So hawked the Protestant throngs outside HSBC Arena on Saturday, August 15th for the Fr. Corapi Conference. I’ll start at the very beginning, for it’s a very good place to start:
I (and an army of priests, seminarians and acolytes) stayed the night before the conference at the Doubletree Club Hotel, on High Street. Complimentary cookies at check-in were amazing. Beds were very comfortable with five pillows piled high for “sweet dreams,” as the embroidered pillows declared. Side note: I could see the spire of St. Louis’ Catholic Church from my room. Dinner and the next morning’s breakfast were in the “Au Bon Pain” restuarant downstairs. I dined with a father and daughter from Georgia who are both going through RCIA. The daughter is finishing upcollege and wants to join, hopefully, Mother Angelica’s order of religious nuns. So then, this is where it gets interesting: the hotel’s promised shutlle busses never showed up in the morning to take us to the conference. 200 cranky Catholics on the streets of Buffalo – not a good thing. I was standing next to a Brooklyn lady who, upon seeing an oncoming taxi, rushed out and seized it, comandeering it for immediate “Corapi use.” So, eight of us piled into this one taxi and were off.
So then we arrived at HSBC Arena about 7:30, half an hour before the first sermon. My seat was about 45 feet from the stage, looking down upon it. Looking around at the people flooding in I recalled the number of attendees which “Miss Georgia” told me: 19,000 people. Yes, 19,000 people. Now, I forgot to mention that there was a throng of Bible-thumping Protestants outside, trying to convert this army of 19,000 Catholics. I mean, really? You really think you’re going to convert a Catholic who is going to the Fr. Corapi Conference? Poor misguided souls. The Catholic reaction to the cries of “only the Lord has authority, only the Lord is reverent” was either laughing, indifference or yelling back, “Yeah, and that’s why you guys should come in and listen to our padre!”
The sermons themselves where absolutely amazing. There were two before Mass, and three after, one of which was given by Raymond Arroyo. Fr. Corapi’s talks were about the Holy Spirit: “It’s not a timid fire.” I suppose it could be said that this is our Imprimatur? They will be selling CD’s and DVD’s of this conference on his website once the footage is edited (camera boom knocked over flowers onto the podium) and when the backgroudn noise is filtered out (of 19,000 Catholics, 1,000 were under 2 years old). I’ll write more at length on the sermons later, once I see the footage and remember actual lines. One theme was “Those who obey receive the Spirit.” He added, “but you have a duty to disobey and fight against evil and indifferent leaders in state, society and Church.” His general message was, “Oh dear God, we’ve got the democrats in. Run for your lives! And on your way into your bunkers of Catholicity, trample under foot heresy and corrupt clergy and laity!” I think we’ve been doing our best to keep his message alive, yes?
Now to the Mass:
The main celebrant was Bishop Kmiec of Buffalo, with nearly 200 priests concelebrating, and throngs of deacons assisting. Several seminarians wserved as acolytes etc . . . and only one lay person (aside from the servers) helped. The woman simply read the readinsg which were not edited or neutered of their masculine pronouns. The music was generally written by Mr. Haugen, but was performed with an almost polyphonic manner. The servers wore cassocks, the priests did nothing out of line, no nuns or laypeople preached, and Bishop Kmiec’s “assistant” was not some white-haired she-priest in an alb, but rather, a monsignior. The bishop acted with peity and dignity, without being either aloof or disingenuine. Let’s pray that all bishops (wink, wink) learn from his pious and kindly example. How emotion-packed was the Mass? Try listening to 19,000 singing the Lourdes Hymn (aka Immaculate Mary) and not being moved with a great dose of Catholic pride. No, this does not mean we are going to have a Cleansing Fire float next year at Rochester’s “Pride Week.” I think the Episcopalians take up too much room anyways . . .
The food was tolderable at the arena, renamed “Holy Spirit Blessed Church” by Bishop Kmiec. I will let it rest by saying that my lunch was supplied by Perry’s Ice Cream. Soft-served twist rocks my Catholic mind. Evidently the concessions people underestimated the turn-out, because they all closed by 1:30 and Tim Hortons (all 8,000 stands) ran out of coffee. However, I didn’t go because of the food. I went because of the example of faith shown by all in attendance and by all who said Mass, and by he who preached. That’s the amazing thing: 19,000 people all of the same mind, all catholic in the “lower-case ‘c'” meaning.
The whole thing was amazing. Wish you could have all come. Maybe next time there will be a Cleansing Fire charter bus?
And a most definite “wow” goes to the fact that we were given a further Imprimatur by the area’s Catholic radio station. Wow. Deo Gratias.
Tags: News and Media
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Thanks, Gen. I look forward to your other reports. Did you stop into St. Louis Church. It's quite something.
http://stlouisrc.bfn.org/
I wish that I could have been there. Imagine 40 years ago this weekend I was at Woodstock and now, 40 years later, a sort of Catholic Woodstock with Father Corapi, and I can't make it.
Bishop Kmiec assistant was Msgr. David LiPuma.
What a wonderful tale. I wish I could have been there!
And all those Protestants… Why are we pumping up ecumenism when the other side is playing dirty? No wonder we're losing people. We need to be tough about our faith, and try hard to bring in conversions, just like they are. Hopefully the conference inspired people to have a raging fire about the Catholic faith that before was only a small flame.
Fr. Corapi would usher in a golden age as bishop of Rochester.
A priest with whom I spoke today at Mass said that, had Bishop Clark heard the things Fr. Corapi said, even "the windows in his parishes would be shaking with fear."
