Called To Communion - 2/22/18- Dr. David Anders - What is Dogma?

what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic why can't women become priests one eighty three 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 happy Thursday to you you know what that means stay before Friday how about that welcome again to call to communion this is the program for our non Catholic brothers and sisters if you have a question about the Catholic faith maybe you're a former Catholic a fallen away Catholic never been a Catholic but you've got questions about the Catholic faith by golly this is a great place to get those questions answered here's our phone number eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six if you're calling from outside North America dial one and then two oh five two seven one two nine eight five you can also email us ctc at ewtn.com and one more way to get through to us and that would be texting the letters ewtn two five five zero zero zero wait for our response and then text us your first name and your brief question message and data rates may apply let me give you that phone number again eight three three two eight eight e WT n calls are starting to come in even as we speak Michael Burchfield is our producer Matt Kaminsky is our phone screener Jeff person is handling social media so you can ask your questions via YouTube or Facebook if you prefer I'm Tom Price along with dr. David Andrews Tom I am really glad to have you with me on this show why is that well for a number of reasons one of them is I was just just casually wiling away at the time over here unraveling my headphones which were unplugged yes and totally missed the intro to the show and all of a sudden you start going and I was like oh we're on the air now we're actually on the air and you hadn't been here could have been the only other time like I nearly lost my lunch in that way was I was driving in the network to do the radio show and I was sort of casually listening to you Beach in radio huh and all of a sudden I heard the intro music come across the the car speakers and I went for like a second my heart stopped and I thought they started to show about me but it's actually just an ad a promo it was a prole well well hey we're gonna lead off here with an email that we received from James in New York the subject line on his email is which version of the Bible is best but here's his question hello with all the possible translations of the Bible available which is the best for Catholics to use and how does dr. Andrews respond to do a reams only ist's thank you James in New York what are we talking about here yeah so of course the Bible was composed the original autographs were written in Hebrew and Aramaic and Greek and so you know if you've got if you know some Hebrew Aramaic and Greek have at it that'd be the first recommend yeah but even then you know what I think we don't actually possess the original autographs like we don't have the papyrus that left the hand of Saint Paul if you will okay and what we have our manuscript copies that have come down through the generations and and and there are different manuscript families of Sacred Scripture in other words like you know there'll be textual variants that'll predominate in one part of the church versus one part of the world our language family versus another and so the science of textual criticism exists to kind of go through all those disparate copies and try to come up with the best reading the one that's closest to the original sure and and and so there's a real science behind that and some of the modern translations of the Bible are based upon that work of critical scholarship of comparing ancient manuscripts and then trying to compile what's called a critical text right and and and and so there's a you know I mean that there's just a kind of a scientific historical reason why you would want a favor maybe more modern translations uh-huh I like the I like the the RSV Catholic edition because it's a modern critical texts based on very good English it's it's readable and it's really close to the original languages other translations sometimes take a more dynamic approach or they try to capture more of the or worse they may even try to read the theology of the translate into the text makes an egregious example of that is the NIV which is a Protestant translation of the Bible that even some Protestant biblical scholars like NT right is one that comes to mind believes if you read that translation what you're really getting is the the Calvinism of the translators not the not the the original text of st. Paul so you know there are some I have some reasons why I recommend the RSV Catholic edition that's not the only one but that's just a particularly good one okay um now you know I guess my answer to the Douay Rheims onliest s-- would be and we explain what that is so in the 17th century when the when the King James Version so called authorized version was produced by the Protestant Church in England they were Catholic calls for a Catholic authorized translation the Bible one that would be produced by the Catholic Church free for use by Catholics and that was the result of that process so douay-rheims it's kind of like the Catholic answer to the King James if you will and it was not based on on Greek or Hebrew manuscripts but upon the latin vulgate which is the only translation in the Bible that's ever been authorized by a church council all right so the 16th century the Council of Trent said hey the Latin Vulgate is an approved translation of the Bible it's a good one it's one we recommend for the Latin Church okay and and so the Douay Rheims was based on the latin vulgate which had explicit ecclesiastical approbation okay and so I actually have never met a Douay Rheims onliest alright but the argument that I imagined one would make was that this is a ecclesiastically approved translation based on and ecclesiastically approved translation and so what I would say to that is well okay you're safe you know the douay-rheims is safe no it's safe now from the from the point of view of historical critical scientific scholarship you know I wouldn't I would not I would not teach the douay-rheims in a course on biblical studies right