CALLED TO COMMUNION - Dr. David Anders - June 26 , 2019

I'm Teresa Tomeo when called to communion with dr. David Anders starts now what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic why can't women become priests one eighty three three to 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 sins to a priest what's stopping you this is called to communion with dr. David Anders on the EWTN global Catholic radio network everybody welcome again to the Wednesday edition of call to Communion here on EWTN the program for our non Catholic brothers and sisters we do things the other 23 hours of the day that are mainly aimed toward the Catholic audience but we know that we have non Catholics listening at all times of the day and so we created this show just for you if you've got a question or two about the Catholic faith you'd like to get something cleared up in your mind before you know you know pulling the trigger and beside deciding to become a Catholic or maybe you have no interest at all in becoming a Catholic yourself maybe you're angry for some reason or disappointed for some reason and it's because of this thing that happened years ago or perhaps even a misunderstanding about what the Catholic Church actually teaches here's a way to get to us our phone number eight three three two eight eight EWTN and that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six if you're listening to us outside of North America you would want to dial the u.s. country code first and then 205 two seven one two nine eight five you can also text the letters EWTN to five five zero zero zero wait for our response and then text us your first name and your brief question message and data rates may apply and of course you can always send us an email CTC at ewtn.com CTC at ewtn.com Charles Barry is our producer Ryan Penney as our phone screener we also have Jeff person standing by on social media if you post anything on Facebook or YouTube as you're watching the show stream by he'll pass that along to us here in studio one I'm Tom price along with dr. David Anders Tom how are you you know what I'm doing great how about you a little bit on the sleepy side better yeah that I'm alright yeah radio usually wakes me up well good we're we're glad about that and the shot clock is now ticking for the Birmingham Eucharistic Congress we're almost there almost this Friday and Saturday and if he can come for only one day come for one is better than coming for none sure June 28th 29th Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center our Eucharistic Congress in celebration of 50 years of being a diocese so some great Catholic speakers like dr. Scott Hahn and others papal nuncio is coming as well as music and vendors and displays what is a papal nuncio anyway the Pope's ambassador to the United States okay so the Pope has one of those in place for just about every country right I suppose so yeah okay well very good so do check it out bhm Catholic is the website if you'd like more information on that we're gonna start here as we're getting some of these calls screened here is one from addy that came in from London yesterday in John 6 39 jesus said the will of the Father which he came to do is to raise all who come to Jesus does this affirm the Calvinist position of one saved always saved and does verse 37 affirm the position of irresistible Grace and again that's from Adi in London um yeah so I think verse 39 is the one that may be provoking the question because sacred writer says and this is the will of him who sent me that I shall lose none of all those he has given me but raise them up at the last day all right okay and the question is does that affirm the Calvinist doctrine of irresistible grace no but it does affirm the Catholic doctrine of the perseverance of the saints the doctrine of persevere what is that doctrine that that the predestined will by God's grace persevere until the end that's what the Catholic Church teaches now here's the difference between the Catholic doctrine of predestination and perseverance and the Calvinist Catholic Church teaches that you you here you got the mass of humanity some of them and not all of them will be regenerated by God's grace okay so now you get a subset those who have been regenerated by God's grace in baptism of that subset some will make it to eternal life and some won't there are people born again of the Spirit of God regenerated in Baptism who will go to hell because they do not cooperate with the grace given them and so they will lose their way and they'll die in mortal sin and go to hell if you are not of that number if you're in the group that that persevere is in that grace cooperates with grace and makes it to the end you can do that only because God has given you the gift of perseverance hmm it's it's not just up to you it's not like God hands you the grace and says here do what you will know he actively is at work in your life granting you the gift of perseverance which you cannot merit you can ask for it and we do every day mm-hmm we ask the Blessed Virgin pray for us now on at the hour of our death we want the gift of perseverance we can ask for it but we can't merit we can't compel God to give us that gift of perseverance and those who persevere to the end are the ones that of whom Christ shall lose not the company of the elect how's that different from the Calvinists you the Calvinists believe that everyone who is regenerated by God's grace necessarily persevere to the end so once you get in that Club you're you're covered your your one and done all right and they think that getting into the club requires no cooperation on your part that it is monastic that is to say the action is entirely one of God's initiative human participation plays no role Catholic Church does not believe that so we think you do have to participate God grants the grace and gives the gift but but our willful participation is still