Called To Communion - 2/16/18- Dr. David Anders - How do we know we aren't God?

what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic why can't women become priests 183 three two eight eight EWTN I don't understand why I have to earn salvation one eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six why do I need to confess my sins to a priest what's stopping you this is called to communion with dr. David Anders on the EWTN global Catholic radio network hey everybody welcome again to called a communion this is the program for our non Catholic brothers and sisters those of you who have questions about the Catholic faith maybe you're just not sure who you could ask those questions up well you can certainly ask them right here and right now here's our phone number eight three three two eight eight EWTN to eight let me give you that again eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six you can also text the letters EWTN to five five zero zero zero and then just wait for our response it'll be kind of a quick automated robo response and then text us your first name and your brief question message and data rates may apply again the phone number eight three three two eight eight EWTN we are waiting for you Michael Burchfield is our producer Matt Kaminski is our phone screener Jeff person is on social media today he'll be passing along any questions that you may want to pose via YouTube or Facebook I'm Tom price along with dr. David Anders um how are you today couldn't be better how are you thank you glad to hear that we're gonna lead off today with one of the most unusual questions I think we've ever had on this program this is from rod checking us out on YouTube and he says how do we know that we aren't God okay so I think thank you I appreciate the question how do we know that we aren't God so I think it'd be very important to define what we mean by God okay okay and then it'll be easy to see whether or not we're God okay so when I use the word God I'm going to use it the way the Catholic Church uses it which is the the first principle primo principio or in Thomas's language the very act to be itself that being in in which essence in existence are identical okay in most in most contingent beings finite beings the essence of a thing and its existence are are really distinct metaphysical realities so take for example Tom Price and the essence of Tom Price is sort of his humanity and then some of his essential properties are like his his corny sense of humor and his good radio voice and excellent lecturing skills you know and his his love for his wife and things like that all right but but you know the essence of Tom prices is essentially your humanity instantiated in this piece of flesh called Tom right um but that's entirely different from your existence right your existence could cease you could stop existing you could die for instance alright and or even before you existed I could still I could still conceptualize the essence of Tom price without the actual existence of Tom price and it's easy to see you see something coming over the horizon you go or something's there it exists but I don't know what it is the what a thing is and the that a thing is are two different realities except in God God is is that in which essence in existence are identical his isness is his witness alright and therefore it's impossible for him not to be I mean it's kinda by asking can being not be the things nonsensical yeah being is that's its nature that's your definition okay and another way of course is the doctrine of God is the first principle that from which all things proceed well it doesn't take a whole lot of of intelligence to realize that I am NOT my own existence it is possible for me not to be and I'm certainly not the source and ground and origin of all things a lot of things preceded me many things will follow me I live in a dependent condition you know I I I'm sitting here drinking a cup of coffee right now to wake up you know I need caffeine I need food and water and I need all kinds of things up I mean I'm sitting in a chair I need that to hold me up a mass I'm dependent on the laws of physics and chemistry to hold my body together in its biological you know or organismal composition alright so I'm I'm dependent through and through all right but God is I is the Catholic faith understand hims understands him is that on which all things depend so okay there you go okay very good hope that's a helpful for you rod appreciate that you're checking us out today on Facebook here's another one from David and David is watching us on YouTube he says yesterday I asked you via YouTube does fasting equal works now while I appreciate and understand your answer I meant it more specifically the reference in James 2:24 do you not see that by works a man is justified and not by faith only thanks for your time oh sure well yeah sure I mean in that sense that the sense that say st. James uses is fasting something meritorious something is fasting something whereby we can increase in the grace of God is fasting something whereby you know cooperating with God's grace God will reward us and and and call us as friends on the last day sure and Jesus tells us that he says when you fast fast and secret put oil on your head wash your face don't let others know what you're doing and your father who sees you in secret will reward you so Christ clearly identifies fasting is one of those good works that God will reward with eternal life very good hey we've got some open phone lines we would love to hear from you today the number is eight three three two eight eight EWTN eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six when we come back we'll be talking with Mitchell in Dallas it's got a great question we'd love to hear your great question here on EWTN called a communion sharing the fullness of the Catholic faith 23 3 2 8 8 EWTN one eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six this is call to communion with dr. David Anders on the EWTN global Catholic radio network welcome to our meditation for Lent for the first Friday in Lent of the Friday after Ash Wednesday subject I'd like to ask you to look at today is that one you were afraid I was gonna get to fasting now I'm not somebody who particularly likes to fast I like to work but I don't like the fast sensing the Bible in the book of Sirach if a man fast for his sins and goes and does the same thing again who will listen