CALLED TO COMMUNION - Dr. David Anders - June 18, 2020

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 eighty three three two eight eight three nine eight six why do I need to confess my zoo 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 here on EWTN the program for our non Catholic brothers and sisters we know there are a lot of non Catholics who listen to Catholic radio maybe you are doing that because you want to answer a few questions about your own faith or or try to figure out what the Catholic Church is teaching and so if that's you and you've got a question or two do give us a call at him 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 listening to us outside of North America please dial the us country code and then two oh five two seven one two nine eight five are you a texter very 21st century texting you know you can text the letters EWTN to five five zero zero zero wait for our response and then Texas your first name and your brief question message and data rates for some folks anyway may apply although a lot of people have you know the unlimited data so if that's you you know what to do also you can send us an email any time and we're going to lead off with an email in a moment here ctc at ewtn.com CTC at ewtn.com all right Charles berry is our producer we also have Ryan penny on the J OB now actually I believe rich rich jesse is doing our phone screening this afternoon so hi - rich also we have Jeff person handling social media and he'll be glad to post any questions you may want to pose to us via Facebook or YouTube because we're streaming there right now I'm Tom price along with dr. David Anders Tom how are you today doing very well and how are you my friend you know I'm doing just great thank you glad to hear that we're gonna lead off with just a fabulous email because I know that you really enjoy things that are going like I don't know about this Anders character so here it is I don't know about him either well that's true this is from Tom in Oklahoma and he's actually very respectful he says I am an evangelical protestant who listens often to EWTN radio to learn more about Catholicism well that's why we do the show I have benefited spiritually from it as I compare and contrast various faith traditions my understanding is that dr. Anders was once a zealous Protestant who spoke out against Catholicism and who converted as many Catholics as he could away from Catholicism to the Protestant faith tradition he once held in high regard now he has a dedicated Catholic who speaks out against what he sees as the errors of Protestant faith traditions and in favor of Catholicism that he now considers to be the one true faith now it is obvious that dr. Anders is a highly intelligent and religiously knowledgeable man who quote knows his stuff if you will here's my question please forgive my skepticism but why shouldn't the audience see dr. Andrews as just a skilled persuader like an expert car salesman who decided to quit selling Fords and who was now applied his skills to selling Toyotas it's from Tom in Oklahoma yeah I love this qui nous you would this is a great question it is and first of all you should absolutely consider me like a car salesman and I hope that I'm skilled right and and the skepticism that you have not about this or that claim but about how can I tell that I'm not being snowed by rhetoric I mean that's a that's a fantastic question I don't know that I'll not just be drawn into a narrative and it really goes to the nature of the act of faith itself what does it mean to have faith how can we make faith rational it mean is there even any sense and having faith and and so let me let me offer you some points of view first of all anything that I say please test you know I remember I got a call on the radio one time somebody said Landers who do you think you are I said no one in particular just a guy who a lot of books I mean only I mean and we get we get Corrections on the show all the time you know particularly if I venture if I foolhardy enough to venture into the domain of canon law that's usually when we get our heads handed to us right somebody else who knows what they're actually talking about says he enters shut up about can talk about so question me to be sure but let me tell a story from my own life that is uh it's relevant I think to the answer to your question I went the tradition I was raised in of course put a heavy priority on the notion of certainty well you got to be sure you're gonna go to heaven you sure for a fact that you're one of the elect sure that the Bible's the Word of God sure that God exists certainty certainty certainty certainty and when and they offered some arguments for their position but when it really came down to if you ask at least the presbyterian tradition I was raised in how do you know that you know that you know that you know that you know how can you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that these things are true and the answer that I was given was basically well the Holy Spirit tells you and presidents have this doctrine called witness of the Holy Spirit at the end of the day you know that you know that you know because of the spirits witness and that's that's matter what boils down to and I can remember the day that I had a lot of my Protestantism had sort of evaporated for me I'd lost had lost the solafeet a doctrine of justification by faith alone I lost Sola scriptura Sola scriptura course doctrine or description alone the Sola scriptura I lost I lost the conversion astac ount of Christian initiation that's endemic to have angelical ism I lost so the evangelical view of history you know that there was an ancient pristine church that fell away to be recovered by the Reformers I'd lost the original conviction and denominationalism and you know but I was just kind of barely hanging on by a thread really to my Christian identity and sort of the last straw was this question of the you know that I know that I know that I know that God has spoken to me he's moved me in my heart I've had some sort of subjective religious experience that sort of grounds the whole thing and and I said well can I call that into question and as soon as I raise the thought I realized well sure what does a religious experience ultimately communicate to me except that I've had an experience it can't actually validate about the