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Mar 25th, 2025
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,518
Catholic Gyoza Member
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Catholic Gyoza Member
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,518 |
Carson, We can only pray, fast, perform good works, and show them the truth by our example. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Show them the truth of the Gospel and they will come around. Remember we are in sales, conversion is a job for Management. 
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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,191 Likes: 3
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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,191 Likes: 3 |
Carson, We can only pray, fast, perform good works, and show them the truth by our example. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Show them the truth of the Gospel and they will come around. Remember we are in sales, conversion is a job for Management. Actually it's a bit easier to deal with students at the Catholic university than it is with some of the students at the secular college. I will continue to present the Gospel at the Catholic University and pray that it takes. At the secular college I need to work on what Kreeft calls "preevangelism." I must continue to encourage people to trust the Good News of the Gospel as presented by the Church with my lost students at the Catholic University. I must show the very value of reason itself at the secular college. I pray that all on this board trust the Gospel as presented by the Church even when it comes to contraception. Pray for me. CDL
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,518
Catholic Gyoza Member
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Catholic Gyoza Member
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,518 |
Carson,
I got your back as far as the prayers are concerned.
"Preach the Gospel always, and when necessary, use words."
-St. Francis of Assisi
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 491
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When a family only has two children nothing is asked of them. There is little or no sacrifice. I think this comment is unfair. I know of several couples who have struggled with the inability to have children -- they have suffered enormous pain and have struggled enormously, not only with their inability to have children but also with the judgmental spirit of fellow Catholics who have condemned and judged them without understanding their situation. ALSO -- Although I now have four children, I would dispute the statement that "there is little or no sacrifice" with two children. I have found that the same self-denial and self-sacrificial love is required of a parent -- whether God has blessed that parent with 1, 2, 3 or 4 children. Each number brings its own struggles. Actually, in my experience, having two children was much more difficult than having more. When I just had two -- there was no one to help. My boys were so close (only 13 months apart) that I and my wife often despaired of every having any time for ourselves, etc. By the time, my 4th came along, my 1st born was 9 and he was actually quite a big help. So in my case, the more I had the easier it has been and the less sacrifice it has required.
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 491
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[quote] I think the blessing in Genesis, "Be fruitful and multiply..." which is given to all of creation is not a command but a blessing.[quote=JSMelkiteOrthodoxy]
As a note, Chrysostom argues that the command to be fruitful and multiply no longer applied to Christians. He interpreted this command spiritually -- to have spiritual children. See George Gabriel, You Think My Words Immodest, for an excellent commentary on this passage.
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,994 Likes: 10
Moderator Member
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Moderator Member
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,994 Likes: 10 |
Very little matters to most of these students. They were raised to get whatever they wished in a material sense and were never taught to love God and His Church. When a family only has two children nothing is asked of them. There is little or no sacrifice.
I'm not quite sure why you did not make the connection.
CDL Perhaps because both my wife and I have only one younger brother each (6 years younger in my case, 11 months younger in my wife's) and here we are. We decided to stop having children after our third, and they are growing up fine, I do have hopes for a priestly or religious vocation among them, maybe two, but at the very least, I know they will be people of faith, no matter what path they choose in life. My dad, on the other hand, is the youngest of 8 and he and my 7 aunts and uncles, fairly decent folks, all of them, have been practical (or formal) atheists most of their lives, even in spite my Grandma was a very religious (and holy, the two treats not always go hand-in-hand) woman. In my experience, there is not a direct connection between the size of your family and you commitment to God, Church or even society in general. Shalom, Memo Dear Memo, Your last sentence rings true. I am sure that Carson did not mean to offend anybody, but many people have become offended, and no one should EVER feel defensive about the size of their family. To All: Raising a family is hard enough in today's world without having to feel judged by fellow Christians. Only God is our judge, and our spiritual fathers/directors are in a position of guidance and direction. God bless all Christian parents of all prayerful Christian families, big and small, and may God bless their children with the gift of faith in a faithless world, and protection from all evil and danger that lurks everywhere. Although there was some very interesting material for thought and stimulating and respectful discourse here, there were also hurt feelings and disrespectful comments. Therefore, I think that at this point, the thread has run out of significant things to say, so I am going to close it. In Christ, Alice, Moderator
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