to his prayer to keep from wickedness is pleasing to the Lord to the sake unrighteousness is atonement so that the first requirement of fasting is that we avoid voluntary sinful behavior but there is the other kind of fasting giving up of delicious things the moderation of the appetites and Lent has always been a Catholic custom to have one major meal two little small coal asians or minor meals and not to eat between meals actually fasting was an important part of American life a century and a half ago when the country was predominantly Protestant two or three times during the Civil War Abraham Lincoln put the whole country on the day of fast and abstinence fasting isn't particularly popular in our culture of fast foods as the kind of fast we like everybody likes to have munchies it means that if we decided to fast we could do it quite well because we'd have much to give up I'd suggest to everybody who's listening to me Catholics and non-catholics alike we try a little fasting and I'll get around later in this series to telling you what we could do with the money we save by not indulging ourselves in munchies because there were great many people in the world who really don't have enough to eat and we might look for ways to make their burden a little lighter and in that way fulfill the words of Jesus I was hungry and you gave me to eat Bishop Robert Barron just as Fulton sheen used radio and TV in the last century we need to continue to use Catholic radio to announce the Catholic faith in the public forum the leading Catholic voices are on EWTN radio what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic you are called to communion with dr. David Andrews to eight EWTN one eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six and if you're ready now let's go to the phones at eight three three two eight eight EWTN we begin with Mitchell and Dallas listening to us on Guadalupe Radio AM 910 hey there Mitchell what's on your mind today well I'm not a Catholic there's some I appreciate all about the Catholic churches what's the Catholic radio so there's some things the way I understand the Catholic beliefs just listening to the radio there's some other people who run out there like father James Martin and I heard that there's a cardinal and Germany that saying that they can bless homosexual unions and some things like that that don't fit with what least my understanding of Catholic teaching is and I know like in my denomination that they're the ones did something like that there would be a church trial pretty immediately and and things would be kind of resolved quickly so I'm wondering what's going on in the how does the Catholic Church handle people that are ordained and then publicly say things are you sure yeah I understand appreciate it so the the ordinary procedure for handing handling disciplinary matters within the church well there's a there's a there's a concept called subsidiarity which is that the problem is handled at the lowest level of authority necessary to get the job done so you know if a layperson in a parish is you know causing a ruckus or teaching heresy or living in Whirley or whatever the scandal might be well it would fall to the pastor of that church the priest of that particular parish to handle it at that level if you know if a priest is causing trouble it would fall to typically the bishop of the diocese or the technical term is the ordinary the ordinary is the person who's in charge of that particular priest if is there are priests who don't work as for the members of the özkan clergy pastoring churches there might be members of religious orders in which case they're ordinary be the superior of their society like father mark is the is the father guardian of Franciscan seer dwt and he'd be responsible for the behavior of the friars and in and you move up the chain and if a you know if a bishop gets in trouble and he doesn't do what he's supposed to do then theoretically the Holy See the Pope and the Vatican ought to intervene and and and give him what for okay now the the this system is good system it's only as effective as the willingness of people in authority to use their power of enforcement okay and so you'll find you will find diocese in the country in the world where you have a vigorous bishop who is zealous for orthodoxy and holiness who will prosecute immorality and dissent and heresy rather vigorously you'll find others that you know have have different views about how aggressive they want to be in their pastoral ministry and may not may not enforce as as aggressively and you know to be fair there are you know I think that we're not always in the shoes of the bishops all right and we don't have to make the judgement in real time about where we're gonna place our pastoral energies okay and and you and I could have legitimate questions and say hey this looks kind of squirrelly to me why aren't you stepping up to the plate and maybe that's a perfectly legitimate question to ask but it's a question to ask right so I mean you know I'd want to dig in and find out what's this Bishop thinking why is he taking the action that he's taking it's quite possible he's doing something wrong or maybe the bishop in this particular place or that particular place didn't do and what he's supposed to do he should be exercising discipline when he's not and maybe he's an error in doing that alright maybe he's not maybe there's a Prudential reason why he's hold back ok and and I wouldn't necessarily know all those circumstances sure cuz you gotta make these just like you know the police force can't investigate every crime you said I'm saying yep alright Catholics are certainly not obligated to believe that their priests or bishops or even the Pope is is is without sin or or we're not obligated to believe that these people even have good judgment and history has shown down through the centuries there have been bishops and Pope's who were very holy people who do a world of good and their business and bishops and Pope's that have been some real so-and-so's yeah and have abused the power of their office because they want to advance a political agenda or their own you know wealth or aggrandizement or what what-have-you which is one of the reasons why Catholics pray daily for the for the good judgment and holiness of their priests or bishops and the Holy Father the Pope Mitchell we hope that's helpful for you that opens up a line right now for you at one