WHOM DO I BELIEVE?

 

ON THIS SUNDAY, June 2, 2013, WE CELEBRATE THE GREAT FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI   THE FEAST OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT.  ON THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRIST, 60 YEARS AGO I WAS ORDAINED A PRIEST.  MAY I ASK ALL MY BELOVED STUDENTS AND FRIENDS TO OFFER THEIR HOLY MASS IN THANKSGIVING TO ALMIGHTY LORD FOR MY 60 YEARS AT THE SERVICE OF JESUS´  PRIESTLY MINISTRY.  SINCERE THANKS FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP.  Fr Louis George Dupuis,       your professor.

 

TO BELIEVE IS THE MOST INTRICATE AND CONFUSE ACT OF THE HUMAN WILL. 

WHOM DO I BELIEVE?  WHEN THE PREACHER WITH THE BIBLE IN HIS HANDS TEACHES ME, WHOM DO I BELIEVE?

1)-DO I BELIEVE GOD? DO I BELIEVE THE BIBLE? DO I BELIEVE THE PREACHER?

Pope John Paul II teaches that our faith is SUPERNATURAL.  Faith is always accepting what someone else tells me. Therefore, when the preacher teaches me, I believe the preacher. If that person tells me what I believe to be the truth, I accept, I believe the preacher.  How do I know if someone tells me the truth!  In most cases, it is too difficult to decipher the truth or not the truth.  Help is needed.

2)-JESUS KNEW ALL THE PROBLEMS FAITH PRESENTS.

The divine wisdom of Jesus appears in his institution of the Catholic Church.  The mission of the Church is to save souls.  However, to bring men and women to salvation, Jesus must teach them his doctrine of salvation.  Thus, he gives to his apostles the order to teach. 

May we read Jesus in his own words in Matthew 28:19-20:                 

^“ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.   Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

3)-JESUS’ COMMAND IS CLEAR TO HIS APOSTLES.

The apostles must teach all Jesus commanded them to teach.  This is the mandate the apostles received from the Lord Jesus:

“teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”

Pope Francis 1 in his March 10 catequesis begs bishops and priests to teach the entire doctrine of Jesus:

“The Pope also begs bishops and priests not to shrink in proclaiming “the entire Plan of God to save us.”

This is very important, says the Pope.  The apostle must not teach a Christianity  “cafeteria style.”

The Apostle does not preach Christianity ‘a la carte,’ according to his own tastes, he does not preach a Gospel according to his own preferred theological ideas; he does not take away from his commitment to announce the entire will of God, even when uncomfortable, nor the themes he may least like personally.”

4)-THE BISHOPS HAVE A MANDATE STRAIGHT FROM THE LORD TO TEACH THE DOCTRINE OF JESUS TO ALL.

Pope John Paul II, in his Apostolic Exhortation, CATECHESI TRADENDAE, begs the bishops to teach themselves catechism.

May we read the Pope in his own words CT #63:

 “To begin with, I turn to my brother Bishops: The Second Vatican Council has already explicitly reminded you of your task in the catechetical area.

Dearly beloved brothers, you have here a special mission within your Churches: You are beyond all others the ones primarily responsible for catechesis, the catechists par excellence. Together with the Pope, in the spirit of episcopal collegiality, you too have charge of catechesis throughout the Church. Accept therefore what I say to you from my heart.

I know that your ministry as Bishops is growing daily more complex and overwhelming. A thousand duties call you: from the training of new priests to being actively present within the lay communities, …  But let the concern to foster active and effective catechesis yield to no other care whatever in any way. This concern will lead you to transmit personally to your faithful the doctrine of life.”

Lay people have the obligation to remind the bishops their obligation to teach catechism.

5)-JESUS ALSO MANDATED TO ALL TO OBEY TO THE TEACHINGS OF THE BISHOPS.

Thus, the bishops are to teach us to obey the Church teaching us the doctrine of salvation.

6)-OBEYING THE BISHOPS IS NOT AN OPTION.

To obey the teachings of the Church is to accept the priestly means of salvation. 

7)-WHAT ARE THE PRIESTLY MEANS OF SALVATION?

Saint Paul reveals to us we must work our salvation (Phil 2:12). However, we cannot get into heaven on our own human powers.  Heaven is out of reach to humans.  In John 14:6, Jesus tells us we can do nothing without him.  So Jesus offers us his priestly means to help us work our salvation.  His priestly means are to be found in the Priestly Church He founded on the twelve apostles.

8)-JESUS ENTRUSTED HIS PRIESTLY CHURCH TO SAINT PETER.

