Blog Template Theology of the Body: August 2009

Friday, August 28, 2009

Martin Luther on Sola Scriptura


... From our friends at Wiki and Patrick O' Hare's The Facts about Luther:

"In matters of faith, to be sure, each Christian is for himself Pope and Church.”

“There will be the greatest confusion. Nobody will allow himself to be led by another man’s doctrine or authority. Everyone will be his own rabbi: hence, the greatest scandals.”

“There are as many sects now and beliefs as there are heads. This fellow has nothing to do with baptism. Another one denies the sacraments. A third believes there is another world between this one and the last day. Some teach that Christ is not God. Some say this, some say that. There is no rustic so rude that if he dreams or fancies anything believes it must be the whisper of the Holy Spirit and that he himself must be a prophet.”

“Since the downfall of Popery, and the cessation of excommunication and spiritual penalties, the people have learned to despise the word of God. They no longer care for churches, they have ceased to fear and honor God. After throwing out the yoke of the Pope, everyone wishes to live as he pleases.”

"If God had not closed my eyes, and if I had foreseen these scandals, I would never have begun to teach the gospel."

"If the world lasts, it will be necessary, on account of the differing interpretations of Scripture which now exist, that to preserve the unity of faith, we should receive the Catholic councils and decrees and fly to them for refuge."

posted by MM at 9:57 AM

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Ecumenical Acumen: The Catholic Church Welcomes the All Saints Sisters of the Poor


One of the last remaining communities of faithful non-Catholic religious life will be received into the Catholic Church during a Sept. 3 Mass celebrated by Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien in Baltimore. The formerly Anglican sisters will be received with their chaplain, the Rev. Warren Tanghe , who served as Chaplain of Pembroke College, Cambridge and also as Secretary and Vice-President of Forward-in-Faith North America.
Orthodoxy and unity were key reasons the sisters were attracted to the Catholic faith. Many of them were troubled by the Episcopal Church’s approval of women’s ordination, the ordination of a gay bishop and what they regarded as lax stances on moral issues. 

“We kept thinking we could help by being a witness for orthodoxy,” said Sister Mary Joan Walker, the community’s archivist. 

Mother Christina said that effort “was not as helpful as we had hoped it would be.” 

“People who did not know us looked at us as if we were in agreement with what had been going on (in the Episcopal Church),” she said. “By staying put and not doing anything, we were sending a message which was not correct.” 

posted by MM at 11:55 AM

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

And we're back


Prayer of St. Thomas Before Study


O INFINITE Creator, who in the riches of Thy wisdom didst appoint three hierarchies of Angels and didst set them in wondrous order over the highest heavens, and who didst apportion the elements of the world most wisely: do Thou, who art in truth the fountain of light and wisdom, deign to shed upon the darkness of my understanding the rays of Thine infinite brightness, and remove far from me the twofold darkness in which I was born, namely, sin and ignorance. Do Thou, who givest speech to the tongues of little children, instruct my tongue and pour into my lips the grace of Thy benediction. Give me keenness of apprehension, capacity for remembering, method and ease in learning, insight in interpretation, and copious eloquence in speech. Instruct my beginning, direct my progress, and set Thy seal upon the finished work, Thou, who art true God and true Man, who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

posted by MM at 8:09 AM