an instrumental part of our salvation and we think that grace can be resisted and we think that you can fail to cooperate and be lost so that's how we distinguish the two positions okay very good and now Eddy thank you so much for your email I know that you also called yesterday we're not and not able to get through so I'm glad that we could answer the question for you today all right indeed it is called a communion on this Wednesday afternoon we are live and ready to take your phone calls at eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six when we come back in a second or two we'll be talking with Rene in San Antonio listening on Guadalupe radio we'll also tackle a question from Russell who's watching us right now on YouTube a very interesting question involving st. John Paul the 3rd at twice the second hello not the 3rd yet st. John Paul the 2nd we'll be talking about that in just a couple of moments here on EWTN radio again our phone number eight three three two eight eight EWTN and that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six call to Communion on this Wednesday afternoon on EWTN the wisdom of Mother Angelica the devil will always do his best to tempt you into sin until you get to that place where you love sin that's what do you want she wants you down there with him and that because he loves you hate when you do at the enemy temperature to do he does it out of hatred EWTN live truth live Catholic Bishop Robert Barron Toki's reached out to you know Nordic culture and literature and Icelandic sagas and all sorts of things he learned a lot about the good that true and the beautiful from his study of pre-christian cultures he used narrative forms that were accessible to the culture he adapted that to evangelical purposes so that shows you that flexibility it shows you a certain creativity in the evangelical art he did not proselytize rather he very delicately and indirectly and cleverly evangelized through the imaginations so there's someone taking in these great stories of Tolkien or his friend CS Lewis they're gonna say oh yeah I get that I recognize that pattern so that finally when they hear the gospel they'll say yeah I understand that I learned that from the Lord of the Rings I learned that pattern from the Narnia stories and that was the genius of those fellows the people you know and trust are on EWTN [Music] it is called communion here on EWTN our phone number eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six by the way tomorrow morning on Catholic connection with Teresa Tomeo Teresa is going to be talking about the susan b anthony list and also the UK forced abortion ruling if you've not heard about that Theresa will bring you up to speed tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on EWTN radio and if you're ready now let's go to the phones at eight three three two eight eight EWTN we begin with Renee in San Antonio listening on Guadalupe radio hello Renee what's on your mind today um thank you dr. Anders for answering the question and um I would just because at the end of yesterday's program I think you were saying that it wasn't um consistent with the Bible that Jesus thinks everybody should go to heaven so in 2 Peter 3:9 it says he's not wishing that any man should perish but all should come to repentance and in 2 Timothy 2:4 he desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth and it sounds like you just answered that question so my next question was going to be are we allowed to pray for the soul of Judas if we think he's in purgatory because of Matthew 27 3 it says when Judas saw that Jesus was condemned he repented and he gave the thirty pieces of silver and threw it on the floor so he may have like put in his mind before he hung himself told Jesus even sorry just like people that fall off the bridge maybe say they're sorry before they hit the water so I'm I'm just wondering about that Thanks so I'm gonna give you an opinion I'm gonna give you my theological opinion and you can if you want to take a different opinion that's your prerogative but I'm gonna reason from what I know of the traditions of the church and if you want to come to a different conclusion that's fine by me as I read the Catholic tradition the overwhelming consensus of the church fathers and the Liturgy of the church presumes the damnation of Judas that's the way I read the data now there's not a Dogma we don't like I believe in God the Father and the damnation of Judas you know we don't know that's not articulated as an article of faith that Judas is damned but the kind of the whole structure of the handing out of the deposit of faith in patristic commentary and liturgical prayer and all this kind of business speaks very overtly about Judas being lost and Jesus himself said it'd be better for the men never to have been born and Judas is suicide is is integral to that judgment because it it certainly gives the appearance that Judas died and despair and hanging yourself is a bit different from jumping off a cliff you know I mean there's you've got good 30 seconds on the way down on the glass you know you can you can maybe climb down from the tree when you're hanging so the presumption is that Judas died in in in despair of eternal life so his repentance is was not contrition it was a kind of self-hatred right and there's a difference and there's a despair so in my judgment and again this my judgment you want to argue differently I won't argue with you but in my judgment it's not to the point to pray for Jesus's soul and it is and it is probably against the the spirit of the church's liturgical prayer for 2,000 years now that having been said my wife is such a softy she would pray the devil out of hell if she could right I mean she like she can't abide the thought of anybody you know no matter what they objectively deserve getting what they deserve and you know and so she and I kind of joke about this kind