eight three three two eight eight EWTN and that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six called a communion in progress here on EWTN we have a line open for you right now let's go to Craig in Northern Kentucky listening to us on a Sacred Heart Radio AM 740 Craig what's on your mind today yes it might piggyback off the the Pope a question you were just talking about but I was recently talking to a Baptist pastor on why I'm Catholic and I want to be part of the church founded by Christ by Jesus Christ and in the Pope and Peter and the rock but he was basically telling me if that's the case then you should actually be part of the Orthodox Church saying that maybe I guess there was a sysm back in I guess like 1000 AD and that actually he thought the Orthodox Church was more in line with the Pope I don't know if that makes sense or not but I understand the claim he's making I think it's been misrepresented a little bit so what what the Orthodox themselves claim is that they have apostolic succession and they argue that the that the Roman they would see it as a Roman doctrine of papal primacy that the Pope has a universal jurisdiction over the whole church they would claim that that's an innovation imposed by the West by the Catholics and that they're ecclesiology which is more more collegial among the episcopate that that's the original all right so they claim that basically that the Catholics broke away from the Orthodox rather than the other way around all right so this is a historical claim it's easily we can easily investigate it that's how we have to handle it and I think I would start with the teaching of Sacred Scripture all right and I would that's that's where we need to go first it's the most ancient document we have about the life of Christ and the Apostles and we asked the question well did Jesus set up an authority in the church whereby all of the Apostles or all the bishops had equal Authority nope nope he didn't Jesus singled out one apostle st. Peter and identified him in in multiple ways in multiple times as having a unique authority in the College of the Apostles he said to Peter you are Peter Peter means rock on the rock foundation of the church is unity on this rock I'll build my church he didn't say on all 12 of you guys he said on you Peter on this rock I'll build my church I'll give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven he didn't say that to anybody else give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven that that's a metaphor drawn from the book of Isaiah chapter 22 theyed indicates executive authority what have you bind on earth is bound in heaven what have you loose on earth is loosed in heaven and the course in the Gospel of John he commends Peter feed my sheep feed my sheep feed my sheep in the Book of Luke he says strengthen your brethren turn and strengthen your brethren when st. Paul is called to be an apostle the first thing he does is go hang out with Peter for two weeks and get the you know get the goods on being an apostle from st. Peter and then he says I needed the right hand to fellowship or else I would have run my race in vain so the the constitution of the church is founded by Christ is apostolic authority with Peter at the head okay that's the way Jesus set it up right and then we just March it forward you know a generation look at the second century and ask ourselves in the second century church was there this kind of a equal collegial Authority among the episcopate answer no and there's documentary evidence to that fact so you look at the writings of Ignatius of Antioch or clement of rome or or Irenaeus of lyon and we're talking here you know people in Rome people in that have their Providence in Asia Minor which course is Greek speaking not Latin speaking and then North Africa all around the ancient world and as universal affirmation of the idea that Rome has primacy so Irenaeus who's riding in southern Gaul but has roots in Asia Minor says it's a matter of necessity this isn't a third book of his of his work against heresies it's a matter of necessity that all the churches agree with Rome on account of its preeminent authority and the authority of the Apostles that founded it and then in the third century we have Pope's that are explicitly claiming to sit on the seat of Peter alright and and then and nobody's gainsaying them nobody in the East is saying well that's not true you don't actually sit on the seat of Peter alright and then when you get into the fourth century at the Council of the Council of Constantinople in 381 interesting thing happens there are some Byzantine Greek speaking theologians at Constantinople that say okay we all know that Rome has had the primacy up till now we all recognize that Roman said the primacy up till now but now that Byzantium now the Constantinople is the seat of the Empire maybe it should shift to Byzantium and the interesting thing is everybody said may wrong because it's not based on political authority it's based on divine authority - the Apostle Peter handed down by apostolic succession and we find that doctrine articulated by Eastern Byzantine theologians like Maximus the Confessor for example or Theodore bukhara who's an Arabic speaking theologian from well from Arabia and in very late antiquity and so it's not just it's not just Romans it's not just Latins that are making the claim the the Maronites that Jarrah Syriac speaking Lebanese and Syrian tradition definitely nothing Roman or Latin about them mm-hmm they've always confessed the primacy of the Bishop of Rome in fact there were Maronite bishops present at the fourth Lateran council in 1215 so this idea that the doctrine of Roman primacy is somehow an invention of the Latin is specifically Latin in Catholic West sohow imposed on the universal church that's just that's just historically false it's just a fiction okay that's just a fiction so there you go Craig thank you so much and we that that clears it up for you this is called a communion here on EWTN our phone number eight three three two eight eight EWTN eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six let's go now to will and Watertown Massachusetts checking us out today via the EWTN app a free download I might add hey will what's on your mind today hi guys my question is regarding a discussion I got on to with a Protestant and specifically about the Council of Trent Canon 24 okay this this particular person said that