Another thing that was said at the conference and which I particularly liked was a line which went something like this: "You are not obligated to obey laws which are contrary to Truth. You can disapprove of the man, or woman, but you must hold the office sacred."
I think that is accomplished here. If we didn't hold the title of "bishop" as sacred, then why would we have come up with the most suitable successors to Bishop Clark? We hold the title and office with so much respect that we yearn for a way to preserve its integrity through generations. Then again, it would help if "we" had parishes by the time our list becomes pertinent. 😉
Sounds like the Doubletree Doublecrossed for the shuttle service. I wish I had some of them cookies. Sounds delicious.
An amazing experience!
I think this calls for some fortitude.
I would love to hear more of what Father Corapi had to say and it is also time for you to make us laugh.
new video pls.
I attended the conference, too, and I agree with CF's summary. I will note that a friend of mind tried to give a ticket to one of the anti-Catholic protesters to which she said, "why would I want to listen to the false prophet Fr. Corapi?" I wonder if Father knows he's been elevated to such status? Anyway. My friend, responded, "well, so you could at least know what you were objecting to." Ironically, I think the protesters would have found much with which to agree in Father's preaching.
At one point they were yelling (with bullhorns) that "the Pope cannot save you. Mary cannot save you!" I thought, "You're right. We know that." I saw several brave and charitable Catholics engaging in conversation (well, trying to) but these people were so detached. They seemed to stare through you and avoided eye contact at all times. They got on a serious anti-Mary rant and one woman couldn't take it any longer. She confronted several of them directly and asked, "do you think Jesus approves of you talking about his Mother like that? Is this how you honor the Mother of God?" One young man (I'd say he was in his twenties) had a t-shirt with a picture of Jesus crowned in thorns on the back that said "Don't Mess with MY Mother." He just stood inside a circle of protesters and let his shirt do the talking. And finally, one good man stood praying the Rosary while they shouted their bile. I have to say, I was fascinated by it all.
Father's preaching was forthright and unabashed. He holds nothing back and doesn't mince words. He reminded us that he was there to confirm us in our faith. And living in Rochester we need to be confirmed in the faith because no one is doing it here!
I was hoping for a more traditional Mass (and by that I was hoping for less Haugen, but you can't have everything) and I thought the Agnus Dei was a Will Ferrell skit in the making (the singer could really add some tropes). I also want to ask, what is wrong with some silence after Communion? They were a great choir, but it is hard not to see them as performers when they are up front, on the stage and the camera is going in for close-ups. These complaints are minor, though, for the benediction was incredible. People started to leave, but still there were over 10,000 people singing "Tantum Ergo" without the benefit of a lyric sheet and people were on two knees. It didn't matter that they were on a dirty, concrete floor in tiered seating. They were on their knees. That's the moment I was overcome with emotion/pride/love. Awesome, awesome sight.
Did anyone catch what the name of the beautiful song during communion that seemed to be Christ speaking to the soul after he/she receives? It was so beautiful….
My wife and I ventured out to the conference from Rochester at 6:05 am. At 6:30 am on the expressway, i got rear-ended by a young kid who fell asleep at the wheel. I was doing 45mph in a work zone and he was doing perhaps 70-80 when he hit me. Fortunately, our gaurdian angels stood behind my car and deflected 99.9% of the impact back onto the car that was coming at me like a speeding bullet.
We were all safe and sound and the car, while it has some damage, does not look like it was ever hit. The holy spirit at my side in my moment of need. After going to urgent care just to get checked out for precaution, we left Rochester and got to the conference at 1pm. Yeah, we were heckled by the protesters as well, but did not give them the time of day. We were 10 rows directly in front of Fr. Corapi and had the most blessed and enjoyable time ever. Raymond Arroyo was spectacular and i guess one could say that Father Corapi was 'on Fire'. God's will was for my wife and I to attend and we overcame the snares laid out for us in the morning. Many thanks to the Station of the Cross for hosting such a great event.
But at least you made it to the conference!
Hello all…
My husband and I were amongst the "protestors" as you all so lovenly call us. We are in fact called Street Preachers and we were not protesting, but rather we were preaching. We were there to preach the true Gospel~to reveal the heresy of the Catholic church to so many who are blinded…and that is just what they were-BLINDED. I can't tell you how many people told us that:
~Catholics don't engage in Mary worship, when in fact they do!
~The first church was started by Catholics (when the first church was begun by Christians in Antioch)
There were so many angry and malicious people who were "attacking" us just as they said we were doing to them.
And a correction: The young man who had the T-shirt on with Mary on the back~The young man was
#1 Demon possessed
#2 His shirt read: "Don't Mess With Mom" (Very respectful, don't you think?)
#3 VERY controversial to all the preachers and very argumentative.
The King James Bible reads:
Matthew 23:9 "And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." This includes Mr. Corapi. He is NOT to be given the title father…that title belongs to One~Jesus Christ the Lord!
Luke 1:46 "And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Mary admits that she herself needs a SAVIOUR. She was a sinner just like you and me!! She was not sinless like the Catholic church teaches.
It all comes down to the fact that Jesus Christ was buried, rose again and shed His blood to redeem us from our sins. If you can earn it as a catholic, why did He die? His death would have been pointless and the blood that was shed would have done nothing. But it was HIS blood.
John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." He is the only way…not the pope, not the catholic church, not Mary. Only through Christ Jesus!
I don't expect many to understand these words because those who are blinded seldom see light…but there is hope for even the most blinded of people!!!
