CALLED TO COMMUNION - Dr. David Anders - June 8, 2020

being welcomed in a returning home having left the faith for more news with a Catholic perspective is at EWTN news calm I'm Teresa Tomeo and call 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 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 sins to a priest what's stopping you this is called to communion with dr. David Anders on the EWTN global Catholic radio network hey everybody welcome again to called the communion this is a program for our non Catholic brothers and sisters and if that is you we would love to hear from you 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 are listening to us outside of North America please dial the us country code and then two O five 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 also you can send us an email if you prefer that we've got an email standing by here CTC at emaii wtn dot-com is the address CTC at ewtn.com Charles Barry is our producer Ryan Penney is our phone screener Jeff persons on social media he'll pass on any questions that you may want to pose via YouTube or Facebook live we are streaming there right now I'm Tom price along with dr. David Anders Tom how are you today I'm great how was your weekend sir alright thank you glad to hear that we're gonna lead off here with an email from Lily checking us out on Facebook Lily says my question is about Judas even though he betrayed Jesus he obviously loved him since he was an apostle could he have asked forgiveness of the Lord and actually be in heaven or purgatory I know that he hung himself but the devil drove him to do it correct okay thanks I appreciate the question so first of all it's not heaven to me that Judas obviously loved Christ I have to beg to differ in fact he was there that doesn't mean that he was right you usually don't plot to murder people that you love Yeah right I think that Judas loved what he wanted Christ to be not who Christ was he had his own agenda for what he wanted Jesus to accomplish when he realized that that was not Jesus's agenda he became disaffected and disillusioned and plotted to kill the Messiah so I don't really think that that qualifies as love but the question could he have repented yeah sure he could have and while he didn't repent he did come to regret which is not exactly the same thing what he did to to adjust man to the unjust murder of a just man he came to regret that recognized that that was a terrible thing to do but he didn't really repent he didn't seek reconciliation with God and he died in despair now in terms of whether or not Judas could be in heaven so the the the consensus of the church fathers and the liturgy the oral tradition of the church on this question is pretty pessimistic about the fate of Judas and of course following up on the words of our Lord Himself who said it'd be better for the guy not to have been born yikes so it's not looking good for Judas no it's not looking good for Judas okay appreciate that and here's an email from Carol who says dr. Anders when we recite the Apostles Creed we state that we believe in the resurrection of the body recently I've attended several Catholic funerals where the body has been cremated can there be a resurrection of the body if the body is cremated and what does the Catholic Church teach about cremation thanks for your time with my question and then that's again signed from Carol yeah thanks girl I appreciate the question so the the question you ask goes to the church's historical preference for burial as the mode for disposing of the remains of the Dead okay and it was for a long time the law on the Catholic Church that you could not cremate because of our belief in the sanctity of the body and because of the association that cremation has with superstitious beliefs and practices so even today even though the church now allows cremation cremation is not allowed if it is done for superstitious reasons so for example if somebody wanted to be cremated and have their ashes scattered on the ganges or you know thrown over the Rocky Mountains or something the church would say no you can't do that you you even if you cream it you still have to place the remains in in a sacred way and treat them with reverence and respect because of our belief of the sanctity of the body and the resurrection of the dead now the question can God resurrect the body if there's no body left well there's somebody left there's some body left now obviously we don't this is speculation but the medieval theologians believe that as long as there was basically a particle of the original matter remaining that was enough for God to work with now I don't think we have revelation that gives us the specifics on precisely how God is going to go about resurrecting the body and transforming it but even you know that's like God needs anything God could recreate it out of nothing if you wanted to but with cremation you don't have nothing you do have you do have material remains all right very good appreciate your email let's close with this one from Zak who says dear dr. Anders some people say that we can embrace truths in other religions are there truths in non-christian religions that are not in the Catholic Church and can you name any okay thanks I appreciate the question so when you talk about a truth not being in the Catholic Church I got to play with that idea right because so Euclid's geometry is it in the Catholic Church or not all right so I mean I work in Catholic education we have some Catholic schools if I walk in a Catholic school and pick up a geometry text is that in the Catholic Church cuz it's sitting in a Catholic school building it's not the sort of thing that's proclaimed as a dogma it's not like the Pope is gonna come out and say I declare the Pythagorean theorem you know to be revealed by God sure it's not it's not in the faith in that way but it's clearly it's clearly within the the frame of reference of Catholic thinking right now the the sort of the scope of Catholic intellectual reflection over 2,000 years encompasses an absolutely vast vast body of material and it would also include Catholic reflection on the philosophical or historical or religious imaginations of other people right in the