that that's proof that anyone at anyone who believes it Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient as basically declared Anathem of by the Catholic Church how would I respond to that okay Canon 24 reads as follows if anyone says that the justice received is not preserved and also increased before God through good works but that the said works are merely the fruits and science of justification obtained but not a cause of the increase there of let him be anathema let me unpack that for you okay so first of all Catholics believe that the atoning death of Christ was absolutely sufficient to make atonement and reparation for the sins of all the world interestingly many Protestants especially the Calvinists deny that fact it is a dogma of Calvinism so-called five-point Calvinism that the death of Christ only atones for the sins of the elect and not for the whole world it's called the doctrine of limited atonement and that is characteristic was it was clearly articulated at the Synod of dort also in Westminster Confession and various other Reformed confessions so the reformed or Calvinist tradition denies that Christ's death was sufficient to pay for the sins of all the world the Catholic faith teaches it was absolutely sufficient to atone and make reparation for the sins of all the world okay okay but Catholics and Calvinists have a different understanding about what took place on the cross and its significance Calvinists believe that when Christ died on the cross that God was punishing him for sins he did not commit so that he could expiate his wrath on a subject namely the innocent Christ and then forgive believers on account of the righteousness of Christ so God wants to punish somebody he punishes Jesus because he punished his Jesus he doesn't punish us and the exchange takes place by way of faith alone all right that's the that's the Calvinist vision of the death of Christ a radically unbiblical vision of the death of Christ and but it undergirds their idea that salvation is by faith alone and if Jesus bore the full brunt of the punishment that's owed to me then then there's literally nothing left for me to do I believe Christ I receive his righteousness and then that's all she wrote I mean there's no point in its talking about increasing grace or justification because grace has done its job I've been forgiven for every sin past present and future nothing left for me to do salvation by faith alone that's why for a Calvinist Canon 24 of the Council of Trent makes no sense right but it's grounded in their very unbiblical doctrine of justification and their very unbiblical doctrine of Christ's atonement what a Catholics say what does the Bible say the Bible says that the death of Christ was a sacrifice of atonement Romans 3 first John 2 what is a sacrifice of atonement it's a gift given to God in token of reparation it's not a substitutionary punishment okay so when Christ dies he he merited the gift of forgiveness of sins and the outpouring of His grace and he and and his death is sufficiently meritorious that he can win grace and justification and salvation in the forgiveness of sins and the holy spirit for the whole world all right okay but there is the question of the application of that grace to the heart of the believer okay and in Catholic teaching when I believe Christ my sins are forgiven and the love of God is shed abroad in my heart that's what Romans 5:5 says the love of God shed abroad in my heart my heart is circumcised by the Holy Spirit okay and that gift of love is what we mean by justification all right it is the renovation of my nature that I become a participant in the divine nature 2nd Peter 1:4 says come to share in the essence of God which is love itself all right well of love there is no measure love can be increased and multiple times throughout say scripture we find exhortations and prayers that the love of believers might grow that it might grow st. Paul for example in Ephesians 1 in Ephesians 3 says I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened that you might know the height the depth the width of the love of God that surpasses knowledge and be filled with all the fullness of God all right all these exhortations to grow in grace and the spirit the spiritual life in Christ Himself promises us that there are spiritual gifts received by believers in response to morally good works he says if any man loves me and keeps my commands my father and I will come to him and make our dwelling with him the blessing of the indwelling Trinity and hearts in or as a response to our love and obedience or or Jesus saying when you fast when you pray when you give alms do these things in secret and the father who sees you in secret will reward you yes the promise of reward from God in response to good works so Catholics will leave Christ's death sufficient gets the job done gives us grace on the Holy Spirit but cooperating with that grace responding to that grace with faith good works and perseverance we can grow in that justification by the increase of charity in our hearts which is the consistent teaching of the Bible so your friend has a very unbiblical doctrine of salvation the Catholic position grounded in Sacred Scripture is one of a dynamic relationship with God which like every relationship of love can grow in depth and intensity over one's life until its fulfillment in the kingdom of heaven well we hope that is helpful for you thank you so much for your call in a moment here we'll be hearing from ernest in new orleans also mark has a great question checking in from Cherry Hill New Jersey phones quite busy today but we can take your call right now at 1/8 to 8 8 EWTN and that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six lots more coming up on this edition of call to Communion on EWTN this is sy Kelvin join me for Catholic Answers live it's two hours dedicated to Catholic apologetics and evangelization designed for Catholics and non-catholics of life it's your opportunity to hear from and talk with some of the leading apologists and theologians in the church today you've got questions we've got Catholic answers Catholic answers live weekdays 6 to 8 p.m. Eastern on EWTN radio a Lenten reflection with father Dominick leg the heart of the spiritual life consists in charity and linked very closely to that is the practice of humility the virtue of humility if you are growing in charity and humility you're growing in your