Dear Street Preachers Wife – I would respectfully refer you to the Bible Christian Society's website. This website will definitely enlighten your darkness about Catholicism.
http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/
We will all keep you and your husband in our daily prayers, including the Rosary.
Pax et bonum.
RochChaCha: Sorry to hear about your accident, but I"m glad you got to hear Father Corapi. How was the kid who rear-ended you? What happened to him? I'll pray for him.
Wife of a preacher man, let me address your comments about Catholicism.
1. "Catholics don't engage in Mary worship, when in fact they do!"
False. Catholics show respect for Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ — the stainless vessel by which the Lord entered this world as man. When we pray to the Blessed Mother, we pray for her intercessions and her prayers to the Lord Jesus on our behalf, not for her to save us by her own power, for only God can save or condemn man. Do not forget Luke 1:42 "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."
2. Roman Catholicism has its roots in the early Christian churches established by Peter and the Apostles. Peter was the appointed leader of Christ's church, and thereafter successors have been chosen to continue the Lord?s work. To deny Peter's role as leader of the Church on earth, and the successors that followed, is to deny the word of God which made this so! Remember Matthew 16:18-20 "And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The Lord put Peter in charge as the first Pope. When you reject the Papacy and start your own little churches, you reject the will of God.
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"Matthew 23:9 "And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." This includes Mr. Corapi. He is NOT to be given the title father…that title belongs to One~Jesus Christ the Lord!"
If that's the case, it includes your father as well. If you and your husband have children, your children should not call your husband "father." Also, do not forget that many people are called father in the Bible, some even given this title by God himself: Isaiah 22:21 "He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah." God just committed a heresy there, according to you. However, that is impossible. Also, if you wish to be a literalist about the passage, then God the Father is the only one called Father, not Jesus Christ the Son.
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"Luke 1:46 "And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Mary admits that she herself needs a SAVIOUR. She was a sinner just like you and me!! She was not sinless like the Catholic church teaches. "
Mary is not calling herself a sinner. Mary likely only had human knowledge during her life on earth, and it was probably not divinely revealed to her while on earth that she was sinless. How could you believe that God would allow His Son to enter the world via a sinner? How could you believe the Son of God would be born of a sinner? Mary had to have been free from sin. The Lord made Mary sinless, so that His Son may one day enter the world to bring salvation.
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"If you can earn it as a catholic, why did He die? "
What do you mean by this? Who is denying that Jesus Christ died for our sins? We believe in Jesus, we believe in salvation, we believe in following the lead of His hand-appointed leader of His Church.
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"John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." He is the only way…not the pope, not the catholic church, not Mary. Only through Christ Jesus!"
Again, nobody has said the Pope or Mary or the Church will decide our fate, only God can do this. Nobody is "worshiping" the Pope or the Blessed Virgin, we only worship God.
~Dr. K
Preacher's wife, people like you are the reason I ditched Born-Againism to join the Catholic faith. Born Agains are self-righteous and claim to be experts of the Word of God, but they are nothing but frauds. The verses they quote are hand-fed by angry preachers with no qualifications and no in-depth study of the Bible other than reading it while on the toilet. Catholic priests, on the other hand, spend six or more years on deep study of the sacred scriptures, and they continue to study it throughout their lives. Additionally, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is only found in the Church of Jesus Christ; the Catholic Church. Born Againism is a man-made institution, while the Catholic Church is God-made.
I am not blind my friend, I have seen a light greater than any light I ever saw when I thought and acted like you. And that light is Jesus Christ, a light that does not blind, but one that opens our eyes to the truth.
You poor deceived souls.
1. You are lying and in error concerning Mary worship. Pope John Paul 2nd stated that Mary was the path that leads to Christ, acknowledging her providential role in the path of salvation. BLASPHEMY! And Benedict xv, inter SODALICIA, 1918 said, "To such extent did Mary suffer and almost die with her suffering and dying son; to such extent did she surrender her maternal rights over her son FOR MAN'S SALVATION that we may rightly say SHE REDEEMED THE HUMAN RACE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST!" BLASHEMY and Mary-worship and you LIE if you say differently!
2. Matt 23:9 MUST be concerning religious leaders-look at the context where master and rabbi are used. Also Jesus called referred to the human male parent as a father many times in scriptures (Luke 12:53, 14:26, 15:12, 18, 16:27, 16:30, etc.) So it is apparent that He was referring to religious leaders, not human fathers.
3. Catholicism is NOT Christianity. They teach WORKS for salvation and the scriptures teach faith apart from works (Romans 4:5, 5:1, Eph. 2:8,9 etc.)
4. The Catholics MURDERED the true Christians historically and that is a fact!
5. Mary was a sinner (Eccl 7:20, Romans 3:10,23) but you unscripturally deny that!
This is just for starters.
You should have listened to the REAL preachers message. You may not have another chance to turn from your false religion and turn to the TRUE Christ.
Let us see if you have enough courage to put on this comment since it proves your HERESY!
Catholic Convert, Your problem is that you never got genuinely converted to Christ. Therefore you are lost as are all Catholics who teach salvation by works which is condemned in the AUTHORITY, the scriptures. Gal. 1:8,9 Romans 4:5 etc.
1. "BLASHEMY and Mary-worship and you LIE if you say differently!"
Again, you are not proving at all that Catholics "worship" Mary. You're just tossing around labels. It is God who is the ultimate judge of a person's soul. I see you have little respect for the mother of Jesus. How do you think the Lord would react to how you speak against her?