same way that say Euclid's geometry in there and so so you know Catholic intellectual history the Catholic intellectual tradition is the tradition of reflecting on all of the data of the natural world in the social human world in light of the revelation that we have in Jesus and so in that way as soon as the truth is discovered by a Catholic thinker it enters into the flow of the Catholic intellectual tradition fascinating so it's not really excluded yeah I got you all right does Zak thank you so much for your question in a moment here we'll get to the phones talk with Erica in Eugene Oregon we have a line open for you as well at eight three three two eight eight EWTN stay with us he is honored by the church as one of the greatest enemies of clergy sexual abuse Matthew Bunsen and the doctors of the church in his time st. Peter Damien fought against the many vices of contemporary clergy especially sexual abuses among the clergy in 1051 he wrote the book of gomorrah that is still considered essential reading for fighting abuse today he died in 1072 for more about the doctors of the church visit doctors of the church calm i have no cake this is an EWTN bookmark brief just had the pleasure speaking with Jeff Cavins about his book the activated disciple taking your faith in the next level tell us Jeff what's this book about why did you write it well the activated disciple taken your faith for the next level is really about challenging people to go from studying the faith and and being interested in the faith my would daresay maybe it's a hobby to some people to actually following Jesus taking what you've learned putting it into practice faith really is two things an intellectual assent yes I believe these things but it's also a personal entrusting of yourself as Pope Benedict you know spoke about and and that involves getting up and actually following him on a day-to-day basis the activated discipled taking your faith to the next level by the one only Jeff Cavins available through our EWTN religious catalog look for the entire interview coming soon on the network this has been an awgn bookmark brief thank you for stopping by [Music] it's a great show lined up for you tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Morning Glory with Gloria Purvis Deccan Herald Berg severs and father Bjorn lumbered they're gonna be talking about the black d-day hero who was actually denied the Medal of Honor one of the other subjects they'll be tackling the two feasts honoring the Eucharist great program everybody every weekday 7:00 a.m. Eastern it's morning glory right here on EWTN radio if you're ready now let's go to the phones at eight three three two eight eight EWTN we begin with Erika in Eugene Oregon listening on modern day radio Erica what's on your mind today hi guys I have a question st. Pius the tenth order can you tell me a little bit about their history and what what the professor was all about and what is their current status okay sure appreciate it so after the Second Vatican Council there was a Catholic bishop archbishop lefebvre who was concerned about maintaining the patrimony of Catholic tradition and not allowing the reforms of the Second Vatican Council or the reform of the liturgy to overshadow what he considered to be the the goods of the tradition so to speak and so he started this priestly fraternity the the society Saint Pius attempt with that specific aim in mind I'm sort of retaining the liturgical induction allow many of the Catholic faith with with a kind of a strong emphasis on traditional forms and he had some problems with the way the Second Vatican Council was articulated and also with the way the liturgical form was carried out and he operated with with with the permission of the church up in to the point when john paul ii forbade him to ordain bishops for his society and archbishop lefebvre disobeyed the pope and and and ordained bishops and at that point he was excommunicated and those that were affiliated with him were also excommunicated from the church and they ceased to have any jurisdiction or or canonical status within the Catholic Church however the people that the bishops and priests that were in the society were validly ordained bishops and priests they didn't stop being bishops and priests having that sacrament of orders and so when they continued to celebrate the sacraments at least some of their sacraments continued to be valid even though they were illicit and it's been around for a while now several decades and so there are there are people who have grown up in this society and have never known an obedient full communion with the Catholic Church and out of care and solicitude to those souls in particular the church has really gone out of its way to attempt to reconcile this group and to and to offer some accommodations for their liturgical and doctrinal sensibilities but but but to no avail or - not much avail now what happened of great significance as the church lifted the excommunications so the members of the society they're no longer excommunicated and Pope Francis in just an extraordinary act of generosity actually extended faculties to some of their priests because conscious of the fact that there were that there were souls through no fault of their own who were growing up in in this in this group and they had valid but illicit masses but didn't have valid confessions because their priests and their bishops lack jurisdiction and they didn't have valid marriages for the same reason the Pope made some accommodations and unilaterally granted jurisdiction to their priests to validly hear confessions and under some circumstances and that actually is to be determined by the local Catholic ordinary also to celebrate marriages and so we're in kind of a strange situation where you've got validly ordained bishops and priests that that lack any ordinary Catholic jurisdiction and so they're operating they continue to operate in disobedience to the Pope and and and resist the efforts of the Magisterium to reconcile them and they resist the overtures that have made in their direction and and yet some of their sacraments are valid and some of them are valid in an extraordinary way as the Pope has actually granted them faculty