Christian life so this is a very good way to take your spiritual temperature this Lent how is your practice of charity how is your practice of humility and sometimes it requires some humility to do works of charity to our neighbors especially if there's that person that you find a little difficult to get along with can you go out of your way this Lent maybe even today to find a way to do some small kindness for someone you find difficult practice humility practice charity and when you practice you will grow in those virtues and you will grow as a Christian the wisdom of Mother Angelica remember the time I said on the air go to confession and when you're done go out and have a big ice-cream soda celebrate a man wrote to me says you know I hadn't gone to confession in 30 years your mind if I went and had a pizza I said oh have 20 pizzas EWTN live truth live Catholic what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic you are called to communion with dr. David Andrews to a8 EWTN one eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six so glad you could join us for called the communion here on EWTN that phone number again eight three three two eight eight a EWTN let's go now to ernest in new orleans checking us out on the all my T's 690 hello Ernest what's on your mind today are you there Ernest Ernest is not there why don't we put him on hold Michael we'll get back to him in a minute here let's go right now to mark in Cherry Hill New Jersey listening to us on Sirius XM 130 hello mark what's on your mind today I just wanted to know why women can't become priests and I'm trying to win that side of the argument okay sure thank you appreciate it well several things to say about this first of all every baptized woman is a priest in the Catholic Church as every baptized male is a priest in the Catholic Church in this respect a priest with the book of Hebrews tells us is one who is appointed to offer sacrifice that's the principal job of a priest to offer sacrifice and all Christians are to offer the sacrifice of their very lives st. Paul tells us offer your bodies as living sacrifices this is your spiritual act of worship so all and the second thing that priests do is they bear witness to to God and they stand his emissaries of God to the world and icons of fidelity and discipleship and so forth and and in all women and men who are baptized participate in that in that work as well so both in the sense of offering sacrifice and of bearing witness to God and in speaking on his behalf to the world and representing Christ men and women equally share in the priesthood of Christ and not only in their daily lives but even in the celebration of the Eucharist the the Second Vatican Council in the document on the liturgy psycrow sanctum kaanchi Liam says that the laity men and women baptized are to be taught to offer the immaculate victim that is Jesus not only through the hands of the ministerial priest but also along with him through the sacrifice of their very lives as we unite ourselves to the sacrifice of Christ present to us in Holy Mass we participate in that sacrifice in an imminent way Pope Pius the 12th tells us that in his encyclical on the liturgy that in this way the Holy Sacrifice of the mass is the most efficacious means of acquiring sanctity and so that's something that men and women both participate in in a priestly way so don't lever it don't ever let anybody tell you that that women have no share in the priesthood of Christ we all do in virtue of our baptism now when it comes to the ministerial priesthood that is reserved to men only for the simple reason that women cannot be fathers that's true and the the priestly role is a is a fatherly slash husbandly role visa vie the the family of God which is the church all right and men and women this is going to shock a lot of people too though I'm sure but are not the same they're not the same Wow they have different gifts aptitudes talents and so forth and different character different charisms and the body of Christ and the family and to be a father surprise surprise is reserved for men only all right and guess what men can't be mothers that's true too man can't be mothers and Saint John Paul the second in his encyclical on the dignity of women spent a lot of time talking about all the things that men can't do all the aptitudes and and competencies that women have the special giftings that of which men are deprived and he talked about the genius of women and you know I let me just give you my own life may not this is not with respect to the church was just my own family life I'm a pretty abstracted guy I love doing what I'm doing right now yakking you know at nauseam on Catholic doctrine and history and theology and stuff like that and you know my wife sometimes could really care less she wants to make sure the kids get picked up and dropped off at school on time you know and she's grounded in the real you know she was grounded in the real a friend of mine has the same situation in his marriage he told me he'd read Sultan Eaton's Gulag Archipelago the other day yeah and he was in the shower one morning and he was going on and on about you know the in justices of the world and the the you know the plight of the worker and bla bla bla bla bla and she's like I don't really care about the injustice of the world right now his wife said I want to make sure you're gonna be there to pick up our kid after school you know my wife keeps me grounded in the real in pope john paul ii talks about that he talks about and so does pius xi too about how women very often excel their men in love and love is attention to the concrete in the particular and and you know and this is these kinds of things have been a drive all the way down to the neurological level and and emerge in in clinical and scientific testing and it's it's basically encoded into our DNA we're not the same we're not the same and that's a good thing it's called complementarity you know that there are things I can do my wife can't think she can do that I can't and one of the things I can do that she can't do is be a father and priests are to be fathers to the family of God which is the church now when it comes to the celebration Sacred Liturgy the priest also operates in Persona Christi he stands in the place of Christ all right he images Christ as an icon right the one who makes the sacrifice who affects the sacrifice has in him the mind of Christ the same intention