2. "Matt 23:9 MUST be concerning religious leaders-look at the context where master and rabbi are used. Also Jesus called referred to the human male parent as a father many times in scriptures (Luke 12:53, 14:26, 15:12, 18, 16:27, 16:30, etc.) So it is apparent that He was referring to religious leaders, not human fathers."
You don't see the hypocrisy in calling yourself "proclaimingprophet"? When you call yourself a prophet, you are putting yourself on a pedestal; you are claiming to be a messenger of God! Do not forget Matthew 23: 12- "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Practice what you preach.
Also, when Street Preacher's Wife referred to Fr. Corapi above as "Mr. Corapi.", she just violated this passage. 'Mister' is a form of the word 'Master', which is forbidden by this passage: "Do not be called 'Master'; you have but one master, the Messiah" (Matthew 23:10).
To give any title to a religious leader appears to be a sin if you really want to take a literalist approach to this passage. So don't call your leader "Brother", "Reverend", "Pastor", etc.
3. "Catholicism is NOT Christianity. They teach WORKS for salvation and the scriptures teach faith apart from works (Romans 4:5, 5:1, Eph. 2:8,9 etc.)"
Did Jesus not say to give to the poor, to love our neighbor, to clothe the naked, etc.? Yes, He did. It is both faith and works that matter. One can be Christian in name only and can be the sleaziest unrepentant sinner in the world. Does that make him worthy of salvation? No. The one who does as the Lord commands, believes in the Lord, and confesses his sins is the one who will be saved.
4. "The Catholics MURDERED the true Christians historically and that is a fact!"
Catholics ARE the true Christians, as we are members of the Church established by Jesus Christ Himself. I find it difficult to call religions established more than 1000 years after the life of Christ on earth as being the "true" religion.
5. "Mary was a sinner (Eccl 7:20, Romans 3:10,23) but you unscripturally deny that!"
Where in scripture does it say MARY HERSELF HAS SINNED? Nowhere. By your logic, Jesus was also born with original sin! Just stop and think for a moment, how could Jesus be born of a sinner? Mary was created by the Lord to be pure and spotless in order to be a worthy entrance for the Lord into the world. She is the one and only human being to ever be created without sin, as she was to be the mother of Jesus.
"You may not have another chance to turn from your false religion and turn to the TRUE Christ."
In Catholicism we receive the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist every Sunday, something that Protestants do not do. The Lord commanded that we eat his flesh and drink his blood to live forever (John 6:35,54-56). Do you do this?
~Dr. K
Evangelicals are a bunch of self-righteous hypocrites. These folk are no different than the scribes and Pharisee which the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ chastised.
Evangelicalism is a religion of hatred and belittlement. They will be weeded out and cast down to Hell on judgment day even before those who have never heard of Jesus.
Hey "Prophet", when did God make you a prophet? Or do you just pretend to be one?
Prophet, is your entire religion based on attacking others? It sounds so cold and loveless, basically the opposite of what Jesus preached.
The Lord see how you are talking about his mother. I'd hate to be next to you on the day of judgment.
No Dr. K,
1. You do not agree with your leaders? Shame on you, you poor Catholic. Do not try to talk yourself out of your LIE-that being you DO worship and think too highly of Mary.
2. You do not answer Matt. 23:9, just dance around it. By the way, no man should be called Reverend either according to Psalm 111:9. You lose again.
3. But to him that worketh NOT but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his FAITH is counted for righteousness. READ it!! FAITH ALONE, APART FROM WORKS! See also Eph. 2:8,9, Romans 5:1 etc.
4. Catholicism was NOT founded by Christ-you are a liar again and a decieved fool. The RCC was not around for centuries and your perverse doctrines came about over hundreds of years.
5. Read the Bible again, deceived one (though the Bible means nothing to you Catholics), ALL HAVE SINNED! Romans 3:10, 23 etc. You accuse Christ of being a sinner-what a wicked man! Mary was a sinner, like it or not, Christ was and is God in the flesh and never sinned because he was God (2 Cor. 5:20,21 etc.) You Mary-worshippers make God sick! You really ought to be ashamed of yourself if this is how pitifully you defend your false faith. I am surprised you have the time to answer a blog in between tv shows and the budweiser.
Catholic, Your mother is the whore of babylon, fool. And Christ was unkind to the religious lost like you. Read your Bible, ignorant one. John 8:44 etc.
Where did these people come from?
Don't born agains have there own blogs? I have a feeling they may be trying to find out what we have that they don't have. We shall pray they find it.
Seriously what brought them here.?
P.S. they sound very mean spirted and unhappy.
CHILLING!!
Truegospelpreacher, proclaimgospelprophet, Street Preacher's Wife — Can you try and stick with one identification name for more than five minutes? It's obviously the same person, as the style of writing is identical among all three posters.
1. Once again, Catholics do not worship Mary. The leaders of the Church do not worship Mary. I will not belittle the Blessed Virgin like you. She is the Mother of Jesus Christ, God made man. She deserves respect for that, don't you think? The Lord obviously thought highly of her among humans to select her to be His entrance into our world. All you've been doing is calling Mary a sinner and a deity, neither of which is true.
2. What do you call the leaders in your religion? You're giving me no information about your faith, so we're not playing on equal ground here. "Dance around it"? You aren't giving me a straight answer to the points I raised. If you want to ask questions, you need to be prepared to answer questions yourself.
From 1 Corinthians 4: 15- "Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel." St. Paul is referring to himself as their "father". According to you, he violated a command of Jesus. If you're using the use of "father" as a title to discredit the Catholic Church, shouldn't you also use it to discredit St. Paul and his epistles?