you know where I'm trying to bring in critical questions about you know what st. Paul really wrote or what st. Matthew really wrote because that's not why it was written it was written to as a devotional texts that would be theologically safe for Catholics to read and study and practice lectio Divina so if that's your goal you know if you if you're just looking at devotional reading yeah fine go read the douay-rheims you're safe you're not gonna veer off into heresy because of something that the translators stuck in there all right if your goal is you know more sort of scientifically accurate historical critical study of the Bible then I probably wouldn't go there okay sir fair enough James thank you so much for your email if you'd like to send us an email for a future show send that to CTC at ewtn.com CTC at ewtn.com getting ready to go to the phones here at a moment we'll be talking with Candace in Liberty Hill Texas also Nicole in Woodbridge Virginia Rebecca in Kansas City looks like there are two lines open at the moment eight three three two eight eight EWTN eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six lots more coming up on this edition of call to communion here on EWTN sharing the fullness of the Catholic faith twenty three three two eight eight 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 I'm dr. Greg Papa and I'm Lisa pop check this is father Spitzer host of father Spitzer's universe have a blessed lent from all of us at EWTN radio looking for a solid and dependable Catholic radio station in your area one that's uplifting and authoritative a trustworthy tool for the new evangelization God may be calling you to a mission in Catholic radio find out how you can start a Catholic radio station where you live powered by the truth of the church and EWTN dynamic radio programming contact me Jack Williams at two zero five seven nine five five seven five six RJ Williams at ewtn.com the EWTN warriors rosary is a fitting tribute to all the spiritual warriors who have stood by us over the years handcrafted each rosary is a unique get yours today visit ewtn our c-calm Bishop Robert Barron on the priesthood for the first thousand years there were married priests within the church there still are married priests under certain circumstances you know so it's not absolutely necessary however I'm a supporter of it and I wouldn't want us to move in the direction of kind of ma you know optional some do it some don't I get it and I go back to Paul and it's Paul's words that are actually in the ordination ritual you know about an undivided life undivided life a total gift I have nothing but the greatest respect for married people in fact when I hear the term heroic sanctity when they talk about saints I think a parent's right away you know who give themselves their kids but there's something I think cure and simple and undivided about the life of celibacy it's a radical conformity unto the celibate Christ why am i celibate my ultimate answer because Jesus was and I'm conformed to him 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 get to the phones at eight three three two eight eight EWTN we begin with Candace in Liberty Hill Texas checking us out today on Facebook live hey there Candace what's on your mind today hello how are you great yeah that's good um yeah I was listening I came to the Catholic Church two years ago and long story short my health I have autoimmune disorder and my health started declining but um it seemed like it except for a sister who comes over from my spiritual community and each week which I'm very thankful for the topic here talks about falling away or those even though I'm still with the church still watch you guys to watch EWTN I feel because there's a lack of family a lack of can mean I guess and I try to communicate on my end but just lack of fellowship with the local church and everything because homebound it seems like it's limiting because I can't attend in person and that could be drawing people away that are new to the church and thankfully I'm keeping up you know spiritually I again keep tuning in to the programs and speaking with the sister but it'd just be nice if there's more communication possibly more visits to with the Catholic Church unfortunately dude I'm not going to go into a long description there's not enough time but with my autoimmune system I can't travel and my visitations are limited but so I'm thankful for what I got but it is just it is frustrating when there's just a lack of family communication if you know what I mean yeah Candice I really appreciate the call I understand your concern I share it to a certain extent and and pastoral care of the sick is an area we could absolutely do better yeah at and and I you know and I really appreciate your dilemma and and so I'm sorry for I'm sorry about your condition I'm sorry about the limited pastoral care that you've received and I wish I could tell you I had a quick quick fix a quick solution to get you more pastoral attention to be sure you deserve it and and so I share your concern now so I don't want to take anything away I'm not trying to diminish at all the the those pastoral failures alright and and the suffering that even during our only as a result of your illness but that sense of neglect okay so I'm my heart goes out to you and and I share your concern alright for what it's worth I mean this doesn't do anything for you my wife has made this ministry her principle apostolate and she herself derives so much comfort and encouragement and benefit from fitting visiting the sick and the homebound the elderly she just loves to do it loves to do it and has done it for years and and so I would while we're on the topic I would encourage people if you're if you're sitting around in your Catholic life and you don't know how to be engaged you don't know what you might have to offer you say I'm not a teacher I'm not of this I'm not of that well everybody can be a friend oh yeah and and you know what you don't sometimes you don't need an invitation you know I mean you you can you maybe call up the local nursing home or Hospital or whatever it might be and say you know I'd like to I'd like to come out there and visit the Catholics maybe pray the rosary