Called To Communion - 8/16/17 - Dr. David Anders

what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic why can't women become priests 1-800 five eight five nine three nine six I don't understand why I have to earn salvation 2805 eight five nine three nine six why do I need to confess my food 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 call to Communion this is the program for our non Catholic brothers and sisters maybe that's you maybe you yourself are a non Catholic maybe you were a Catholic as a kid stepped away from the faith for whatever reason and now you're kind of looking into it again maybe you've never been a Catholic never considered being in Catholic but the Catholic Church is here it's been here for a long time and now you're starting to think about it and you're thinking well you know they seem to take a stand on this issue this issue in this issue whereas my regular church that I go to every Sunday they don't take such a stand why is that let's talk about these kind of things here's our phone number one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six if you are texting you can certainly do that by texting the letters ewtn two five five zero zero zero wait for the response from us and then text us your first name and your brief question message and data rates may apply for some folks again the phone number 1-800 five eight five nine three nine six michael mccaul is our producer today might matt Kavinsky is handling the phones Jeff Burton is on social media you can certainly ask your question via Facebook live or YouTube I'm Tom Price along with dr. David Anders Tom how are you doing very well we we taped a well we were actually live yesterday but we're also recording for television which is always interesting but we didn't get to get into any of the things though that we wanted to get into yesterday which was first of all happy feast day of the Assumption oh thank you kind of a big deal happy poster feast day of the Assumption yeah yeah yeah yeah it was also the 36th anniversary of the founding of EWTN which I personally think is absolutely awesome yeah I do too I do too and you know when EWTN was founded I was living in Birmingham Alabama at the time and I wasn't Catholic and I knew nothing about it all right obviously and and it but I do remember driving down old Leeds Road once as a kid because we used to swim at a swimming pool that was close close by here and I looked out the window of my car and I saw all these nuns and habits running around and I thought what on earth is that what's the what on earth is that and I you know if you'd have told me when I was 11 or 12 years old or whatever you know one day this this is going to be the the the the the largest religious broadcaster in the world and you'll be a part of that mission I would have said buddy yeah know what you're talking about well me too yeah me too I had no idea at all really didn't know any Catholics as a kid even though st. Louis where I grew up is a very Catholic city it just so happens that either people didn't talk about their faith or for whatever reason just didn't have any Catholic buddies at the time so that that would have been quite a shock for me as well why don't we lead off here with an email that we just got not too long ago this is from Janis in Silver Spring Maryland she says I have a question is wearing the rosary around ones neck at home a sin I have cerebral palsy it isn't easy for me to reach for my rosary I'm listening to you on YouTube live online thanks from Janice and Silver Spring thanks no it is not a sin to wear your rosary around your neck and when you're at home okay that should be a great relief for a lot of folks here's one more before we go to the phones this is from Tony who says in church teachings is there a mention if any interaction between those in hell and those in heaven I realized that hell is mainly characterized by the separation from God many thanks Tony yeah thanks so know the souls in Hell are alone I mean this is in fact as you correctly identified where the the principal pain of is the pain of loss the loss of the the presence of the vision of God yeah now well not what we want absolutely when we come back from our quick break here we've already got two calls screened and ready to go we will also get to another one Michael is in Salem Oregon we will get to Michael in just a few minutes here and also Chris in Columbus Ohio all right here on this edition of call to Communion on EWTN cheering the fullness of the Catholic faith one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six this is called to communion with dr. David Anders on the EWTN global Catholic radio network this is cyclic 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 being part of EWTN media missionaries is a perfect way to help us fulfill our calling from Christ to make disciples of all nations visit EWTN missionaries dot-com and join us in sharing the Eternal Word with the world living the Beatitudes with father bjorn blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God while purity is an important virtue a lot of times we can confuse his beatitude for discussion about sexual morality the be pure in heart is to be completely focused on and in love with God God has given us an invitation deep within us to share in his own divine life but it's important that we choose to focus on him and respond to that invitation in a homily on the Mount of Beatitudes in 2000 st. John Paul the great says that we are called to have an urgent response to choose between life and death in one of the earliest known Christian documents on morality of the D decane it says there are two ways one of life and one of death and between the two ways is a great difference God has called us to be focused on him and his love blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God EWTN live truth live Catholic this is Colleen Kelly mast hello this is Archbishop Charles J Chaput the Archbishop of Philadelphia Pennsylvania this is Katharine Feltner host of EWTN pro-life weekly thanks for listening to EWTN radio what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic this is called to communion with dr. David Andrews one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six if you're ready now let's go to the phones at one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six by the way we have two lines open at the moment so feel free to jump in Michael is listening to us in Salem Oregon on Mater Dei radio hey Michael what's on your mind today hey guys thanks for taking my call I'm sure he did sure