I HAVE CHOSEN YOU TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO OBEY MY COMMANDMENTS

 

I HAVE CHOSEN YOU TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO OBEY MY COMMANDMENTS. Genesis 18:19.

“For I have chosen you, to teach your children and posterity to obey my teachings so that I may fulfill my promises to Abraham.”

1)-THE VOCATION OF FATHERHOOD IS UNIQUE IN CREATION.

Fatherhood is the most difficult vocation in God’s plan of salvation.  The reason is simple.  A man may choose to follow his animal instinct.  However, the same man may choose to follow his calling from God Himself.

2)-GOD HIMSELF CREATES ADAM AND EVE IN A VERY SPECIAL WAY.

After having achieved the creation of the universe, God settles down to create our very first parents.  They are a very special creation and so THREE  the whole  BLESSED TRINITY participates in such a creation.

May we read God in his own words in Genesis 1:26-27:

“Then God said, “Let  US  make mankind in our image, in our likeness,”

Now God is plural.  Let “US”  reveals to us that the BLESSED TRINITY is involved in this special creation of Adam and Eve.

Now God associates our first parents to himself in guiding the universe, improving it and make it a better place to live and to attain our destiny.  God gives us this universe for our dominion.

May we listen to God’s plan for men and women:

 “so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,  and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

3)-GOD HAS A PLAN FOR HIS CREATION TO BRING ALL THE ANGELS AND HUMANS UNDER JESUS.

The goal of creation is to build up THE BODY OF CHRIST to form the heavenly family of the elect.  And now Saint Paul reveals to us this mystery of His Will.

May we read Saint Paul in his own words: Ephesians 1:4-20:

“And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,   to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” 

4)-GOD HAS CHOSEN US TO BE HIS CONSECRATED PEOPLE.

Jesus is our model leading us to our predestination to fulfill God’s plan.  Obeying the Gospels leads us to our salvation.

May we meditate the words of Saint Paul:

“In him we were also chosen,  having been predestined ACCORDING TO THE PLAN  of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,   

in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.   And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.”  

5)-GOD’S PLAN IS THE FAMILY OF ONE MAN COMMITTED TO ONE WOMAN and ONE WOMAN COMMITTED TO ONE MAN  TO BECOME PAPA Y MAMA.

God is fulfilling his plan to build up his family of saints in the eternal life.  To all those who choose to respect and live according to God’s plan, God will nurture them with his faithful promise. After all, God creates us to be eternally happy with Him in His eternal glory. 

May we read Saint Paul in his own words in Eph 1:13-14:

“Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,  who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THOSE WHO ARE GOD'S POSSESSION--to the praise of his glory.”

6)-TO THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO LIVE THEIR LIFE ON EARTH OUTSIDE GOD’S PLAN, WE RESPECT THEIR CHOICE.

Salvation is a matter of choice.  Those who choose to separate themselves from God’s plan, it is their choice and we respect them.  Divine Revelation makes it very clear if we follow our inclinations to evil, we accept the consequences of throwing ourselves outside God’s plan cutting us away from our salvation.

May we read the disaster Saint Paul reveals on those following their inclinations to evil in Ephesians 2:1-3:

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of satan, the spirit who is now at work in those who are DISOBEDIENT.   All of us also lived among them at one time, GRATIFYING THE CRAVINGS OF OUR SINFUL NATURE   and following its desires and thoughts.  Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”

7)-TO THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO LIVE GOD’S FAMILY PLAN, TO BE A FATHER IS TO BE THE GARDIAN OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD.

Thus God himself promotes his matrimony commandment .  May we read God in his own words in Genesis 2:24:

“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one person.”

God has given to fathers the unique power to transmit the human life from Adam and Eve to the last man to be born.  The role of the father in his household is unique in creation.  Not only has God given him to transmit the human life, but he has given him the power to rule over his children.

May we read God’s will in shaping up the family life in Genesis 18:17-

“Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” the Lord asked.

 “For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.  I have singled him out so that he will teach  his sons and their families to obey my teachings.”

8)-THE DIVINE MANDATE TO EDUCATE CHILDREN IN THE TEACHINGS OF GOD.

The father is first and foremost the natural educator of his children.  The father’s role as educator and head of the family is engrained in the children.  Children are naturally inclined to obey and to respect their father as commander in chief of the family.   