as Christ intended to make his life an offering for sin that very same intention one in the same is present in the mind of the priest as he offers the Holy Sacrifice of the mass in the very person of Christ and so not only because of his fatherly role with respect to the family of God but also in his in his iconic role as the one who affects the Sacred Liturgy and the sacrifice of the mass as the divine victim present there on the altar it is it is doubly appropriate that he figure Christ in his masculinity yeah okay mark is that helpful for you yeah the only thing I said was I told her it was you know sacred tradition and everything and she says well who where's the authority come that only man can become free oh that's good it got from God if it's it's it's divinely revealed I mean this is a dogma and so it was president sacred scripture it's taught by the ordinary Magisterium of the church that's the constant faith and practice of the Catholic faith down through the centuries which is a divine authority I mean that we know that things are divinely revealed in virtue of their having been taught by the ordinary Magisterium of the church and also by the extraordinary Magisterium of the church by the Pope's and counsels directly so pope john paul ii for instance wrote his his apostolic exhortation is absolutely Constitution on the ordination is or natsu sasha to Tallis in which he invoked his authority as pope as a successor st. peter to establish something that that belongs to the essence of the Christian faith to be believed by all the Christian faithful definitively that that Holy Orders are reserved to men alone in the Catholic Church the sacred priesthood he said specifically is reserved to the minute so both from Scripture from sacred tradition from the ordinary and extraordinary Magisterium I mean it's like Authority on steroids yeah Marc thank you so much for your call today this is called the communion here on EWTN we're going to go back now to earnest we couldn't get him on the air earlier we've got him now Ernest what's on your mind today Ernest are you there yes yeah go right ahead you're on the air yes may the peace of love our Lord Jesus Christ be with you in your family thank you so missing you need to turn your radio all the way down if you would please I don't have my radio on oh go right ahead okay now I forgive my program I was listening to yesterday might have been called a communion and the prices they have that might have been father but something was said that st. Paul said he was making up for the sufferings of Christ for what lacked in the sufferings of Christ and I was like what can ever be lacking in the sufferings of Christ and where did they come problem yeah thank you very much appreciate it so it's a great question we find in the book of Colossians chapter 2 st. Paul says that I he says I make up in my own flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body the church now an answer to your question how can we speak about the sufferings of Christ being lacking when we think about the death of Christ we can think about it in two ways we can think about the redemption objectively accomplished on the cross what Christ did for us on the cross and of course that objective redemption is absolutely sufficient infinitely meritorious and in that sacrifice nothing is lacking alright but then we can think we can talk about the redemption not just accomplished but redemption as it is applied as it is applied to me subjectively how I receive the benefits of the death of Christ on the cross and how I make them real in my life okay and that reception of those graces is something that can be more or less it can be more or less all right I can receive grace I can receive more grace and I can receive a lot more grace okay and the the the mode of that reception is through faith through the sacraments through the prayers and intercessions of the church and through good works all right it's applied to me in all of those modes you see and so the the prayers and intercession of the Saints on my behalf can increase and multiply the work of grace in my life and we are called to share in the sufferings of Christ Jesus himself said if you don't take up your cross and follow me you're not worthy to be my disciple mmm but when we do that when we do take up our cross and follow Jesus like the Blessed Virgin Mary who said be it done to me according to thy word when we do have that attitude Jesus tells us that it's meritorious he says blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for instance or blessed are you when you pray to your father in secret he will reward you alright and the merit of our sacrifices because we're united to Christ we become st. Paul says we become co-laborers with Jesus as if God were making his appeal through us okay and so through the merits and prayers of individual Christians the application of the grace of God in our lives can be increased and multiplied it's not that the death of Christ itself on the cross was insufficient not at all but that he wishes to apply that grace to us not without our cooperation okay Ernest do call us back sometime an excellent question on your on your part there thank you so much for your question this is called a communion here on EWTN the global Catholic Network I want to tell you about one of our other networks that you may not be too familiar with and that is another radio service that we offer 24 hours a day it is called EWTN radio classics this is a teaching and devotionals channel imagine that imagine being able to hear the mass several times a day or the Rosary several times today we even have a rosary for children that airs during the afternoon hours and some great teaching programs from our foundress Mother Angelica dr. Scott Hahn father Benedict Groeschel Patrick Madrid it just goes on and on and on it is a wonderful channel that you may want to check out you can find them four different ways you can go to EWTN radio net that's EWTN radio net click on the button there that says radio classics or you can go to the ewtn radio app on your smartphone again a free download and here's two other ways go to the tune in app a lot of people like tune in when they're checking out various audio services we're there as well or you can do what I do just just the other day I I was standing in my kitchen and I said Alexa play EWTN radio classics boom I'm here in the Rosary fantastic do check it out