A Catholic priest being called "father" is appropriate, because he is taking on the role of a father who teaches his children (the congregation). He is not claiming to be God the Father, but rather is like the father of a family caring for the needs of his young. The priest sees that his flock is nourished with the Word of God and the Body and Blood of Christ. He cares for the well-being of the people of his parish, like a father.
3. If we are justified by faith alone, then that means there exists no need to follow the commands of the Lord. How ridiculous that idea is! Why did Jesus tell us to love our neighbor if this is not necessary for salvation? Tell me this, preacher. "Enlighten me." It is not only our faith (which is essential), but also our deeds and our repentance of our sinfulness that matters. I am not saying works alone, I am saying faith and works are necessary for salvation.
4. Catholicism was founded by Christ. The name "Roman Catholic" did not come about until several years later, but the Church was around since Jesus established it upon St. Peter the first Pope. Jesus appointed Peter the leader of his Church, and since then successive Popes have been appointed among the leaders of the Church to serve in this role. Thus, the Catholic Church is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ as it was then, and is now, and will be tomorrow.
5. I have been citing Bible verse and Bible verse, so clearly the Bible means plenty to us Catholics. I am not accusing Christ of being a sinner, you are the one doing this with your faulty logic pertaining to sin.
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You need to stop your hate speech and nasty attacks. If you want a discussion, then fine. It is inappropriate and unacceptable to call our readers whores of Babylon, deceived fools, sinners, alcoholics, and demon possessed. You cheapen your arguments when you must resort to name calling. If you want to convert anyone to your false way of thinking, show a little class.
~Dr. K
Sr. Emily, some evangelical probably Googled "Fr. Corapi" and found CF just to pick a fight.
Evangelicals are often very direct, and frequently quote the same Bible verse time and time again. They are literally spoon-fed this stuff by their preachers. This person in particular has been rather nasty and is showing little class. It's one thing to state your beliefs, it's another to resort to name calling and to dodge return questions.
~Dr. K
Dr. K and Sr. Emily.
They probably heard about this blog on Catholic radio.
This name calling is usually how they approach Catholics. Pretty much they take the Bible out of context and get all wound up by their pastors. I can't imagine why any person would be persuaded by their name-calling attacks.
Dr. K you are doing a good job of refuting their spurious attacks. But it still would be nice to pull out a little Scott Hahn doll from your back pocket and let him loose on these anti-Catholics.
For the uninitiated, Scott Hahn was a very virulent attacker of the Catholic Church. He went to Gordon-Conwell seminary. He is now a very devoted Catholic and a biblical scholar par excellence. His website is http://www.scotthahn.com/
I still would refer you anti-Catholics to the Bible Christian Society at
http://www.biblechristiansociety.com
I'll keep all Catholics and non-Catholics in my rosary.
Dr. K, it's tiring, isn't it? Trying to confront proof-texting? Everthing they quote proves nothing. Absolutely nothing. For example, "Proclaiming prophet" quotes JPII's view of Mary in terms of salvation and I cannot, for the life of me, see how they think that makes Mary higher than or equal to Jesus. What he lacks in his argument is the fullness of all Catholic teaching. He's proof-texting papal documents, too. Do they have no understanding of the Old Testament and how it relates to the New. Do they not have sense of the parallels between King David and his rule of Israel and the new rule of Jesus? Especially in terms of the honor and reverence given the Queen Mother? How can they possibly hate, and I mean HATE, the one who bore Our Savior?
Sister Emily is right, they are in desperate need of prayers. And I will thank God for the faith I've been given, through no work of my own, to see the TRUTH.
Thank you Lord, Jesus for your Church, the Catholic Church, the one you established upon Peter the Rock.
Streetpreacher's wife, I find it rich in irony that you object to the t-shirt using the word "mom" given the anti-Marian rants coming from your friends' bullhorns. When Jesus was suffering in the Garden, he called out "Abba," or daddy! Do you find this disrespectful too?
One more thing, to all the anti-Catholic protesters. I certainly didn't mean to misrepresent what took place on Saturday. I simply wrote what I personally observed. The "preaching" lasted all day and I was only outside during one break. It is my understanding that you all come out for any event at the HSBC. I'm sure you weren't ready for 15000 people who actually know and love the Catholic faith. It's not easy to have people able to defend the faith and refute your tired and misapplied arguments.
Cleansing Fire, please feel free to delete this post if it is unnecessarily inflammatory.
But, really, Mary is the whore of Babylon? That one made laugh out loud. So very James White.
Nernia, Choir, Sr. Emily,
You're all spot on.
~Dr. K
No Dr. K,
You answer nothing and you do not even believe your own Pope Benedict-I thought he was your representative on earth at the time. Again you lie. And Mary was a sinner-you just disbelieve that as well. And why quote the Bible since you do not believe it. Salvation is apart from works as I quoted from the Bible but you do not believe that either. Typical Catholic. Love for Christ because one is saved will cause good works (Eph 2:10, James 2 etc.) By the way, Christ called some fools, liars, vipers, children of the devil etc. And no one deserves those names better than the lying Catholics, that MURDERED the genuine Christians!
Emily Not a Sister, Mean-spirited? Your false religion is sending people to hell! Gal. 1:8,9 You need to wake up and see that catholicism is false and damning. You LIE,(as noDr. K has) about your Mary-worship etc., you trust in WORKS for salvation, denying the work of Calvary. Repent or you will go to hell! By the way, Jesus was not exactly smiling when he overturned the moneychangers table etc. But then again, you worship not the Christ of the Bible, but a saltine cracker imitation!