external and I lapsed into skepticism and uh and I went a couple years of having no faith at all and I didn't really know how to think my way out of that box and I began to read st. Thomas Aquinas and kind of re-engage Catholic thinking on the relationship of faith and reason and I came to the understanding that the Catholics have a profoundly different understanding of the way faith and reason connect to one another to begin with the church taught there are certain things that you don't have to ultimately just fall back on your subjective experience to to validate there are some objective truths that you can know reasonably you can know that God exists provided you begin with the right definition of God you can know the moral law there are some historical facts that you could know but there are some things beyond that that you cannot know and I'll come to those after the break all right sit tight there Tom because this is a fascinating question then we're gonna continue unpacking it we are also going to get to the phone's beginning with Kathleen Huron Ohio we've got a line open for you on this Thursday afternoon here on EWTN is called a communion and that number eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six for call to communion here on EWTN stay with us this is life issues with Brad mattis president of life issues Institute the abortion industry and its advocates are working to ban the safety requirements established by the FDA to protect women who use the chemical abortion pill one requisite is a test to screen for Rh negative blood if an Rh negative woman has an abortion she may produce antibodies that could attack the blood cells of future unborn babies and cause death once a woman develops these antibodies all future pregnancies are at risk she has a blood test at the time of the abortion they can identify the problem and it can be treated in their zeal to eliminate any hindrance to assembly line abortion not only will they be killing the unborn child they'll be jeopardizing the future fertility of countless we must love them both follow us on twitter at life issues USA and stay informed more informed than you've ever been he is honored by the church as a saint at the title of the angelic doctor Matthew Bunsen and the doctors of the church st. Thomas Aquinas wrote a basic text book for young theology students that became the church's most famous guide to the faith the Summa Theologica it helped him earn the title doctor of the church he died in 1274 for more about the doctors of the church visit doctors of the church calm [Music] tomorrow morning be sure to join us for a Catholic connection at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Teresa Tomeo will be talking with our own president Doug Keck about EWTN s inside word also joined by father Chris ala l R on the Sacred Heart of Jesus should be a great show Catholic connection tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on EWTN radio we're going to get back to the phones in just a moment but what we do want to finish up this question from Tom and Oklahoma and I'll just T up the very last part of what he had to say why shouldn't the audience see dr. Anders as just a skilled persuader like an expert car salesman who decided to quit selling Fords who's now applied his skills to selling Toyotas though exactly so I said this really raises a question about the rationality of religious faith and how we can shoot is religious faith just a matter of being persuaded by by some personality is just an emotive decision or can there be a rational basis for differentiating between traditions and so I gave one answer to that question which would sort of lean on the on the side of well it's just it's just your subjective judgment irrespective of anything out there and the objective world God just talks to you right and I used to believe that way when I was a Protestant that felt that broke apart for me because I saw that I couldn't actually rationally know anything if I was just gonna depend on subjective religious experience and emotion so I had to decide on some other basis either no faith at all or there had to be some sort of rational grounding that's not just a matter of persuasive emotion and when I actually turned and looked at what the Catholic tradition said about faith and reason I found this so first of all Catholic Church teaches that there are some things about the faith that you can rationally know and in particular you can know the existence of God provided you begin with the right understanding the right definition of God God just means the first cause there are things we can know about the moral life that are objectively true and there irrespective of cultural difference and so you know you can read the laws of Manu the Code of Hammurabi you can read the Buddhist to pitaka or the Delta Ching you can read the Upanishads of the bhagavad-gita you can study the indigenous religions of West Africa or Christianity Judaism Islam and you're not going to find any tradition that thinks that cowardice is a really great thing right you're not going to find them teaching you that that adultery is the principle or primary way to exercise your sexual faculty you're not going to find any of them that that exalt deception and dishonesty as the preferred mode of human communication it may may fudge a bit at the edges but I mean by mark you can begin to derive the contents of the moral law to a Catholic called the natural law from unab from from a historical investigation of the various traditions there are some there are some common human goods that are human universals and it's in this respect this respect that the anglican writer CS lewis once wrote that christianity was a retelling and capital letters of the same message that nature writes in her crabbed cursive hand a kind of clarification rather than a repudiation of the natural religious history of mankind all right now let me contrast that with the Protestantism in which I was raised that basically taught me that the the basis for religious knowledge is revelation alone and revelation that could and probably would conflict with the natural moral intuition of the majority of the human race if you ever read CS Lewis's book the abolition of man where he contrasts the moral relativism of the present age with that natural law that he identifies with the DAO sort of Chinese idea of