EWTN radio classics let's go now to Elsie in Fort Wayne listen to us on Redeemer radio hello LC what's on your mind today hi I'm actually not a Catholic but I believe in the intercession of the saint okay so I actually I pray the rosary and I just I do believe that the Saints can hear us and that they they want to pray for us though I do ask them to pray for me and my loved one my question is I've got some Protestant relatives who are very very against what I'm doing and they've asked me to show them in Scripture where that is allowed and they're just confident it's against the Bible and I understand that there's there's more to Catholicism than just you know it's not all in the Bible there's tradition as well so I'm just wondering if there's any way I can talk to them about that and like show them how I feel this is not against Scripture yeah absolutely sure thing I appreciate it so here's what I would do I would start with Abraham in the book of Genesis in the in the case with when he pleads with God for Sodom and Gomorrah mm-hmm and Abraham says to God will you destroy the city if we can come up with ten righteous people and God says well no I won't for the sake of the ten righteous I'll spare the whole city all right now what what's that what is established there in that text it others as well is that God will be Clement and merciful to the many on behalf of the righteousness of the few okay and the same principle is enunciated in the book of James chapter 5 where James says the prayer of a righteous man availeth much and he's just got finished saying in chapters 1 and 2 he's like most you guys are praying and you're not getting what you asked for because you pray with wrong motives however the prayer of a righteous man availeth much okay and so I'm just laying the groundwork here all the way back in the book of Genesis we find this principle that if you're righteous and God looks upon you with favor it is not just for yourself alone that you can obtain divine favors but on the behalf of the few the righteous for you God will in fact be Clement and merciful to the many Saint Paul says the same thing in Colossians chapter 2 verse we just talked about where he says I fill up in my own flesh make up in my own flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body the church okay okay now does this actually translate into miracles alright of intercession both in this life and the next well yes it does okay let me give you a couple instances so in second Kings chapter 13 the prophet Elijah a righteous man lazada one of the tzadikim that's a Hebrew word meaning like alright just guys okay the same people that that James is talking about in chapter 5 Elisha clearly counts in that category dies he dies and he's he's thrown into the tomb and he rots okay and there are his bones and then some Israelites show up with another dead man they throw him into the tomb with Elijah his corpse hits the bones of Elijah boom he comes back to life Wow so the bones of Elijah participated in the supernatural power of God is a relics of the Saints to bring about a miraculous healing a resurrection in fact in in the life of this corpse that was tossed in there so that's in the Old Testament now something similar happens the book of Acts chapter 19 where we find that even handkerchiefs and articles of clothing touched to the Apostles gained supernatural power we're talking third-class relics here gained supernatural power to bring about miracles in the life of believers in the church on earth okay now does this does this thing pertain after death well we've already shown you that this relationship pertains in the case of after death in 2nd Kings chapter 13 there are some other instances where we're going to find it okay now I'm gonna allude to two passages of Scripture that you're that your relatives don't recognize because they come out of the Bible that has been with the church since the Apostolic age not the Bible that Luther and Calvin believed in alright and those are second Maccabees chapter 15 in the book of Tobit chapter 12 all right now even if they don't recognize those as scriptural texts and I understand that most Protestants reject the city of Maccabees and Tobit they must admit that it at least represents the faith of intertestamental Judaism all right the the cultural and religious context in which early Christianity was born okay and what we find in those passages first of all we see the intercession of the Prophet Jeremiah and a former high priest of Jerusalem who appeared to judas maccabees in a dream and tell him that they are in fact praying and interceding for the people of god on earth and then the sacred text tells us that these that these dreams are veridical and worthy of belief okay then in the book of Tobit chapter 12 we see the angel Rafiel who says that it is his job in fact to carry the prayers of Tobias and Sarah and present them before the throne of God so he's not just praying for Tobias and Sarah he's actually in an intercessory relationship where he's transferring their prayers and making them available to God okay it's not a direct shot it's like prayer angel you know ricochet God okay now let's let's push it forward into the New Testament in the book of Revelation chapter 5 verse 8 and revelation 8 verse 3 there is a very obvious reference to Tobit chapter 12 when we find out that the angels in heaven are offering the prayers of the church on earth to God and the saints in heaven nuts in Revelation 5 are offering the prayers of the church on earth to God as incense again they're not just praying for the church they're actually taking the prayers of the church and making them presenting them before the throne of God now how are you going to interpret the significance of that passage god knows what we pray before he's asked a scripture tells us that he knows what you need before you ask him ok the asking itself is part of the benefit that we derive from prayer alright and in the same way when I asked Tom Price to pray for him I asked you know Burchfield over here and thus control booth to pray for me God already knows what I need before I ask Tom or Michael alright but he wants me to ask not just him he wants me to ask my fellow believers in Christ because that's how we build up charity in the body of Christ in the same way God knows what I need before I ask I don't have to ask the Saints to pray for me but he wants me to because he wants us to pray