so Chuck goes to show I think how much the Pope and the church wants to reach out to these people to bring them to unity and to and to listen seriously to their grievances and to make some allowances in their direction so we're continuing to pray for the reconciliation of this and other schismatic groups into the unity of the Catholic faith Erica is that helpful for you well I have no idea why why is the society would not try to cooperate with the Pope good question well you know that's a very good question question I'm not gonna speculate on their motives okay we'll leave it at that Erica thank you so much for your call 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 Monday afternoon here on EWTN radio Georges watching us on youtube right now George says if Catholics believe that the Eucharist takes away venial sins and they don't feel as if they have mortal sin on their soul why is confession recommended so often okay thanks so confession is a sacrament it's a sacrament right what is a sacrament a sacrament is a sign it's a symbol that has Christ's promise to actually deliver the thing being symbolized and like all the sacraments it brings sanctifying grace which helps us in our in our life of holiness so let's look at some of the benefits of confession they come into the practice first of all it begins on the penitent side with an examination of conscience well that's just a really good thing to do on a regular basis that's good for anybody I don't care if you're not in mortal sin it's good to examine your life and to know yourself humility self-knowledge is really the foundation of the life of virtue and the life of faith so we should do that on a regular basis it proceeds with an act of humility you reveal your faults to another human being so before we even get to the sacramental aspect we're already dealing with some spiritual disciplines that are just very important for growth in any domain self-knowledge humility accountability these things are just tremendously powerfully beneficial now here comes here comes the words of Absolution from the priests so that that objectively reconciles us to God now if you have mortal sin you really really need that desperately to restore the life of grace but let's say you don't have mortals in the absolution still works all right and it's a cup so we have that objective promise from Christ that your sins are in fact forgiven that is a tremendous psychological benefit to know that you are objectively reconciled to God that whatever troubles your conscience has been done away with you are forgiven that's a tremendous encouragement in the life of faith and then finally this this this infusion of sanctifying grace God's accompaniment his his very own life given to us in in a powerful way through the sacraments that will strengthen us and holiness whatever you know whether we're coming from from the one-yard line or the 99-yard you know that we still need that growth God's accompaniment and help in the life of grace so for all these reasons confession it's just a really beneficial thing to do even if you're not in the state of mortal sin however it's it's mandatory for us if we're in the state of mortal sin not mandatory otherwise but still tremendously useful George thanks for checking us out today on youtube called a communion here on EWTN in progress let's go now to Ann in San Antonio listening on Guadalupe radio hey Ann what's on your mind today yes thank you dr. Anders for talking about this again but I just have to ask the question is regarding the first one about Judas and I know he was sorry immediately because he gave the money back he did not use one cent for his own personal pleasure or benefit and so to be to be forgiven of sin first of course you have to be sorry you have to make restitution which he did he gave the money back now the third thing is he has to ask for forgiveness so my question is because his chemistry was so messed up with depression and this goes for for anybody to commit suicide their chemistry is so messed up could he have asked God I'm sorry for what I'm about to do but I just can't live with myself because of what I done and then he commits suicide could he asked for forgiveness prior to committing it knowing that she didn't have the ability to live with himself because his chemistry was so messed up for what he did is that possible okay and and I think there's a lot behind this question right there's a lot behind this question and that doesn't just pertain to the to the life of Judas but this is a question that is of great moment to many people who are suffering with with depression anxiety despair you name it and they're trying to find a way forward and they have they have maybe even thoughts of death all right could be passive could be active suicidal ideation look I am person who struggles with depression I am I mean I'm a neurotic soul I have my ups and downs or highs and lows and I know what it is like to despair of life and meaning to to feel like I can't put one foot in front of the other or go on who-who longs to know you know Tao to connect with God or other people and just some days doesn't feel like it's a it's an option don't even feel like I'm capable of doing it I'm sympathetic I'm profoundly sympathetic to anybody that's struggling in that in that situation and and you know maybe body chemistry has something to do with it maybe it does in my case maybe it does in your case or somebody else's case these are the these are the conditions right that frame our emotional life and yet even when I'm struggling even if I'm wrestling with despair or depression or whatever it is I remain conscious that whatever the cause of that whatever the the physiological or neurological or psychosocial background to what I'm suffering I still retain some moral responsibility and and the mystery of human freedom is that in spite of all those things in my background there's still some point of decision that's mine and I have to and I have to live in that and that's where meaning is found and and there are reasons for me to keep going even if I don't feel them you know my family my wife my children my parents my friends my church my civilization my patrimony they're there there are