markdohle

Well, not sure, but thank goodness it is not 60 years, 6 months and 6 days ;-).

Yes, it had a profound impact on me.

I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me Galatians 2:20 People often speak about being rewarded for the good deeds that they do. I know that there is nothing wrong with that kind of thinking, since the bible, and other religious texts are full of this concept; but as far back as I can remember, this kind of thinking, at least consciously has not been a central focus for me. Religious literature is full of descriptions of the heavenly city, streets of gold, walls that surround the city made up of precious stones etc. Well that is not a reward, since gold and precious stones in this metaphor are so common that they are used as building material; common as bricks. Everything is reversed, what we fight and kill for, and lust after are in the end worthless, trinkets nothing more, something to be walked on, dirt, useless. So when we think about some kind of reward, just what is it? Jesus talks about receiving back what was given up; in the way of community and family; not in beautiful “things”. We are to seek love, and the reward is to constantly grow in our ability to love and embrace others. The reward is to see all whom we meet as our brothers and sisters, to truly see others as other selves; or as Christ stated; “whatever you do to the least, you do unto me”. To have an expanded heart, does save the one with that kind of capacity to love, from a great deal of suffering. Envy, resentment, contempt, using others (lust), with the fruit that generates, is short circuited, at least in its most destructive outcomes. Isolation, separation from others is a great source of suffering that is often considered so much a part of life, that it is not even addressed, it is just life. We all want peace, but are we willing to do what is necessary, and is it even possible? I think it is, but it is a long way off. Political or social theory or government interference will not do it, but only by allowing love to grow in our hearts will this b possible. Love is not sentiment, but a true, penetrating understanding of reality, and our relationship with others. People have to learn to trust their intuition on this, and not always listen to religious or political leaders, who try to make “something other” out of our neighbors. In Luke (6:20-49) we have the Sermon on the Plain, which comes in two parts: the woes and the blessings. The first part tells speaks of the blessings: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. The second part deals with what happens when we deny these blessings and run from them. The blessings are a reversal in the way mankind often looks at how the world works. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. When Jesus stated in Matthew 11:30 that “My yoke is easy and my burden light”, he was speaking the truth. For the suffering that comes from following the Lord leads to deeper healing and life and blessing, though it can seem heavy when going through the process of our lives in seeking to being loving disciples. However the crosses we manufacture for ourselves in seeking the gods of riches and power without compassion or love for others, are in fact much heavier and death dealing even though they promise peace and contentment…which can be easily lost in the twinkling of an eye, even if they are procured for a time. When Jesus says that we must take up or cross and follow him, he was not asking us to seek out suffering, but to embrace life in faith and to not seek to run from its challenges and the suffering that implies. St. Paul says it all in Galatians 2:20: ” 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”. We are all pilgrims and life demands that as we move on we leave behind all that is no longer needed, or we outgrow, or we lose through aging. It is often a desert experience, just putting one foot in front of the other, yet we are never alone, for the Risen Lord is with us. "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-16).

Thankful that I have reached 68 and hope to have more years to seek the Lord 'today;. As a friend told me one time who I was taking care of. "We are here for such a short time, we need to hang on as long as we can". He was 90 years old and filled with joy and the love of God. peace mark

I guess when it comes in a soft, gentle nudge, I follow the prompt, if it is demanding, or anxious, I take it to come from me, part of my OCD I guess and ignore it. Thanks for sharing. Peace mark

Good points. Number one is of course the most important. The only way out of a very destructive cycle of life is to finally take responsibility and not to blame. It is useless to blame others, since they themselves are the way they are because of their past and can be incapable of change because they believe they are victims. I believe most people have had some trauma in their lives, the only way to break cycles is to follow the other three you have posted. Conversion, the turning away from self can be a long process, but the deeper our acceptance of our own need for grace the more we will not pass on our trauma to others. Humility can free us from a great burden.

HMMMMM there must be one out there that he belongs to.....when you find out let me know

Good point. The question may be are Christians supposed to be in control of any one culture. I believe not. Look at what happened to my church when it was 'the power', we had a whole line of evil men who became pope. I believe we are called to be a true salt for our societies and to show another way. Laws will not do that. We are bearing fruit now as a culture because of some very bad solutions that were accepted, abortions perhaps being the main one. Now our culture seems be going the way of allowing suicide, which will also mature and bear fruit. Christians can proclaim the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death, without worrying about outcome, for it is always the Holy Spirit that waters what we plant. We are call to witness, not force or coerce. Hmmmm OMG, I think we agree here, my blood pressure is going up

I am pro life as well and happy that Trump won, though not really for him either. Social justice is why many are democrats even if they are pro life. Many believe that a law against abortion would do no good....I tend to agree. It would only create a whole new class of criminals and even endanger lives. Change can only come from the people, not from any one political party, which I believe both are corrupt. Woman who get abortions come from all religious traditions as well as those who have none. Many devout Christians parents will push their daughters to get abortions because of their fear of what others think. It is a sin committed once. Abortion is a true evil, but doubt it will ever go away as long as men and women believe that sexual activity is merely for fun and pleasure without responsibility. Also there is little support today for many women who come from dysfunctional families, which is read in the press is becoming more common with each new generation. Sin does mature and is passed on from one generation to another. So yes, a devout christian can be a democrat in my way of thinking.