9)-MOTHERS ARE TO RESPECT THE FATHER’S ROLE IN THE FAMILY.

Mothers must promote the father’s role as the educator of his children. They must back-up his authority.  However, husbands must love their wives as Christ loved the Church and died crucified for her.  Who is the husband ready to die for his spouse like Jesus died for His Church? Who is the husband who treats his wife with the same care as treats his own body? 

May we read Saint Paul in Eph 5:25-26:

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her   to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,”

10)-FATHERS ARE RESPONSIBLE TO PROVIDE THEIR CHILDREN WITH THEIR FIRST KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.

Fathers are the care-giver, the bread-winning of their children.

Morally, parents must exercise authority over their children. Particularly at younger ages, children cannot fend for themselves and need constant supervision to keep them from starving to death or becoming sick or injured.

However, fathers are the first educators of their children. They must teach their children first of all the basic knowledge of evangelization.

 Saint Paul tells the fathers their obligation to train their children in the knowledge of the Lord.

May we read saint Paul in Ephesians 6:4:

“Fathers,  do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

11)-CHILDREN HAVE A SACRED DUTY TO OBEY THEIR PARENTS.

Saint Paul reveals the attitude children should nurture for their parents.

May we read in Ephesians 6:1-3:

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—  “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

12)-GOD PROMISES A DOUBLE REWARD TO CHILDREN WHO HONOR THEIR PARENTS .

The fourth commandment is very special in the Decalogue.  Obeying the 10 commandments is rewarded in heaven.  However, God has a very special affinity for the 4^th commandment.  Not only he rewards in heaven children who honor their parents, but he rewards such children immediately on earth.  Thus, it is the only commandment with 2 rewards.  God rewards such children, who honor their parents, with a long life on earth.

As Saint Paul says, to honor your parents pays off with a long life of happiness on earth and then the second reward in heaven.

13)-THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTS AND CHILDREN IS TOTALLY BASED ON EDUCATION.

John Paul II clarifies the unique responsibility of the fathers and mothers.  Christ is our unique teachers; we must take it from Him how to transmit his teachings to our children.

May we read the Holy Father in Catechesi Tradendae where he deplores the total absence of the parents in teaching Jesus to their children:

“On another level, parents have a unique responsibility in the evangelization of their children. …  But in catechetical practice, this model order must allow for the fact that the initial evangelization has often not taken place. A certain number of children baptized in infancy come for catechesis in the parish without receiving any other initiation into the faith and still without any explicit personal attachment to Jesus Christ;

14)-PARENTS ARE IRREPLACABLE IN FORMING THE CONCIENCE OF THEIR CHILDREN.

In DOMINUM ET VIVIFICANTEM #43, John Paul II clarifies the role of conscience in each human person.

May we read the Pope in his own words:

“on conscience when it spoke about man's vocation and in particular about the dignity of the human person. It is precisely the conscience in particular which determines this dignity of the human person.”

Conscience is the guiding factor in all human acts.  Thus, parents must intervene to help their children educate their conscience at their very basic age.

15)-JESUS USES HARSH WORDS TO THOSE WHO BETRAY A CHILD.

The initial evangelization is paramount in the formation of the conscience in the child. The conscience of a child is the most precious gift parents pass on to their children. 

May we read Jesus in his own words in Matthew 18:6-8:

“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

 Wherefore if your  hand or your  foot offend you, cut them off, and cast them from you: it is better for you to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.”

16)-FATHERS MUST NOT ABUSE THEIR AUTHORITY.

Saint Paul gives us the last key words in the education of children.  All teachings and education must be done with compassion and love. Especially when educators deal with children.

May we read Saint Paul in Eph 6:4: 

“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

Fathers love your children and raise them up to the Lord with compassion and love for they must be your crown of glory in heaven.

May Jesus bless fathers to fulfill their fatherhood in fear and love of the Lord under the guidance of the Holy Spirit so their children be their crown of glory in heaven.  The professor.

 

THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE SHAPES THE WORLD

 

 

THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE SHAPES THE WORLD. 