things beyond me there are reasons to keep going even when I don't feel like keeping going regardless of what the causes are of my despair and I have to I have to have to embrace that I have to recognize it's not necessarily about me and my feelings right now it's about they're there they're people that I love there are causes that I love and and I'm gonna bring this despair and this depression to God you know the psalmist does this in Psalm 88 it's my favorite song sometimes God you've taken everything away from me I have no friends and my one companion is darkness that's what the psalmist says the book of Ecclesiastes says happy is the man who dies in infancy better yet him who was never born that's a man who understood depression from the inside out but what's he doing about it he's telling God about it he's taking his despair and his anxiety and his depression and his loneliness and his grief and he's not asking that they be taken away he's making them integral to his understanding of his relationship to God he's just putting them in the face of God today we would call that venting wouldn't haze venting yeah right but he's venting to God yes because he's conscious that God's eyes are on him and that his life has lived in the presence of God even if for him right now it is a moment of great torment and we have that choice we have that choice to live our grief and our sorrow in the presence of God even if it if it defies our understanding and imagination and so I would never encourage anybody to to to say I'm let's let's take a pass on the responsibility of living I would never encourage them I would encourage them to reach out right there are and today you know a lot more than in Judas's day there are there are people to reach out to there are counselors there are friends there are pastors probably in in somebody's neighborhood they may even have Catholic family services or Catholic social services I would reach out to them I would just keep reaching out okay and god bless you thank you so much for your call we appreciate it it is called a communion here on EWTN a quick question here from been watching us on Facebook is there an edict or some such thing from way back when that ended by burning at the stake our producer says he thinks that Ben is referring to heretics during the Middle Ages anything about burning at the stake okay yeah thanks so so the death penalty for heresy has always been a civil punishment its imposed by the civil authorities not by the church the church never has executed anybody civil authorities have executed people and so that would be that would be state by state government by government in the in the Civil Code the Penal Code of those particular civilizations and so the date will be different in different places you know I'm I you know I've taught my head I'm thinking about some executions for heresy that I know took place in the 16th century in Catholic countries you know we had some in in in the colonies as well the American colonies early on and but I can't tell you definitively when when that would have been ended now you know the church did cease to endorse those those civil penalties and and I can't actually give you a date I wish I could tell you off the top of my head okay well that's when we're gonna have to leave that one then Ben thank you for watching us today on Facebook we do appreciate that called a communion here on EWTN let me give you our phone number we do have three lines open at the moment and that number 8 3 3 2 8 8 EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six you can so text the letters ewtn two five five zero zero zero or you can shoot us an email CTC at ewtn.com all right in just a couple of moments here we'll be talking with Nick in Philadelphia watching us on YouTube a first-time caller also jose in san benito texas checking us out today on youtube we will also have eileen who is calling from my mother's birthplace Collinsville Illinois it's also where Jack Williams grew up how about that she's checking us out on EWTN television today so lots more us straight ahead again the phone number eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six called a communion in progress on this Monday afternoon here on EWTN stay with us [Music] Teresa Tomeo it's our goal to help each and every listener take this beautiful faith of ours out into the public square with great ideas on making a difference through engaging the culture the leading Catholic voices are on EWTN radio you've ever heard the book the endurance it's a mind-blowing story Shackleton brought a group of explorers and they were gonna go to the South Pole but instead they got stuck in the ice on the way there and their boat was stuck in the ice for what I think over 450 days before it got smashed and they got out in the ice and they went to an island it's an unbelievable journey that they all lived through but here was someone's key that we can learn from the endurance for how we have to endure our current circumstances they kind of schedule on the boat they kept a balance of work and of play a balance of social time of getting outside even on the polar ice and a balance of being inside working on things listen you have to keep that balance right now what drives us right now can't necessarily be accomplishing all our two dues the to-do list comes to an end at a certain time of the day that it's time to play but it's time to pray keep these things going you'll be amazed at how you can get through as you're stuck in the in the ice pack and a boat with your family god bless you for more text chris at four four one four four this is Krista fanuc on ewtn radio hi this is Jerry and Debbie do you want to help us make take two even better go to tape to show calm and take the tape to sixty second survey and help us decide on topics to celebrate our five-year anniversary this show wouldn't be possible without you so show us what you want to hear by taking the tape to survey at take to show Calm just click on the happy anniversary card at the top of the page and join us for take two with Jerry and Debbie weekdays at noon eastern on EWTN radio hi this is sy Keller later today on Catholic Answers live chat horn joins us for two hours and we ask