Nerina no Christian,
The catholics were very un-christian at this event as they always are, because they have no Holy Ghost! they were yelling, cussing etc. and many times at these events they get violent because we preach about their false Mary!
Truegospelpreacher, I'm feelin' the love of your Christianity. Just feelin' it. And now I am done feeding your hatred. Your arguments are not worthy of refutation any longer.
Poor Nerina,
Truth bothers you. The problem is that you obey your false religion and NOT the Bible. Since you cannot refute the scriptures you run. as far as love, true love tells the truth. And the Bible states that God HATES every false way and that those that preach a false gospel (Catholics, Mormons, Muslims etc.) are ACCURSED! Pretty strong words. I hope that you will repent of your false man-made religion and turn to Christ alone, apart from works, that you can be saved.
"And why quote the Bible since you do not believe it."
Do you believe in the Eucharist? If not, why quote the Bible, because you do not believe in it. Hypocrisy.
—
May I remind you, Preacher, of the following:
"So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor. 13:13).
Show some love, Preacher. It's there in the Bible, but I am not seeing it from you.
—
If faith alone justifies, then explain this command of Jesus Christ:
"He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."" (Matthew 22:37-40)
Quit trying to quote the word of Paul while you are openly neglecting the words of Jesus Christ. We must love God and love one another. Just saying "I believe in Jesus" will not gain us salvation! Read your Bible a little harder, and read the whole thing, not just the passages your preacher tells you to read.
Also remember this passage:
"Amen I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19: 23-24).
Why is it hard for a rich man to enter heaven if faith alone justifies us? If he believes in Jesus and acknowledges this, there should be no difficult at all, according to you, since you believe faith alone is all one needs for salvation. However, this is not what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying at all.
~Dr. K
But to him that WORKETH NOT (baptism, sacraments etc.) but BELIEVETH on him that justifieth the ungodly, his FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS".
Romans 4:5
The Word of God exposes your false doctrine!
Dr. K, good refutations.
Nerina, good points.
"preacher person(s) and wife": I wish you could step back and hear the intense anger in your comments. Are you folks in the habit of making accusations of lying to everyone who states their beliefs? Not likely to persuade anyone that way.
Nerina was correct when she said that you folks don't know the fullness of Catholic teacing.
wife, of course Jesus is Mary's savior but that does not mean that Mary sinned. The best explanation I've heard runs like this: Sin is like falling into a mud puddle. For His Mother, Jesus place a cloak over the mud puddle so that she did not fall into the mud puddle.
"The Word of God exposes your false doctrine!"
I'm quoting the Bible. The Word of God is supporting my doctrine. Read above, and you will see how the Lord Jesus disagrees with sola fide.
~Dr. K
You know what? What is happening here is becoming evil. I think we should stop communicating with these people. The only thing we can do for them is pray for them. It does anger me the way they attack us.
I am begining to think, they never went to Bufalo after all. They stumbled on to this site put all the information together and wanted to pick a fight. I wish they would take that fighting energy and put it in to finding out the truth.
It does not make sense to me they would want to be in this site anymore than I would want to go read about what born agains believe.
You may be right, Sr. Emily.
My reason for responding to this person is that too often I see people attack Catholicism and Catholics rarely respond back. This happens usually on the liberal online forums and newspaper Web site comment sections. If these people are going to be aggressive in trying to rip Catholics away from their faith (something which is happening all too often these days), then Catholics may need to be just as aggressive in defending their faith from this onslaught.
~Dr. K
Well I will probaly get delted but I do have one more thing to say.
I use to be a born again and you people sound like the group up on north greece road. I left there when the "preacher" had to leave town as he was caught with someone who he should not have been with and there were missing funds.
Sister Emily, this is what happens when Christ is proclaimed. It is part of the spiritual battle and we are called "to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope." (1Peter 3:15) Granted, these folks are not politely asking, but they are in need of an explanation.
It is natural to feel angry when one's loved ones are verbally attacked as these "preachers" have done. But this is what we are called to do.
Rochacha, meant to say I'm very glad you're okay. sorry, just doing too much at one time.
DR. K, I admire your effort. You gave them some really good stuff. They aren't going to listen. Their mission is to try to discredit you and they just can't do it. The truth stands..
Well, you all may be suprised, but I am not proclaiming prophet…sorry to disappoint you. Rather presumptuous to assume that we are one and the same.
I will try to answer the questions that were posed to me and address some other issues…
Dr K: Why do you feel the need to pray to Mary to get intercession to God? Is not God stronger and more powerful? Also, Mary is DEAD. Last time I checked, praying to the dead is cultic. We as Bible Believing, born again Christians do not pray through Mary to get to God…that is hogwash and I will prove it. Romans 8:34 "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." This verse also shows that Christ is the One condemning your "church". Christ is our Intercessor~NOT Mary.
When I spoke of earning salvation as a Catholic, I speak of doing good works to try to earn your way to Heaven. It is no secret that Catholics "do" many works to try to stay out of purgatory (another false teaching NOT found in the King James Bible).
The term "Father" belongs to God alone. I am speaking in terms of a religious leader. It is totally acceptable to call God Father~even as He did in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Mary worship IS practiced by the Catholic church. Just by you calling her the "blessed virgin" shows that you are exalting her to a position of worship.
Another point that I NEED to make is that we do not want your prayers. God does not hear the prayers of sinners EXCEPT for the prayer for salvation out of a repentant heart. When I saw people using the rosaries out at the arena, they were chanting, swaying, and acted like they were casting spells on us. You want creepy??? THAT was creepy. We do not want or need your rosary prayers.
