Just Faith

[phoebecat3]

First of all let me say I am not Catholic nor an expert on JustFaith. I am a Christian who called the local JustFaith coordinator at a large Catholic church in my area to inquire about attending the classes. The coordinator also is employed by a Catholic agency. When looking over the required reading material I noticed books written by non christian authors then the kicker for me was the coordinator said he did not think you had to be a christian to go to heaven. Now this person will be teaching many people these things. Needless to say I did not join. I can not give any other info other than that.

 

[diggerdomer]

You have a problem with a group that is in complete conformity with authentic Church teaching???

No. Do you?

 

[diggerdomer]

First of all let me say I am not Catholic nor an expert on JustFaith. I am a Christian who called the local JustFaith coordinator at a large Catholic church in my area to inquire about attending the classes. The coordinator also is employed by a Catholic agency. When looking over the required reading material I noticed books written by non christian authors then the kicker for me was the coordinator said he did not think you had to be a christian to go to heaven. Now this person will be teaching many people these things. Needless to say I did not join. I can not give any other info other than that.

Well, the Catholic Church teaches that non-Christians might go to heaven…so what’s your beef?

 

[phoebecat3]

LIke I said, I have no idea what the Catholic church teaches as I am not Catholic but the Bible states that the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ his Son. Ultimately it is up to God on who gets into heaven. Good thing it isn’t up to me or there’d be quite a shortage there! LOL But…my point being, if you are Catholic teaching JustFaith which I was told by this coordinator was a Catholic Christian organization, and you are teaching that Jesus is not the only way, then we have a problem and I’d hope that others would have that same problem. This coordinator may be sincere in his beliefs but he is also sincerely wrong.

 

[diggerdomer]

LIke I said, I have no idea what the Catholic church teaches as I am not Catholic but the Bible states that the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ his Son. Ultimately it is up to God on who gets into heaven. Good thing it isn’t up to me or there’d be quite a shortage there! LOL But…my point being, if you are Catholic teaching JustFaith which I was told by this coordinator was a Catholic Christian organization, and you are teaching that Jesus is not the only way, then we have a problem and I’d hope that others would have that same problem. This coordinator may be sincere in his beliefs but he is also sincerely wrong.

Sounds like you have a lot to learn. Thanks for sharing. Feel free to ask questions here to better understand Catholic teaching. God bless.

 

[phoebecat3]

actually I don’t have a lot to learn about being a Christian. Yes I have a lot to learn about being a Catholic Christian, which I am not.

 

[dixieagle]

I have refrained from joining this thread until I could communicate with my daughter, who recently completed JustFaith in the mothership of radicalism, Berkeley CA. This is what she said:

*"The program assumes the persona of the parish… overall I think it should be required for all Catholics. It presents some ideas that challenge capitalism (the poor should not be thought of as trying to steal what belongs to the more affluent, rather, we should think of support for them as merely restoring what has been taken as a result of greed, personal and institutional).

… the whole program is completely focused on furthering the common good because everyone is a child of God with inherent dignity and value. What hurts one hurts the whole body of Christ.

The program starts out with readings on compassion, and makes an incredibly compelling case for the protection of life in all forms, and has actually made me think much more about peace, nonviolence, and the just war theory.

In short, the program will challenge all Catholics to leave a comfortable place and think more deeply about Jesus and what it means to love Him. I didn’t leave as a communist or gay abortion rights activist. I left with a deeper appreciation for the Catholic church and its importance to humanity."*

Not in anyone’s wildest dreams could my dd be considered anything but a devout, thoroughly orthodox Catholic with a long-standing commitment to pro-life activities (far more “hands-on” than most of us; a long-time Gabriel project volunteer, even her job involves helping homeless pregnant women and their families.) At their wedding, the priest spoke of how she and her now-dh always kept extra food in their cars for the hungry and homeless. She and dh have piqued an interest in the Church in friends and colleagues simply through their example (the circles in which they travel due to work tend to be irreligious, if not outright hostile to faith.) They are living examples of “preach the Gospel always, use words when necessary.” If she says there is much good to be gained from JustFaith (even if it’s imperfect), then there must be.

She loved her JustFaith group and made deep friendships; while some of the folks were quite “liberal” in their viewpoints (it being Berkeley and all) they were all committed to loving not only their neighbor, but Jesus above all.

So, there is one first-hand experience. JustFaith is due to start this month in our far more conservative southern diocese; it will be interesting to see the “persona” it takes on here.

