Pope: A Christian Refusing to Serve Others Is ‘Pagan’

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If I was an atheist, who thought the Pope said atheists could be saved, then I would think that pagans could be saved too, and I would now think the Pope said that Christians who don’t serve are like pagans, but pagans can go to heaven, just like atheists, and my head would explode…
 
Catholic or not I think that the lord will look at all the good and bad that we have done not the religion we are in thoe being catholic is good because we have the fullness of truth.

Two things he will ask us after our death is do we love him and are we sorry for our sins. Its in our hands and the Lord is ready to forgive us anytime.

Having a relationship with God doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and sometimes a lifetime for us to truely come to know God propley. I for one reckon that I know God better more now then I did 5 years ago. I reckon it all comes down to Maturity
 
Don’t let your head explode. We don’t want that to happen. Too messy. Besides, it’s almost Christmas, not a good time to have a funeral.

This actually makes sense in light of the Incarnation. A Christian, unlike a pagan and an atheist professes to believe that the eternal Logos became incarnate. We profess that he redeems man through his humility, to the point of accepting even death on a cross. In other words, the cross is the highest expression of service. Christ climbs the cross for our benefit, not for his benefit.

A pagan and an atheist, on the other hand, does not believe in the cross . . . for whatever reason. From a theological perspective, the reason is not important right now. The important is that this population does not believe in the cross, much less in the Incarnation. Therefore, it is unreasonable to expect this person to feel morally bound to serve. He may serve for humanitarian reasons, but not for spiritual reasons as would a Christian. He may choose not to serve at all, because he knows no moral imperative to serve.

Everything that is good among pagans or among atheists is actually Catholic. That which is Catholic belongs to the Church, even if the person does not know it. It is this that Christ uses to save, if the person is faithful to what little he has.

Yes, refusal to serve is to act as if one were a pagan who does not see the moral obligation to serve. But even a pagan who follows the good that he knows can be saved by Christ, because all good is Catholic. There is no such thing as a good that exists among pagans or atheists but is not part of the deposit of faith. Christ can save even through a thread. Just don’t think that those of us who are Catholic can move away from our Catholic faith. Backward motion does not work.
 
The Clergy is held to a higher standard than the laity. Catholics [and Jews for that matter] hold themselves to higher standards than many others. This does not mean that we should hold ourselves in higher regard. Quite the opposite, Pope Francis suggests to be a high servant of the Lord we are to “dirty our sleeves and help the poor.”

Turning my nose up at a sinner, is to turn my nose up at the Almighty. [IMHO]

We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table. But you are the same Lord whose nature is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.
 
esieffe said:
The Clergy is held to a higher standard than the laity. Catholics [and Jews for that matter] hold themselves to higher standards than many others. This does not mean that we should hold ourselves in higher regard. Quite the opposite, Pope Francis suggests to be a high servant of the Lord we are to “dirty our sleeves and help the poor.”

Turning my nose up at a sinner, is to turn my nose up at the Almighty. [IMHO]

We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table. But you are the same Lord whose nature is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.
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And amen.

Ed
 
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