www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Pope Francis encourages refugees to find hope in the Quran

Respect should be given to all people, but lying to people is not a form of respect. It is simply wrong to tell people that there is hope in something that in fact lacks true hope. Christ is the sole redeemer of mankind, and there is no salvation, there is no hope, in any other person.

Amen.

This is also why the Church Fathers were so adamant that we should never do anything that might confirm the faith of those who are in error. To love those in error is to confess Christ to them through word and deed.

I agree. The primary mission of the Church is to bring the salvation made possible by Christ to all men, and in the process to alleviate both the spiritual and physical suffering of humanity. That is what the Great Commission is all about.

The Church's mission has become burdened by a bunch of bureaucratic nonsense, with Christ's words lost or changed to suit a modern secular end:


A reading from the Contemporary Gospel of Matthew:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain that Jesus suggested they visit. And when they saw him they showed appreciation for his presence, because they liked him, but some of them were troubled. And Jesus came and said to them: 'I am one of many important religious figures in history. Go therefore and dialogue with all nations, giving everyone a general sense of well-being, and teaching them political correctness, and theological and moral relativism; and lo, think about me occasionally, at least for a while.'

This has been an interesting thread to follow for this reason: I come from a very Fundamentalist Bible thumper background--the type of people who would say that we must hold out a loaf of bread with one hand while getting people to "accept Jesus as Lord and Savior" with the other.

It seems to me that such "conversions" would be of a short lived nature and probably filled with bitterness on the part of people who were offered conversion or food.

On the other hand, as I thought of this thread and read the posts on it, wouldn't it be more in line with the Gospel to bring the love of Christ to people and be ready with a good to-the-point answer when they ask "Why do you do this?"

Something like "Because Christ our God loves you and asked me to feed you."

Something like that.

That is a perfect answer. Obviously much better than telling those you are helping to find hope in the Qu'ran.

This presents a false dichotomy. No one (i.e., except Muslims as Thomas the Seeker pointed out in his post) is saying that a person should not be given physical aid and comfort, but only that that form of assistance is not enough. How can you truly help a person without being interested in sharing the Gospel of salvation with him? It is not an either or situation. Spiritual and physical healing, which is the whole point of the Gospel, cannot be separated.

Of course, Christ did not commission His disciples to sit still and wait for people to come to them asking questions. He sent them out to preach the Gospel, that is, He sent them out with the good news of salvation. The Gospel should not be hidden, nor should it only be reluctantly revealed; instead, it should be proclaimed with divine power.

I think of the very first Christians and what was said about them: "Behold, how they love one another." Certainly love has a drawing power about it.

But I am also with you in not saying anything positive about the false hope that is in the Qu'ran. Our love must always be tempered with a gracious response of truth.

The first Christians love for one another, and their fellow men, was quite powerful, because it was motivated by their love for God, but they did not sit around quietly hoping people would notice how much they loved each other; instead, they went out and preached the Good News of Christ to anyone and everyone, and that includes even those who did not want to hear them. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.

It is comforting to me to know that there are some Catholics - like yourself - who are not interested in making a false peace with a religion that is founded upon an explicit denial of the dogmas of the Incarnation and the Trinity.

Amen brother!

I'm going to say something that will probably mark me for life in these parts, but it is how I feel about it. it probably comes from my Fundamentalist background.

I have always thought that the statement "Preach the Gospel. When necessary, use words" to be one of the Top Ten STUPIDEST STATEMENTS ever made by a Christian. As you mention, the early Christians went out and TOLD THE GOOD NEWS.

And this is even more important today when charity and "being nice" are so easily interchanged that a person could just as easily say "Oh, he's a nice person" rather than "He must be a Christian because he is so loving."

I wonder how many people have latched onto that statement of St. Francis and used it to justify their inability or refusal to go out and TELL PEOPLE that they need a savior from their sins???

[Linked Image] [s64.photobucket.com]

Here's the story behind the pic:

I volunteered to help with fund raising for the new radio station in the Harrisburg area. We were at a parish fair. The first night, it was dead and no one really came around to visit our table. The next night, I decided to grab a handful of Catholic literature, rosaries, and other materials, and set them up on the table.

I also took a more proactive stance. When people came by, I would ask them if they were Catholic. If they said no, I would ask them "Why not?"

Always very friendly, smiling, and non-combative about it.

The result was that I got into a number of very good conversations about the faith, including with one fellow whose girlfriend told me that she was thrilled because she has not been able to get him to talk about the faith (she's hoping he will convert).

Now....here's the upshot to this all.

I got a bunch of grief from the radio station owners for putting out the literature and giving out rosaries. I found that kind of odd in that the whole purpose of the station is to witness to the faith, right?

Ah, well......