of stuff and go back and forth and I'm like you're probably praying for Hillier aren't you you know however bad they are so I'm sympathetic to where you're coming from she is a sweet woman yeah Renae thank you so much for your call that opens up a line for you now at eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six here's that text we got from Russell checking us out on YouTube if st. john paul ii asked nuns and religious sisters to return to wearing habits why are so many in street clothes yeah thanks that would be because in the communities that we're more modern clothing and not and not they have it that community has judged that that form of dress better fits their charism okay and that's where we live and so you know I mean I don't know any nuns that like you know do new you know construction work as their typical pair awesome but I mean that's kind of rough to pull off at a habit I mean I can see all kinds of circumstances you would adapt your dress to what you think your charism requires Russell thanks for checking us out today on YouTube it's called a communion here on EWTN question now here a text from Jamie I want to join the Catholic Church my husband does not I thought I heard on an EWTN program that I will not be able to take communion if or until my husband joins the church as well nope is this true not true not true not true not true not true not true be very hard to follow the teaching of our Lord if we held that position as Christ said that we have to prefer following him to you know wives husbands lands fields children and grandparents you know cars and house plants but nothing can stand between us and following Christ so you absolutely can join the church without your the rest of your family and and be a commuting member thereof yeah okay and we thank you so much for checking us out today Jamie it is called a communion here on EWTN one-line open right now eight three three two eight eight EWTN Joseph sent us an email he says I recently heard you say that God decides to whom he grants the gift of faith on the other hand you did not disagree with Paul's statement indicating that God wishes all men to be saved so if God wants all men to be saved why would he withhold that possibility from some and not from others okay so you're putting words in my mouth God does not withhold the possibility and the teaching of the church is that God gives sufficient grace to everyone God gives sufficient grace to everyone but efficacious grace only to those whom he for knows will be saved okay right and there's there's dispute and there's a room for disagreement within Catholic theology about what accounts for this difference one thing that cannot account for the difference is simply the freedom of the human will all right it's not like and this is the the heresy of semi-pelagianism that the church condemned is that we initiate the move to God and then he responds by giving us grace that that is incorrect that's Senate of orange ruled that out in the sixth century that's a radical doctrine semi-pelagianism don't hold that it is not true that we start the journey you know by reaching out to God and then he responds and gives us grace nope nope nope wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong turning your eyes heavenward and saying what was me I'm a mess I need your help that turned to God is a work of divine grace once your will begins to turn for himself to God God's already at work in you yeah so all along it remains a human act the act of faith is your act just like my drinking this cup of tea God is not drinking this cup of tea for me but he is certainly cooperating with me and dreaming this cup of tea yeah alright it's my act and my belief is my act but God is there giving the the previous we call it prevenient grace it's the grace that comes before sanctifying grace God is there giving me the pervy Myint grace to enable me to make that turn from self to God in an act of contrition and a cry for help all right and we do appreciate your call or your email as well Joseph thank you so much for it it's called a communion here on EWTN eight three three two eight eight EWTN is our phone number eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six Terri is listing in Kay Ponton bridge at West Virginia listing on st. Paul radio Terri what's on your mind today well I'm calling because few weeks ago my husband and I our nephew was killed in a fire he was only 32 and it's been very difficult for the whole family you know especially for his mother but my husband and I you know I've been added ly praying the Divine Mercy chaplet for the repose of his soul because he was baptized Catholic but he never fulfilled any of any of the other sacraments and he had a hard life when he was here but my concern obviously is for his soul because I don't know where he stands and our concern is for all of our family that exists still today that have fallen away from the church you know we don't I don't know I mean where what is going to happen to him I mean with all the prayers you know when I told my husband that I have been praying a lot for him he said well I don't know I mean can your prayers actually get somebody into heaven that wasn't living in the word and was living in the world and I seem to think that as long as you know we don't know if he's in purgatory we don't know if he's in Hell but if we don't pray and he is in purgatory then I don't know what will happen okay I appreciate the question and I'm I'm what a horrible tragedy it is and we are so sorry for your loss and your family's loss and this is you know there's a great comfort that comes in the faith that alleviates the concern that you're raised is one of the reasons why living an active Catholic life is such a wonderful thing because what it really grounds our hope in a person's salvation and their communion with God when we see them living in communion with his body that's