what my question is I I've been talking to a neighbor of mine who's a Mormon and I'm sure you guys know that they believe that the fall event I mean Eve was a good thing and as I was talking to him about it their support for this doctor and they told me part of it was it because God can see into the future that means that God knew long before he even craved the vitamin E because that would happen and therefore that's what he wanted and I was wondering how you would help me Kai answer that question for them thanks yeah thanks I really appreciate it so the Catholic Church believes that everything that happens falls within the scope of God's providence all right and in fact the fall of Adam was was foreseen by God and allowed by God because he intended to bring out of it a greater good namely the incarnation of the Son of God which was why we celebrate in the Easter Vigil liturgy well that happy fault that one for us so great at redemption okay the difference between the way you've depicted the Mormon doctrine I have to confess that I'm not well-read in Mormon theology of the fall I've heard this but I mean I hadn't got the texts in front of me but the way you've depicted it in the way the Catholics understand God's permission of the fall of Adam is that God does not directly will the fall of Adam alright because God operates through secondary causes everything that happens happens it's within the scope of God's providence one of the things that God wills is that there be rational free creatures who's free actions themselves are real causes of events all right and so their secondary their intermediary between the immediate will of God which wills only that which is good and the good that He wills to bring out of those out of those evil events though he does not will evil directly so that would be the difference in the well there are a lot of differences but that would be one philosophical difference and the way caf Catholics conceived of the good that God wills to bring out of an evil versus the view that God just simply directly wills evil which of course he does not sure Michael does that make sense to you appreciate it you're most welcome that opens up a line for you now one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six if you have a question for dr. David Andrews here on call to Communion one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six Chris is listening to us in Columbus on st. Gabriel radio the big old blowtorch there in Columbus Chris what's on your mind today hey thank you guys for taking my call sure I'm a Protestant Christian but I study theology apologized and difficult off during a lot and one of my biggest hang-ups that I find with the Catholic faith that that I can't grasp is the idea of purgatory and I just need a little bit of clarity because uh with salvation with that belief in the death burial resurrection of Jesus Christ repentance baptism and the Father Son and Holy Spirit at that point the Holy Spirit is dwelling inside of us our spirit is ideally one with the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit being got one with God the Father my hang-up would be if if we're if our spirit is one with the Holy Spirit when we die why would it be a need for a refining and with that the my understanding of purgatory is that it's a refining process before entering into the kingdom into the holiness of Christ and God so if our spirit is one with the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation why would there be a need for refining if our if we are to insert into purgatory is there a separation then of our spirit from the Holy Spirit because uh I would believe the Holy Spirit would not have to enter into purgatory with us that that's that's probably my biggest hang-up with the with Catholicism Catholicism is not fully grasping the idea of purgatory okay thanks I really appreciate the question so let me ask you a question all right first of all before I get into this do you believe that by the the gift of the Holy Spirit that Christians are at the moment of the reception of the Spirit perfectly sanctified and freed from all sin I believe at the moment of salvation there there is that holiness on but I also believe so that's a yes so so Christians do not sin it's impossible for Christians to sin and they are made morally perfect such that they love God above all things and their neighbor as themself at the moment of salvation I believe there there's a holiness but that well we have to continue to strive for that we are able to send we're able to fall away that's why there's a need for repentance that's why there's a need for confession with crisis we ought to recognize that we are still imperfect creatures so we have to we have to repent we have to strive every day strive to live within God's will you know so so I mean I'm just trying to understand the question so are you telling me that Christians do or do not retain any moral impurity if they are filled with if they have the Spirit of God well we are still imperfect preachers okay so I'm not quite sure I understand the question because the premise of the question was that by receipt of the Holy Spirit were purified of all sin and there's no more purification to take place but now you seem to say that Christians do need to be purified of sin and that there is a progressive sanctification that takes place so I mean I can answer the question about purgatory but I just want to make sure I answer it in the terms that you're articulating so I understand where you're coming right no I I might my all right so I don't think I'm wording well what I'm trying to say I apologize well I could do this I could simply I can simply unpack the logic of the Catholic doctrine of purgatory how would that be all right let me do that well and because you've raised the question of purification in the and the in the the course of the Christian life I'd like to just point out a couple of Texas Scripture that are these are not directly relevant to purgatory but they are directly relevant to that question of the progressive sanctification of believer so I'm sure you're familiar with the text from my favorites in Saint Paul's second a letter to the Corinthians chapter three verse verse eighteen st. Paul writes and says in we with all with unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another and this comes from the Lord who is the spirit and I could cite many other passages to the same effect but here a st. Paul actually talks about one's relationship one saving relationship with the Spirit of God as and as a progressive