“…the initial evangelization has often not taken place. A certain number of children baptized in infancy come for catechesis in the parish without receiving any other initiation into the faith and still without any explicit personal attachment to Jesus Christ;…”   Cathechesi Tradendae #19

 

1)-SOME PROFOUNDLY CHARITABLE BISHOPS MADE ME A CASE IN POINT.

Some bishops asked me why I was so concerned with the majority of men and women going to hell. 

2)-JESUS HIMSELF REVEALS THAT THE MAJORITY OF MEN AND WOMEN WILL BE DAMNED.

The words of faith from Jesus himself should never be taken lightly.  The heresy of RELATIVISM holds our bishops and priests in its inescapable snares.  Jesus squarely makes the difference between MANY and FEW.  While MANY chooses to go to hell, only a FEW   chooses to go to heaven.  And this truth concerning salvation and damnation is DIVINELY REVEALED.

May we read Jesus in his own words in Matthew 7:13-14:

“Enter through the NARROW GATE.  For WIDE IS THE GATE and broad  is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.   But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a  FEW   find it.”

3)-JESUS REVEALS TO US THAT OUR SALVATION OR OUR DAMNATION IS A MATTER OF CHOICE.

Salvation or damnation is STRICTLY a matter of choice. It is divinely revealed that each one chooses to go to heaven.  It is divinely revealed also that each one chooses  to go hell. God does not force heaven on us, neither does He force hell on us.   Certainly there is a reason WHY only a FEW find the NARROW GATE.  Also there is a reason WHY MANY enter through THE WIDE GATE leading to destruction.

4)-IT IS IMPOSIBLE FOR SOMEONE TO CHOOSE HELL!

Hell with all its sufferings and torments has NO attractiveness!  Therefore, it is quite correct to say NOBODY CHOOSES HELL.  

5)-THE MAJORITY OF MEN AND WOMEN CHOOSE HELL.

Jesus, in Matthew 7:13-14,  in very clear terms reveals to us this almost unbelievable truth that the majority of us will be damned.  Pope Benedict xvi in his famous book, GOD IS NEAR US, clarifies such a choice.  When someone chooses to live in adultery, such a person chooses hell. It is that simple! 

May we read Saint Paul in 1 Cor 6:9-10:

“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:  Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men  nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Our upbringing at home is an important factor in making choices later on in life.

6)-GOD MANDATES TO 2 GROUPS TO FORM THE CHILD INTO THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD.

The first group are the parents.  The parents are the God-given natural educators of their children. The child is born with an innate sense to follow his parents.  They are his guardians and protectors.  Parents are responsible to guide the child in his(her) formative years. 

7)-GOD-ORIENTED PARENTS ARE GOD’S GREATEST BLESSINGS ON SONS AND DAUGHTERS.

God-oriented parents shape the homes where saints are born. In the lives of the saints, we find numerous testimonies attesting to this fact.  In her autobiography, saint Teresa narrates her growing in a God-given oriented home which gave three Carmelites sisters to the Church.  To learn to pray on mothers’ knees prepares a soul to conquer vicious environment.    

8)-JOHN PAUL II TEACHES WHY SO MANY CHILDREN FAIL IN LIFE.

In his Apostolic Exhortation,  CATECHESI TRADENDAE (meaning CATECHISM IN OUR TIME), the Pope affirms failures in the home of the basic Christian orientation training are the cause of so many children going astray. 

May we read the Pope in his own words in CT #19:

“But in catechetical practice, this model order must allow for the fact that the initial evangelization has often NOT   taken place. A certain number of children baptized in infancy come for catechesis in the parish without receiving any other initiation into the faith…””

9)-THE “INITIAL EVANGELIZATION” PAVES THE WAY TO SAINTHOOD.

In life-experience, numerous are the saints who owe their sainthood to a mother who taught them to pray.  I have personally met with mothers who raised their children on their knees with the family prayer.  Such mothers believe they are the light giving the orientation to their child.  

Pope John Paul II affirms in the Christian home, “the child begins building up his personal attachment to Jesus.”

10)-THE LACK OF “INITIAL EVANGELIZATION” PAVES THE WAY TO DISASTER.

When the mother fails in her irreplaceable role of guiding her child to heaven, the child fails in life.  And thus the grace of baptism fails in such a child.