the church and the sacraments when someone is not living a sacramental life or in communion with the church it's like you said we don't know we just don't know we don't know what God was doing in his life we don't know what God may have been doing in his life and the last seconds of his life you know a lot of you've heard of the foxhole conversion you know you don't know you just don't know and so it's not wrong to pray for him you leave the results up to God now I will say that you ought not to burden yourself in the sense that you know oh my god this entire thing is on me you know I've got the job of praying him out of purgatory nobody else is gonna get it done you know and then you and you you almost become kind of like neurotic about it thinking oh did I forget to pray for my nephew today and fifty years later you're still thinking oh I forgot and beat yourself up no this is an act of love and charity right and so it's good to do I think it would be sensible to have a mass said for the repose of a-salt nothing more effective than the Holy Sacrifice of the mass and that would be a that would be a very concrete thing that you could do to this end and it's it's meritorious and it's praiseworthy that you should pray for your nephew that we pray for the dead is one of the works of mercy and yet as you as you pray for your nephew you might also begin to think of others that you could that you could add into that prayer and maybe if you want to I'm not telling you you have to incorporate into your spirituality the regular regular practice of praying for the repose of the souls of those who about whom you don't know I'm sure you've got lots of people that fall in that category and it's it's fitting and it's something you could bring to mass with you forever you're going to keep going to mass the rest of your life you can always bring those people you know we have these prayers for the dead in the mass and we pray for the repose of all those souls that are not mentioned explicitly you can add those intentions every time you go to Mass that's a holy and pious thing to do for the rest of your life and not that burden ISM please know of our prayers for you and for your family Terry thank you so much for your call it's called a communion here on EWTN a couple lines open at the moment eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six Deb is listening in Broken Arrow Oklahoma on Saint Michael radio hey Debra what's on your mind today I'd like to thank you for your ministry and everything you do and I have a friend that says only God can forgive sin so how do I prove to her that Catholic confession is correct right right so I appreciate the question well God says otherwise I mean this is how we're gonna prove it less important it's less important that we prove the necessity of confession more important that we prove the power of priestly absolution now in our experience those things are usually connected but they in principle you can separate them priestly absolution and private confession are two different things generally attached in our experience we have to prove that the church has power from God to forgive sins in his name very simple Jesus said so explicitly in John chapter 20 breathes on the Apostle says receive the Holy Spirit whose sins you forgive are forgiven whose sins you retain are retained period you know no qualifications John 20 there it is there it is okay hey Deb thank you so much for your call it is called a communion here on EWTN David you may remember earlier we got a text from Jamie concerned about she was interested in joining the church but her husband was not at this time and she wanted to know if she could go ahead and proceed for for herself off you go right exactly shiri texted us just a few moments ago and she says it's Jamie again I just wanted to tell dr. Andrews thank you for clearing that up I will be calling my local parish to see about joining hotdogs isn't that cool yes I think so too here and now is Martin in San Antonio listening on Guadalupe radio hey Martin what's on your mind today well I was hearing some of these guy I listened to the show a lot but I've never actually had time to call or not time a car I just never bother calling but I'm listening to these uh these callers about praying for like the souls in purgatory and then the one for Judas on my daily prayer and I just wanna know if it's okay I've always pray for the souls in purgatory and for the souls that are in Hell and I just wanna know if that is that okay or is that ride or are we allowed to or okay thanks so there's there's absolutely no precedent there's no tradition in the Church of praying for souls in hell because they're not getting out right they're not getting out and and the while they're there different forms of suffering in hell the principal form of suffering in hell is their eternal separation from God and their knowledge that their eternally separated from God by their own choice mm-hmm and that's a bad place to be and that's it's irrevocable I mean you know they that's where they are and we're not going to get them out of that situation so it's I think a better way to do it is just pray for the souls of of your departed loved ones and you don't know where they are and you leave the results up to God that's right yeah we don't intend for God to change the state of the Damned because he's not going to lots more straight ahead on this edition of call to Communion do stay with us Gloria Purvis we have the wrong understanding and appreciation of pregnancy we need to do what's best for the child not was convenient for the mother the father or the doctor the leading Catholic voices are on EWTN radio I'm Doug Keck this is a neat uh beach and bookmark brief I just finished speaking with Al Smith compiler and editor of the cries of Jesus from the cross a Fulton sheen anthology published by Sylvia Institute press available through our