sanctification we are being changed we auxes it's an ongoing state we are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another alright and you know another similar text that I absolutely adore is in the letter to the Ephesians chapter 3 it's one of these magnificent prayers when me see if I can find the text while I'm talking to you that I'm dumped I'm tempted on where is this text oh if I'd known oh yes Saint Paul writes and says in verse 14 for this reason I bow my knees before the father from whom every family in heaven on earth is named that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you all right so this is something they don't currently possess right to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith all right so that's that's obviously something that can be deepened right because he's already talking to Christian believers and that you being rooted and grounded in love may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge so that you might be filled with all the fullness of God there are many other similar passages but in these two we see st. Paul conceives of the Christian life as yes a being filled with God's Spirit but one that involves a progressive sanctification by gazing on the glory of the Lord he says we gaze on the Lord's glory with unveiled faces and are transformed into his likeness ultimately to the point that we're filled with the entire fullness of God that's the language that he uses and the way the Catholic Church understands that would be say in light of 2nd Peter 1:4 through the promises of we've become participants in the divine nature right this perfect union with the will of God and that in fact is the the aim in the end of the mystical life okay and so someone in their in their moral life in their spiritual life who came to that alright who came to that fullness of the vision of God that st. Paul here prays would come upon the Ephesians such a one would not go to purgatory they would not go to purgatory you know Jesus who said blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God through the vision of God course being being the ultimate reward you know beatific vision st. Paul talks about in 1st Corinthians 13 so if we if we live the Christian life in this way all right and st. Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 is is fully realized in us what we would not be those that go to purgatory right but Paul is writing to people who clearly don't have that experience of the Spirit not yet otherwise he wouldn't what you wouldn't ask for something you already had right okay and there are plenty other evidences meet to st. Paul also in the Corinthians correspondences I can't I can't write to you as if you were mature I've got to give you milk and not solid food because you're just babes in Christ all right and in the Galatians in fact he said you guys have abandoned the gospel that was first preached to you and you've turned back to worthless deeds and and if any man circumcised as himself which of course they had been doing he says he's cut off from Christ and then he warns them and Galatians 5 he says stay away from fornication adultery factions jealousy hatred disobedience to parents and so forth if you live like this you won't inherit the kingdom of God and these are people who have received the Spirit he testifies that they've received the Spirit that's the proof that they're in Christ and now he says but you're you're giving it up you're going back you're losing the faith you're in grave danger so we see here in Paul's letters it's clear notion that a person can come into saving relationship with the Spirit of God they can fall back or they can move forward and if they move forward it's going to be into this perfection of the fullness of God that Paul prays for in Ephesians chapter 3 okay now how does purgatory fit into all of this well so first of all we know from Sacred Scripture that that there is a difference between the forgiveness of sins all right the forgiveness of sins which is which is unconditional at work or I should say is conditioned to just on the atoning death of Christ the forgiveness of sins and then the duty that we have injustice all right to make some sort of reparation for the harm that we have caused all right and a good analogy just from human life would be you know my son breaks a vase of the window in my house and he comes and says I'm sorry I said I forgive you it's totally cool we're reconciled I'm your dad you're my son we're good it's all good don't worry about it by the way heirs of the broom and the dustpan go clean up your mess is the forgiveness conditioned on cleaning up the mess no but I asked him to clean up the mess why because I respect his dignity as a moral agent and it's good for him and it's the right and Justin meat thing for him to do not as a condition of winning my forgiveness but as as because justice demands it sure okay and the same thing pertains in the Bible and to paradigm examples are from the life of King David 2nd Samuel 12 2nd Samuel 24 when David sins grievously God forgives him he repents God forgives him and then God imposes on in the temporal penance all right and David acknowledges this you know when he's offered the possibility of making a sacrifice that somebody else donates he says no I won't make the Lord a sacrifice that costs me nothing into both instances he has to do this penance he loses a child you know Israel suffers plague and so forth of the hand of God so there these penances imposed after David has repented and been forgiven and so we that's a that's a real thing in the Christian life and you know st. Paul of course himself took vows and shaved his head and you know did very various penitential acts even after he'd come to his saving relationship with Jesus so and that's the logic of it that's the law just like if I offend my wife and she forgives me I'm still gonna bring flowers all right it's just and right to do this and uh and there's there's a strong indication in the Bible that that relationship of doing penance all right for sins already forgiven can't pertain even after death all right and if you're Protestant you might not like this text but it's certainly part of the Canon of the Bible that st. Paul knew in second Maccabees chapter 12 we see that the Judeans offered prayers on behalf of those that had died in questionable moral circumstances they made prayers and sacrifices on behalf of them st. Paul in was at second Timothy one prays for the soul of his friend Anissa for us and and of course the practice of praying on behalf of the dead has been