you why aren't you religious Galvin answers live 6 p.m. Eastern on EWTN radio now back to call to communion with dr. David Anders [Music] so glad you're with us today on call to communion here on EWTN we have one line open hope to get to as many calls as we can in this hour the number 8 3 3 to 880 EWTN all right back to the phones right now here is Nick in Philadelphia listening on youtube a first-time caller hey Nick what's on your mind today Oh dr. Andrews thank you for taking my question I was reading Genesis earlier today when I came upon the story of Noah's covenant with God one verse genesis 9:4 says that man should not eat meat with blood still in it and this prompted a larger question in me which is why the Catholics not follow Jewish dietary traditions such as kosher tradition we received the commandments in the Old Testament so I'm not sure why we shouldn't follow other Old Testament teachings like those dietary tradition ok great thanks I appreciate the question so the reason why is that according to st. Paul the purpose of the dietary laws and and the entirety of the Mosaic legislation was to single out the nation state of Israel and distinguish them from their Gentile neighbors and just about everything in the code existed for that purpose and so what they ate what they wore where they walked where they sat who they married who they ate with particularly who they ate with so that Israel could be recognized as a distinct socio-cultural religious entity in in the ancient Canaanite world now the point of the gospel is in fact to to make the God of Abraham available to the entire world not through adherence to the Mosaic law but by faith in Christ and the righteousness that God places upon the heart so st. Paul tells us in the book of Galatians that the Mosaic legislation was a pedagogue a tutor to lead us to Christ but now in the death of Christ the the the dividing wall of hostility that's how he refers to what he calls the law and the commandments is now done away with and we're one in Christ and there's no longer Jew nor Greek slave nor free male nor female but we're all one in Jesus and so the purpose of the dietary legislation it served its purpose and it no longer has that purpose and and actually to follow Mosaic legislation especially the dietary code in fact contradicts the very meaning of the gospel which is reconciliation and peace that's why if you go back and read the book of Galatians Paul is dealing with the church there that had he had evangelist and had brought to faith in Christ after Paul moves on some folks come from Jerusalem and tell the new converts they should follow the Mosaic law they should avoid certain dietary certain foods and they should circumcise themselves and Paul writes the Galatians and literally says if you go through with this then Christ will be of no value to you because what you're doing is is radically undercutting the purpose of the gospel which is the reconciliation of all peoples not not marking them out by what's done in the flesh by the hands of men all right and we appreciate your call Nick thank you so much for it by the way we also heard from one of our listeners on YouTube who really appreciated your words David about depression this person says as one who lives with depression it is a very comforting response what a beautiful and sensitive answers I just want to pass it is called a communion here on EWTN let's go now to Jose in San Benito Texas listening on youtube Jose what's on your mind today hey there I don't know the exact plays of the Bible but I think it's in the Old Testament it talks about repetition not repeating the players we tend to repeat players on the on on the rosary and you know other occasions as well can you elaborate than that oh yeah sure first of all so there is not a single passage of the Bible nowhere in the bible does it forbid us to repeat prayers no where does it say that in Sacred Scripture on the contrary the Bible illustrates to us the principle of repetitive prayer in particular the Psalms some of the Psalms are are very very repetitive like Psalm 136 extremely repetitive prayers our Lord Jesus Christ when his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray gave them a verbal formula to be repeated namely the Lord's Prayer or the our Father and so it's not true that scripture forbids repetitive prank there is in the gospel Christ says when you pray do not pray like the Gentiles who believe that they will be heard because of their many words that's the text that you have in mind it's not a prohibition on repetition repetition is very biblical it's a prohibition on believing that you will be heard because of your many words so what would that look like well let's say somebody thinks that you know in virtue of the fact that I've prayed 10 our fathers or a hundred our fathers or $50,000 fathers God will necessarily give me what I want you know as long as I as long as I do the magic formula enough times I'll get what I want it's not true guys it's not magic prayer is not magic we're not we can't bend God to our will right as if we could somehow manipulate him using a magic formula and that's what Jesus is criticizing and there were there were pagans who who would pray litanies of multiple gods in the hopes that one of them would be listening if we named everybody in the room maybe somebody will answer the prayer right yeah that's not the Christians attitude in prayer that's why Jesus says don't do that instead say our Father hmm and you learn to approach God not as some magical formula but as a father now if you're a child you know when I was a kid I used to ask my father for a go-kart I got the same answer every time I asked the answer was always no I never got to go car got a lot of things asked for from my father the go-kart was not one of them he was afraid I was gonna kill myself on that go-kart I probably would have to thanks funny been a wild man on that go-kart you should have seen what I did with a big wheel oh I was dangerous on a big wheel I would have been hell on wheels on a go-kart right now does that mean that my father didn't respond to my requests oh he did he gave me what I needed right and that's what Christ tells us to ask for you look at