EWTN religious catalogue EWTN our si.com so he'll tell us what's it about Fulton sheen was one of the best delivers of wisdom timeless truths and this anthology contains classic works that many people are familiar with but there's three lost works in here that many people are interested books that haven't been seen in 80 years the rainbow of sorrows the seven virtues and the seven words to the cross the cries of Jesus from the cross a Fulton sheen anthology we all love Fulton sheen Sophia Institute press available through the EWTN religious catalogue EWTN our si.com look for the entire interview I did without coming soon on the network this has been a bookmark brief thanks for stopping by EWTN teaching the truth I have wanted to thank you so very much thank God thank God you guys are here for us believe it I just can't believe all that you've done and how you stuck with it many times when I think I can't do something I think about some of the things that you talked about EWTN live truth live Catholic hi I'm cyclic later today on Catholic Answers live Trent Horne will be here with us for both hours why are you Pro Catholic Answers live 6 p.m. Eastern on EWTN radio now back to called the communion with dr. David Anders called a communion in progress on this Wednesday afternoon we are so glad that you're with us if you've been wanting to call in but haven't but for whatever reason well today is your chance we've got a line open for you right now eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six Julie is listening in northeastern Pennsylvania on Holy Virgin Mary radio Julie what's on your mind today hi dr. Anders for the sake of a lot of people who may be listening or be in my situation we'll be burying my 16 year old niece who just was killed by a drunk driver she's not baptized we I have a strong faith a lot of our family members have a strong faith and we immediately go towards the Divine Mercy having massive said things like that but for those who are worried about their loved ones the perishing and not having you know provided for death or even a baptism how do we help them yeah thank you and I'm so sorry this is a day of tragedy is very right yeah so again it is it is certainly permissible to pray for the repose of souls that's promoters a meritorious oh it's a it's a it's a good thing to do if the person for whom we are praying was not visibly in communion with the church obviously we are denied some consolation that we would derive from from said participation and this is one of the great goods that comes of being a practicing Catholic that the sacraments are signs of our communion with Christ and not signs only but signs and instruments and so while we're never a presumptuous about our salvation when we know someone is visibly in communed with Christ in the church it gives us a very objective basis for hope in their salvation we are deprived of that when a person is not in communion with the church but it doesn't mean that we're without any hope whatsoever at all because we couldn't rely on the justice and the mercy of God and and the dollars that only God can see the unseen areas of our hearts and we don't know what what His grace may be do what may be doing may be doing and in those secret places even in the moments before somebody's physical death and so we commend them to the mercy of God and we pray for them and entrust them to God's mercy Julia thank you so much for your call again it's called a communion here on EWTN eight three three two eight eight EWTN is our phone number eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six Eadie's checking us out today on youtube Edie says I've been studying the early church fathers could you please explain why they are so silent regarding the Marian doctrines that the Catholic Church declares as Dogma that must be believed and followed yeah I don't think the Marian dogmas are missing in the writings of the early church fathers I think they're very much present and a good way to get at that topic is to read some of the patristic scholarship that focuses in on their mary ology because a lot of times they just have other topics in mind right so if you're reading if you're reading san agustin on the Trinity for example he's on the Trinity he's on the John Mary ology right don't want Agustin on Mary ology you're gonna if I go dig around and find his statements on Mary ology now there mary ology is more kind of scattershot they're not publishing as many treatises on mary ology as they did on the on the Trinitarian and Christological dog must for obvious reasons right but they do talk about it at length in in many places so Hugo Rahner ra h NER Hugo not-not-not the other honor right but Hugo runner has a book called Our Lady and the church which is a study of the patristic mary ology there are a few titles by joseph ratzinger on the same topic that are a good Avenue into this subject matter also John Henry Cardinal Newman has a number of excellent essays on even second century mary ology in the church the title escapes me of those essays exactly but if you want to just search online for John Henry Cardinal Newman mary ology or essays on Mary or something like that I'm sure you'll be able to find it and the earliest Marian Dogma that appears I mean very early in the church's history explicitly is the doctrine that Mary is the second Eve Mary is the second Eve and so much gets packed into that when you think it through you're gonna find that doctrine really really clearly at Irenaeus in his book against heresies you find it in in Justin Martyr and others as well and then from that doctrine of Mary is the second Eve if you think it through you can end up with an understanding of her as mother of the church you can understand the reasons for her Immaculate Conception and her sinlessness and so forth so yeah I do think there there Edie thank you so much for checking us out today on YouTube