Yes Oh Well

Thank you for your understanding....yes, just follow Jesus. Peace Mark

Sorry I don't want to go into the Mary/saints subject. It has been explained so many times that I have given up. So yes I am a Catholic ;-). Peace Mark

I believe that we tend to look only for the best in those we follow and then look for the worst in those we don't. We are not fair in how we treat others for the most part, though I believe it is often unconscious. I was also 'amused' in how Trump's followers overlooked his 'flaws' and excused them, but blew Hilary out of the water for hers. In the end however, I was relieved that Hilary did not win. I don't think Christians should put their trust in any political process. Corruption is the rule I believe where ever power is in the till. All we can do is to be truly loving and Christian to those we know and meet and perhaps that can help-things along.

Prayers always help From time to time someone who has ‘issues’ with the Catholic Church will tell me that they will pray for my salvation. I always welcome prayers no matter who says them for me. Any prayer that is true comes from a place of charity, and then I will leave it up to the good Lord. I believe that all Christians are my brothers and sister, the fact that some don’t think that of me because I am Catholic does not bother me a bit. In Christ is our union, in his grace is our bond, in his mercy is our hope and salvation. All of our petty squabbles show that we as Christians have a ways to grow; of course I am one of them. The more I serve the Lord, the more I understand my need for his grace and mercy to heal my heart so that it can become more loving and understanding. Jesus calls me to die to self, it is a long fight, for I often wrestle with God and then like Jacob he wounds me deeper and the journey continues. Heal and wound over and over again, ever deeper in, as his fire heals and transforms all that is within me…..in him is my hope. All we can do is to seek to grow in love of others and to try to understand them. If not, well love them anyway. If Christians cannot love one another, why do we get upset when there is so much hate in the world? The Body of Christ is torn today and it is being wounded ever deeper by the in-fighting of Christians among themselves. Both Catholics and Non-Catholics do this. It is amazing how easily we condemn each other to an eternal hell of endless agony and can even some quote or another to back us up. Even though we were commanded not to judge, yet we do.

Well know there weren't, please study history my friend....or don't ;-). Peace Mark

Well, yes please pray for me, the Lord always answers according to his will. Peace mark

Well said. peace Mark

No that is the tradition of the Church. There are non essentials that can be changed, but the central core, no. I suppose tradition can have many different level of meaning. For me it is something living and alive connecting the past with the present. Peace mark

This is very beautiful, thanks for sharing this. Peace Mark

I did answer it, here is a copy of it, though it is a few post up: From the very beginning of the Church there has been development and a deepening of our understanding of the message of Christ. After Jesus rose from the dead, it was thought by all that one had to be a Jew, or a Jewish convert to be a Christian. The the Holy Spirit gave Peter the vision of the animals being brought down in a sheet and told to eat. It was a metaphor about allowing the Gentiles to enter the Church. Then there was saint Paul and his mission. It was a give and take at first and Paul was not that popular in the early Church because the majority were Jews many from the priestly class as well as scribes and pharisees. This is played out in the book of acts. All of the letters in the New Testament were dealing with specific problems of a fledgling church. It is part of the tradition of the church, but there was a lot more going on that was not put in to the canon because they were not problems to be dealt with. There are many early texts that deal with how the sacraments were important, one of them being reconciliation and yes its form did develop over time. Of course Paul covered the Eucharist in Corinthians but not in depth, but he did bring about its centrality in the worship of the early church. Also the early church had structure and people needed to comply to it if they were christian. The church was not some form of invisible body made up of believers but a true gathering of like minded believers. Devotions to the saints also came into being in the first centuries of the church. The honoring of saints began within the first generations of the Catholic Church. In early tradition, it was the martyrs who were remembered. The early martyrs were men and women whose Christianity brought them into friction within Jewish and pagan communities and eventually led to their executions. Altars were erected on top of the tombs of these martyrs, where Mass would be said, especially on the anniversary of the martyr’s death. In time, when permanent churches were able to be built, chapels and eventually basilicas were built on top the resting places of the martyrs. Also devotion to the Blessed Mother started early as well in the church: http://www.earlychristians.org/index.php/origins/item/678-the-devotion-to-the-virgin-mary-in-the-early-church/678-the-devotion-to-the-virgin-mary-in-the-early-church In understanding history, one can see that many of the obstacles put forth by those who are anti catholic can be seen from a better perspective. The Holy Spirit is continually teaching the church and its people. We deepen our understanding, we do not change the revelation or its central message, the saving will of the Father as shown us through Jesus Christ. 0

That is the problem my friend, you have no understanding of what the early church actually believed or taught since you do not know history. It is sad, but I accept it.

I did not mean it in a flippant way. I am not surprised that is all, it in no way takes away from the true mission of the church, nor does it dim the brightness of those many holy men and woman who live out their faith to the full. We all know that power corrupts, it does it today in politics and yes in all churches as well even if they are small and so called born again believers. The human heart is corrupt in many ways, so it will show itself. Yet the gates of hell will not prevail. I love the Lord Jesus and the Sacraments especially the Eucharist, which draw me and many Catholics into a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The devotions to the saints and the Blessed Mother also draw me deeper into Christ Jesus and the Holy Trinity and the union we have in the Body of Christ that death cannot divide. In all things praise Jesus Christ. Peace mark

I am not really one of them, but learning to speak truth from the heart and not worry about what others think, that way a two way exchange can be had ;-). So thank you for helping me in that my friend. Peace Mark

The church developed through history, so yes you do need the catholic church, for without it there would be no canon, the New Testament would not exist. Study history my friend, not to be converted, but to understand. The Father works through history, the Old Testament bears that out.