the Lord's Prayer most of the of the requests in the Lord's Prayer are spiritual in nature how would be thy name forgive me right I do ask for one material thing give them us give us a stay our daily bread but most of them have to do with coming to bring our interior life in it to accord with God's will not bending God to my will but mending my will to God Jose thank you so much for your call called a communion here on EWTN just got a a note here from Jordan who is watching us on YouTube Jordan says I am a Protestant pastor who has made the quote mistake of diving into church history well we've seen how that turns out he says in light of that can you recommend any resources which show the inconsistencies of Luther the disunity among reformers etc oh heavens yes you need to read Marc Edwards book Luther and the false brethren Luther and the false brethren wouldn't be bad to read Luth his book Luther's last battles now a sympathetic biography of Luther its sympathetic but I think it'll still help you get a really really comprehensive picture of Luther in his historical theological context as heiko obermann's book Luther man between God and the devil and the title kind of tells you what you need to know I see Luther was a person who had a very apocalyptic world view thought the world was coming to an end a very ideological thinker intended to divide his universe into the good people and the bad people and the good people were the ones that thought like Luther and the bad people were everybody else and it didn't I mean Catholics fell into the bad people category but so did other Protestants you know he really had a hard time with with Munster he couldn't stand swingley you know and and his highly paranoid solipsistic way of approaching theology was just deeply damaging and and look I this is my own personal interpretation as someone who studied a lot of Luther back in the day I think Luther was depressed I think he had bipolar disorder because he writes about these manic highs where he was sure God was talking to them and these these dark depressive lows where he thought the devil was beating him up he was obsessive-compulsive scrupulous it etype he never could get his conscience clear no matter what he did and he beat himself furiously now growing up in Protestant land you learned that that's all the fault of Catholics like the poor Catholics are the reason that Luther was so neurotic and the scale started to fall from my eyes when I was I did my PhD in in Reformation social history and I went through just hundreds and hundreds of interviews with from the Genevan City consistory of the consistory of pastors in the city of Geneva in the 1550s and and these were all the people that picked Calvin and his and his pastoral colleagues were an interview for infractions against religious law in Geneva they would interview them on their lives and their spirituality and some reading just just hundreds of testimonies of what everyday Protestants were like and Catholics for that matter in 16th century Geneva and what I found out was none of them were like Luther like for Calvin the problem that he had with his contemporaries wasn't that they were all running around with these scrupulous conscience beating themselves up he had the opposite problem they were all Libertines that didn't want him telling him what to do you know and I began to realize that this that this this propaganda trope that the Reformers circulated that oh all Catholics have tormented consciences was just that it was political propaganda you know just like all Republicans know that Democrats are bad and all Democrats know the Republicans are bad they did the same thing back then and so there was this narrative that Luther created out of his own life that then he imposed as propaganda on the entire civilization and it became like the de-facto narrative oh we all know that Catholics at neurotics what really happened was Luther was neurotic mm-hmm and he theologist his pathology and then created a spirituality around it and forced it down the throat of everybody else so you know I think it was pretty pretty darn harmful you know this is somebody who grew up in that kind of sort of neurotic tradition of constantly being yourself up and thinking that everything you did was filthy rags and you were completely depraved and why even bother well I even bother I can't do anything to please God that's what I learned to grow it up you know in that theology but but Marc Edwards Lutheran the false brethren okay would be great if you want an analysis of Luther's divisive hate-filled attitude towards people who disagreed with him Jordan thanks so much for your call your question we're very glad that you're listening to us today on YouTube don't be a stranger contact us again called a communion here on EWTN if you're listening on a Catholic radio station that's fantastic we're on over 350 AM and FM stations around the country and a local radio station is a great way to you know connect with the local community if you're listening to us some other way but you've been thinking about starting up a Catholic radio station here's a great contact for you Jack Williams at here at the network we'll be glad to give you the answers on how to start up a Catholic radio station a lot of people just like you who didn't know anything about radio except maybe how to turn it on or you know change the station so we recommend contacting Jack Williams at this address Jay Williams at ewtn.com Jay Williams at ewtn.com that's a very helpful resource Jack we'll get you all squared away back to the phones now here is Eileen in Collinsville Illinois where Jack is from listening on EWTN television a first-time caller Eileen what's on your mind today hello dr. Anders thank you for taking my call I wonder if you could tell me who wrote the first Catholic Bible okay thanks so the Bible I appreciate the question the Bible of course does not have a single human author but has many authors because you know we got 73 different books over you know thousand years worth of compilation and in some of the books themselves were probably editorial creations piecing together even older works that may have had multiple authors and so you can't really identify