Understandable, I struggled greatly with it as well. I actually wanted to be anything but Catholic when I reverted last year but I refused to let my pride be what got in the way of as deep of a relationship with God as possible. It was because of Pope Damascus that we even have the Bible so having a problem with the papacy implies a problem with the inerrancy of Scripture. I think you’d also agree Popes can be infallible given that the first Pope has 2 letters in the Bible, 1 Peter and 2 Peter.
I appreciate the discourse. I pray for the unity of all our brothers and sisters in Christ. If you ever have any questions I would love to continue our discussion. 🙏
St. John Henry Newman, pray for us!
If religion is to follow a systemized collection of ritual and dogma, it seems you would classify as someone who follows a religion. The ritual being reading the Bible and the dogma being that the Bible is authoritative. And I think it’s safe to assume when you say “Bible” you mean “Protestant Bible” as in the 73 books minus the 7 books the printing press axed for cost savings after Luther moved them to the appendix. I totally agree that the Bible is the word of God but it’s important to remember that the Catholic Church (guided by the Holy Spirit as our Lord tells us in Matthew 16:18) is the one that compiled it and for that reason I don’t think anyone can just go around messing with the canon like Luther and the publishing houses did. What I imagine you would consider all the “extra stuff” like the Eucharist, the Papacy, etc. is actually just an extension from the authority our Lord gave to Peter and the apostles to safeguard the deposit of faith and preach the Gospel. Instead of viewing the dogmas as constraining, may I suggest viewing them as liberating and a deepening of relationship with God, just as the Commandments do. Just as the Bible brings us closer to God, so too does the sacrifice of the mass, receiving the Eucharist, praying the rosary, etc.
A proper relationship with God requires more than just a mental assent to His truth. Relationship is incarnate. It takes a material form. Just as our Lord did when he took on human flesh and died for our sins. How we comport body and soul matters which is why religion is the expression of our faith.
Agreed. Religion is the habit of virtue that inclines the will to render to God that which He deserves. (Which of course requires one to seek to understand the true God, aka the Christian God)
I’m not sure you quite answered my questions. I’m still trying to understand how what you define as “religion” is separate from “relationship with God”. I ask with genuine concern because I care very deeply, the most deeply, about my relationship with God and view my religion as that expression.
To demonstrate my confusion, is any relationship with any God what matters? If my relationship is with a God I believe to be Unitarian (like the Jewish or Islamic faith) vs a Trinitarian God (Christian faith), does that matter? What if I portray God to be unknowable like Sikhism or coming in various forms like Hinduism or deny Christ’s divinity as true God as Arians do? Don’t we need to know who and what we mean to form a relationship?
How do you define “religion”? And what distinguishes it from “relationship with God”?
I’ve heard many beautiful stories about her capacity to love. A tangible example in recent times that we should all aspire to. The effects of prayer cannot be understated 🙏
St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!
People are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
-St. Teresa of Calcutta
I’ll throw “Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism, Considered in their Fundamental Principles” by Juan Donoso Cortes and “Revolution and Counter-Revolution” by Plinio Corrêa Oliveira into the ring, as well. Those two books opened my eyes to the glaring issues and terrible consequences of liberalism, especially as it reaches its logical conclusion.
Matthew 16:18
There’s Catholicism and then there’s everything else. nostr:note1x05lmarl888xyyps3lmn77cfptyp8ea5z4me6cnpz2k02s3qkycq7656ft
Incredible! First time doing something like that. Plenty of time to pray, contemplate, and receive spiritual direction. I came away with a handful of really profound resolutions on how to better love those around me. I cannot overstate how impactful removing yourself from the daily routine and noise can be in cultivating your interior life.
Back from a 4 day silent spiritual retreat. Can’t recommend it enough 🙏 ✝️
Spot on. What Pope St. John Paul II calls “structures of sin”. The complete atomization of society into “free” individuals is a false anthropology. If my options are take a usurious loan or risk my family dying from malnourishment or lack of shelter, I’m not really at liberty to deny the usurious loan. I must practice prudence to nurture that which has been entrusted to me (my family’s livelihood).
In that case I hope everyone would consider themselves authoritarian. There’s no argument for allowing hurtful speech like child pornography.
Rights are inherent by the very nature of being human. nostr:note1a7te2kjz9d9tl089ff3pmq6znzlkujnctel2sxrvzwsfu7gv9rlqu6rnkg
It’s not possible to be totally independent because man, by nature, depends on others. We know this innately when we’re around newborn babies. The most important aspects of our lives are relations to others (spouse, friends, etc.) There’s also the problem that “being left alone” doesn’t stop others from getting together and doing evil not just amongst themselves but eventually to others. Libertarianism doesn’t work.
We have a responsibility to ourselves, each other, and God to strive towards the common good as a society.
And yet all sorts of lewd and vulgar content remains up on Reddit no problem.
In a way this might be a net good for the pipe community but it will definitely be more difficult for newbies to find info when it’s no longer present on Reddit.
Maybe we need to introduce r/pipetobacco to Nostr? nostr:note16n7nkvqu5zc3hcqxf4rxhypuhhqxkfy9254acmahw48slmlfrjaqaxlc3r
Nice! From what I hear, properties get snatched up quick because there’s so many people “passively” in the market with apps like Zillow, Redfin, etc. now. Previously, people would formally enter the housing market and the pipeline was ~30 days with a possible bidding war. Nowadays because of the number of people on the sideline at all times, it can take even up to a year to find a home from when one first starts. Crazy.
Not quite in the official process yet but been doing initial scouting of areas to see what’s the right fit. Hard to nail down a particular location given there’s so many variables, not to mention how it all comes down to market availability.
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing. I especially like verse 13 🙏