for one another because that's the way we build up charity in the body of Christ the the belief that the saints in heaven don't pray for me well that's as much to say as death gets the final word and they're somehow cut off from the body of Christ well what a deformed view of Christian life that is no okay so there there's there's your scripture and there's your biblical principle now I want to I want to go on and I know your friends don't recognize sacred tradition but let me import tradition just for a minute because I think I think when you hear the right way to frame it it's a little bit more compelling what we find is that the intercession of saints and the veneration of their relics has been with the Christian faith from the beginning in fact it predates Christianity we find it in Judaism okay we find it in Judaism and it's carried over into the Christian faith okay and it's so widespread that in Christian antiquity you you cannot find Christians without finding the intercession of saints angels and the veneration of their relics you can actually track the progress of Christianity in the ancient world by by tracking the progress of the relic cult and the earliest Christian Church is the physical building of the churches were constructed on sites that were first shrines for the for the veneration of local saints all right so the the the the the veneration of saints and their relics preceded the construction of physical church buildings and in fact laid the groundwork for them okay okay and and there's a passage in the late 4th century Saint Jerome or Jerome writes a book called against vigilancia s' and he's contending with this issue of is it lawful to seek the intercession of saints and and particularly their bones that to venerate their relics and he says does the Bishop of Rome do wrong when he offers the Holy Sacrifice of the mass over the bones of the holy martyrs Peter and Paul and not just the Bishop of Rome but every bishop throughout the world you see the the universality of the practice and keep in mind what a secret scripture say about a practice that's universal st. Paul in first Corinthians 1116 says if anyone wants to be contentious know that we have no other practice nor do the Churches of God the tradition I receive from Christ he says in 1st Corinthians 11 I hand on to you so somebody who wants to dispense with I mean okay you say I absolutely reject sacred tradition okay well you've just cut yourself off from any possible claim of continuity with Christian antiquity because everybody in Christian antiquity followed the biblical practice of believing in the intercession of saints and angels alright and if you cut yourself off from sacred tradition guess what else you have to throw out the Bible yep the Bible is a product of Catholic tradition if you don't believe in Catholic tradition you have no grounds for believing in the Bible I mean if you throw a Catholic tradition then I can say hey well you know what I really think that that Moby Dick ought to be in the Bible and we should get rid of the book of Romans well how are you gonna gain say me how you gonna how are you going to confront that that that assertion well I don't think so well on what basis on what basis the only basis you can appeal to sacred tradition exactly we appreciate your call Elsie thank you so much we hope that's helpful for you and for your friends they're your family members I think we have time for one more here let's go to a Steve in Fort Worth listing on Guadalupe Radio Steve we just have a few moments here what's your question I'm freedom and it has to be but do you say when you talk about the great schism between the Orthodox and the Rome and Roman or is it schism how do you say it sysm sysm like like like scissors thank you I appreciate it okay thanks to your question yeah your question was why has there been so little progress in reunification think there's been great big heaping steaming piles of progress good I mean patriarch bartholomew was present at the installation of pope francis when he installed his bishop of rome i'd never happened in 2,000 years that's true great big heaping steaming piles of Paul the six was also very instrumental in pushing the ball yeah absolutely and you know pope john paul ii wrote this magnificent encyclical unum Sint may they be one where he is sort of revision 'uncle Orthodox relations and inviting more critical reflection on this question and I mean I've read studies by Orthodox theologians taking up that challenge and saying okay let's take the Pope at his word let's say let's let's let's you know put on a new pair of shoes and dig into the single fresh eyes and I mean I think I mean we're not we're not at Union but I think we've we're coming a long way is there really a whole lot that is separating us at this point well you're saying I do yeah yeah okay very good we appreciate that a bill in Elizabethtown North Carolina I am so sorry we couldn't get to you we just flat ran out of time all the other people who have been checking us out today via YouTube via Facebook we get his question was why don't Catholics believe in the doctrine of penal substitution yes briefly because that's that doctrine was invented by the Protestant reformers and it was not divinely revealed we don't believe in Flying Spaghetti Monster is either well I don't right I don't think you do IDO I mean we we have divine and supernatural faith in those articles of faith derived from revelation and paint the dr penal substitution is a human tradition invented by the reformers it's not revealed to us by god in fact it contradicts the truth of sacred scripture and tradition about the nature of Christ's death so why would we believe it well then we've answered all the questions today there you go how about that that's like the eighth time I've said that there you go there you go dr. David Andrews thank you my friend we really appreciate all that you do for EWTN and for all of our many listeners there you go thank you Tom remember that we do our program each and every Monday through Friday 2:00 p.m. Eastern with an encore at 11:00 p.m. Eastern on EWTN radio and an encore on Sundays at 2:00 I'm Tom price have a great one we'll see you next time here on call to communion god bless

Channel: EWTN

Views: 2,780

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: 6pAUhUgHlOo

Length: 54min 25sec (3265 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 16 2018