called a communion here on EWTN we go now to Fred in st. Charles Missouri listening on covenant radio am 1460 hey Fred what's on your mind today I thank you for taking my call yeah the discussion yesterday at least partially on this subject the Catholic doctrine from what I understand is salvation is based on faith plus works and you were had mentioned several scriptures one of the scriptures that wasn't discussed yesterday is Ephesians - 8 through 10 where it says for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not from yourselves it's a gift from God not by works so that no man can boast for we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works which were prepared for us so my understanding is that we work because we're saved we do not work because we're trying to be saved okay so you'd like my response to that well first of all I appreciate the call I think you have misconstrued the Catholic position the way you stated it was that our salvation is based on faith and works and I think that when Paul talks about the relationship of faith to works both in Ephesians 2 and in Romans 3 and 4 Galatians 2 3 and 4 I think he has a completely different question in mind than the one you're framing all right here's how the Catholic Church understands the dynamic the dynamism of salvation of going to heaven when you die a few elements I'd like you to consider and I'm going to come back to Ephesians 2 one of them is there are a number of places in the scriptures where we are told what will happen on the last day and how God will evaluate who goes to heaven and who goes to hell Matthew 25 comes to mind Revelation chapter 20 Romans chapter 2 these are judgment passages all right there are others and in every case we are told that the decision to admit or exclude from heaven will be based on one criterion only and that is works Jesus says and he doesn't it doesn't say based on faith and works it just says works yeah Jesus says me will come to me in the last day say Lord Lord now say away from me I never knew you because here's the things you showed it on and here's the things you did instead revelation 20 says that when God opens the book of life on the last day that he will judge people according to their deeds whether they were good or evil and will you know reward or punish accordingly Romans 2 says same thing any other apocalyptic texts in the New Testament are similar the very same book of Ephesians that you just quoted st. Paul says among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity or greed nor should to be obscenity foolish talk or coarse joking for this you can be sure no immoral impure or greedy person such a person is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of God in Christ let no one deceive you with empty words because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient therefore don't be partners with them pretty clear yeah so very same book of Ephesians so we're gonna be judged by our works period in two paragraph that's what scripture says Jesus says it Paul says it John says it but the question arises how are we gonna get these works done because I sense in myself that I'm not up to the job and for that we rely on grace to actually get the works done I have to have grace because they they transcend my the limits of my ability I can't get them done in fact I can't even get the first two done love God above all things love your neighbor as yourself I cannot I can't give it an even out of the starting blocks without grace how do I get grace faith faith when I believe Christ even and and and the sacraments are really kind of an intensification and application of the dynamism of faith they are the sacraments of faith sacraments of fidei Thomas calls them when I when I believe Christ I receive the gift of sanctifying grace God's grace that then empowers me to do the works by which God will judge me and so san agustin would say god crowns he rewards his own gifts the works that I do that merit salvation are worked in me through the gift of grace that is received in response to faith now how do we how do we ground this in Scripture and how does it relate to Ephesians 2 well you know st. Paul go look at Romans 2 says it's those who obey the law who will be justified Romans 2:13 those who obey the law will be justified but of ourselves were powerless to obey the law so we have to have our hearts circumcised Romans 2 25 to 29 says that when our hearts are circumcised all right then we fulfill the righteous requirements of the law the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts Romans 5:5 through the gift of faith it's not by works so I can't I cannot compel God to give me that gift of sanctifying grace by proving what a great guy I am look I don't get up and go okay I'm gonna earn God's grace today doesn't work that way you got you got the cart before the horse yeah alright but even that's not what Paul has in mind Paul's really talking about whether whether Gentile believers have to follow the law of Moses to be accounted members of the church those are the works he has in mind just go read the text circumcision daily and Sabbath days dietary laws that sort of thing he says these are the works of the law they don't justify and in fact the whole mosaic legislation all 613 commandments keeping those or attempting to is not going to make you righteous if I can hand you the legal codes I hear go keep that that's not going to make you righteous what makes you righteous is the love of God shed abroad in your heart through the gift of faith whereby you do those deeds on the basis of which God will judge you so seasons 2 8 and 9 we're justified saved by faith and not by works of all absolutely there you go absolutely okay and Fred we thank you so much for your call in a moment here we're going to get to Brad in Nova Scotia first of all I want to tell you about EWTN s media missionaries are you familiar with