May we hear the Pope in #19:

“such children …are left without any explicit personal attachment to Jesus Christ;”

11)-CHILDREN ABANDONED BY THEIR PARENTS FALL PREY TO ENEMIES.

The Pope helps us to understand how abandoned children become quickly the prey of their enemies.  They have received absolutely no knowledge of their baptism.  Unfaithful mothers vowed their children on the path to damnation.

May we read the Pope in #19:

“To such abandoned children by their mothers, … opposition is quickly created by the prejudices of their non-Christian family background or of the positivist spirit of their education.”

12)-WOULD IT BE BETTER FOR SUCH MOTHERS TO RENOUNCE MOTHERHOOD?

It does not seem reasonable for a mother to bring a new life in the world just to send that life to hell.  May we ask mothers to make this case in point. 

13)-THE MAIN GOAL OF A MOTHER IS TO SURROUND HERSELF WITH HER CHILDREN IN HEAVEN.

Life has no purpose in this world.  Our aspiration to the infinite obliges us to find the real purpose of life. A mother is responsible to bring a new life in the world.  Her responsibility includes orienting this new life as a pilgrim of eternity.  For such a task, God is giving mothers to succeed a divine help of his own called the Church.

14)-GOD MANDATES TO BISHOPS AND PRIESTS A SPECIAL TASK IN EDUCATING CHILDREN IN THE FAITH.

By a special mandate from God, bishops and priests must come to help parents in the arduous task of teaching catechism.  Bishops and priests continue to fail as sent by God to evangelize their flock.  They strongly reject teaching catechism as their first sacred duty surging from their ordination.  They believe teaching catechism to children belongs to grandmothers and girls!!!! 

May we read the Pope’s own words in #63:

“To begin with, I turn to my brother Bishops:

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, from the living, worthy celebration of the sacraments and acts of worship to concern for human advancement and the defense of human rights. 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.”

15)-THE POPE CALLS ON PRIESTS TO FULFILL THEIR FIRST AND PRIMARY TASK SURGING FROM THEIR ORDINATION.

Seminaries lamentably fail to form priests catechists.  All the Popes beg priests and bishops to teach catechism.  They lamentably failed to move seminaries, bishops and priests into teaching catechism.

May we read the Pope in #64:

For your part, priests, here you have a field in which you are the immediate assistants of your Bishops. The Council has called you "instructors in the faith"; there is no better way for you to be such instructors than by devoting your best efforts to the growth of your communities in the faith. Whether you are in charge of a parish, or are chaplains to primary or secondary schools or universities, or have responsibility for pastoral activity at any level, or are leaders of large or small communities, especially youth groups, the Church expects you to neglect nothing with a view to a well-organized and well-oriented catechetical effort.   The deacons and other ministers that you may have the good fortune to have with you are your natural assistants in this. All believers have a right to catechesis; all pastors have the duty to provide it.

 

16)-THE POPE SEES THE GREAT NECESITY TO CATECHIZE WHICH IS NOT BEING MET.

May we read the Pope in #19:

In addition, there are other children who have not been baptized and whose parents agree only at a later date to religious education: for practical reasons, the catechumenal stage of these children will often be carried out largely in the course of the ordinary catechesis. Again, many pre-adolescents and adolescents who have been baptized and been given a systematic catechesis and the sacraments still remain hesitant for a long time about committing their whole lives to Jesus Christ - if, moreover, they do not attempt to avoid religious education in the name of their freedom. Finally, even adults are not safe from temptations to doubt or to abandon their faith, especially as a result of their unbelieving surroundings. This means that "catechesis" must often concern itself not only with nourishing and teaching the faith, but also with arousing it unceasingly with the help of grace, with opening the heart, with converting, and with preparing total adherence to Jesus Christ on the part of those who are still on the threshold of faith. This concern will in part decide the tone, the language and the method of catechesis.

17)-THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE DEFINITLY NEEDS HELP TO SHAPE THE WORLD.

To set up a child on the path to salvation, mothers greatly need help from bishops and priests.  Such help is not coming.  Mothers are left alone very often with husbands not interested.  However, the saddest situation comes to children abandoned by their mothers.

18)-THE MOTHER WHO DETESTS PRAYING WITH HER CHILDREN GUIDES THEM TO A FINAL DISASTER.