Taoism that there is this law in one sense the the the call to Catholic faith is a call to attend to those natural moral truths that are true regardless of tradition and and if you think there if there is sanction behind that moral law and that's a big f right that's a big if so for example the United States is being convulsed right now by the question of race and race relations racism many of those calls for justice are predicated on the notion that there's an objective right that there's a that there's a there's a right and wrong there's an objective moral order and that we fall short of it and we need to fix the to align ourselves with that objective moral order well if you believe that then there's an objective moral order sure you can't have you can't be a relativist and then call for justice doesn't make any sense Catholic faith is an invitation to enter into that stream of historical consciousness and to embrace that the Lexx Naturalis the Dharma the towel that that that common patrimony of human moral reasoning that's so similar across cultures throughout history but then there's this advantage into the Catholic faith you actually look at the Catholic faith embedded in space and time as an historical phenomena what is the explanation for the dominance of say human rights as a pervasive theme in national and international law the idea of human dignity where do those civil jurisprudence where those ideas come from what is what's their origin historically what's Catholic influence in civilization yes that's where it came from this is where these regimes emerge from the institutions of benevolence the universities the hospitals this is where this camera it's the Catholic gift to human civilization what is the scripture say about what predict about the influence of the kingdom of God in history that it would bring about this gradual transformation Jesus is like a mustard seed small seed grows big tree begins to pervade all of human society and culture bringing all people to more unity and justice now you've got a choice to make can I know that God is a Trinity no no I can't I believe it because it's revealed by divine authority but can't know it not in the sense that I can know two plus two equals four can I know that Christ has two natures divine and human can I know that the Eucharist is really the body and blood of Christ can't know these things in a kind of mathematical scientific way I can believe them on divine authority we can't know them but here's the payoff for believing them the payoff for believing is as I enter into this stream of this society this this institution down through history that has had this profound divin izing humanizing effect on human history calling people in a more profound way to an acknowledgment of these truths that are written into the very new and then empowering them to live them in a way that transcends their perspective all bias and their their their their parochial you know narrow tribal culture touka become a genuine world ethic where we have a basis for believing an objective right and wrong and a hope that our conformity those laws actually matters in the grand scheme of things that's a choice for faith because faith sanctions and grounds these deep and profound intuitions written into our nature now you know maybe I don't have any expertise you can you can argue with me but are you gonna argue with that are you gonna argue with st. Paul talks about it Romans 1:19 those things that are evident about God written into the very fabric of our being in the world that he made all right and Tom thank you for a very very good email we really appreciate hearing from you and if you'd like to send us an email for a future show we're always available CTC at ewtn.com CTC at ewtn.com alright if you're ready now let's go to the phones at eight three three two eight eight EWTN here is Kathy in Huron Ohio listening on the great Annunciation radio hey Kathy what's on your mind today hi there first I'd like to thank you guys for being here on the other end of the phone we listeners really appreciate your expertise thank you and my my question is somebody recommended book for me to read called surprised by hope rethinking heaven the resurrection and the mission of the church and it's written by an anglican bishop and he writes I know him well I okay what do you think about as a Catholic is this going to help me with my knowledge that I want to bank up there in my brain or is it something I'd want to yes all right this this book would give you a very good idea of what an Anglican biblical scholar thinks is important okay well and that's what's gonna give you okay right is an outstanding biblical scholar from the Anglican tradition his you know his presuppositions that he brings to the study the texture he believes in the Protestant doctrine of Sola scriptura he does not believe in the dogmatic authority of the Catholic Church or of Catholic tradition and he is mildly a critic but a critic nonetheless of Catholicism and and so some of his prejudices are going to undercut key Catholic claims he on the other hand is a he's a very very brilliant person he's a genius-level intellect and one of the leading biblical scholars in the world today particularly in the English language who's had a profound impact especially in the world of Protestantism and if you want to know what what NT right thinks is important and that's why you're reading the book it would be a it's a it's a kind of shallow end of the pool entrance into the thinking of NT right but it's not it's not the Catholic faith right it's not the Catholic faith is there some overlap sure yes and and a good bit of what of what professor Wright argues it can be assimilated into a Catholic understanding but I think it's it's more important that you have that Catholic understanding you got to have the Catholic picture of the world pretty clear in your head first sure because otherwise then you're not going to be able to distinguish Catholic teaching from from Professor Wright's teaching and know which is which so far you know for a well-formed Catholic he wanted a view into you know what is popular Protestant literature saying these days yeah you could read it for historical interest if it's if it's just I'm trying to educate myself in the faith and and you know I know I don't know enough and I'd probably start with I'd start with