The salt of the earth...

My thoughts and reflections on today's Mass readings...

The first reading today… [Is.58:7-10]

"Thus says the LORD: Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday."

…reminded me of the “Pastor Email” that has been floating around the Internet for some times with mixed versions and claims to whether or not it’s a true story 

[See SNOPES:http://www.snopes.com/glurge/homelesspastor.asp ]

Pastor Jeremiah Steepek transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning. He walked around his soon to be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service....only 3 people out of the 7-10,000 people said hello to him. He asked people for change to buy food... NO ONE in the church gave him change. He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit in the back. He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him.

As he sat in the back of the church, he listened to the church announcements and such. When all that was done, the elders went up and were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation...."We would like to introduce to you Pastor Jeremiah Steepek"... The congregation looked around clapping with joy and anticipation.....The homeless man sitting in the back stood up... and started walking down the aisle... the clapping stopped with ALL eyes on him.... he walked up the altar and took the microphone from the elders (who were in on this) and paused for a moment.... then he recited

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"

After he recited this, he looked towards the congregation and told them all what he had experienced that morning... many began to cry and many heads were bowed in shame... he then said... Today I see a gathering of people... not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples... when will YOU decide to become disciples? He then dismissed service until next week... Being a Christian is more than something you claim. It's something you live by and share with others. -end-

The story is a good one (even if it turns out untrue) because it is a wonderful reminder of how we are to live.  Being the “light” in the world or the “salt” of the earth are really the same thing.  If we cast no light in the world we bring no glory to God. 

The people in the Pastor Email story did not share their light with the homeless man.  They gave him no money for food, no kind words and showed him NONE of the love of Jesus Christ.  If the people in that congregation had any love of Jesus in them, they hid it well and completely failed to live today’s first reading about caring for others and showing them love and in doing so bringing the light and glory of God to them.  

What a contrast that story is to our own Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta's story and the light she brought to the world after hearing Jesus' plea to her saying "Come be my light!"- she couldn't resist his call to be a light in the world.

And the Gospel Reading…[Matt. 5:13-16]
Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

If we have no salt…we are tasteless, useless unneeded things rather than the flavor we are supposed to be in the world.  Do we need light in the dead of night to see? Of course!  If non-Christians are stumbling around in the dark of today's secular society who will be a light for them?  Who will bring them God's Truth and Love?  If we Christians are not a light for others they will live their entire lives in pitch black.  And what about the Catholics sitting in the pews who are hungry for the taste of salt yet are being deprived by their own clergy?

Oh yes, there are far too many salt-less clergy in the Catholic Church- like THIS GUY or THIS GUY or THIS STUFF.  At one time they might have preached the Word of God and filled the earth with their salt…but then the world and it’s secular demands pushed the Salt of God from them and left them void of salt.  The salt that lost its taste.

These are the clergy (priest and Bishop alike) who now talk about the desire for the Church to changes its stand on birth control, abortion, gay ‘marriage’ and a female priesthood.  These clergy have NO salt or light in them any more.  They have become useless to the people of God and worse…a stumbling block for many as they lead entire flocks of God’s sheep away from God and on the road to Hell.  This is what happens when our salt becomes tasteless.  

Who would season their meals with salt that has no flavor?  It would be a complete waste of time - so it is listening to these wayward tasteless-salt clergy.

As the scripture states “But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?  It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot”.  It is good for nothing.  Some of our clergy as well as our Church members have no light or salt in them and they have become ‘good for nothing’.  One wonders when the Church will follow the scripture teaching and have these clergy “thrown out” for the useless lumps of dark tasteless salt they are.  We need clergy who are full of light and haven’t lost their salt.

Pray for more salt and light in our wonderful Holy Catholic Church.

In Christ,

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner

Call no man 'father'... explained

I had a discussion with a Baptist man, that went something like this…

Baptist Man says: In the Bible-real Bibles, not your added on to Catholic ones, God says we are not to call any man ‘father’ (he then quoted Matthew 23:9 to me…“And do not call anyone on earth ‘father’, for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.”). He continued… yet you Roman Catholics do call mere man ‘father’ all the time. Yet another example of manmade doctrines replacing the Word of God!  You Catholics have no defense for this and you know it! I dare you or any other Catholic to even try to defend your Church teaching against this clear biblical Word of God!

