Jesus identifies mercy, not vengeance, as the mark of God’s people. He teaches: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Mercy is not weakness. It is the refusal to participate in injustice, cruelty, or dehumanization. 5. Jesus reveals God’s heart for every person, even those labeled “enemy.” On the cross, facing state violence and mob hatred, He says: “Father, forgive them.” He refuses to mirror the injustice done to Him. He breaks the cycle instead of continuing it. I also find We are losing something deeply human Our sense of dignity, restraint, and the Christian values we claim to hold. There is a righteous anger many feel at the suffering and injustice in the world. But alongside it, I’ve noticed something darker taking root in me: a steady anger that doesn’t leave, and a growing struggle with hatred in my heart. As a Catholic, I’m called to love my enemy and pray for those who do wrong. I’m trying to live that out, but I find it difficult when I witness suffering and the seeming celebration of destruction. I feel guilt over the anger I carry. I go to confession with it, I pray with it, and still it remains. I don’t know how we are meant to reconcile loving our enemies with the reality of evil and the harm it causes. I can understand praying for transformation—for peace, for repentance, for light—but forgiveness feels far away right now. What I do know is that I don’t want this anger to harden my heart. I pray for healing, for peace I don’t feel yet, and for the grace to hate evil without becoming consumed by it. For the world. For everyone. Everywhere. We need help beyond ourselves. Wake up and stop following those who say Jesus is anything but peace, love and mercy. My sincere wish to get to a state where I feel no more hate but a strong burning desire to pray for those that I am criticizing and those that are gleefully engaged in war and endless killing.

You do realize that Paul’s letters were directed at the certain audience they are named after right? As to your poor understanding of kecharitōmenē, what you fail to realize is that in the original Greek, it’s written in the perfect tense, meaning past, present and future How does Full of grace in past, present and future = sinful in your eyes? Paul did NOT use “kecharitōmenē” for all Christians. Ephesians 1:6 uses a completely different grammatical form. Luke uses the perfect passive participle kecharitōmenē, while Ephesians uses the aorist active verb echaritōsen. They share the same root but are not the same word or grammatical construction. Don’t believe me? Research it yourself! Also, Paul never calls the Church “kecharitōmenē” as a title, while Gabriel does address Mary that way. That’s why the comparison isn’t at all devastating to the Catholic position as you may think, Is it really that difficult for your mind to accept that God made Mary, the. Safire that borne him and delivered him perfect and sinless? I feel sorry for you

Silver not looking great here

Why are you picking and choosing verses out of context? 1. Jesus is the only way to the Father. Catholics fully agree with John 14:6. The Catholic Church teaches that salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone, not through Mary, the saints, or any human being. 2. Catholics believe salvation is by grace. Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:28, and Titus 3:5 are Catholic doctrine. The Church teaches that no one can earn salvation by their own efforts. Salvation is a gift of God's grace received through faith but: 3. Faith and works are not opposites in Scripture. The Bible also says, "faith without works is dead" (James 2:24-26). Catholics believe good works do not replace faith; they are the fruit and evidence of a living faith empowered by God's grace. 4. Mary and the saints are not worshipped. Catholics ask saints to pray for them just as Christians ask fellow believers on earth to pray for them. Worship belongs to God alone. 5. Confession, baptism, the Eucharist, and penance are biblical practices. Jesus gave the apostles authority to forgive sins (John 20:22-23), commanded baptism (Matthew 28:19), and taught the importance of His Body and Blood (John 6:51-58; Luke 22:19-20). 6. A doctrine is not false simply because it is not listed in your post. The question is whether these beliefs are rooted in Scripture and historic Christianity. Most of them were practiced by Christians centuries before the biblical canon was finalized. 7. Calling Catholicism a cult ignores history. The Catholic Church preserved, copied, and canonized the very Scriptures you quoted. If the early Church was a "false religion," then one must explain where the Bible itself came from. 8. Disagreement is not proof of a false gospel. Catholics affirm the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, His death and resurrection, salvation through grace, and the authority of Scripture. Those are the core doctrines of Christianity, not the marks of a cult. Now as for your misleading and infamous faith without works: 1. Matthew 25:31-46 (Sheep and Goats) Jesus separates the saved and the condemned based on what they did or failed to do for the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and imprisoned. The goats are condemned for failing to act. Does Matthew 25:31-46 teach salvation by works? 2. James 2:14-26 “Faith without works is dead.” “A man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” The only place the words “faith alone” appear in Scripture is to reject it. James 2: Faith and Works 3. Romans 2:6-7 “Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life.” 4. Romans 2:13 “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” 5. Galatians 5:6 “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” 6. Philippians 2:12-13 “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” 7. 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body.” 8. Revelation 20:12-13 The dead are judged “according to their works.” 9. Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” 10. Matthew 7:21 “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father.” 11. John 15:1-10 Branches that do not bear fruit are cut off and thrown into the fire. 12. Hebrews 12:14 “Follow… holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” 13. 1 Peter 1:17 God “judgeth according to every man’s work.” 14. Matthew 16:27 Jesus will reward every person “according to his works.” 15. Revelation 2-3 Repeatedly: “I know thy works.” Christ judges the churches based on their deeds. You are the very definition of the blind leading the blind. Wake up & open your heart & mind to God‘s wisdom, not your own