some Catholic publications and probably anything you'd find on the EWTN religious catalogue could be a great place to go very good and we thank you so much for your call Kathy hope that's helpful for you that opens up a line for you right now at eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six called a communion on this Thursday afternoon here on EWTN would love to hear from you today Karen just checked in on Facebook Karen says dr. Andrews where did you get your knowledge was it from a tragedy and you asked God for it like I did or did you go through years and years of training yes yes to both of all the above all of the above you know so my my tragedy if you will and look it's kind of an ongoing you know tragedy in my life I mean tragedy doesn't end right yeah my tragedy occurred in the midst of a deep academic formation in the history of Christian theology and I I was determined to study all I could study and ultimately to refute the Catholic faith and and in the process of that I began to find that that scripture and history and philosophy really undermined a lot of my Protestant convictions and I had an intellectual crisis about okay where do I belong and what's the true faith and do I believe in Christ and these sorts of things but while I'm having this intellectual crisis I'm also having a moral personal spiritual crisis emerging out of the out of the nexus of family life and you know wife and children and career and money and jobs and all the kinds of things and people struggle with and how to integrate my faith into my actual day-to-day living and and so the academic question was very very critical for me but one of the things I learned academically about the Catholic faith is the Catholic Church teaches that through the faith you can receive the gift of virtue that that that the church will actually transform your moral life and make you into a better person the tradition I was raised in emphasized salvation by faith alone knowing for sure I was going to go to heaven in spite of my wrecked moral life hmm and when I kind of looked around in the actual state of things I thought well which which is more important to me right now a spurious certainty in an imagined heaven I don't mean heavens imaginary but from my point of view at that time it's like the whole system was imaginary yeah you know an absolute certainty in some future life well the life I'm living here on earth is going to hell in a handbasket or do I actually want moral transformation here and now to make me a better person and equip me for the job of being a husband and a father and a son and a friend and an employee and a teacher and a professor and I realized with the Catholic faith I got both I got the promise of eternal life but through by means of the moral transformation of my condition right now and I said that's that's the stuff I want that's what I need that's what I need and so I became Catholic there you go Karen thank you so much for your call interesting Facebook posting here from mark who says I'm just kind of wandering around in faith my father's brother is Roman Catholic my wife converted to Catholicism on her deathbed I'm just bitter any thoughts there David oh I'm totally we're there with you 100% right and I get being bitter at the hardness of the world and and and pain and loss and disappointment and self-doubt and and and wandering around and wandering around and confusion about God and and and you know I think I think the Scriptures speak to this this position I think it's written all through the Psalms in the wisdom literature I mean it's almost writing all the time where are you God where all these promises we used to hear about you came to the rescue of Moses and the Israelites and here we are languishing in Babylon what's going on and you know book of ecclesiastes really really speaks to this profoundly says look look you know I'm wandering around life seems rather pointless and meaningless and some days I feel I could be better off I had never been born and that's the book of Ecclesiastes well that's written into the fabric of the scriptures and and of course you know Christ didn't despair in that sense he didn't despair in that sense but he definitely understood struggle at trial and torment and anguish of soul this is the prayer of the Garden of Gethsemane Lord take this cup from me sweat and blood here you know but not my will but thine be done Christianity gives us a way to not to not to escape from ambiguity or suffering or confusion or doubt but to but really to embrace that state of being as a path to to enter transformation and to add to it and an ascent of the soul and to the likeness of the unknown God God who we do not see taste touch smell or handle right but who's the source and ground and origin of all things invisible to us but known by faith entering into relationship this dark relationship with God they can transform suffering and and make of it not necessarily something happy-go-lucky but something profoundly meaningful and so you know what you're experiencing right now is is absolutely of the essence of the spiritual life like you don't have to think about your bitterness and losses well you know there's the spiritual life over here now then here's me and my suffering mm-hmm actually the Catholic faith says well you and your suffering may actually be profoundly constitutive of a meaningful spiritual life because when you have a long-term perspective this is this is step one this is the beginning of a process of interior transformation forgetting yourself and finding yourself again in Hemel mark thank you so much for your your question there via Facebook I keep listening to EWTN you'll find out an awful lot about what we believe in coming up next al in Columbia Missouri and your call as well at eight three three two eight eight EWTN dr. Scott Hahn Jesus gave us the most perfect at prayers it's always prayed by the Catholic Church after the consecration and right before communion but always there at the climax of the mass the leading Catholic voices are on EWTN radio looking for a twenty twenty-two on how Catholics are voting in the upcoming election EWTN news and real clear opinion research are partnering to bring you clear and concise data on where the nation stands on issues candidates policies and more by surveying Americans including Catholics like you and it's available