these good folks they prayerfully take EWTN to parishes and the community through the print and electronic media that we provide you've probably seen some perhaps EWTN program guides or program schedules in the entrance of your church those didn't get just put there by accident those were placed there with the permission of your pastor by an EWTN missionary so if this is something that you would like to tackle and some other wonderful things as well visit EWTN missionaries dot-com EWTN missionaries comm today join us in sharing the Eternal Word with the world it is called a communion here on EWTN as promised bread in Halifax Nova Scotia listening to us today on Sirius XM 130 hello Brad what's on your mind today hi good afternoon guys yeah I just want to say I completely enjoy your show I've been listening on and off for the last couple of years I'm a happy Protestant born Protestant raised Protestant I realized that David certainly has a background in Protestantism when my mother-in-law died who was Catholic two and a half years ago the service there was was one of the the most beautiful I had experienced and a real eye-opener for me it was in the Catholic Church and the the service was had a different tone than any that I had ever experienced in a Catholic Church there was sincerity there was love there was the evangelical message and here in our province we've grown up with the same prejudices we've shared the same stories about Catholics and for me this was an eye-opener that wow maybe the millions and millions of Catholics in the world from my Protestant perspective are actually saved on their on their way to heaven and your show over the last couple years has really drawn me to that conclusion and I praise the Lord for that but my question after listening I realized that not only do I believe that you are God's children and you're you're living a wonderful life of faith but I'm challenged by the fact that you actually spin the other way almost like Protestants do and say you Protestants you need to come on over to the Catholic Church so that's my question long form getting to it but as a happy Protestant in a happy little almost like a brethren fellowship where we break bread every Sunday and I'm sort of a lay pastor why do you believe from the Catholic Church or David from your perspective that I can't remain a happy Protestant what what are the benefits if you will or whether the necessities that would require me to to become Catholic all right thanks I appreciate the question it's interesting that you bring happiness into it and I might bracket that and come back to the question of happiness as you know that's interesting here's why straight up the Catholic Church teaches and I believe that Christ revealed his will to humanity in sacred tradition of which Scripture is a part we say that again Christ revealed his will for Humanity in sacred tradition of which Scripture is a part and entrusted the deposit of faith the tradition of the church his tradition everything that he didn't taught and said and wished it to be handed on he entrusted that to authorized individuals with a promise of divine assistance and a command that they perpetuate that teaching and hand it down from generation to generation where did he do this well we have a record of it in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew chapter 28 Christ said to the Apostles to the eleven go therefore make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son the Holy Spirit teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you well as you know Jesus didn't write a word down he didn't write one word of the New Testament everything he did was oral or by way of example or through the institution of ritual he took all of that handed it the apostles and teach that to all the disciples everything I've commanded you and I will be with you to the end of the age a promise of divine assistance and we think he said what he meant and meant what he so first of all if I want to be a disciple of Christ it is necessary that I receive from the Apostles or or those deputized to carry on their ministry everything that Christ commanded believing that when he said to Saint Peter the gates of Hell will not prevail against the church believing that he said what he meant and what he said now I was raised Protestant like you and I was taught that Christ not explicitly right but implicitly that Christ was a liar because I believed that the gates of hell had prevailed and and it is it is endemic to Protestant belief that I mean it's essential really to hold that the thread of truth that was taught by Christ was lost only to be recovered in the 16th century by Martin Luther and and that that awareness became only more refined only more specified when I read Protestant historians Protestant historians men like Alister McGrath in his two-volume history of the doctrine of justification who freely admitted that nobody in Christian history for 1500 years anywhere in the world believed anything like what Luther believed you you cannot locate Lutheranism on a map except in 16th century Saxony and so I was faced with the decision either Jesus is a liar and the thread of saving doctrine was in fact lost until Luther is the first person in history to get it right or maybe Jesus was correct and Luther was wrong right so how is it meant to be transmitted not through scripture alone but sacred tradition of which Scripture is a part entrusted to a church with teaching Authority guaranteed by Christ's divine authority with the promise that it will never fail and then when I do the simple historical analysis like where is the religious body that stands in direct historic continuity to that founded by Jesus and that would be the Catholic Church right and so you got the fullness of the truth fullness of the truth all the truth I need about Christ from sacred tradition handed on by the church's teaching