part of Judaism since the Second Temple period at least and therefore continued in the Christian Church from the get-go I mean in the earliest Christian liturgies we find the commemoration of the dead offering the Eucharist for their salvation and so forth so that's so we have not only the witness of Sacred Scripture but we also have the witness of unbroken tradition in the church down for 2,000 years that there is a benefit in praying about on behalf of the souls of the dead and because of the doctrine of the communion of saints we can actually participate as a church in this act of penance and reparation that we make to God you know st. Paul said in Colossians chapter 1 he says I make up at my own flesh what's lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body the church that's the doctrine of the communion of saints they're coming in and and offering those those penances and those sacrifices on behalf of the on behalf of the church for a salvation so that's that's part of the story but then you also bring in correctly the note of purification from sin and it was Jesus who said blessed are the pure in heart they will see God and the psalmist in Psalm 24 says who can ascend the lords of out understand on his holy hill only he who has clean hands and a pure heart and a beautiful typological picture of this in the Old Testament of course in Isaiah chapter 6 when Isaiah sees the theophany of the Lord he goes whoa I'm toast that's a paraphrase that's the new living living living living translation got it well I'm toast and God says no problem here's a burning coal taken from the altar brought to you by the Seraphim who touches your mouth and that burning fire purifies these beautiful typological picture of the kind of purification purification moral purification only comes through suffering st. Paul says in Romans 8 we reign with Christ and glory if in fact we also suffer along with him so that note of purification is also integral to to the Christian life and again we can read in the letters of st. Paul not everybody's got it otherwise he wouldn't pray and ask for it alright and if we don't get it in this life that's what purgatory is for so that's the logic of the doctrine there's some of the scriptural basis and it's confirmed to not only in the data of written revelation but also unwritten revelation and then through the teaching authority of the church to which Christ gave the promise what have you bind on earth is bound in heaven so we have absolute confidence in the Catholic Church this is a dogmatic fact confirmed to us through plentiful reasons evidence and authority Scott Chris thank you so much for your call we really appreciate it and we hope that that is helpful for you here's our phone number one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six this is called a communion here on EWTN let's go now to Roger in st. Louis listening on covenant radio Roger what's your question today Roger you bet hello hey Roger yes if can you hear me yeah go right ahead okay I'm Lutheran of the Missouri Synod Lutheran faith and I recently well in the last several years became quite interested to gain Chesterman and began to read some of his work starting with his book orthodoxy which was mind-blowing to me actually and I understand that he went through a conversion from I think he was a member Anglican profession became Roman Catholic it I I really would like to look into that further and I was wondering if you might know some someone who might have written on the topic or whether it just certain themselves wrote about his conversion to UM yes Chesterton did write about his conversion to Catholicism in more than one place and the guy you want is Dale Ahlquist who has written on Chesterton and in fact you might be interested in the American Chesterton society WWE Chesterton orj and I can't remember where you're calling from where we calling st. Louis st. Louis I bet you there is a chapter of the American Chester's in society there in st. Louis Bay yeah so a lot of good resources on Chesterton you'll you'll find it there out there Roger just check out the web and a day-long quest what a wonderful guy he's done a number of series here on EWTN we've had him on radio we've had him on TV you know chat about his own conversion when he was asked why did you become a Catholic he said to get rid of my sons and he said because the Catholic Church is really the only religion in the world that claims and I should add demonstrates that it can actually deliver you from sins and if and he think about what he means he's not just asking for forgiveness for his sins he was to get rid of him he wants to not do them anymore absolutely you know Roger what a great call thank you so much and glad you're listening to us on covenant radio when we come back we'll be talking with Scott in San Antonio we'll get to some of these texts here on call to communion here on EWTN our phone number we have a line open for you one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six to stay with us more to life with dr. Gregg and Lisa pop check more to life is about living the Catholic difference in our marriages our families the way we approach life in general it's about celebrating life and our Catholic faith and discovering all the ways God wants to bless us help us be a blessing to others more to life with dr. Greg and Lisa pop check weekdays 10:00 a.m. Eastern on EWTN radio [Music] the wisdom of Mother Angelica a very wonderful woman I know had four children and all four died and somebody went out from here one day and they said oh what a pity and she said oh what a blessing if we don't begin to look at everything with the eyes of Jesus you will become helpless and hopeless for more information on Mother Angelica visit religious catalogue at ewtn our c.com celebrating 100 years of Fatima with Monsignor Charles Pope the heart of the message of our Blessed Mother at Fatima was that we should pray the rosary every day praying for the conversion of sinners and that our prayers could change world history where she warned of a worst war that was moving at the end of the First World War and she also warned that Russia would spread her errors throughout the world and that the church would have much to suffer we all know how the 20th century ended is perhaps one of the bloodiest century the world has ever known sadly Russia did spread her errors and atheistic communism spread unbelief throughout the world we also saw the rise of the culture of death with his horrifying soul of abortion euthanasia and so many lost lives and especially in the