 May we ask Jesus, in our daily prayers, to give us mothers who will pray with their children.  Prayers are a great force in our Christian orientation.

We pray you, Jesus, to give us mothers who will, in their daily Christian upbringing,  guide their children to salvation.                 The professor.

 

 

 

THE GIFT OF FAITH

 

 

THE GIFT OF FAITH IS PARAMOUNT TO WORK OUR SALVATION.  WHAT IS THE GIFT OF FAITH?

1)-SAINT AUGUSTINE SAYS GOD CREATED US WITHOUT US BUT WILL NOT SAVE US WITHOUT US.

This beautiful assertion from Saint Augustine comes from Saint Paul.  Paul, writing to the Philippians, begs them to work out their salvation with all the generosity and complete dedication outpoured from their baptism.

May we read Saint Paul in his own words in Philippians 2:12:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,…”

 

2)-SAINT PAUL TEACHES TO WORK OUR SALVATION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD.

In saint Paul, Jesus carry my cross to salvation.  However, Jesus demands my participation carrying my cross.

May we read saint Paul in Philippians 2:13-14:

“For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work.  Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, …”

Saint Teresa the little flower, in her autobiography, writes that God makes us desire what He wants to give us.  This citation from the saint marked me for life.  If I have this desire, God is here with me giving me such desire and such impulse to work.  Let’s go ahead because God will not fail me in fulfilling the plan He has for me.

3)-SAINT PAUL DEMANDS A TOTAL DEDICATION TO OUR SALVATION IN THE MIDST OF A PERVERSE GENERATION.

Saint Paul knows very well the perverse situation we are in.  All the odds are against us; however, Jesus is with us.

May we read Saint Paul in his own words in Phil 2:15-16:

“that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life, so that my boast for the day of Christ may be that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”

 

4)-THE MAIN PREOCUPATION FOR SAINT PAUL IS  TO AVOID   RUNNING OR LABORING IN VAIN.

Thus,  for saint Paul, the words of faith are of greatest interest to people peregrinating to eternal life.  It is greatly possible to run and to labor in vain.  Jesus himself warns us that the majority of men and women are running and laboring in vain since they are going to hell.

May we read Jesus in his own words in Matthew 7:13-14:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction,  and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.”

One of the most startling teachings of Jesus is his teaching about the two gates.  It is startling because so few  really stop to meditate these words of faith from Jesus himself.  Even bishops and priests never preach this doctrine; thus it means they never think about it themselves.  Mouth always speaks from the abundance of the heart!

5)-SAINT PAUL ALWAYS MAKES SURE HE IS NOT “BELIEVING IN VAIN.”

In his letter to the Galatians, Saint Paul proposes himself as a model of the “pilgrim of eternity.”  In spite of his meeting with the resurrected Jesus together with his daily assistance in words and deeds, saint Paul must check his teachings with Peter to make sure he is not believing in vain.

May we read Saint Paul in his own words in Galatians 2:1-10:

Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also.   I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain…

 We did not give in to the false preachers for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you…

Peter and other apostles added nothing to my message.  On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised,  just as Peter had been to the circumcised.   For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles.  James, Peter and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.   All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.”

Our bishops and priests should imitate the honesty of saint Paul, they should submit to Peter, today Francis 1 to make sure they are not believing in vain.  To deny the original sin, bishops and priests believe in vain without any doubt.  And they do it as the Episcopal body.  Some bishops argue they do not deny; they just don´t talk about it.  Therefore, please read and analyze with profound meditation the verb TO IGNORE  in number 407 of the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

6)-IN HIS LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS PAUL WARNS EACH ONE OF US NOT TO ABANDON THE FIGHT.

Relativism is one of the oldest heresies in the Church.  Saint Paul warns us not to get loose on the words of faith. TO ABANDON DOGMAS OF FAITH,  OUR BISHOPS ACCEPTED  TO BELIEVE IN VAIN.  Not one bishop thinks  he believes in vain.   It is human to give in to our human frailties!  However, the words of faith must not fall in disrepute.

May we read Saint Paul in his own words in 1Cor 15:1-2:

“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.   By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.  Otherwise, you have believed in vain.”