now at EWTN news com forward slash poll living the Beatitudes with father bjorn blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Mother Angelica said that the essence of evangelization is to tell everyone that Jesus loves you mat fraud says that it is one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread are we so full of the things of the world that we can't hear or receive the gifts that God has given to us in Isaiah we hear the Lord delights in you I've called you by name you're mine you are precious in my eyes and I love you well we often don't want to hear that and in the Gospel of Matthew it did hits us over the head more that were invited to be part of the kingdom of God Jesus is king and he's come to establish his kingdom the Beatitudes are the eight roads to God they lead us with his gifts of the Holy Spirit to become the new person in Christ who will find happiness and bring that happiness to others blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven for more about the Beatitudes visit ewtn RC com hi this is psy Kellett later today on Catholic Answers live we've got our own Jimmy akin for two hours open forum --kavitha Gans was live 6 p.m. Eastern on EWTN radio now back to called the communion with dr. David Anders thanks for joining us for the Thursday afternoon version of call to communion here on EWTN back to the phones right now at eight three three two eight eight EWTN here is al in Columbia Missouri Al's listening to us on covenant radio network al what's on your mind today thank you dr. Anders my question is that Jesus said baptized in the name of the Father Son Holy Spirit Peter says baptized in the name of Jesus only in acts 8 it confuses the issue even more because it says Peter and John arrived and pray in Somalia that they might receive the Holy Spirit because Philip apparently baptized and they did not receive the Holy Spirit so can you explain what's going on yeah sure I appreciate it so when we go to the Old Testament we find a couple different activities ascribed to the Holy Spirit one very common one especially in the Pentateuch and the Torah the first five books of Moses is the Spirit comes upon individuals who are empowered for some special ministry some charismatic ministry this would be the case of prophets who prophesy for example in numbers chapter 11 we see these seventy elders who receive the spirit and prophesy and and of course the coming of the Spirit is accompanied by these sorts of signs in in book first and second Samuel the Spirit would come upon anointed leaders King Saul for example for acts of military valor and leadership and and that's a common theme right the Spirit coming for these for these sort of charismatic ministries on specific individuals that's a note that we find throughout the Old Testament but alongside that we find other activity ascribe to the Holy Spirit especially as we get further in to the prophetic literature so the psalmist King David Psalm 51 can speak about the spirits activity of cleansing the heart so there's an interior renovation that takes place in the moral life of an individual that's very different from you know God coming on my sword arm so I can go lop up some Philistines that's a very different kind of activity I can you know Samson is kind of the paradigmatic judge who has a spirit inspired ministry but doesn't make him a good guy you know he's he's whipping up on Philistines but he's not a particularly admirable character and in the end you know he dies when the Philistine temple comes down on top of it but then you have created me a new heart Oh Lord take not your Holy Spirit from me wash me cleanse me Psalm 51 and in and then as we look towards the Messianic age both of these forms of the spirit activity are prophesied so Jeremiah 31 is II kiyul 36 are texts that speak about the coming of the Spirit in the kingdom of God in the Messianic Kingdom the new covenant whereby the heart will be renewed our hearts will be circumcised God's law written into our hearts by the Holy Spirit this is the covenant I'll make with you says the Lord not like the covenant made with your forefathers I'll write my law in your mind place it in your heart Jeremiah 31 we also find this spirit empowered speech is charismatic ministry the Prophet Joel chapter 2 says in the last days I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters will prophesy old men dream dreams and on all flesh men and women I'll pour my spirit in the last days now in the writing of Saint Paul and his epistles we find both of these forms of spiritual activity integrated with one another in the life of the church especially in first Corinthians so the spirit unites the people of God the Spirit gives gifts of faith hope and charity but then the Spirit also empowers for a charismatic acts of leadership for teaching for governance for helps for prophecy for tongs for healings both of them sort of integrated together and if the Spirit is involved in the work of the sacraments dying with Christ baptism being reborn with him again to new life the spirit bringing the gift of God's love poured into our hearts romans chapter 5 verse 5 but in Luke's writing Luke who writes gospel Luke in the book of Acts Luke places a really heavy emphasis on the the charismatic activity that we would ascribe to the spirits ministry those particular acts of leadership and so he begins a course in Acts chapter 2 by quoting this passage from the book of a good Joel that the Spirit would be poured out in acts of prophecy and tongues and leadership and dreams and and that sort of his his type right of understanding the Messianic promise and that's the gift of Pentecost and all the people speaking in languages and then after those are joined to the church through baptism then there is this super added visible gift of the Spirit manifest in acts of spirit inspired speech almost always speech it's tongues it's prophecy it's speaking the Word of God with boldness these are the kinds of language that that Saint Luke uses he doesn't seem to place that much emphasis on the note of interior renovation in grace I'm not saying it's completely absent it's not like what it's in st. Paul Luke's really focused on so the missionary witness of the church the activity of the church in charismatic ministry that's the coming of the spirit that he has in mind the coming that was promised by the