with them and then you maybe you reach out to a local parish and there I mean look trust me parishes are looking for people to do this kind of ministry the need is there all you got to step into the gap and then there you go and then you can build relationships with people as beautiful beautiful but let's talk about what we're gonna do in the meanwhile okay so assuming that in your condition like we're all of a sudden the floodgates of pastoral ministry are not gonna just you know pour out of the parish on top of you which we would like right how are we gonna manage this like in terms of your in spirituality in the meanwhile look I'm thrilled to death for you to listen to eat uh beauty and radio and to watch you to be a television take advantage of all the media apostle that you that you have that we make available in other ministries as well make available that's fantastic okay but there are some other things we can do as well all right one of them one of the one of the privileged devotions in the Catholic Church that we should not neglect is what the church calls lectio Divina which is the which is the devotional reading of the Bible and you know some people because of their illnesses are not able to read Sacred Scripture you know so this obviously wouldn't apply to them unless they want to take up maybe listening to the sacred text read perhaps in a recording but the devotional reading of scripture believing that the Holy Spirit is active through the sacred page and can the truths conveyed their end can be impressed upon your heart in a way that draws you closer to Christ that's something that's within the the grasp of very many people who may not be able to physically make it to the church um there are there are a thousand other devotions all right so I hope you have access to perhaps you pray the rosary on a daily basis the Liturgy of the hours or the bravery mm-hmm which is the part of the church's liturgy and it's a another privileged form of devotion and a participation in the prayers of the church to learn how to pray the Liturgy hours we're not afraid the bravery cultivate devotion to the saints and particular perhaps particularly perhaps to to cloistered homebound or sick saints who had the same impediments to their engagement in the active life of the church that you do okay and plenty of saints meet that description you know even though she had an active part of her life Teresa of Avila is clearly clearly one of the great contemplatives in in the Catholic tradition who teaches us to cultivate a really profound interior life and and at the end of the day that's where the buck stops alright the point of all active apostolate the point of getting on the radio and talking about Jesus is to help people come to a place in their life where they can develop an intense contemplative life of prayer with Christ and it and and the the best possible result of EWTN radio and television would be for everybody to no longer need it yeah because they had they had such an engaged relationship with God in the depth of their interior life right that that that they that they could make that mainstay of their spirituality so you know God allows every difficulty every suffering every problem that we have because the intents to bring out of it a greater good he has some purpose for allowing this in your life that's one of the things we believe as Catholics that when hardship comes Saint James tells us count it pure joy my brothers when you encounter difficulties of any kind alright because it's in this way that God intends to sanctify us and bring him to himself and so for whatever reason that we don't understand God has determined that it this particular moment in your life maybe it'll be different tomorrow but today Candice's path to salvation is going to be found in confronting this particular challenge and relying on God in His grace now I understand is that easy for me to say a course of course and I haven't walked in your shoes all right but but I do know what the Catholic faith teaches about this and what it says is that Christ doesn't call any of us to any moral or spiritual challenge for which he will not provide the Grace and the solution to the problem may not always be the one that we're looking for yeah exactly Candice thank you so much for your call and do call us back sometime we would love to hear from you again our phone number here eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six let us go to 10 year old Rebecca in Kansas City listening to us online EWTN comm Rebecca what's on your mind today hello Rebecca thank you so much for calling us today what can we do for you thank you so much I'm gonna answer that question but I have one for you I am gonna get a new dog alright it's gonna be a Havanese puppy I've already got to heaven is I'm getting a third heaven ease do you think I should name my next dog dogma do you think that'd be a good name for my that's another good one that's a really know do do you like the oh wow that one's gonna go on the list of possibilities thanks Rebecca I appreciate that Wow well I think dog might be pretty good too anyway so what what is Dogma Dogma are those things that all Christians have to believe they're those things that all Christians have to believe there there are a lot of things there a lot of truths that we encounter that we run into in the Catholic Church that that we don't have to believe like they may be true things but the church doesn't say hey you know what this is really important and everybody ought to believe it that's not so if you know they're just me like I'm drinking a cup of water that's true yes okay but Rebecca doesn't have to believe me to be a Catholic okay she could say I don't really think Andrews is drinking water I think he drinking coke and that's fine she's allowed to disbelieve me look and nothing hangs on that but when I say the Catholic Church teaches that God is a Trinity or the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus is God well she doesn't have that same Liberty you know she so you can't yeah I don't think so no you got to be all in dogma are those things about which all Christians have to agree oh those things that all Christians have to believe a lot of things we