West there has been the terrible breakdown of our families pray the rosary every day for world peace and a restoration of God's truth join EWTN as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Fatima visit ewtn.com / Fatima what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic this is called to communion with dr. David Angela one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six coming up tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on Catholic Answers live archbishop alexander sample will be on the show talking about the beauty of liturgy and then Lisa Cotter in the second hour what a great topic this is dating detox Wow the mind boggles at the thought of what that could be all about find out tonight on Catholic Answers live beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern here on many of these EWTN radio stations back to the phones now and one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six as promised the very patients Scott in San Antonio listening to us on Guadalupe radio hey Scott what's on your mind today yes I have a question in the Protestant in the angelica world which i was a part of for thirty years you would say the sinner's prayer and my question is what happened spiritually from a Catholic perspective in terms of a saving relationship with God because everybody seems to put their their saddles or their Spurs into that horse so to speak so I was just curious what what happens at that time or at that point okay thanks god I really appreciate the question so I think it's helpful to reflect a little bit on the history of the sinner's prayer within within Protestantism all right by way of background and just to define the the terms here for people who are listening it's very common in in evangelical and especially sort of Baptist exert to conceive of conversion or initiation in the Christian life as an instantaneous thing that takes place when one makes a verbal invitation of to Christ to take up residence in one's heart and that's that that's the language that's often used hey have you prayed to receive Christ is the language and then the you know the the motive and proselytism or the end goal in proselytism or seeking you know to convert somebody is to actually lead them in that prayer where they would then say you know Jesus I'm a sinner and I invite you to come into my life I'm in okay the words to that effect and then there's a tremendous at least in certain parts of the evangelical world is a role tremendous confidence that when someone has done that and uttered that that there's words that something really amazing takes place and that has entered into the roles of eternal life if you will okay well it's helpful to reflect on the fact that that that hold dynamic that way of conceiving initiation into the Christian life not only is that on Catholic and unbiblical and unhistorical but it's even unprocessed --nt okay in this sense that John Calvin Martin Luther Ehrlich Zwingli Martin bhoot Sir Thomas Cranmer they they knew nothing of any such sinner's prayer right nothing the Puritans don't speak about a sinner's prayer articulated in those terms in fact they even though even the revivalist of the first Great Awakening like George Whitfield and John Wesley and so forth a David Brainerd my mind's gone blank I'm running out of time but I had one in mind um it's gonna kill me I'm have to think about anyway those guys the 18th century revivalists sure they don't they don't think about a sinner's prayer in there um even Charles Grandison Finney in the Second Great Awakening who is credited with so much of this kind of dynamic didn't speak in terms of a sinner's prayer the sinner's prayer doesn't really emerge as a sort of trope in an evangelical evangelism until the Ministry of DL moody all right who's late 19th century no I mean it gets picked up by the likes of you know Billy Graham and and Bill Brighton Campus Crusade for Christ and if I've ever read the four spiritual laws little yellow book that can't press screw say floats around it's it's embedded in there and and and you know the Billy Graham crusade and this kind of stuff picked it up but it's a fairly recent it really gets picked up with it really gets picked up with DL Moody and and the reason why is it evolution in Protestant thinking where Calvin and Luther understood baptism as the moment the point of insertion or initiation into the Christian life but John Calvin kind of raises a few doubts about it by suggesting that baptism is only effective in the elect or the predestined all right and that's very uncaf liqu is very unbiblical st. paul says everybody who's been baptized is closed with Christ the Galatians 3:27 but Calvin casts that in doubt and said well there are some baptized people who are not in fact regenerated by the Spirit of God and that's that's Calvin's view that's not right but that's what he thought and so then it sets up this question in Puritanism about well how do I know if I'm one of those people in whom bapt works and so they start spelling out all these criteria to discern the works of God in your heart all right and the religious affections of Jonathan Edwards would be sort of the the the apogee of that of that theological evolution um and then George Whitfield begins to press really all that really matters to discern that is the to know that you've had these marks of of conversion that's the big thing for Whitfield hey hey if I have I felt this stirring in this call to holiness and repentance in my heart okay and Charles Grandison fitties contribution was to believe that that movement of the Spirit could actually be manufactured that you could manipulate people emotionally into having that kind of interior response and then it's it's a short trip from that conviction to the idea that you can just articulate a prayer mmm all right and so that's it's a 500 year or 400 year travel from Calvin's doubts about the efficacy of baptism all the way to d/l moody saying hey pray this prayer okay now so but with with that by way of background let's talk about analyzing it from a Catholic point of view okay if you want to look at Protestant conversion the way somebody like George Whitefield looked at it and would filled the air of the Puritan tradition thought that conversion really was a genuine work of the Spirit of God that would affect a moral change in the life of the believer all right and it didn't necessarily have to be expressed in this formulaic way of saying I invite Jesus into my heart well you know what Whitfield identified was a real moral change okay and and so people