Prophet Joel and so when we read that there were baptized souls who hadn't yet received the Spirit we can now bring a Catholic perspective that integrates the whole Bible to understand that did these souls have the Spirit of God yes they did in the sense of having been reborn in Baptism and having that interior renovation by grace the charity of God poured into our hearts they had that spirit had that spirit manifested itself in these acts of charismatic leadership this spirit empowered speech this ability to bear witness for Christ in mission no they had not and so that's from from Luke we learned that these are two distinct ministries of the Holy Spirit and the life of the believer one we receive baptism the other we received in the Sacrament of Confirmation all right now thank you so much for your call it is called a communion on this Thursday afternoon we have a line open for you right now if you have a question for dr. David Anders eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six if you call right now I can pretty much guarantee we're gonna get you a call on to the show today here's a question from nick who sent us an email this is regarding yesterday's show David he says from the show regarding the question about quote traditionalist Catholics and your explanations regarding that callers concerns I wondered if you had read the most recent letter from Bishop Vigano the delves heavily into this matter I've read through it twice I'm trying to digest it right now have you read it and do you notice any specific errors in his thought how do you respond to his assertions for full transparency I'm inclined to agree with his conclusions and have been trending that way for a few years but I'm not a hundred percent as to whether the principles in some of the documents are actually erroneous or if they were simply Mis applied or misinterpreted by many my understanding is that the documents of Vatican 2 are not infallible and erroneous principles could be contained within them I am noticing more bishops in recent years who are becoming more clear or blunt if you will about the relationship of current problems with Vatican 2 not just the quote spirit of Vatican 2 which in the past which is also playing into my thinking would really love to hear your thoughts on the issue Thank You Nick yeah thanks so I have given a cursory look at our script pagano's recent letter and I I have not studied it profoundly in-depth and so I may miss speak and I may get some details wrong what I remember I took away more from the tone of the letter and the overall theme then I you know then attending to every sort of fine exegetical okay that he makes so let me give you some sort of just shooting from the hip impressionistic responses so my overall impression of archbishop Madonna's letter is it the archbishop is very much in meshed in an ideological narrative he's got a very us/them view of the president World Order and history of the Catholic Church and the Catholic episcopate and so forth and and he knows who the good guys and the bad guys are and that's the way he tells the story he knows who the good guys and the bad guys are and and and sometimes and this is my greatest discomfort with it is the way he brings that analysis to bear in interpreting not only affairs within the church but in the secular political arena I mean even to the extent of talking about you know children of light children of darkness this kind of business yeah and I got that kind of language leaves me very very uneasy it leaves me very uneasy and and here's why all right because I have I'm a student of Christian history and and I know where ideological thinking like that tends to go over time and it's extremely divisive regardless of the specifics of any particular historical claim all right it's a way of approaching the church an apostle in ministry and it it it it creates this temptation in the soul of the believer I've got a program I have a program my program could be communion on the tongue my program could be black lives matter my program could be you know this traditionalist movement or could be you know that healthy apostolate or it could be this bishop or that leader of this television show I've got a program and and what what God needs me to do is make sure that everybody gets on my program and and I'll make enemies along the way and I'll step on toes and I'll offend people and I'm just right alright and when I do that man like the sky is gonna open utopia is gonna come down when everybody gets on my program and you could be far right you could be far left north-south-east-west I don't care mmm-hmm I don't I don't want to be about somebody's program I want to be about Jesus's program yeah and when I read the Gospels 95 percent of what Christ said was you people think you've got a program but you're neglecting the way to your matters let me tell you about the program the program is blessed are those who mourn blessed are the meek blessed are the peacemakers blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness blessed are the pure in heart blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake that's the program that's the program and when I go to read the church fathers the program I read in the church fathers is the kingdom of God is not this or that ideological camp it's not this or that political party it's not this or that King President or Pope the kingdom of God is the interior renovation in grace of souls who who do not know everything and it's an attitude of openness and trust in faith not in this without political leader or ideology but in but in God who has the whole thing in his hand and and my goal my objective you know I read the orations of Gregory no sciences go read this magnificent Greek church father Gregory the theologian go read him right Christ came down he was incarnate he suffered on our behalf to raise us up therefore reconcile with your neighbor put away your your vicious deeds put away your anger and your hatred and your divisiveness all right be renovated in him set your eyes not on earthly things but on the things of heaven live for eternity that's the program I know that I don't know the right political order the right scientific answer is the problem of global warming I'm not saying we don't have policy responses to those I'm not saying we shouldn't address those kinds of issues but the level of