My response...(using the Protestant NIV Bible)

Dear Baptist Man, why is it you cut the previous and following verses out??  Context, Baptist Man, CONTEXT.  You must take ALL of Sacred Scripture IN CONTEXT to have the best understanding.  Let’s look at what is actually said in Matthew 23 AND in the complete context of the Bible, shall we?

Matt. 23:9 "And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven."

True enough that is what verse 9 says… but what does verse 8 and 10 say?  Do you accept verses 8 and 10 too or just verse 9?

Call no man "Rabbi"....   ^Verse 8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers."

Call no man "father".... verse⁹ "And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven."

Call no man "teacher"... verse¹⁰ "Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ."

Now let’s think about this for a moment.  Jesus says we are to call no man on earth ‘father’, ‘rabbi’ or ‘teacher’.  Do you call Jewish clergy rabbi?  How about your Baptist Sunday school teachers?  Do you restrict the use of the word ‘teacher’ in your home?  Your church?  Your denomination?  No you don’t, I’ve seen you use those words numerous times over the years.  So why pluck out ‘father’ and point your finger at Catholics for something you yourself do?  Does that not stink of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees?

It’s time to ask just WHAT is Jesus saying here?  Does he actually mean never to refer to anyone as a "father" or "Rabbi" or "teacher"?  Does anyone think that is the case?  No way!  

Of course not!  If you go on to read verse 12 we see Jesus is talking about those who EXALT themselves.  (hint: this is about the First Commandment)

¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.  (Matthew 23)

 

We don't call anyone else "father" as in The Creator, the giver of ALL life.  The Father of all things – there is only ONE Father the Creator of all things, yet there are many ‘fathers’ in the world.  We have fathers of children…fathers of nations…fathers of organizations.  The title ‘father’ for a family, a nation or organization etc., is not wrong.  If we made someone else ‘father’ of something belonging to God and God alone it would be a sin, but not the father of a family or nation.

God the Father in Heaven is a jealous God, He forbids us from giving HIS glory to a false god (again, the First Commandment here). That is how we are not to use the word "father" for someone or something else.  That’s the key here, giving what belongs to God the Father to someone else.  That is God’s Glory, not ours.  If a man has a child he does in fact become a ‘father’ to that child.  That title ('father') belongs to that man.   He has not stolen God’s Glory by siring a child, not at all!  And the child is NOT committing a sin if they call their father by the title 'Father'.  We don't sin by calling Jewish clergy 'Rabbi' or by calling a school teacher 'teacher' simply because those are their titles.  Again, this is about the First Commandment.  If we attempt to give God's Glory to another- then we sin. 

We have fathers; teachers and Rabbi's but we do not give them the REVERENCE of God the Creator in Heaven.  HE is the ultimate Father, ultimate Teacher and ultimate Rabbi.  He is the Creator of all.  That is God’s Glory, not mans.  This Glory belongs to God and we exalt God for it.  We don’t exalt men for what God the Father has done.  That is forbidden.  That is what the Bible warns about.  That is what Jesus is saying in Matthew 23 (and other places).

We can take comfort in knowing that calling someone "father" is NOT a sin or wrong because Jesus Christ uses the term "father" dozens of times referring to people's actual parents and "Father" Abraham as the "father" of a nation.  (As I mentioned above, this is not a sin.  A man becoming the ‘father’ of a nation does NOT in any way attempt to take away God’s Glory)  If using the word "father" for someone other than God was wrong, Jesus Christ would not have done it.  Jesus is our perfect example.

But let’s not limit ourselves to Matthew 23 alone, let’s look at what else the Bible tells us.  In the New Testament we see Paul teaching us that priests are in fact our “fathers” because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This is precisely why the Catholic Church refers to her priests as ‘fathers’ – because the Bible tells us so!

1 Cor.4 ^{14 "}I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. ¹⁵Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. ¹⁶Therefore I urge you to imitate me. ¹⁷For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church." (NIV Bible)

Anyone who claims we are not to call a man ‘father’ because of Matthew 23 clearly has no understanding of what Jesus was teaching.  It’s all about CONTEXT and knowing the First Commandment.  If you pick a verse here and reject a verse there, you will nearly always be wrong.  You will be not only deceiving yourself, but also anyone else you share your personal views with.