don't have to believe the dogmas are the things that we do have to believe does that make sense to you Rebecca yeah okay fantastic great hey call us back sometime Rebecca appreciate that our phone number here eight three three two eight eight EWTN this is called a communion here on EWTN let's go to Nick all in Woodbridge Virginia listing also online ewtn.com ain't Nicole what's on your mind today hi yes thank you for taking my call I was calling I am in RCIA I should be in turn to church this Easter right and I'm finding myself kind of stuck on two teachings I've recently come across regarding Mary consecration canary one of them is the idea that the Holy Spirit only works through her and the other one being that we should only go to Jesus through her because it's the most humble way okay thanks I appreciate both of these questions very much okay now let me let me I've got a lot to say on this topic uh-huh so first of all the the devotion known as the total consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary sometimes according to the method of Louie de montfort is an entirely optional Catholic devotion opps right that means that I am perfectly within my rights as a Catholic theologian if I were to hold the opinion that I don't think it's necessarily particularly useful for a for an individual and their concrete circumstances okay and if I you know and I might even I mean obviously I don't know you personally but if you and I were engaged in a conversation over a cup of coffee we were talking about whether or not you ought to make this particular act of devotion I might draw the conclusion no you shouldn't not for you okay that's a that's a perfectly reasonable conclusion for me to draw okay and and I I know it's a very popular devotion in certain circles alright I have a lot of thoughts about this devotion all right and I in there and they're in there complex and I I don't wreck personally recommend it without a lot of qualification attached okay and in the difficulties that you're having are part of the reason that I am somewhat reticent okay because I think there are some aspects of this devotion that lend themselves to misunderstanding and as it is that that nuanced is that I mean I'm this is such a popular devotion in the characters I'm gonna not say every that I think fine okay I'm gonna diplomacy sake I'm gonna keep my mouth shut gotcha okay but if you and I had a cup of coffee I'd be a bit more forthcoming okay okay and it's perfectly allowable all right and and for those that find it tremendously useful and I respect that and more power to you you know hope to see in heaven you know surfing the wave of that devotion okay yeah but it ain't for everybody okay okay and you're not obligated to think so okay and in fact there's an awful lot of Marian devotion that we should be devoted to the best Blessed Virgin Mary absolutely we should do it okay but it doesn't have to take this particular form or that particular form okay and and there's a lot of devotional language about Mary that is difficult to swallow if unless you have a pretty nuanced understanding of the language okay now and I'm and I'm admitting that okay particularly for converts it can be hard to swallow unless you understand some really fine distinctions so let me give you some help one of the things that Cardinal Newman who is a very celebrated Catholic theologian you know beatified by by benedict xvi would not be surprised at off newman where one day named a doctor of the church me he's not a doctor of the church but i wouldn't be surprised at all he ended up that way probably most influential catholic theologian of the 19th century he himself had some difficulty with some of the language of certain marian devotions and thought that without the proper qualifications it could be radically misunderstood one things he did to help me in my passage into the Catholic Church was to point out that the language of devotion and the language of dogma or theology are not the same language all right the language of devotion is essentially the language of love poetry all right and that people will say things in love poetry that they do not mean in a strictly literal way like think of the guy who tells his wife you know man you are everything in the world to me well not really you know she's very important to him but she's not everything in the world to me you know say I'm saying you know you you allow certain things in the language of love poetry that you wouldn't put down you know in a theology manual or here the Catholic dogmas we all have to believe okay right so that that's that qualification may be helpful now Tom's given me the one minute mark tell them I'm getting ready to run out of time there is a Christ distributes his Grace's to us through the church that's that's a fact okay Ephesians 3:10 st. Paul says it was God's plan to make his will manifest through the church okay Jesus associates the church with the work of redemption 2nd Corinthians 5 says we have become Christ's co-laborers as if God were making his appeal through us okay now Mary is the preeminent member of the church she's the preeminent member of the church she is the most perfect disciple she's the only one that was conceived without the stain of original sin the only one to whom the angel spoke saying hail full of grace okay so what is true of the church in general is true to an imminent degree to a kind of hyper degree exponentially multiplied when applied to the Virgin Mary who also happens to be a type of the entire church okay so there is a sense in which as the church is preeminent member and the mother of all those who believe in Christ it's not inaccurate to say that God distributes his Grace's through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary but I've just given you a highly qualified nuanced sense in which that is the case and and there's a there's a flip side to that coin right that alleviates a lot of your concerns okay I hope that's helpful for you Nicole and keep listening to EWTN it's called a communion back in just a moment lots more so do stay with us this is a Lenten journey with Timothy cardinal Dolan on ewtn radio have you noticed that God's holy word at mass for this first week of Lent