In the Gospel of Matthew, (Mt 16:16-19), Jesus makes a remarkable revelation.  He gives to Saint Peter the KEYS to the Kingdom of Heaven.  Thus saint Peter is now endowed with this heavenly power to open and to close the doors of  heaven.  He holds the keys to our ultimate happiness in the presence of the Blessed Trinity.  

9)-JESUS ENTRUSTED ALL OF US TO SAINT PETER’S GUIDING MISSION ON OUR WAY TO HEAVEN.

In saint Matthew, Jesus entrusted Peter with the very special mission to guide us on our way to heaven.  He gives Peter the divine power to bind with these words: “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

This is an extraordinary divine power Jesus gives to a man!  And this power of the keys is related to our salvation.  Thus Peter has the divine power to throw a heretic out of the Church.  And he gives Peter the divine power to bring heretics who repent back into the Church.

10)-MANY THINK PETER GUIDES THE CHURCH FROM HIS THRONE IN HEAVEN.

Saint Peter does not guide the Church from his celestial throne.  Jesus gave Peter successors to guide the Church on earth.  When Jesus reveals to Peter “whatever you bind on earth,” Jesus mentioned an action that takes place on earth, an action visible to all men. 

11)-JESUS ENTRUSTED ALL OF US TO PETER TO GUARD US AGAINST IMPOSTERS.

Someone who follows the Pope, the successor to Peter, is sure he or she does not believe in vain.  We are sure their beliefs are exactly the doctrine Jesus taught to the apostles.  Jesus promised us that he is with Peter until the end of the world.  Jesus is faithful to his words.  He will do what he says.

12)-MANY BELIEVE ALL RELIGIONS TEACH THE SAME JESUS.

Only the Priestly Jesus of the apostles has the power to save. However, it is NOT reasonable to think and to accept that all religions are good, as we hear,  or all religions teach the same Jesus, and all religions lead to the same God.  Jesus reveals to us a very different doctrine in “the narrow gate”.  Jesus bluntly reveals that the majority of men and women will be damned (Mt 7:13).  The majority of men and women who will be damned are people who believed in vain.  They thought by following their own beliefs or the preacher’s beliefs would bring them to salvation.  They made a big mistake as Jesus reveals to us in saint Matthew (Mt 25:41-46).

13)-GOD OFFERS SALVATION TO ALL AND TO COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH. (1Tim 2:4; Acts 1:8)

Saint Paul, in his letter to the Galatians reveals there is only one gospel that brings salvation to all.    The apostle is upset to find out his Galatians left Jesus and followed imposters. 

May we read saint Paul in his own words, Galatians 1:6-9:

“if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accursed.”

14)-POPE BENEDICT XVI TEACHES OUR FREEDOM TO REFUSE SETS THE LIMIT TO GOD’S SALVATION.

God is offering his salvation to all.  However, God must also respect each one freedom.  God cannot impose his Will on us.  He does all in his power to show us the way to salvation.  However, our freedom to refuse sets the limit to salvation.

15)-WE SET LIMITS TO SALVATION WHEN WE ACCEPT A JESUS THAT HAS NO POWER TO SAVE.

Jesus is the High Priest of God as revealed in Hebrews (Heb 4:14).  Only the priestly Jesus of the apostles has the divine power to save us.  Believing Jesus of the apostles is accepting Jesus divine power to save.  A fictitious Jesus is a Jesus invented by a preacher.  Accepting a Jesus who is not a priest, or a Jesus who founded a priestless church is a fictitious Jesus.

 16)-TO ACCEPT A PREACHER WHO IS NOT A PRIEST OR DOES NOT ACCEPT THE POPE  IS TO SET THE LIMIT TO SALVATION.

A preacher who does not belong to the Apostolic Succession is not to be followed.  He did not receive the laying on of the hands  from an apostolic bishop.  To follow such a preacher is to refuse willingly salvation God is offering.

17)-CAN WE AFFORD TO ENTER INTO HEAVEN WITHOUT THE MAN HOLDING THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM?  

18)-THE GREATEST ACT OF CHARITY IS TO TEACH CATECHISM TO SOMEONE.

Pope Benedict xvi in his encyclical DEUS ES CARITAS teaches the greatest act of love for a neighbor is to teach catechism.  Each believer must be a catechist not only in faith but in action.  To teach the Word of God is to bring someone to the Light that saves.

May the good Lord bless us all in our endeavor to help bring the Word of God in Truth to each person we meet.  The professor.