Good morning to all who wake up praying for peace

The Vatican Council closed Chapter VIII with a direct warning to theologians and preachers. It admonished them to carefully avoid two extremes: 1False Exaggeration: Pushing Marian devotion so far that it obscures the unique supremacy of Christ. 2Excessive Narrow-mindedness: Minimizing Mary’s beautiful, scriptural, and historic role in the timeline of salvation. Ultimately, Vatican II framed Mary not as a distraction from Jesus, but as the ultimate disciple, the perfect model of faith and charity whom the Church must look to and copy.

“On the day of judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done; not how well we have spoken but how well we have lived.” -The imitation of Christ

🚨Account @RT_com has been withheld by 𝕏

To truly thirst for Christ is a grace, but it often comes at a great cost. The more deeply a soul loves Him, the more intensely it longs for Him. Many saints experienced periods of spiritual darkness, sometimes called the Dark Night, during which God’s presence could no longer be felt. Yet Christ allowed these trials to purify their faith and deepen their love, teaching them to trust Him beyond feelings and consolations. The absence of His felt presence was not His absence, but an invitation to a more profound union with Him. Do you thirst for Christ?

Today we celebrate the feast of St-Luke the Evangelist

Oldie but never ceases to inspire Protestant pastor stunned as he sits in on a Catholic mass

🚨September CPI inflation rises to 3.7% year over year above expectations of 3.6% Core CPI inflation rises to 2.6% above expectations of 2.5%. This increases chances of a rate hike

Pray Jesus that our Pope has a successful surgery We also ask our mother Mary’s and all the saints intercession

Protestants: No No No! We don’t baptize children Here is some education: Several passages mention whole households being baptized: -Acts 16:15 (Lydia and her household) -Acts 16:33 (the jailer and all his family) -1 Corinthians 1:16 (household of Stephanas) While these verses do not explicitly mention infants, the normal meaning of “household” in the ancient world included children and infants. Also, Paul links a risk to circumcision. “In him also you were circumcised… having been buried with him in baptism” (Colossians 2:11-12). Under the Old Covenant, infants entered the covenant through circumcision at eight days old. If baptism is the New Covenant sign, the expectation would be inclusion, not exclusion, unless Scripture specifically teaches otherwise. Also, Jesus said. “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:14) If children belong to the kingdom, why withhold the sacrament that brings people into Christ? Also, In several healing accounts, Jesus responds to the faith of others: -Mark 2:5 (paralytic) -Matthew 8:13 (centurion’s servant) Catholics argue that just as parents act for children in every other aspect of life, they can present them for baptism while raising them in the faith.

Today marks the Sainthood of St-Charbel, the Lebanese 🇱🇧 Maronite, Catholic monk with the most documented miracles St-Charbel, pray for us 🙏

Hi @grok who demoted some books from the New Testament canon in 1522? Specifically the letter of James and why?

If St Dismas (Penitent thief) merited a place in heaven that very day, how much more would FULL OF GRACE have merited “My soul magnifies the Lord” “All generations shall call me blessed”