Why do you think we are mean spirited? Unloving??? If your house was on fire would you want us to tell you or simply walk by and say, "oh look. Their house is on fire. Isn't that nice." We are VEHEMENT about this because we have SEEN what false religion does and it is very evident by comments like "You need to stop your hate speech and nasty attacks. If you want a discussion, then fine. It is inappropriate and unacceptable to call our readers whores of Babylon, deceived fools, sinners, alcoholics, and demon possessed."
The way I found this blog was I was looking for articles/news stories/etc. regarding the catholic event. I felt the need to DEFEND what we were doing and interject a little perspective and truth to what we represent and WHO we represent. The Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
Colossians 2:8 "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
If you die without the truth, you will have an eternity of hell fire in which to remember these conversations. We pray that is not so, but from the looks of it, your eyes are so blinded that it will be so for you. GET SAVED TODAY! REPENT YE AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL!!!
wife, when you said Mary is dead, do you think there is no life after death? How then do you reconcile with Jesus' words about eternal life?
Catholics do not believe that we "earn" our way into heaven, but we are called to what we call the corporal works of mercy: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc.
For all your bashing of Mary, how do you account for Luke 1:48 For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed, spoken by Mary?
Gen/DrK, is the spam word really Tedless? lol
TRUE GOSPEL PREACHER, PROCLAIMING PHOPHET AND STREET PEOPLE WIFE. YOU ARE ALL THE SAME PERSON!!
YOU SAID:
"The way i found this blog was I was looking for articles/ news story re: this Catholic event."
I don't believe you. WHY would YOU be looking for this? Doesn't make sense!! I am preatty sure I know who you are. You were not outside the HSBC last week were you? Its OK we will still pray for you.
DR. K
It is harder than I thought not to respond.!!!!
Now Emily calls us liars! Shame on you lost woman.
No Dr. K.,
Glories of mary by St. Legouri 1931
"…is that intercession of Mary is even NECESSARY to salvation."
Same book reads, "…we should unceasingly have recourse to this loving protectress; and for this purpose commands a WORSHIP peculiar to Mary.
Proven wrong again Doc!
have any of you ever seen the video that used to be on youtube of that guy that preaching in a Catholic church, disturbing their meeting?
Preacher,
You still have yet to answer one of my questions. You can dish the criticisms but you can't take them yourself?
~Dr. K
Anon, this video is posted on Cleansing Fire here.
~Dr. K
"Mary worship IS practiced by the Catholic church. Just by you calling her the "blessed virgin" shows that you are exalting her to a position of worship."
I again refer you to the Gospel of Jesus Christ:
"Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." (Luke 1:42)
Elizabeth was not worshiping Mary as a god, and neither are we when we call her the Blessed Virgin. What is with your hate for the Mother of Jesus?
~Dr. K
Dr. K,
She can't answer your question because she can't understand it!!
Wow…you guys just don't understand. Not once have we said that we hate Mary! Give me one time where we have said…QUOTED that we hate Mary. How many times have we said that we HATE the fact that she is reverenced and worshipped above God? She was the vessel that God used to carry, birth and raise His Son…THAT IS ALL!!! Anytime something or someone is thought to be more important that Jesus Christ is considered an idol. We get very defensive of our God when He is pushed to second place. His rightful place is FIRST.
Ms. Emily…NO I am NOT proclaiming prohpet. NO I am NOT truegospelpreacher and YES I was at the arena on Saturday…the WHOLE day and YES I did look for articles on the event and YES I DO understand Dr. K's question and have answered it multiple. That is 5 lies that you have told just in one post. You know, the Bible considers lying as the sin of witchcraft. Are you a witch? I surely hope not!
Praying for you to find the truth.
John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Your prayers have paid off. We found the Truth.
Now if only you could find the Truth as well?
We shall pray for you, dear, misguided child of God, that thou mightest find the Truth, even though thou searchest only in thine King James Bible.
DING DING DING!!
I told you she did not understand the question!
words filled with hate = hate.
hmmm, no one has answered my questions yet.
I don't think anyone will, Mary Kay. lol
I would try answering your questions, but I struggle to be as irrational and unwilling to listen as our Protesting Protestants.
Can we go back to having fun and praseing our Lord?
I think we could use a dose of merriment, or a novena of fortitude!
I've got something in the works. Regarding the Novena of Fortitude, it looks as if the last two videos aren't being accepted by YouTube due to length problems. Sorry to disappoint.
I put up some "health care debate humor" on my blog. The humor is medical rather than Catholic, but it's still humor.
Nice blog, Mary Kay! There are so many wonderful DoR Catholic blogs out there. The Lord is working through all of these writers. God bless them all!
Is it safe now?
Are they really gone?
How scary was that!!
Sister
Those evangelicals descended upon us like the fires of Hell. But we prevailed! Those brides of the devil now realize we will not be shaken from the Lord's Church, the one holy Catholic Apostolic Church! Their efforts to coax us into their den of hypocritical sinfulness have been in vain!
Praise be the name of Jesus!
You all call us hateful when you call us "brides of the devil"???Wow. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Oh, and if you think that we are backing down, you are sorely mistaken. I just haven't the time to sit in front of a computer all day long and go round and round about the same things. You will find that our "effort to coax you into our den of hypocritical sinfulness" as you call it, will not end purely for the reason that we care about souls that are headed for hell…YOUR souls. You may not hear from us again here, but you can guarantee that you will be heard from us one day at the Great Judgement when God will call us to witness against you and your false church and the efforts that were made by us to warn you. Your blood is no longer on our hands…but we can't say that we didn't try. If you believe as strongly as you do~where are your efforts to warn others? Where is your love for souls? If you truly loved people and cared for their souls, you would be out there doing the same thing we are…WARNING people.