a single author of of the work of Sacred Scripture now what we can say we can look at how how are those those varied texts gathered together into a coherent unity and we do know something about the process of that so the disciples of Christ would have inherited the collection of Old Testament scripture that had been translated into Greek known as the Septuagint and that would have included the seven deuterocanonical books that most Protestants reject and that was the ecclesiastical Canon that's the one that Saint Paul writes about when he says to Saint Timothy that you should study the scriptures that you've known from childhood he's talking about those that Greek translation of the Old Testament that was the common property the Christian Church then as the as the Apostles began to pin their memoirs and and epistles and circulate them among the churches they got to be passed around like circular letters and so by the time you get to the fourth century there was a common practice of certain texts being read at Mass as sacred scripture preached a pod and commented upon and that was the principal criterion how do we know which books we've received from the Apostles well it would have been those books that were celebrated in Christian worship everywhere throughout the world now there were some disagreements about this text in that some on the margins that maybe didn't have universal acceptance many of those passed out of the Canon and were not accepted by the Catholic Church as canonical texts and it was in the late fourth century in councils of Carthage and hippo and Rome under the leadership of Saint Agustin and also Pope Damasus the first and then the Catholic Church has great biblical scholar Saint Jerome that pronounced on this definitive canonical lists of texts if you would like a good history of this process how the Bible was put together under the authority of the Catholic Church the book you want is where we got the Bible our debt to the Catholic Church by Henry Graham all right and Eileen thank you so much for your call called a communion on this Monday afternoon here on EWTN let's go to Deborah right now in Bismarck North Dakota listening on real presence radio hey Deborah what's on your mind today hello gentlemen thank you yes many times I appreciate the fact that dr. Andrews has been a religious historian and the fact that I have learned so much about my Catholic faith and Catholic heritage by listening and that that's why I'm calling in today many times when people have called in and said oh well you know I I quit the church because of you know like the problems of today the social problems that we have today you've referred in the past how there's been even more extreme problems that the that Jesus has led us through through history and you've talked about something called the Borgias and I just wondered if there's any way you could briefly explain when that was and what happened okay thanks so the Borgia Pope were in the fifteenth early 16th centuries Alexander the sixth is usually the one that comes in for the greatest criticism and in the reason why is he was just a deeply immoral man and and some of the Pope's were profoundly immoral individuals who had mistresses and and they had illegitimate children and and that they actually were nepotistic towards they would then elevate their their illegitimate children's to children to office within the church and sometimes make them bishops and things like that could make them Cardinals and you know they would they like to gamble and hunt and do all the things that that that corrupt nobility liked to do and they were self-aggrandizing and can coop assent and and political and in no way regarding the the spiritual welfare of the Christian people or of the church and so they're a scandal to Catholic history and and we all go ooh yuck wouldn't we read about them right and and you know so to me this is in a way this is kind of good news in a very back candid kind of way because when I came to Catholic faith I came in through the church in 2003 and that was on the heels of a bunch of scandals that had come to light in 2002 I'm certainly not happy about scandalous behavior but people said well aren't you worried about joining this church that had all this scandalous stuff and I was like are you kidding I studied Church history I wasn't surprised when I found out that priests or popes could do bad things I was described by I was surprised by examples of clerical holiness yeah you know what I actually found a lot of priests and bishops that were just profoundly good people I thought wow that that's that's good news right you know what kind of condition to look for the opposite and and but it really helped me come to an understanding of the nature of the church's organization and what it means to believe in the Catholic Church so you know the church is not reducible to the hierarchy and it's not reducible to the laity the church is the entire people of God right and there are offices within the church priest and and Bishop being most important in terms of governance administration of the sacraments but where - where do Pope's and bishops and priests come from well they come from within the body of the Catholic faithful they come from the people of God like all of us do now look I'm a Catholic guy I didn't grow up in the Catholic Church but let's say I did maybe I grew up and you know I'd do some stuff wrong and get off the track and become a bad guy and and then you know one day I find myself practicing medicine or law or engineering God are you telling me there are bad Catholic engineers of course there are right and if that's the career path and somebody else goes into the priesthood I tell you they're bad Catholic priests of course there because they're bad Catholics some of them are gonna filter their way up into the hierarchy of course sure of course makes it my belief in the Catholic Church is not a belief in the personal holiness of any specific individual member not even that of the Pope it's my belief that through this institution that's 2,000 years old founded by Christ and has saints and sinners among its members even occupying the various rungs of authority within the organization that