Hello Dear, My names are Godwin A. Delali from GHANA.
I'm a Catholic and believe in the Living Word of the Living God both in the Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Apostolic Traditions.
Visit my personal page for more info www.delali.co.nr
THOUGHTS FROM THE FOLLOWING OF CHRIST
It is vanity to desire a long life, while you care so little for a virtuous life.
Every man naturally desires knowledge; but what does knowledge avail without the fear of God?
When the Day of Judgment comes, we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done; not how well we have spoken, but how well we have lived.
If you cannot make yourself as you would like to be, how can you expect to have others according to your liking? We want others to be perfect; and yet we do not correct our own defects.
You ought so to regulate yourself in all your actions and thoughts, as if today you were to die.
What does it avail to live long, if we amend so little?
Christ was willing to suffer and to be despised; and do you dare complain when treated likewise? Christ had enemies and slanderers; and do you wish to have all men as friends and benefactors?
Whence will your patience be crowned, if you meet with no adversity?
You are not holier because you are praised, nor are you worse because you are blamed.
For man looks into your face, but God looks into your heart. Man sees your works, but God sees your intentions.
If you regard the dignity of the Giver, no gift will seem to you small or cheap; for that cannot be small which is given by the highest Giver.
Jesus has now many lovers of His heavenly kingdom; but few bearers of His cross. He finds many companions at His table; but few at His fasts. Many follow Jesus to the breaking of bread; but few to the drinking of the chalice of His Passion.
Had there been anything better and more profitable for the salvation of mankind than suffering, Christ would surely have shown it by word and example. For He clearly exhorts the disciples who followed Him, and all those who wish to follow Him, to carry the cross, and says: ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’
So then, when all has been carefully read and minutely examined, let the final conclusion be: ‘Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.’
>>>I am a Proud Catholic !!!<<< who is too defended to become a victim of Protestant Polemics and Anti-Catholic bigotry...
"From a Catholic perspective, having to rely on the Scriptures alone to prove the teachings of the Church is illogical and "unbiblical." This is because we only know of the inspiration of the Scriptures due to the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, who determined the canon of Scripture at the end of the fourth century. Nothing in Scripture tells us what Scriptures are inspired, what books belong in the Bible, or that Scripture is the final authority on questions concerning the Christian faith. To the contrary, while every Scripture passage in the Bible is inspired (see, for example, 2Tim 3:16 in reference to the Old Testament Scriptures), it is the Church, not the Scriptures, that is the pillar and bulwark of the truth. (1Tim 3:15) and the final arbiter on questions of the Christian faith (Mat 18:17)."
"What Church? Scripture reveals this Church to be the one Jesus Christ built upon the rock of Saint Peter (Mat 16:18). By giving Peter the keys of authority (Mat 16:19), Jesus appointed Peter as the chief steward over His earthly kingdom (cf. Isa 22:20-22), and charged Peter to be the source of strength for the rest of the apostles (Luke 22:32) and the earthly shepherd of Jesus' flock (John 21:15-17). Jesus further gave Peter, and the apostles and elders in union with him, the power to bind and loose in heaven what they bound and loosed on earth. (Mat 16:19, 18:18). This teaching authority did not die with Peter and the apostles, but was transferred to future bishops through the laying on of hands (e.g., Acts 1:20, 6:6, 8:18, 9:17, 13:3; 1Tim 4:14, 5:22; 2Tim 1:6). It is through the teaching authority and apostolic tradition (1Cor 11:2; 2Thess 2:15, 3:6) of this Church, who is guided by the Holy Spirit (John 14:16,26, 16:13), that we know of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, and the manifold wisdom of God. (cf. Eph 3:10)."
Catholic Apologetics Guide 101
Scriptural Reference for Catholic Apologetics
by Adadzie, Godwin Delali This is a little book for those seeking a right understanding of Apologetics in the context of Catholicism. It is written in a simple and friendly manner. It is an attempt to look at some Catholic positions in a Biblical perspective. It is hoped that this book should appeal to the Catholic as well as to the non-Catholic readers. It is not written in a "scholarly" way, but as a plain "theological" statement with the hope of carrying conviction.
This book does not pretend to be exhaustive. The field which it covers is too vast to admit
of minute analysis. A good number of Catholics leave the Church every year due to poor
understanding of the Faith and also the efforts of anti-Catholic groups and churches.
Realizing that misrepresentation and misunderstanding are the chief sources of error; this
book serves as a quick guide to remove some of these errors. Download book here or here
Interests
Catholic/ Christian Apologetics, Reading the Bible, making new friends, surfing, web designing, chatting, listening to selective music preferably Gospel and Classical. my group
Catholics DO NOT worship Mary, the Mother of Christ - as though she were a diety. Catholics are just as aware as Protestants that Mary was a human creature, and therefore not entitled to the honors which are reserved to God alone. What many non-Catholics mistake for adoration is a very profound love and veneration, nothing more. Mary is not adored, first because God forbids it, and secondly because the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, which is based on Divine Law, forbids it. Canon Law 1255 of the 1918 Codex strictly forbids adoration of anyone other than the Holy Trinity. However, Catholics do feel that Mary is entitled to a great measure of exaltation because, in choosing her as the Mother of Redemption, God Himself exalted her - exalted her more than any other human person before or since. Catholics heap tribute and honor on Mary because they earnestly desire to be "followers of God, as most dear children." (Ephesians 5:1). Mary herself prophesied: "For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name." (Luke 1:48-49). Catholics know that every bit of the glory they give to Mary reflects to the glory of her divine Son, just as Mary magnified God, not herself, when Elizabeth blessed her. (Luke 1:41-55). They know that the closer they draw to her, the closer they draw to Him who was born of her. In the year 434 St. Vincent of Lerins defended Christian devotion to Mary this way: "Therefore, may God forbid that anyone should attempt to defraud Holy Mary of her privilege of divine grace and her special glory. For by a unique favor of our Lord and God she is confessed to be the most true and most blessed Mother of God."
Why do Catholics Pray to Mary and the Saints?
When Catholics pray to Mary and the other saints in Heaven they are not bypassing Christ, whom they acknowledge as the sole Mediator between God and man. They are going to Christ through Mary and the other saints. They are asking Mary and other saints to intercede for them before the throne of Christ in heaven. "Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects." (James 5:16) How much more availing is the unceasing prayer of the sinless Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ! St. Paul asked his fellow Christians to intercede for him: "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed on and triumph, as it did among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men; for not all have faith." (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2) And again: "I appeal to you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company." (Romans 15:30-32) Christ must particularly approve of our going to Him through Mary, His Blessed Mother, because He chose to come to us through her. And at Cana, He performed His first miracle after a word from His Mother. (John 2:2-11)
It is clear in Sacred Scripture that the saints in Heaven will intercede for us before the throne of Christ if they are petitioned in prayer (Revelations 8:3-4), and it is clear in the records of primitive Christianity that the first Christians eagerly sought their intercession. Wrote St. John Chrysostom in the fourth century: "When thou perceivest that God is chastening thee, fly not to His enemies, but to His friends, the martyrs, the saints, and those who were pleasing to Him, and who have great power." If the saints have such power with God, how much more his own Mother.
Why do Catholics Believe in a Place Between Heaven and Hell Called "Purgatory"?
Purgatory is also called the Final Purification. All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.
The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:
"If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." (1 Corinthians 3:15)
"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:7)
"As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come." [St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4, 39: PL 77, 396]
This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin." (2 Maccabees 12:46) From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:
"Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them." (St. John Chrysostom, 361)
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