to have often have been about prayer Lent is a classroom of Prayer for us it's a catechism lesson in prayer remember yesterday Jesus taught us the Our Father and today on this Thursday of the first week of Lent we got a beautiful prayer by Queen Esther she is at her wits end she's by herself her very survival and that of her people is at risk and she simply says to God I have no where else to go dear God and I've heard since I was a child that you will always come through I don't know about you but I find it a great consolation when God tells us that we are never ever alone that he's always with us and that we should never hesitate to go with him in times of need Queen Esther teaches us that Jesus taught us that Lent teaches that about prayer a Lenten journey with Timothy cardinal Dolan is available on DVD through the EWTN religious catalogue this DVD includes all 47 segments for each day of Lent and Easter Sunday to get your copy log on to our website EWTN religious catalogue comm 24 hours a day seven days a week or call one eight hundred eight five four six three one six of Mother Angelica and we need to pray for all our world leaders and all those who are in such danger see in a day and age where people are getting further away from God you get further away from goodness only God is good you remember what our Lord said one day why do you call me good she said only God is Omega EWTN live truth live Catholic I'm Brian Patrick I'm Gloria Purvis I'm father Thomas Petry join us tomorrow for our Friday edition of morning glory on EWTN the global Catholic radio network now back to call to communion what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic you are called to communion with dr. David Andrews to eight EWTN one eight three three to eight eight three nine eight six eight coming up tonight on Catholic Answers live it's an open forum Q&A with Jimmy akin and father Paul Keller do check it out 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time only on EWTN your exclusive radio home for Catholic Answers live when I get to a quick text here this is from Annika I believe it is or Anika watching us right now on YouTube Anika says I wonder what the Catholic Church says about ghosts are they all bad yeah thanks appreciate it so the Catholic Church teaches that the soul continues to exist after the death of the physical body and either is admitted to the beatific vision to immediately to heaven if the person dies in the perfect love of God to purgatory or to hell and is reunited with their physical body upon the second coming of Christ in the resurrection from the dead okay and we have we have no revelation that tells us to expect any other manifestation of the soul after death you know like hauntings this kind of stuff all right I can tell you that that if there's certainly nothing preventing God from allowing the souls of the departed some kind of concourse are interchanged with the living oh my god that what would be within the power of Almighty God to do that all right but we have no reason to expect that claims to have experienced such things are vertical or true okay okay and and any manifestation of the supernatural or alleged manifest manifestation super that's that falls outside the sort of prescribed boundaries of what we God has led us to expect ought to be treated with extraordinary suspicion hmm and and we know and more likely to have been fermented by the enemy of the faithful the devil that would be allowed by God now anecdotally oh Christ and this is we're not talking about Catholic dogma here we're talking about well quite literally anecdotes I mean anecdotally you will read accounts of Catholic exorcists who will have have said that they believed themselves to have encountered on occasion very very very very rarely the souls of the Damned all right in the context of performing exorcisms right but these are not Casper yeah all right I mean this is something that is being dealt with in the context of somebody engaging in the in the in the most egregious kind of spiritual warfare just certainly nothing to cultivate nothing to seek after and when it comes to actually positively trying to contact the dead through mediums spiritists Ouija boards that kind of stuff those things are deadly deadly wrong don't do they are they are pro a bit they're absolutely prohibited in the Catholic Church ancient Israel mandated the death penalty for such practices I'm not advocating the definitely for that but I'm just telling you that the Sacred Scripture took an extraordinarily dim view of that kind of thing sure um Catholic teaching forbids it as contrary to the first commandment and and that is if again when you when you read the works of Catholic exorcists they will tell you that the number one pathway to demonic possession is engagement with the occult in this way so so it's a it's dangerous stuff and you need to you need to stay away from it very good a call to communion here in progress on ewtn our phone number eight three three two eight eight EWTN in a moment we'll get to Rick and Fargo and just outside of Ontario and Joshua in Mooresville Indiana those are all coming up here first a real quick text from Emanuel watching us in Germany on YouTube right now Emanuel says did Jesus give Judas his body and blood or had Judas left already when Jesus distributed the bread and wine yeah so thanks I appreciate the question so that is not clear from the accounts of the four Gospels all right it's not clear at what point you just left the the supper and so there are differences of opinion about that in Catholic tradition okay very good now we're gonna go to Rick in Fargo listening to us on Sirius XM 130 hey there Rick what's on your mind today well thanks for taking the call gentlemen sure I a great Catholic community here in Fargo yes great material mm-hmm but I am I'm drawn to the faith I'm drawn for the the fullness of the Catholic faith but I'm I'm also a Mason and I've heard that I can't be a Mason and a Catholic at the same time why is that true okay thanks I appreciate it Rick um so here's the here is the story on Catholicism and the Masonic Lodge the Masonic Order as it was conceived in are in basically the Enlightenment period had opposition to Catholicism