that would take up the sinner's prayer for example yeah as evocative of a real state of contrition and a desire for holiness well you know a Catholic would look at that and say well that could be that could be a real work of the Spirit of God moving somebody to repent for sin and to come to holiness right however I have seen this thing articulated in many places in times as a kind of a mantra you know it's by mere recitation of the words by a sort of just intellectual effort at saying the language that you've somehow transacted or assigned to contract with God and and the you know this this this willingness to repent from sin and to embrace the life of holy may or may not be present well in that sense then I think the Senators prayer is a very superstitious form of spirituality okay but in no case is it the equivalent of baptism all right baptism is the sacrament that initiates this fully into the life of grace that makes us members of Christ's body which is the church and makes us partakers of the sacred priesthood of Christ and become bad pessimal priests and imports that permanent character onto our lives all right the sinner's prayer doesn't do that even that interior work of repentance and conversion doesn't do that and Catholics are big fans of conversion we think everybody should be converted in fact you know try to do it at least once a day okay but but it's not the same thing as baptism okay is this and I'm going back to my own past as a Protestant myself is this somewhat akin to at the altar call oh yeah you bet you bet I mean they're there they're there they're the same dynamic you know but um the altar call that is something that that Fenny invented the altar call really does try to manufacture this sense of crisis in an individual you know they're sitting on the fence and you calling them out to conversion and repentance the sinner's prayer I mean depending on where where you find it but I mean I've known Protestant evangelists who act like all you got to do is here read this text and you're going to heaven yeah Wow hey we really appreciate your call Scott thank you so much for it our phone number here one eight hundred five eight five nine three nine six two lines open at the moment I've been a little bit negligent because we've had so many calls today a little bit negligent on the text Department so let me take care of one of those right now Nathan texted us and says I'm starting to believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist but why does that require a Catholic priest okay thanks because when Christ gave us the sacrament of the Eucharist he instituted this in the Upper Room I'm holy Thursday he he basically commissioned the Apostles to offer this sacrifice he said to those that were present do this in memory of me he didn't give that command to everybody he gave that command especially to his apostles and Jesus does commissioned the the the APIs the Apostles and their successors in a special way he didn't say to everyone receive the Holy Spirit who sins you forgive are forgiven who sins you retain a retained that was to thee to the Apostles after his resurrection uh-huh he didn't see to say to everyone whoever hears you hears me whoever rejects you rejects me as the father sends me so I send to you but he said that to the Apostles and the Apostles themselves were aware that they possessed a special office because you look at say for instance and what is it Acts chapter 8 when Philip goes down to Samaria and preaches and the Samaritans believed they they didn't receive the Holy Spirit and they have to send back to Jerusalem and get the Apostles to come down and lay hands on them something special about the Apostolic office they're conveying that sacramental grace or again in Acts chapter 14 after they've preached and made converts if the Apostles who go and lay hands on presbytery and make priests in all those different places and st. Paul in the pastoral epistles like in Titus they says hey Titus the reason I left you Titus in Crete was so that you Titus could appoint other men to this sacred office you see apostolic succession there at work all right or to st. Timothy he says you know don't neglect the gift that is in you through the laying on of my hands all right you say mm-hmm so the reason we have to have a priest for the proper celebration for the valid celebration of many of the sacraments not all of them but for many of the sacraments it's because that's the way Christ set it up now the priests why did Jesus set it up that way that's another question we could ask the priest operates in Persona Christi he stands in for Christ mm-hmm all right and operates in relationship to the church as as Christ does as a father to a family as a husband to a bride and in so he's the representative of Jesus there and it's by his intent right by the intent that the priest has especially to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the mass right that the that the high priest Jesus makes his intent to offer his sacrifice one with that of the mind of the priests right and he's been sacramentally configured there to be an alter Christus another Christ who then offers that in the name of the whole church now we come by as as laypeople we're not the ministerial priests who effects the sacrament okay but we can offer the sacrament and the the council Second Vatican Council teaches us that the high point of the mass actually is not our reception of Holy Communion it's when we together with the ministerial priest offer the divine the Immaculate Victim Christ along with our whole lives in reparation for our sins and those of the whole world thank you so much for your texts Nathan glad that we could get that to you today this is called a communion here on EWTN you might be listening to us on Facebook live or on YouTube you might be watching watching on social media you might be listening on Sirius XM 130 and those are all fantastic maybe you're listening to us via podcasting I'll tell you what there's nothing like that's coming from an old radio guy nothing like listening on an AM or FM station in your community do you have one maybe you don't maybe God is calling you to get involved in starting a catholic radio station right there where you live there's so many many towns small towns medium-sized towns that don't have catholic radio there's some big cities that do not have Catholic radio Atlanta comes to mind Memphis where I spent my birthday weekend a couple of weeks ago doesn't have a Catholic radio station what a travesty if you feel like perhaps God is calling you to get