authority got to have the whole truth not just part of the truth but the whole truth all right I need also all the means of grace not from the Catholic point of view Protestants have some means of grace in particularly they've got baptism they've got marriage yep they've got you know ninety-eight percent of the Bible right they have means of grace they'll have all the means of grace I don't have all the means of grace Christ established seven sacraments for a reason right he wanted us to make use of that might give you one in particular Christ said to be apostles in John 20 receive the Holy Spirit whoever sins you forgive or forgiven whoever sins you retain are retained he would not have given the church the power to absolve sins if he didn't intend for the church to use it if I'm not a Catholic I cannot avail myself of that Greece that's one of several examples all the truth that Christ intended to be conveyed all of the grace that he intended us to access the means of grace he one of us have access to and then finally the the visible unity of the people of God United in one visible fellowship under a common head is a good that I can only realize in the Catholic Church and it is the intent of Christ that I so realize it he's praised in John 17 that all who believe in him may be one so that the world can know so it's a visible unity st. Paul 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 10 says I insist that you agree on everything and if Emma naeun wants to be contentious first concede 1116 we have no other practice nor do the Churches of God the catholicity of the faith the one faith uniting all the Christians throughout the world visibly right now visibly uniting them to participate in that unity of the faith is an incredible good it is an it is an incomparable good you do not I did not experience this you know when I was a Protestant I was conscious that or I believed myself to hold the truth that other right-thinking people like me held and I was conscious that I there is was really no way to draw a really hard and fast box and call it this is all the truth about which we have to agree and to be able to identify all those people throughout history and the present who held the right doctrines namely the ones that I held right I was conscious of you know more or less getting it right as I thought with this or that congregation or this or that historical figure but when I stepped into the stream of Catholic unity I realized that I was the one that was being incorporated into a dogma of the faith that was visible public and determinate in content that was the one faith held by all the Catholic faithful from the beginning everywhere throughout the world down to the present day well it was in it was a dizzyingly awesome realization that I could be incorporated into that body of truth and find my unity visibly and publicly with the whole body of the Catholic faithful all the truth all means of grace and that visible unity that Christ desires for us these are the motives to become Catholic now they go back to the question of happiness what might move you from your current state of happiness to becoming Catholic unhappiness sure for me I was a happy Protestant so to speak right until the cognitive dissonance of my situation overwhelmed me when I realized that the the doctrinal positions that I held were incoherent and you thought I just can't stay where I am anchor and one of them that was incoherent was the idea for example that that I should discern God's will through scripture alone that script that that doctrine was an article of faith and then I thought well is it taught in Scripture I realized it wasn't no no the doctrine of Scripture alone was not a scriptural doctrine so the thing is self refuting it's incoherent one of many difficulties and it became impossible for me intellectually to make an act of faith in divine revelation as it was presented to me within traditional Protestant dogmatix I became very unhappy very fast because I couldn't live at odds with my own intellect I also realized that my life was not as holy as it ought to be and I needed to lay hold of all those graces that Christ offered me in the church so I was unhappy with myself in that sense as well so I became unhappy pretty quick and becoming happy was a very strong motive for becoming Catholic sure but finally you know I think I don't think you would you would turn to a you know a perfectly happy atheistic slave trader and say well you know you're happy is an atheistic slave trader why don't you just stay there like happiness the subjective reporting of one's happiness it's not an adequate guide for choosing a way of life I mean it's something there's not the whole show like virtue nobility truth love honor and God these are higher motives than my own subjective experience of happiness Brad we're delighted that you're one of our listeners and please don't be a stranger call us back sometime we'd love to hear from you had to leave a bunch of people on the table I'm very sorry about that John and Cincinnati Cathy and Topton North Carolina Beth in Rochester New York Christopher in Staunton Virginia please call us back either tomorrow or on the day of your choice and I promise we will put you at the head of the line dr. David Andrews thank you sir thank you Tom we do the program Monday through Friday at 2:00 p.m. Eastern here on EWTN with an encore at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and a best of show on Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on behalf of Charles Ryan and Jeff I'm Tom price along with dr. David Andrews we'll see you tomorrow here on EWTN s called to Communion you have a great day and bless hey yo this is fault

Channel: EWTN

Views: 3,088

Rating: 4.8461537 out of 5

Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: d2Nef7N7l4A

Length: 54min 11sec (3251 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 26 2019