to the public influence of the Catholic Church in society is one of its main aims so it's always been intentionally vociferously anti-catholic and it's in its stated goals and purposes it's one of the reasons why you so often find Masonic lodges in close proximity to Catholic cathedrals or to religious foundations like like Jesuit educational institutes I mean for instance if you if you go to st. Louis and you're driving you know towards st. Louis University which is a big Jesuit school there you'll find this giant Masonic Lodge like you know a mile away from Jesuit Hall if you're in Mobile Alabama they live this beautiful cathedral this very I mean for Alabama it's an old cathedral you know and we used to be part of the Diocese of Montreal if you can believe that really yeah we did okay long time ago beautiful cathedral well you know you you look down the street about one block voila there's a Masonic Lodge and it's not an accident it's not an accident okay and within masonry there are religious doctrines that are that are understood as operating in Contra distinction to Catholic dogma all right kept a Masonic Lodge as you know embraces adoption of theological indifference ISM right and and Mason's are quite proud of the fact that well they insist that Mason's believe in a deity that they are indifferent about which one mmm okay and that's that's contrary to the Catholic teachings about the primacy of Christ okay now granted I mean if you walk into your typical Masonic Lodge you're not gonna meet a bunch of guys you know like calling for you know burning down the Vatican I mean they're not gonna be rabid about it and many of them probably don't even know about the history of anti-catholicism built into the Masonic order from the ground up but it's there but it's there and it's built into the organization from the ground up and intentionally even if you know people who are casually members may not be fully aware of the ideological roots of the organization but I mean you ask yourself the question look becoming a Catholic is not it's not like joining a club okay to to become a Catholic is to confess that Christ founded the Catholic Church and that's a dogma of the faith that Christ founded the Catholic Church as the instrument for mediating the grace of God and salvation to the entire world I mean that's up that's a huge claim better believe it okay and and so this defines your life if you're a Catholic you believe I'm belonging to a society founded by God for the salvation of the world that has a total allegiance on my moral life that's a big deal but you know do I want to maintain membership in a society in another society whose intentional purpose and in history has been to thort the work of the Catholic Church and civil society I mean that's a performative contradiction yeah it is Rick thank you so much for your call we hope that is illuminating to you boy Fargo has one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever been in it is just special you know I can't quit going on about it I did not have the privilege of seeing of the cathedral in Fargo but I did see the parish church of saints and joe-akim yes and I'm still geeking out about that's pretty awesome thank you for your call Rick our phone number here eight three three two eight eight EWTN let's go to Annie and on Aereo Canada listening to us or checking us out today I guess you would say on YouTube Annie what's on your mind today I'm high I just want to first of all say thank you to this program because a huge part of it is the reason that I came back to the Catholic Church has been 25 years thank you thanks Annie um so anyways Mike I'm learning a lot and especially from here and one of the questions that I have is about televised mass because my understanding is the point of going to Mass is to receive Communion and also televised adoration when you're supposed to actually go there and be in the present and so I was wondering if you could explain to me the benefit of having televised mass and televised adoration oh wow yeah you have just made my day because I love this question and by the way I don't think we do anything like a televised adoration where there's just a static camera on you know the Eucharist I don't think we do that but we certainly do the mass yeah thank you so I want to go right to the premise of the question alright and this is one of my favorite questions to answer and that is what is the point of going to Mass and and you stated your belief that the point of going to mass is receive Communion now I'm glad you receive Communion in Holy Mass but that is not the point of going to mass that is not the point of going to Mass and you may not be aware that for a thousand years for a thousand years Catholics routinely went to Mass without receiving Communion for a thousand years or more Catholics went to Mass without receiving Holy Communion it's only been since the 20th century that Latin Catholics Latin Rite Catholics in the Western world had an expectation of receiving Communion frequently in the Catholic Church a 20th century yes only in the 20th century that is a that is a modern innovation well alright and and one can fully participate in the in the Holy Sacrifice of the mass without receiving Holy Communion all right and in fact I mean arguably one of the dangers of frequent communion is the misimpression the misunderstanding that that's somehow the point of going to Holy Mass now the the Catechism of the Council of Trent sometimes called the Roman catechism says this about the Eucharist mm-hmm it says the Eucharist is two things first it is a sacrifice the sacrifice is something we offer to God and second it is a sacrament a sacrament is something God offers to us and then the Roman Catechism says this it says the difference between the two is very great and I'm quoting from the Catechism Catechism of the Council of Trent the difference between the Eucharist as a sacrifice and the Eucharist as a sacrament is very great and think of it this way and the Catechism says this if you take the consecrated host and you place it in a picks that's the little golden box that we use to carry the Eucharist to the sick and you walk out of the church the consecrated host in that picks