Remember, that if it were wrong to call someone ‘father’, ‘rabbi’ or ‘teacher’ then Jesus would not have done it, nor would Paul be telling everyone that he (Paul) is in fact their ‘father’ because he's a priest (1 Cor. 4:15).  The Gospel teaches that the Church's priests ARE our fathers- not THE Father the Creator, but fathers made so by the Gospel.  The Catholic Church teaches exactly what the Bible says and what Jesus taught. 

"Is that why priests molest?"

In response to my post "Same Sex Couples And the Catholic Church",
Anonymous writes: "Is that why priests molest and have sex with little boys? Same sex. Hmmmmm. I know not all priest do and have done it but, given the number of priest that have and a so call secret brotherly club. Perhaps a lot of gay men out there are that way from their childhood going to a cathalic church.I think that priest should be allowed to get marry and have a family and teach their faith like normal religions do."

My response: First of all, thanks for your comments. Secondly, I have to wonder particularly at your last comment (and I quote) "I think that priest should be allowed to get marry and have a family and teach their faith like normal religions do." Is it your opinion that sexual abuse only happens in the Roman Catholic Church? Is it your opinion that ANYONE abuses a child because they are not married and can't control the desire for sex so they have to attack a child? If so, you are clueless about sexual abuse and need to get the facts. Now what do you mean "normal religions"? The Catholic Church is the oldest Christian church on the earth and there is nothing "abnormal" about it. It is within the Latin Rite of the Catholic faith (other Catholic rites allow priests to marry) that priests take vows of celibacy and we get that from Jesus Christ himself! Are you trying to tell me and others that Jesus Christ was wrong and made an error in judgement? If so, you've got more problems than understanding sexual abuse! Here is what Jesus Christ said about the priesthood and celibacy, and since I assume from your comments that you are not Catholic, I will quote a "Protestant" translation of the bible for you.
Matthew 19:11-12 "Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it was given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it." (NIV)
THAT is Jesus Christ talking about celibacy in the priesthood. Later in the New Testament Saint Paul reaffirms this teaching suggesting it is better to remain celibate if you can, but if you can not than get married (1 Cor.7:8-9).
Now back to the Catholic priest abuse issue. ALL abuse by anyone is wrong and there is no excuse for it. What happened in the Catholic Church was a vile disgrace, but don't fool yourself into think it's not happening in Protestant churches and by married Protestant ministers so that blows your celibacy theory out of the water.
The following is from Insurance companies ONLY in cases paid out. This does NOT include cases churches have not reported to their insurance companies. These reports related to complaints of child sex abuse by Protestant clergy in the United States were released by the insurance companies to The Associated Press (2007 report).
* Protestant clients: 96,000
* Top churches insured: United Methodist -- 10,000 churches; Southern Baptist -- 9,600; Assemblies of God -- 4,000; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- 3,300
* Complaints: average of 100 each year for the past decade
* Claims paid: declined to release because company deems figure proprietary information
* Protestant clients: 45,000
* Top churches insured: Baptist -- 10,922 churches;
Presbyterian --2,812; Lutheran -- 2,665; United Methodist -- 1,742
* Complaints: average of 160 each year for the past two decades
* Claims paid: about $4 million each year for the past five years for child sex abuse and sexual misconduct settlements, excluding attorney fees
* Protestant clients: 30,000
* Top churches insured: Southern Baptists -- 4,000 churches; Assemblies of God -- 2,300; United Methodist and Baptist -- 2,000 each
* Complaints: average of 73 of both child sex abuse and other sexual misconduct each year for the past 15 years
* Claims paid: about $7.8 million for sexual misconduct and child sex abuse in the past 15 years.
Source: www.stopbaptistpredators.org

Now lets look at statistics comparing the abuse problem between the Catholic Church and Protestant churches. The reports show that LESS than 1.7 Catholic priests are pedophiles while 2 to 3 percent of Protestant (and often married) ministers are pedophiles.
"Penn State professor Philip Jenkens reported that between 2 to 3 percent of Protestant clergy are pedophiles. His same study reported that less than 1.7 percent of Catholic priests are pedophiles. There is simply no reason to think that clergy child molesters are solely a Catholic problem." - source-Philip Jenkins, Pedophiles and Priests (New York: Oxford University Press), pp. 50 and 81.

So now you have the cold sad facts of clergy abuse, please don't assume this cancer is a Catholic only problem when its a bigger problem within Protestant churches. All need to work to prevent such abuse, none are immune to such evil in today's world.