 

[diggerdomer]

actually I don’t have a lot to learn about being a Christian. Yes I have a lot to learn about being a Catholic Christian, which I am not.

Great! I hope you find this a good place to learn about Catholicism.

 

[rjward1775]

I heard the sell for it in the South.

The guy said that every day, Americans make choices that are the moral equivalent to owning slaves. I asked him for some examples of this, but he was vague. I can only guess he was talking about capitalism.

He also compared the Samaritan in the story to the ‘good Al Quaeda’ or ‘good taliban’.

He also spoke positively about worldwide redistribution of wealth.

This thing is Marx with a Bible book cover.

 

[Elizabeth502]

[apparently quoting daughter]
"The program assumes the persona of the parish… overall I think it should be required for all Catholics. It presents some ideas that challenge capitalism (the poor should not be thought of as trying to steal what belongs to the more affluent, rather, we should think of support for them as merely restoring what has been taken as a result of greed, personal and institutional).

Sorry to burst your idealism bubble, but just for your information, anyone who would steal anything from me is not restoring what I have “taken as a result of greed, personal and institutional.” I realize that this is the party line, but it is a false line. There is no factual support for such hyperbole. It may hold for certain levels of corporate profit and corporate investments, but anyone who earns his or her money directly, as a result of an honest day’s wage, effort, and applied education and talent, does not deserve having his or her “wealth” (wages) forcibly redistributed by a thief dressed up in idealistic clothing.

And frankly I could never support any group which ignores so many Gospel passages in which Jesus specifically refers to the importance of the justice of honest wages obtained and supplied. The imagery is in His parables and other moral illustrations. I cannot abide literary inaccuracy, and this group obviously engages in it.

All you’ve done is actually confirm my suspicions.

 

[Tigg]

God bless you, Elizabeth. Thanks for weighing in on this with your indisputable common sense.

JustFaith is not a spiritual program; it is predominantly political and promotes leftist progressive ideology and secular humanism. It plays on human emotion and the “guilt” feelings that we should have (according to them) for the less fortunate in order to properly minister to them.

This has been posted 1,000 times, but here it is again, from another poster with discernment who saw through this program:

I dropped out of JustFaith due to the curriculum opposing the basic tenets of the faith, like: Contemplation subordinate to action, sin not being emphasized as the problem but systems like corporations, systems, and even the hierarchy of the Church as opposed to ecclesial based communities as needed for improvement of the world. Jesus as a radical opposing the political powers of the day was the way they presented our Lord.

It smacked of temporal salvation by the correct “use” of divine revelation. Absolutely no Church-based books like the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church” or encyclicals, just what other people say about official Church documents. One book offered, “The Powers That Be, A Theology for a New Millennium” by “Jesus Seminar” member Walter Wink, intimated at the Church “making” Jesus divine in opposition to His actual Divinity. Wink never says that Jesus isn’t Divine but one can well deduce his meaning. Gnostic texts are used in place of the Gospel of John due to the spiritual nature of the official Gospel. The historical Jesus is emphasized and sin is de-emphasized.

The reason for a 30 week, multi-hour classes and “immersion” weekends is to re-educate Catholics in a different Christian ethic in order to fit the “humanistic” ideals of the JustFaith program. This is not a problem for Protestant groups as they have such a varied theology that this is just another view added to their personal interpretations anyway. **Official Catholic Magisterial teaching is oriented to sin and to our nature based on original sin with salvation through Grace. **This JustFaith program is in no way faithful to that. [Earnest Bunbury, Re: Just Faith Program (discussion thread), October 29, 2008.]

Anyone thinking of registering for this program would be much more enlightened by doing a study of the social encyclicals written by Pope Leo which literally disputes many of the claims made by Jezreel.

 

[Tigg]

This thing is Marx with a Bible book cover.

 

[diggerdomer]

God bless you, Elizabeth. Thanks for weighing in on this with your indisputable common sense.

JustFaith is not a spiritual program; it is predominantly political and promotes leftist progressive ideology and secular humanism. It plays on human emotion and the “guilt” feelings that we should have (according to them) for the less fortunate in order to properly minister to them.

This has been posted 1,000 times, but here it is again, from another poster with discernment who saw through this program:

Anyone thinking of registering for this program would be much more enlightened by doing a study of the social encyclicals written by Pope Leo which literally disputes many of the claims made by Jezreel.

While I agree that the study of Leo XIII’s encyclicals is necessary, I don’t understand why you limit it to those? What about everything Popes Pius XI, ius XII, John XXIII, and John Paul II taught?