is a sacrament but it is no longer a sacrifice that's what that's what the Catechism says okay okay the principle point of going to Mass is to offer the sacrifice where is the sacrifice offered or rather how or in what manner do I as a layperson offer the sacrifice in my intention in my intention all right so you think about an Old Testament sacrifice what's the difference between slaughtering an animal for food and slaughtering an animal for sacrifice it's not eating because you'd eat the thing in either case the difference is in the intention when the when the offer the worshipper immolated the animal in the Old Testament and did so intentionally to offer it as a sacrifice to God that's what rendered it a sacrificial Rite alright in the same way when I go to Holy Mass by my intention i unite my life my heart my prayers might my sufferings and my sorrows to the sacrifice of Christ which is memorialized for me on the altar by the presence of the immaculate victim Jesus himself and when I do that I myself am offering the divine sacrifice to God the Father in reparation for the sentence of the world here what the Second Vatican Council says the church earnestly desires that the faithful now that's you when present at this mystery of faith should not be there as strangers or silent spectators on the contrary through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing with devotion and full collaboration they should be instructed by God's Word ding got that one from television ok be nourished at the table of the Lord's body well that movie might not have alright they should give thanks to God Bing got that one yep alright by offering the Immaculate victim not only through the hands of the priest but also with him they should learn to offer themselves through Christ the mediator they should be drawn day by day into an ever more perfect union with God and with each other so that finally God may be all in all Second Vatican Council sectors like team conchiglie him on celebration of Holy Mass and the participation of the lay faithful all right so so when you are homebound or for whatever reason cannot participate at Holy Mass and you watch the mass on television for instance you are perfectly capable of of being instructed from the Lord's word and of offering the Immaculate victim along with the priest in the privacy of your own heart by making an offering of yourself and uniting it to the Holy Sacrifice of the altar all right which is Pope Pius the 12th tells us the most efficacious means of attaining sanctity okay and and the something similar goes for a duration of Blessed Sacrament well similar in this respect I don't have to receive our Lord by Communion all right to benefit from his presence in the Blessed Sacrament adoration of us a sacrament is a devotion it's not part of the church's liturgy but it is a very privileged form of devotion when I meditate upon the truth of God with us okay and the profound condescension of our Lord who makes himself to be as it were bred mm-hm as it were yes and and the point of all devotion is to is to work upon my affections to prepare me for the reception of Holy Communion worthily and to motivate me in my spiritual life to love God and to imitate the virtues of Christ and those things are accomplished beautifully through adoration of the Blessed Sacrament there you go Annie is that helpful for you this is why I listen to this program because I was under a huge misconception and so now I can organize my you know my thoughts and probably listen to this a few times and then I will be able to to redirect my my spiritual adoration and my son and the reason that I go to Mass and thank you so much I appreciate you guys well Annie I'm getting goosebumps because I mean Tom's heard me say this many times if there's if if if you ask me if there's one catechetical priority that I have in the world it is to address this very specific misunderstanding about the nature and purpose of Holy Mass yeah and orient people as the counsel tells me to do towards the offering of the Immaculate victim along with the with the holy priest and I think that that makes all the difference in the world to the direction of one's spiritual life in the Catholic Church thank you again for your call Annie and this is one of the one of the reasons why we do this show it's because when we answer a question like Annie's questions or Joshua question or John's question those are that are coming up we're not just answering it for that person we're answering it for dozens hundreds thousands of people who have that same question you know in the back of their mind and so we're benefitting everybody from from these kind of things so thank you again we do appreciate that yeah I want to tell you a little about one of the wonderful services from EWTN news and it's called Catholic News Agency if you're not familiar with it it is wonderful it's fast reliable and free a great Catholic news source that puts blogs stories opinions and more right there at your fingertips just looking at the website right now some of the stories were covering attacks against India's Christians doubled in 2017 that is bad news but it's something we need to be aware of also South Africa's new president has been praised for his commitment to fight corruption this is all very good news check it out Catholic News Agency dot-com Catholic News Agency com it's an online service from EWTN news let's go now to Joshua in Mooresville Indiana listening to us on Catholic radio nd hey Joshua what's on your mind today hey first of all I want to say thank you guys for the show that you do and it's very informational and I learned something new every day Thank You Joshua my daughter asked me a question that I couldn't quite answer to my satisfaction so I figured I would refer to someone who knows more than I do she asked me how do we know that the Old Testament Scriptures have the true meaning has not been lost in translation and being passed down for generations after generation and also how do we know that the New Testament is completely and totally inspired by God and that those meanings have not been lost in translation that is a wonderful question love this question okay so let me just clarify one thing the