not this guy:
because at the showdown...this guy is only going to let you down.
The other day, after a relaxing morning, I was on the Internet, reading the day's news...
One of the articles I was reading featured a story about the pope's journey to The World Youth Conference in Sydney, Australia. He said that a "Spiritual Desert" has been spreading throughout the world.
"spiritual desert"...the world...
... I couldn't help but agree
all that I had been struggling with about the world and people who call themselves Christian...
The Jeremiah 6 and 8 times we are in...
So the Pope continued with his thoughts: "...that the young Christians of the world are charged with shedding the greed and cynicism of this present age..."
greed...
cynicism...
gone! kaput!
"...for a new hope for humankind."
He is calling out to our generation...the next group of adults to battle the spirits of the age...
"hey guys...shed the old stuff...replace it with a new hope."
Hope is new.
Hope has always been new.
This is radical stuff.
People have talked about hope for ages...
but for Christians, what is our hope?
Communion in the Body of Christ.
Do we really get what that means?
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Well... during prayer later that day in the shower ...(I always have my best moments of prayer in the shower)...I realized that my prayers from over a year ago are finally being answered.
"Do I really get what it means to be in communion in the Body of Christ?"
"Should I become catholic?"
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"Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings...
we do this, I say, by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul...
as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its preeminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolic tradition has been preserved continuously by those who exist everywhere."
-Irenaeus
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Unity in Christ.
Solidarity through Christ.
Faith in Christ.
I want to take communion in the Catholic Church.
Why?
Apostolic succession.
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I am worn down without the Church's authority in my life. I am worn without the guidance of infallible doctrine...solid instruction and unified faith.
The protestant Christian tradition has failed to grab me with any authority in The Spirit. The best it has done is tell me how wonderful The Spirit is...but it fails to preserve any authority in The Spirit.
For over a year, The Roman Catholic Church has been the instrument by which the Spirit has whispered its authority to me.
Through the books I have read from the pope,
movies I have watched about John Paul II,
people I know who are catholic,
contemplative prayer,
liturgy of the hours,
books about prayer written by Protestants who learned from catholics,
books about a vision for the unified body of Christ,
books about religious orders,
and through an intense study of the Book of Acts, The holy Spirit has whispered to me to unite with Catholics in faith and communion.
Then the shout came from the Pope's message to the youth in Australia. The Spirit used Him Authoritatively to grab my attention by speaking directly to what the Spirit has been laying on my heart about the spirit of this age.
The greed and cynicism...
The spiritual desert we endure day after day in this world and culture.
So on that note...I am in pursuit of the truth...Christ...and the authority he gave to His Church with the Holy Fire at Pentecost and the laying-on of hands.
amen.
Recall that Paul wept constantly over three years warning people about the false teachings and doctrines that would come.
wept...
for three years...
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