involved it's starting up a Catholic radio station here's the guy to talk to Jack Williams you hear them all the time here on EWTN radio here's his phone number two oh five seven nine five five seven five six two oh five seven nine five five seven five six you could also visit ear dot ewtn.com don't put the www in front of it just go online and put ear EA r dot ewtn.com you find out all about the process of getting Catholic radio right there where you live this is called a communion here on EWTN and let's go now to Susan listening to us in Massillon Ohio on Living bread radio Susan what's on your mind today yes I have a Protestant friend that I'm trying to explain where she doesn't comprehend how Mary could be sin she doesn't understand that you know Jesus wouldn't be able to dwell within a person that had sinned or that could sin I know Mary could sin but she never did she was protected but from by God not just Ana how do I explain that sure thanks I appreciate it so um well I wouldn't argue the point precisely the way you did but I really appreciate your desire to make this intelligible to your friend so first of all the church teaches that Mary actually couldn't send she was actually impeccable okay and that doesn't mean she lacked freedom all right I mean God can send and God's perfectly free in all his actions Jesus couldn't send and Jesus was perfectly free in all his actions you know I can be free in fact the more grace I have the freer I become sin is actually a burden right Thank You person's pride sloth and so forth they keep me from from being able to do the good with some facility all right because I get attracted to worldly things or drawn away and become the slave of my passions and grace actually comes by and heals me and in greatly increases my sphere of positive activities I'm worrying the more grace I have the more free I am in fact the saints in heaven will be utterly impeccable impossible to send and yet will be far freer in heaven than we ever were in this life so Mary was impeccable also you know Christ is is all-powerful and he can do anything in in logically there's no contradiction in the idea of the son of God you know being born in somebody that wasn't immaculate so I mean I wouldn't argue that she had to be immaculate because Christ positively couldn't end well her otherwise all right now spiritually Christ comes and indwells people that still have peccadilloes right if he's indwelling us we're free of mortal sin but we may still have a Neilsen and that's that's a weak analog of course so Christ could have even been born if he'd wanted to in somebody that wasn't preserved from sin in this way um but it was fitting it was fitting you see that Christ be born in an immaculate mother and for this reason all right number one Mary is the mother of God Mary is the mother of God Mary's the mother of God just let that roll off your tongue three or four times it is an astonishing thing to say about a creature that she's the mother of God okay of all of her dignities and theologians ask these kinds of questions as it which is what is Mary's greatest dignity that she was immaculately conceived or that she was the mother of God and they say it's that she was the mother of God her divine maternity is her greatest dignity and it's in view of that great dignity that God dignified her with this tremendous gift that she would be preserved from all actual and original sin all right in view of that dignity all right it's appropriate it's fitting right now there's another aspect of the doctrine also and that is that Mary is not only the mother of God she's also the mother of all of those who believe in Christ in the book of Revelation chapter 12 identifies her that way both the mother of the child who rules the nations with a rod of iron that's of course the Messiah but also the mother of all those who believe in Jesus and and as such she stands in an analogical relationship to Eve so all the Church Fathers identified Mary as the second Eve and even as Eve gave birth to the living mary gives birth spiritually to those who are reborn in Christ and as Eve Eve was immaculate Eve was created without sin and with the gift of sanctifying grace all right how how bizarre would it be if the mother of our redemption who's the second Eve in the in the and the mother of the reborn in Christ were not also graced with the light dignity because her maternity is so much greater even even than Eve's and she also becomes for us the model of Christian discipleship we're all sort of drawn up within her right it's interesting you know in the Gospel of John we find the phrase the the the vaca t'v woman maybe a dress woman in a couple of places one of them is John chapter 2 John chapter 19 where Jesus addresses the Blessed Virgin Mary his woman all right clearly evoking the proto Evangelion in genesis 3:15 where God promises that the seed of the woman will will crush the head of the serpent but he also addresses the at the well in John chapter four the Samaritan woman is woman and you think well that's kind of bizarre isn't it because she's sort of the absolute opposite of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the father's those who they see these two women is two different type ologies the woman at the well is a figure a type an allegory of the church yet to be purified but the Blessed Virgin Mary is the type of the church perfectly purified perfectly purified and in her we see what we will become right and and and this is how the angel greets her of course in in Luke chapter one when he says hail first thing you have his mouth is hail nobody else in the whole Bible ever gets hailed by an angel they're hailing angels alright he's hailing her unique alright and then he says a word that's only used in this one passage of text katomina in Greek which means full of grace and other passages in English where you see the phrase full of grace are not translations of that one word it's a it's a middle or passive voice participle in Greek one having been grace to the full right what is the effect of Grace's to preserve us from some that's what grace does and she in her we see that we see that made perfect that's the perfection of grace okay that's what I was looking for okay thank you you know she's always there might will orient it so where is it in the Bible well it's not specifically it doesn't come out and say she's sinless but that's the function of grace yes you got it okay Susan thank you for your call we're going to try to get to the last three calls here in the last six minutes hopefully we will succeed at that