question of whether or not the manuscripts have been accurately preserved okay or or or accurately rendered in translation is different from the question of their proper interpretation alright does that does those do those distinctions make sense to you yes sir okay so dr is the question how do we know that we are interpreting the paths the texts or how do we know that we have preserved the the original text through historical transmission or both how do we know that these words come from God was it okay that's a different question that's a different question all right so that's the question of inspiration well we just answer all three okay we would never know that the words of Sacred Scripture were inspired we would never know if it were not for the authority of Christ in the authority of the Catholic Church telling us okay because the I could I can read these texts I can study them I can I can they can shape my moral life and my moral imagination in beautiful ways all right but ways that I would not be able to discern as as distinct from other kinds of devotional or spiritual literature that's not inspired I mean I'm not this there's no process of introspection that I could go through that would say all right well you know this moves me devotionally and that text moves me devotionally but this it this does so in some kind of divine way and that one does so in a human way i can't discern that by introspection okay so it's an it's not by you know analyzing my own subjective engagement with the text that i'm gonna know this thing alright i'm gonna know really in two ways the ultimate way that i know is because christ is credible as a divine authority because he rose from the dead alright in fulfillment of prophecy performed miracles right cast out demons showed himself to speak with authority from god and conveyed that authority of interpretation and teaching to the catholic church that he founded and he said to the Apostles whoever hears you hears me and I'll be with you to the end of the age and the Catholic Church authorized by Christ who is the god man and has proved this to all men by rising from the dead the Catholic Church tells me these books are divinely inspired and possessed divine authority that's how I know that's how I know now there are also object motives of credibility okay there are reason in other words there are reasons that I can discern from the text why that claim makes sense and why it's a credible claim one of the clearest is the fulfillment of prophecy so for instance one of my favorite prophecies 22.2 when you study the Old Testament alright there is a consistent theme that emerges over and over again that through the historical people of God that is Israel God will bless all of the nations not just Israel but all the Gentile world as well that he will do so by raising up a divine King right a messiah figure who will be acknowledged as Almighty God who will also bear the sins of many and suffer and die and be raised from the dead all right and in the Book of Daniel actually gets highly specific on the date about when all this is going to happen and that as a result of the ministry of this divine king the kingdom of god will come in a new covenant in a spiritual sense in which the Word of God will be written on the heart in the mind all right and cause people to love God and love their neighbor and that it will involve the inclusion not just of Jews but of Gentiles from all around the world that the nations will stream to Jerusalem to hear the word of the Lord and the God of Israel the god of Isaac Abraham and Jacob will be will be acknowledged and worship everywhere now all that's in the Old Testament okay now guess what it happened exactly as the Old Testament prophets predicted now this is not open to interpretation I mean you you step out your door walk in any direction you know and you're gonna hit a Catholic Church okay all over the world the entire world is blanketed with Catholic parishes and Catholic Diocese there's a bishop someplace somewhere he's bishop of we got bishops that are like bishops of like islands that have sunk practically we have these particular diocese you know we got bishops everywhere all right everywhere you go throughout the world everyone knows the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob he acknowledged worship everywhere throughout the world and we know historically how it happened right it happened through the preaching of Jesus Christ through the church that he founded the Catholic Church all right now uh does do those facts prove the inspiration of the Bible no they don't all right because it could have been an enormous accident I mean you could assert that if you're an atheist you could say well you know if you if if if you you know if you you're gonna roll double sixes once in a while alright you could say that as an atheist but nevertheless knowing about the fulfillment of prophecy for instance renders the claim of Catholicism that these texts speak with the divine authority it renders that claim credible okay okay it makes it credible but we know because the Catholic Church says so indicates founded by Jesus and Jesus is God man and he spoke with divine authority and he said when he meant and he meant what he said Joshua thank you so much for your call I'm so sorry we couldn't get to John in Louisville John if you would call us back tomorrow we will put you at the head of the line we're also gonna hang on to the text that we got from JD I couldn't get to that one either but we'll we'll report on that tomorrow if at all possible hey dr. David Andrews thank you my friend make you some don't forget we do the program each and every monday through friday 2:00 p.m. Eastern with an encore at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and then our producer Michael grabs one of the best ones of the week we'll play that for you Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Eastern I'm Tom price for all of us here at EWTN have a great day we'll see you tomorrow here on call to communion god bless

Channel: EWTN

Views: 2,310

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: G60DL_7--8c

Length: 54min 59sec (3299 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 22 2018