“TO BELIEVE IN VAIN” is a doctrine completely forgotten in the Churches especially in the Catholic Church. However, it is the starting point for people going to hell.  Why our bishops and priests are so indifferent to such a forceful doctrine?

7)-SAINT PETER REMINDS US OF OUR CALLING AND ELECTION OF OUR BAPTISM.

Our baptism has consecrated us a priestly people to worship God and has dedicated our eternity to serving our Almighty Blessed Trinity.  Saint Peter reminds us not to fail  our priestly vocation.

May we read Saint Peter in his own words in 2Pet 1:3-6:

 “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises,  so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;   and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance,  godliness;…”

In his kindness for each one of us, Saint Peter enumerates for us how the words of faith shape our lives.  Through the words of faith, which are our knowledge of Jesus and his teachings, we may come to participate in the divine nature of God.

8)-FAITH IS TO ACCEPT THE WORDS OF SOMEONE ELSE AS TRUE.

As studied in the stairway of the faith, as shown in the image, FAITH COMES THROUGH HEARING!  Someone must be sent to announce the words of God.  Visions are no faith when not accompanied with facts.  Faith is to believe through hearing and what is heard is the word of God.  The words of God are supernatural; they do not belong to my human level of understanding.  Therefore, God must provide me with a supernatural power to bridge the human level with the divine level.  This supernatural power is called THE GIFT OF FAITH.

Thus the gift of faith IS DIFFERENT FROM FAITH.

9)-THE GIFT OF FAITH MUST BE UNDERSTOOD.

John  Paul II, in his Apostolic Exhortation, CATECHESI TRADENDAE, clarifies the GIFT OF FAITH in one’s life.  Faith is a gift from God.  God freely gives this GIFT OF FAITH to whomever He wishes.  Thus THE GIFT OF FAITH IS A VERY PRECIOUS GIFT which should be nurtured; otherwise it dies out.

May we read the Pope in his own words in CATECHESI TRADENDAE #19:  the GIFT OF FAITH is

“the capacity  to believe placed within them by Baptism and the presence of the Holy Spirit..”

THIS INTELLECTUAL AND SUPERNATURAL CAPACITY to believe is essential to understand and to accept the words of faith.

10)-BAPTISM CONSECRATES THE BAPTIZED BY VIRTUE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT INTO A UNITY WITH THE BLESSED TRINITY.

The Holy Spirit transforms the baptized into a new creature now vested with the promise of the resurrection.

May we read saint Paul in Galatians 3:26-27:

"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ"

11)-JOHN PAUL II AFFIRMS THAT ALL THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BAPTIZED IS DOOMED TO FAIL.

In baptism, the consecrated remains sealed for life and eternity into the Blessed Trinity.  However, such consecration remains fruitless without the “first evangelization” received from the parents and continued in the parish church.

May we read the Pope in #19:

“…the initial evangelization has often not taken place.  A certain number of children baptized in infancy come for catechesis in the parish without receiving any other initiation into the faith and still without any explicit personal attachment to Jesus Christ; they only have the capacity to believe placed within them by Baptism and the presence of the Holy Spirit;…”

12)-SUCH BAPTIZED WILL GROW WITHOUT ANY KNOWLEDGE OF THE GIFT OF FAITH THEY HAVE RECEIVED.

Most often, they grow in surroundings enemies of Christ and His Church.  Perverse cultures lead them to  the wide open gate where they are lost for eternity. (Matthew 7:13) 

13)-PAROCHIAL CATECHESIS REMAINS THEIR MAIN HOPE TO NUTURE THEIR GIFT OF FAITH TO SALVATION.

The Pope comes to the rescue of such abandoned baptized in proclaiming the absolute necessity of bishops and priests to teach catechism. 

May we read the Pope in #14:

“ it is clear that the Church has always looked on catechesis as a sacred duty and an inalienable right. On the one hand, it is certainly a duty springing from a command given by the Lord and resting above all on … bishops and priests  in the ministry of being pastors.  Lay catechists are a blessing but must never replace the ordained.  On the other hand, one can likewise speak of a right: … every baptized person, precisely the reason of being baptized, has the right to receive from the Church instruction and education enabling him or her to enter on a truly Christian life;…”

May the Holy Spirit help us to continue nurture our gift of faith until we cross the threshold of the Beatific Vision.  The professor.