the work of the Christian faith in my heart is this interior transformation of grace that brings me humility above all things where I can say I'm the lead of all your servants Lord God but have mercy on me a center which is actually very freeing isn't it yeah it's in God's hands all song he's got the whole yes all the way so pray for the political leaders pray for the policymakers pray for the Pope but don't invest your salvation in any of them okay Nick thank you so much for your letter appreciate the clarification they're called a communion here on EWTN I was talking with Colin Donovan last week about our wonderful website called Church pop and he is a big fan of it it does indeed feature new online Christian content that is fun informative and inspirational if you've never checked it out I would certainly recommend it it ain't dry it is very it's very fun to it to go check it out it's on snapchat it's also Instagram and on the web at church pop com Church pop dot-com do check it out back to the phones right now at eight three three two eight eight EWTN here is ray in Naples Florida listening online to EWTN radio hey ray what's on your mind today hey how are you guys very good today look I am a first-time call a long time listener so very exciting uh my question is I have a friend who is not baptized and we're trying to has no no affiliate any affiliation with any Church it was never brought up with any faith let's say ah so I'm pushing for a baptism through my church and of course that are telling me I have to go through RCIA and the whole program which is fine she's willing to do that however there's a timeframe involved and my concern is should I get her baptized as soon as possible maybe through another church is it that important but make sure you go through the arts yeah I appreciate the question so so baptism is many things but one of the very important things that baptism is is the Rite of initiation into the Christian community right baptism gives us rights and obligations within the Catholic Church and that's a major major component of being a baptized person I'm joined to the body of Christ that is the church and so you can't be baptized into nothing you can't just be baptized without it being an act of affiliation with an ecclesial body and it matters which ecclesial body you join now every baptism is remotely at least an act of joining the Catholic Church so even the Presbyterian or the Baptist who gets baptized is in a remote sense becoming Catholic when they do that they don't know they are but there's only one baptism it belongs to the church and they've taken out of context but that's essentially what it is and so I don't want to I don't want to initiate someone into the Catholic faith without instructing them in the Catholic faith so they understand what it is that they're doing and what what rights and obligations they've taken on their lives so is it important that your friend be baptized yes it's important that your friend be baptized but is it important that they be baptized with with catechesis into the Catholic faith yes the whole thing is a package now your concern is well what if she gets in our CIA and she dies in a car wreck well she if what when you're a catechumen you you are in an order in the church right you're not you're not a fully incorporated member but you what you fall within the church's pastoral care and it is evidence of the work of the grace of God in your life and the church does not historically despair of her dead catechumens but hopes in their salvation and prays for them and and you know conversion and salvation is a process that God begins in our life and brings to fruition over time and we trust in his providence in mercy right it's not like you know God's not sitting up chewing on his fingernails like hoping the week at this baptism thing taken care of so he could save her know that her willingness to do this is itself an act of God's mercy in her life drawing her to himself okay appreciate your call ray it is called a communion here on EWTN I gotta let from Stephen in Burwell England David he says hi dr. Anders I regularly pray the rosary at least two times a day to and from work I always make sure that I pray the Glorious Mysteries so that on the third decade I also implore the Holy Spirit to come in to me to help me with my day I believe he does it has just now occurred to me what is the difference between receiving the Holy Spirit and receiving Holy Communion if they are one and the same I am also in need of confession so cannot receive Communion except spiritually it doesn't stop me from praying and it doesn't stop the Holy Spirit aiding me kind regards Steve okay thanks I appreciate the question so so the Holy Spirit acts in our lives in a number of ways all right but but principally in the life of a Christian the Holy Spirit brings us the gift of grace and the infused virtues Faith Hope charity for to justice wisdom prudence temperance and these are habitual dispositions given to us by grace whereby we can consistently will and do good works the Holy Spirit also acts through through particulars all right wisdom understanding counsel knowledge fortitude piety fear of the Lord that are these promptings in particular moments to act in accord with those with those dispositions that we call virtues right so you know you might be inspired to a particular act of justice a particular act of fortitude or temperance and spirit acts in our life in these ways and by and in in this activity moves us to holiness and growth and grace and relationship with God and love of neighbor and ultimately towards our salvation that's always spirit acts on us now you know we can ask for that we can ask for a deepening of that relationship and we do through prayer and so when we when we make for example an act of spiritual communion we're intentionally uniting ourselves to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in our interior life in order to stir up within ourselves affections that will cooperate with those Grace's and those gifts and that's a very salutary thing too it's a great thing to do to make that that act of spiritual you mean a number one time going to a confession to a great priest and he gave me the best admonition I think I've ever had in any confession ever he said unite yourself to God I thought that's such a that's a term with so so much