Advice from Pope John XXIII

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

I'm reading a book about Pope John XXIII, and in it is a quote the Holy Father said in Bulgaria. He was referring to the divisions there between the Catholic & Orthodox Christians, but I felt that it applied equally well to any divided Christians:

"It is not enough to have the kindest feelings towards our seperated Christian brothers. If you really love them, give them a good example, and translate your love into action."

Please remember to do this on these forums. The Bible stresses the importance of love far better than I can, but we're really bad at showing love to Christians we disagree with. We should be able to discuss our disagreements in a civilized manner, but we prefer heated arguments. Not only does this create a lot of noise that doesn't settle anything, it helps us fail at the Great Commission, because non-Christians are turned away from oir beautiful faith when all they see is arguments.

"If you really love them...translate your love into action."

"...If I have faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing...[love] is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury..." (1 Corninthians 13)

May God bless us all!

 

[anna ~ grace]

Yes.... I live with a Protestant husband who is deeply, deeply misinformed about the Catholic Church. Very badly informed. What helps, is loving him, praying for him, asking Our Lady to bless him and supply him with any and all graces that he needs, and trying to be a good, loving wife.

We are both Christians, but he doesn't see Catholic or even Orthodox Christians as Christians. That is sad, and hard, but maybe my role in all this isn't to "win", change his mind, or argue, but just love him, and live out what I've been able to learn, and figure out.

 

[crossnote]

"It is not enough to have the kindest feelings towards our seperated Christian brothers. If you really love them, give them a good example, and translate your love into action."

Please remember to do this on these forums. The Bible stresses the importance of love far better than I can, but we're really bad at showing love to Christians we disagree with.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be on the alert next time anyone tries to shmooze me with love at the expense of the truth

 

[devin553344]

We're all of different faiths here. I think people get into arguments because the Christian beliefs are in the heart, and people can get offended easily when their beliefs are challenged.

I read some of the rules of the forum, and we are supposed to respect other peoples beliefs. If we all did that, perhaps less arguments?

 

[Jonathan Mathews]

I'm reading a book about Pope John XXIII, and in it is a quote the Holy Father said in Bulgaria. He was referring to the divisions there between the Catholic & Orthodox Christians, but I felt that it applied equally well to any divided Christians:

"It is not enough to have the kindest feelings towards our seperated Christian brothers. If you really love them, give them a good example, and translate your love into action."

Please remember to do this on these forums. The Bible stresses the importance of love far better than I can, but we're really bad at showing love to Christians we disagree with. We should be able to discuss our disagreements in a civilized manner, but we prefer heated arguments. Not only does this create a lot of noise that doesn't settle anything, it helps us fail at the Great Commission, because non-Christians are turned away from oir beautiful faith when all they see is arguments.

"If you really love them...translate your love into action."

"...If I have faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing...[love] is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury..." (1 Corninthians 13)

May God bless us all!

If you really love me, don't make me sin against God by disobeying Jesus Christ and making me call you "father", when my Father is God, not you.

 

[LoricaLady]

Well, this is not really a place to paste advice from someone in your faith - or in anyone's faith. It is actually a place to ask for Christian advice.

Just fyi, even quite a few Catholics (which I used to be, so I know this for a fact) don't have the same level of admiration, at all, that you have for the Papacy. But, again, this forum is for asking for advice, not giving it directly or indirectly.

 

[LoricaLady]

We're all of different faiths here. I think people get into arguments because the Christian beliefs are in the heart, and people can get offended easily when their beliefs are challenged.

I read some of the rules of the forum, and we are supposed to respect other peoples beliefs. If we all did that, perhaps less arguments?

The rule here is that you ASK for advice, not promote your particular faith by lifting up your "leader."

 

[anna ~ grace]

"If you really love them...translate your love into action."

That's pretty good advice, though.

 

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

The rule here is that you ASK for advice, not promote your particular faith by lifting up your "leader."

It's good of you to share your concerns; I have made threads on this subforum to give advice before, without asking for any, and I haven't had issues. Still, if the moderators find this particular post to be troublesome, it can be moved to "Following Jesus" or another such subforum. The heart of this post is a reminder to treat other Christians with love, no matter how seperated they may be from the Church, Biblical teachings, or anything else; love conquers all!