Ezekiel 3:18 "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand."
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, consider this our Catholic WARNING. For, yea, though we walk in thine supposed "valley of darkness," we fear no evil, for Truth and tradition are here to help and guide us.
When thou postest thine next response, it shall be thine last, for, yea, it will be inflammatory. Why criticizest thou us when thine own words art so piercing? Search thou thine Bible, and readest thou the passge in which our Lord, Jesus Christ declared, "Do unto others as thou wouldst have done unto thineself."
Verily, I declare unto ye, I follow the King of Kings, not the King called James. My faith comes to me from the earliest foundations of the Church, from the life of Christ and the Tradition passed onto us from his disciples and apostles.
If we were doing inequalities in algebra class, the problem would look something like this:
Bible+Tradition-Schismatic Dissidents>Flawed Revisionist "Theology"+Narrow Minded Biblical Literalism.
Jesus read the Scriptures and practiced Jewish . . . what's the word . . .TRADITION.
Jesus was not Sola Scriptura, nor should his followers be.
Lectio Sancti Evangeli Secundum Meum.
Let me quote a passage from the Bible According to King James, for these are the only words you choose to understand.
The following is from your King James Bible, specifically the book of James 2:14-26, emphasis added-
"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. "
Get that? Faith without works does not ensure salvation! Justification by Faith alone is a Protestant lie. We need both works and faith to achieve salvation from our Lord. It is right there, in your King James Bible.
~Dr. K
Preacher Wife,
You are old news now. You are now on page 2.
Bye Bye now.
Very well done all!
The preacher's wife has been defeated. She used the Bible as a weapon to rip people from Jesus Christ and his Church, but we used it as a shield, to defend the Lord with the Word he gave us.
James 2 is the ultimate answer to all forms of Protestantism. Faith alone does not save. Were that true, there would be no point to the Gospels other than the crucifixion. That would make a much lighter Bible!
The wife of the preacher has been defeated, praise the Lord.
The Bible is to be used as a weapon as per "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: " Eph 6:17.
But I wouldn't expect a Roman Catholic to know this.
James was written to the 12 churches Not to lost people. I have preach to Catholic as they are sucking up on the booze at the beer tents, smoking cigarette, playing Bingo. They do NOT know Jesus Christ, they are either deceived or liars. They are wicked in the sight of God because they reject the Word of God.
Lastly Catholics are cannibals as they believe that they are actually eating the flesh of Jesus. when in fact Jesus said that the flesh profiteth nothing.
"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. " John 6:63
The Catholic church is a system of bondage and fears. Where do you find Rosaries, Indulgences in the Bible?
The Hail Mary is found in the Bible. The Our Father is found in the Bible. The Glory be is found in the Bible. Each mystery of the Rosary is found in the Bible. St. Paul tells us to pray, that we may reach heaven sooner. Logic demands that if one doesn't pray, one doesn't get to heaven as easily. Not too hard, that.
We've all had enough. You aren't listening to sense, logic or Faith. Why persist when your hate-filled posts aren't wanted? Let us wallow in our sinfulness.
From this point on, ANY COMMENT NOT LEFT IN LATIN WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY. No offense to those of you who are defending the Faith valiantly. As was said at the time of the crusades, "Kill them all*. God will recognize his own."
*Note: "all" in this case means "all comments."
Re: above
I will allow comments which are not tinged with discontent, intolerance or outright hatred. Let it not be said that I am a tyrant.
Fiat tibi secundum verbum meum.
"Lastly Catholics are cannibals as they believe that they are actually eating the flesh of Jesus."
Remember the words of Jesus Christ:
"Amen, Amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day." (John 6:53-54)
If you do not eat and drink of the Lord, you will not have eternal life! The Word of God says this! This is not symbolic, this is fact.
~Dr. K
So what do our literalists have to say to this? "Oh, well Jesus wasn't really saying that. He meant something else." if this is true, then when he first declared this and people left him, would he not have said, "No, you've misunderstood?" And what significance is His Earthly life if not for the Holy Eucharist? Yes, He would have been a great prophet, but without the Church and the Sacraments He instituted for Her, His Earthly ministry would have been sorely lacking a key aspect. Protestant theology (most) is awfully shallow and uninspiring.
Very excellent work Gen, Dr. K, Mary, Sr. Emily, etc.
Protestantism is the ultimate hypocrisy. They pick and choose the Bible passages that support their theology, and ignore or try and belittle what does not.
Jesus did command us to eat and drink of Him, wake up Protestants, and stop disobeying the Lord.
Dear brothers and sisters in Xt.
Illegitimi non carborundum.
Gaudeamus igitur
Juvenes dum sumus.
Post jucundam juventutem
Post molestam senectutem
Nos habebit humus.
Pereat tristitia,
Pereant osores.
Pereat diabolus,
Quivis antiburschius
Atque irrisores.
You all are the best. Remember: The cows may come and the cows may go, but the bull goes on forever.
Beer for EVERYONE!!! Beer is such a Catholic drink. Ein Prosit!
Choir,
If we don't drink beer would a nice Merlot meet your approval?
Wine is as Catholic as beer or liqueur. I'll buy you a Merlot and raise a toast to Our Faith and Our health.