Debbie in Three Rivers Michigan listening on Baraga broadcasting Debbie what's on your mind today I was just wondering I listened this morning when I said occur and in the prayer you pray to Michael the art thing Archangel and I wondered why why would you have petitioned the Archangel to do why would Jesus to do that and let him decide who is gonna spend maybe Michael yes I mean I just don't understand why you you pray directly to the Archangel right thanks I appreciate it so scripture tells us that the Angels pray for us and not only do they pray for us but they offer our prayers to God in the book of Tobit chapter 12 the Archangel refeel actually says that this is his job is to carry the prayers of the faithful and deliver them to God and we see the same thing in the book of Revelation chapter 8 verse 3 the angels that they are offering our prayers up before God is so much incense and we also pray to the Saints as well in the same way we invoke their prayers so why why I mean does that mean the Catholics don't pray directly to go of course we do we absolutely do and every Catholic you know praise the Lord's Prayer every day and says Father who art in heaven we go directly to the to God the Father we invoke Christ constantly in our lives in our in our in our faith and in our devotions but we also involve the whole church our neighbors on earth you know Tom price sitting across from here he prays for me I pray for him we ask each other for prayer but our neighbors in heaven as well the Saints triumphant those that have been fully glorified in Christ and are present with him they're also part of the church and the church as a family we bear our one another's burdens in prayer we pray for one another we ask each other to pray for us even as we also pray directly to Jesus hope that's helpful for you Patrick in Fort Lauderdale listening to us right now on Sirius XM 130 hey Patrick what's your question today hi I know you're at a getting short of time so I'll try to be brief dr. Enders I'm sort of a kind of junior apologist and I find myself getting into dialogues but they often turn into pretty animated debates with seventh-day Adventists I have found that they are just the most beautiful anti-catholic groups out there and frankly the most difficult to reason with and they always seem to come back around to this this worshiping on Sunday versus Saturday and and and I never as much as I think what I'm saying is historical and true I never seem to grab a hold of an argument that that that they can a glob want to process stand and believe like who had the authority to change it to Sunday when right right nothing until work I am Patrick thank you so the premise of of your friends question is is misguided because of course Catholics all worship on Saturday and we worship on Sunday and we worship on Monday and we worship on Tuesday and we worship on Wednesday we worship every day of the week and we offer the Holy Sacrifice of the mass it's probably going on somewhere it every time of every day it's never not offered and of course the book of Malachi chapter 1 prophesized that the Gentiles will offer everywhere a clean and pure sacrifice and that's what we do in the Holy Sacrifice of the mass okay and so the the the error in your friends thinking is to imagine that the Sabbath commandment has anything to do with worship go back and read it go read Exodus chapter 20 God doesn't say on the seventh day you shall offer sacrifice he says on the seventh day you shall rest that's right the Jews offered sacrifice every day they didn't cease from the work of the temple and neither do we alright the command to rest on the Sabbath day which is the Saturday all right that has absolutely been abrogated and Paul says so explicitly says let no man judge you with respect to new moons festivals or Sabbath days those are just a shadow of the things to come in Christ now it is true we hallow the the eighth day the first day of the week in a special way as did the early church we read about book of Acts because Christ rose on the first day so it's incredibly appropriate that we would celebrate the death the resurrection of Jesus in a special way alright boy no IRA cease from worshiping God absolutely Patrick appreciate that hope that's helpful for you in your dialogue there and let's go now to Sonya in New Iberia Louisiana Sonya we got about 60 seconds what's your question are there any books or titles of books that you could name to me that I could give to my 31 year old grown son he was there from the church he's very liberal after having going to college for so many years he's got a doctorate in psychology industrial organization business psychology he wanted to go oversea communions a little bored he couldn't wait to make his first communion now it doesn't have much meaning he doesn't really go to church and he's very liberal okay thanks I appreciate the question so I know the call screener had mentioned that he that his his his academic culture has led him to to depart from the church and so you know when I hear this kind of thing it saddens me because of course it's the Catholic Church that actually gave birth to the intellectual culture of the Western world and the institution of the universities and there's so many books so many books that you could recommend that would get into that you know Frances George the the formal former Cardinal of Chicago wrote a book called a godly humanism about the Catholic intellectual tradition Catholic philosopher Edward phasor wrote the book the last superstition when that one might be even more appropriate all right for your son there really goes after the superstition of modern atheism and materialism we have that at the EWTN religious catalogue I know I you know Anthony rizzi the Catholic theoretical physicist who solved problems in physics that Einstein couldn't solve has a book called the science before science v Spitzer who they were just recording father Spitzer's universe I think on the TV saw us while we were doing this show has many many books on the Catholic intellectual tradition the defense of the Catholic faith we could go on and on but the clock has run out yes indeed Sonia thank you for your call dr. David Andrew see you tomorrow thank you Tom appreciate it here on call to communion god bless hi this is dr. David Anders from called to Communion Catholic radio is the greatest tool for evangelism that we have in the church today

Channel: EWTN

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Length: 55min 7sec (3307 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 16 2017