nevertheless holiness emerges that holiness comes out of it that there are there are some individuals that will lay hold of the graces that are made available and come to profoundly holy lives in consequence not because of the individual lives of this priest or that bishop but sometimes in spite of them now why do we want to have what does it matter that we have holy priests bishops and laypeople well because they're just gonna be infinitely more effective at fulfilling their office and when I think about the priests that have had the greatest impact on my life and done the most good to me they have all been holy men thanks be to God I typically try to stay away from the bad guys and I and I you know try to get my pastoral care from the good guys when I can write and they've had a wonderful impact on me but you know what I'm sure I've well I'm gonna say I'm sure but it's entirely possible I may have received the body of Christ have been absolved by somebody who himself was not living like he ought to live but it didn't stop me in that moment from receiving Christ truly there you go Debra thank you so much for your call we do appreciate it let's go to Walter now in Graham Washington listening on Sacred Heart radio hey Walter what's on your mind today uh yes thank you uh yeah what I'm trying to figure out I've been trying to figure out for a long time I just can't understand why why our guardian angels can't just appear to us on simple solution to a massive problem and yeah I understand the question kind of losing the connection the loss of all restate it from obvious people didn't catch it Walter wants to know why doesn't God just let our guardian angels just appear to us poof poof and just save us from sin and everything and just just be done with it right why don't have to go through this slaw of despond to quote Bunyan and while do you want better why doesn't God just just cause all of us to be immaculately conceived like the Blessed Virgin why not just let us all come into the world confirmed in sanctifying grace impeccable and incapable of some well or might why not create us like the Holy Angels right just just give us just will immaterial forms just poof into the world one act of righteousness be confirmed eternally in grace and that's all she wrote why not do it that way well because he wanted to do it otherwise right and Jesus cut himself gives us a clue when he says there's more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents than over ninety-nine righteous people that have no need of repentance God created a variegated universe in the natural world we see all kinds of variety and it's beautiful it is wonderful all right best variegated in the spiritual and ethical realm as well we see examples of profound sanctity and holiness like the Blessed Virgin Mary or the holy angels all the way down to profound wickedness the chief of whom of course is the devil himself and then in between there's all the rest of us and we're given an opportunity to to move from one side to the other to kind of move up the rungs if you will and the moral progress of the individual soul under the regime of grace is itself something that is intrinsically good and worthy to exist and the in the universe is more beautiful and better and more glorifying to God more ultimately satisfying to us in that we have that opportunity to strive sometimes in darkness for that moral progress towards the light which is God in His grace thanks so much for your call here is Marian now in Seattle listening on Sacred Heart radio hey Mary and we just have a few moments here what's on your mind today oh yes hello it's a sort of loaded question but it might piggyback on one of the previous calls when how do I say this one the priests who have been in grave grave sin for years let's say like some of the examples of the sexual Clerk sure sure don't have to be too specific we understand yeah yeah so and not just a mistake here there but when he does the private prayers after the Lamb of God because I've just been studying now with the Kovan you know trying to look at the math we got about three five seconds so oh yeah okay and so when they they have to use these private words like made the body of Christ keep me eternally mhm how is that sure sure sure okay so when a priest in mortal sin says Mass his mass is valid meaning that he really does consecrate the body of Christ and he can confess the sacrament and you really do receive Jesus from him but his prayers that are less efficacious they are less efficacious and so are his intentions right so he might say the mass for a particular intention and his personal prayer is his invocation of God for some particular intention will will not be as acacia soar will not be efficacious if he is in grave sin even though the mass itself will be objectively valid so it is better that he much better far better that he celebrates the sacraments worthily and that means in the state of grace right and one of the things that comes with the grace of the sacrament ordination ordination of course gives the priest the ability to confess acraman but also gives him the grace to do it worth aliy may he and all priests cooperate with that grace all right and we thank you so much chef for your call Mary and sorry we didn't have more time for your call we also had no time at all for Willie in Sierra Vista Arizona who had a great question Willie if you could please call us back tomorrow or on the day of your choice we'll be glad to put you at the head of the line and then you will get on the air with your question hey dr. David Andrews thank you sir thank you Tom we do our program Monday through Friday here on EWTN radio at 2 p.m. Eastern with an encore at 11:00 p.m. Eastern we also bring you the best of call to Communion and that's on sundays at 2:00 p.m. Eastern and of course you can check out the podcast anytime you wish great radio on demand at ewtn radio dotnet on behalf of Charles Ryan and Jeff I'm Tom price along with dr. David Andrews you have a wonderful day we'll see you tomorrow

Channel: EWTN

Views: 2,836

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: EvzdG3cGPJ8

Length: 54min 3sec (3243 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 08 2020