If you really love me, don't make me sin against God by disobeying Jesus Christ and making me call you "father", when my Father is God, not you.

It's always good to let people know when you suspect that they're straying from Biblical teachings, as you seem to be doing here. I suspect you're referring to me referring to the Pope as the Holy Father?

Here's a video that explains quite nicely the Biblical reasons for referring to priests as "Father". While you may not agree with everything Fr. Mike Schmitz says, it still shows that there is Biblical basis for using the term "Father". I do not intend for this thread to become a discussion on this topic, but as long as you're gently rebuking me, I feel that a gentle response is called for.

With all of that roughly taken care of, I would also like to point out that I could've used only the quote & dodged the controversy that's already happened. However, I felt it best to leave in terms like "Holy Father", to try to add to the advice. This post is about treating other Christians with love, first & foremost; regardless of disagreements on the papacy (or anything), this is a reminder of our urgent call to love!

Around the time when the Pope said these words, he resided with the Byzantine Rite Catholics, constant helped & mingled with all the Christians there, even visiting every family in the area after a disasterous earthquake. He was the Pope, and many of the Christians there felt that the Papacy was something unbiblical & contrary to the Apostles' teachings; but by putting love above all, much goodwill was fostered between the disagreeing Christians.

May God's peace be ever in our souls!

 

[LoricaLady]

It's good of you to share your concerns; I have made threads on this subforum to give advice before, without asking for any, and I haven't had issues. Still, if the moderators find this particular post to be troublesome, it can be moved to "Following Jesus" or another such subforum. The heart of this post is a reminder to treat other Christians with love, no matter how seperated they may be from the Church, Biblical teachings, or anything else; love conquers all!


It's always good to let people know when you suspect that they're straying from Biblical teachings, as you seem to be doing here. I suspect you're referring to me referring to the Pope as the Holy Father?

Here's a video that explains quite nicely the Biblical reasons for referring to priests as "Father". While you may not agree with everything Fr. Mike Schmitz says, it still shows that there is Biblical basis for using the term "Father". I do not intend for this thread to become a discussion on this topic, but as long as you're gently rebuking me, I feel that a gentle response is called for.

With all of that roughly taken care of, I would also like to point out that I could've used only the quote & dodged the controversy that's already happened. However, I felt it best to leave in terms like "Holy Father", to try to add to the advice. This post is about treating other Christians with love, first & foremost; regardless of disagreements on the papacy (or anything), this is a reminder of our urgent call to love!

Around the time when the Pope said these words, he resided with the Byzantine Rite Catholics, constant helped & mingled with all the Christians there, even visiting every family in the area after a disasterous earthquake. He was the Pope, and many of the Christians there felt that the Papacy was something unbiblical & contrary to the Apostles' teachings; but by putting love above all, much goodwill was fostered between the disagreeing Christians.

May God's peace be ever in our souls!

Yes no doubt a moderator will be dealing with this thread. In the meantime there are the plain and simple rules, which we should all respect. This is obviously a form for asking for advice. In the meantime you are still using it to promote your faith rather than asking for any advice.

 

[anna ~ grace]

Yes no doubt a moderator will be dealing with this thread. In the meantime there are the plain and simple rules, which we should all respect. This is obviously a form for asking for advice. In the meantime you are still using it to promote your faith rather than asking for any advice.

Hopefully this thread can be saved. It's good advice.

 

[LoricaLady]

Whether it is good advice or not is anyone's personal opinion. However, this forum's stated purpose is for asking for advice. There are other forums where such a post can be placed and not just be a spot where someone promotes the Pope or anyone else. Some actually find the Papacy to be offensive and unbiblical in many ways. Your own husband thinks it is not Christian, per you. We are all free to our own opinions on that, one way or another.

In a different forum people could take exception about the Papacy, or agree with it. But in this Forum you are not supposed to debate, so that doesn't work.

Regardless, the Christian Advice forum, again, is for asking for advice, not using the space to lift up a particular religion.

 

[JCFantasy23]

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