valence so you can get so much mileage out of that unite yourself to get hot what a simple idea but constantly calling to mind making an intentional effort to bring myself conception my life in into the sight of God and to think of myself in relationship with him to all times what an encouragement in the life of grace I found that spiritual communion is a particularly poignant way of doing that of making that union of myself with God Velvets sacramental communion is altogether better because in sacramental communion I'm actually receiving physically the body blood soul and divinity of Jesus and and and so that works on me in ways that that transcend my rational understanding of my ability to experience are perfectly recognized and becomes for me the medicine of immortality right joined to his physical body his real flesh and real blood my body to comes to participate to share in his resurrection power and looks forward to the resurrection of the dead and you know when the church says you can go to communion because she's validated that you're you know presumed to be in the state of grace it also becomes me a profound psychological help to no here's a tangible evidence that I am in fact in communion with Christ it's not just up to my judgement the church makes that judgment here here's Holy Communion you're in communion that's literally one of me you're in communion with Christ in his body the church what what a profound comfort and encouragement that is right here you are in communion with the rest of God's people the rest of God's people you know we begin every mass with the confiteor I confess to Almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters that I've sinned against Almighty God and what of you know words thoughts deeds actions and so forth done and not done therefore I ask Almighty God by Dossett Virgin Mary and you my brothers and sisters to pray for me right that the the anticipation of Holy Communion we come into this shared participation in the body of crisis mute intercession prayer and solicitude for one another all of that is both signal to us and delivered to us through the sacrament of Holy Communion it's this point this focal point for the church's unity and cooperation in the ongoing life of grace and virtue all that is something above and beyond what I can receive in an act of spiritual communion now you said you hadn't had access to wholly to sacrum every consideration right make an act of contrition right now tell me how odd you're sorry for your sins you want to be reconciled to him then the Holy Spirit can begin to work in your life and then you get to confession as soon as possible very good hey yes Stephen thank you so much for a check it in from us with us from Burwell England very cool we have time enough for one more letter here this is from Kate listening on YouTube I'm currently on a path to Catholicism but my family is opposed they ask me questions about Catholic beliefs and practices I'm able to answer or direct them most of the time but this is a new one for me I was asked if Catholics believe Jesus is really in the Eucharist why does the when rather when does the Eucharist cease being Jesus once consumed or does Christ's past with the end of digestion now I've seen explanations at Christ's last 15 minutes within the body but the proof the science the mystery of the faith behind that belief is rather fuzzy and vague so could you please answer what happens to the Eucharist once consumed yes sure so Christ is truly present in the Eucharist as long as the accidents that is the properties or appearances of bread and wine remain so at whatever point it stops looking like bread and wine then you no longer have the body of Christ because the true presence in herre is in the accidents and those in those properties that have no substance of their own right they they they now are the vehicles whereby the substance of Christ is present to us so you know can I give you I can't give you an exact moment when in the process of digestion it stops looking like bread and wine how long that would take to be to be assimilated into the body but at that point you've ceased to have you cease to have the real presence of Christ so this you know it doesn't go all the way through the digestive system now okay and a real quickie here from can you please describe medieval piety and devotion and specifically the impulse toward practices of venerating relics and seeking the intercession of saints why have these practices fallen away yes so the veneration of relics and the intercession of saints predates the medieval era is actually something we find even before Christianity we find it in intertestamental Judaism evidence for it in the New Testament and was incorporated course into Christian piety from the very beginning we can read about it in the acts of the martyrs of the second century martyrdom of Polycarp good example and Annika's woven all through the writing of the great doctors of the church like Agustin and Saint Jerome and and so it was received as part and parcel of the deposit of faith it's not something the medieval church invented it's something they received by way of sacred tradition and I don't have time to talk about the impulse of the reasons I'll do that on another show why is this no longer as strongly as emphasized again that's a lot there's a long answer to that question but we see a tendency in late medieval piety towards the interior ization of religious faith and devotion and away from sort of tangible tactile points of reference why that is the case I'll have to get to in another day fair enough all right Dan thanks for your question thanks to everybody for their questions it was a fast moving hour dr. David Andrews thank you sir thank you Tom we do it Monday through Friday here on EWTN radio live at 2:00 p.m. Eastern with an encore at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and a best of show Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on behalf of our fantastic team Charles rich and Jeff I'm Tom price along with dr. David Andrews see you tomorrow on called a communion god bless this is father Larry Richard

Channel: EWTN

Views: 2,966

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Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: aCaqZPzq9fU

Length: 54min 6sec (3246 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 18 2020