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devonsams
Guest
Hello, i would like to ask why God forget the native americans for about 1500 years and why he didnt send his message to the chinese, to the asians, to the people of oceania?
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TimothyH
Guest
The first sentence of Acts of the Apostles tells us that the Church continues the work which Jesus began on Earth.
In the first book, O The-oph’ilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, (Acts 1:1)
Jesus began and the Church continues. That is the whole theme and meaning of Acts of the Apostles.
Where the Church goes, so goes Christ.
There are 680,000 Native American Catholics in the US. There are 27 Native American Priests and 47 Native American Deacons. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops is establishing a permanent Subcommittee on Native American Catholics. You can read about Native American Catholics at old.usccb.org/comm/backgrounders/native_american.shtml
-Tim-
In the first book, O The-oph’ilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, (Acts 1:1)
Jesus began and the Church continues. That is the whole theme and meaning of Acts of the Apostles.
- Paul the Apostle took the message to Cyprus, Asia Minor, Macedonia and Rome.
- Thomas the Apostle took the message to India.
- Pope Gregory the Great sent missionaries into England in the 6th century.
- Friar John of Pian di Cartina went to China in 1293 and Jesuit Matteo Ricci again in the 1600’s
- Francis Xavier (Jesuit) took the message to Japan in 1547.
- Father Siméon Lourdel Pere and Brother Amans Delmas went to Uganda in 1879.
- Franciscans such as William of Rubruck, John of Montecorvino, and Giovanni ed’ Magnolia went to the Near and Far East in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries
- Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans took the message to the Native Americans in the Americas and now there is a Diocese in Northern Alaska, South America has the largest population of faithful Catholics in the world and the we have our first South American Pope.
- Spanish Franciscans went to California in 1769
- Etc., etc., etc.
Where the Church goes, so goes Christ.
There are 680,000 Native American Catholics in the US. There are 27 Native American Priests and 47 Native American Deacons. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops is establishing a permanent Subcommittee on Native American Catholics. You can read about Native American Catholics at old.usccb.org/comm/backgrounders/native_american.shtml
-Tim-
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GenosFutureWife
Guest
I lived in Guam about 20 years ago… they are mostly very strongly Catholic, with Catholic festivities held all over the island. We could learn much from their faith. 
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adawgj
Guest
There are 2 small Native American parishes around my area.
You can also thank the Jesuits for helping spread the faith in China
You can also thank the Jesuits for helping spread the faith in China
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triumphguy
Guest
Why did God speak to the Jews first?
The_Reginator
Active member
The answer, in so far as we can understand, is quite simple … and not very satisfying.
God knows what He is doing (obviously) AND he loves each one of those people as much as anyone else. God designed the world this way simply because His plan means that this is ultimately for the best of everyone’s immortal souls.
My tiny wee brain, living here in time, cannot understand this. I can only have faith in our Lord.
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TimothyH
Guest
I think the root question is, why did he call Abram out of Ur?
I really don’t know why he called Abram specifically but God put a plan into action after the fall, after sin was introduced into creation. God’s plan is the most beautiful and perfect plan. If there was a more beautiful or more perfect plan then he would have given us that plan instead of what he has given us.
God’s perfect plan was to call Abram out of Ur, to make his descendants, the Israelites, as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea, and through them to rescue us from our sins via a Messiah.
Consider that the Messiah came at the perfect time, right when Ceasar declared himself to be a God and Father of the entire world. God himself, the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, enters creation through the Jews at that very moment.
-Tim-
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Della
Guest
Considering how difficult it was to get to China from the Middle East at the time of the Apostles, it’s not hard to see how it took time for the Gospel to be spread. Then too, the missionaries that did make it ran into violent opposition from those who ruled the far eastern countries.
God never forgot anyone. When Christ presented his one offering of himself to the Father he it did it for all mankind, not just those who could/would hear the Gospel message. His redemptive act made salvation possible for all of us, as the CCC tells us.
The peoples of the Americas originally came from Asia and other areas west of the Pacific Ocean. There was little to no contact of any kind between the eastern and western continents until Columbus made his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Still, those people were not without God. If they lived according the grace God gave them, they could be saved without ever hearing of Our Lord. Of course, it’s best that they eventually did, but God does not hold against anyone what they cannot be held accountable for.
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jimkhong
Guest
The Apostles may not have gotten to China but they did reach India. St Thomas preached in India and when the Portugese first arrived in India at the end of the 15th century, they were surprised to find Christians there.
At the time of the Apostles, India was the end of the world in the mind of everyday people. Although there were already Chinese silk imported into the Roman Empire, most people know about India because Alexander the Great reached India.
The story of St Thomas reaching India: The apostles drew lots to see where they would go. Thomas was chosen to go to India. He didn’t want to because it was so far away at the end of the world. Jesus visited him in a dream, but still he told Jesus, “Anywhere Lord but India”. The next morning, Jesus was at the harbour and asked the captain of a ship if he needed a slave, pointing out to him Thomas. The captain called Thomas over and asked him if Jesus was his master. When Thomas said yes, the captain said he had bought him and Thomas was going to India.
In India, there was a king who wanted to build a magnificent palace. Thomas said he was in the business of building palaces. However, the money he took from the king was given to the poor with knowledge of the king. The king grew impatient and asked to see the palace, whereupon Thomas told the king that his money went to build his palace in heaven. Understanding all this, the king got baptised.
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Della
Guest
A large factor in the spread of Christianity in Europe was the conversion of Constantine and the Bishop of Rome being the earthly head of the Church. Up until Constantine the Church was under continual attack. If this had gone on Europe might never have been converted, as China wasn’t or India, even though St. Thomas went there. The opposition in the Far East was far too great to allow the Church, and therefore the Gospel, to flourish there. It’s really that simple. If the Far East had been converted, the Americas probably would have had the Gospel sent to them much, much sooner. God is not to blame for the hardness of men’s hearts. We were responsible for taking the Gospel to the whole world, as Jesus commissioned his Apostles with that task. It took far longer any we could have wanted, but it has happened. There are dioceses in all parts of the world today.
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PaladinSword
Guest
There is a Cherokee chief that claim Christ visited them before the time of Columbus. They called him the morning star and had the cross in their medicine wheel.
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CarolNoel
Guest
We lived on Guam from 1985 to 89… Interesting culture.I lived in Guam about 20 years ago… they are mostly very strongly Catholic, with Catholic festivities held all over the island. We could learn much from their faith.
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GenosFutureWife
Guest
Did you see the statue / doll of Jesus that was hung way up high in one of the churches… they told me they would bring it down once a year to cut it’s hair… I wasn’t able to be there for that, but it sounded neat! Kind of like the statue of Mary that cries…
Their faith seemed very strong to me… you might have a different opinion as you were there much longer…
As for Native Americans, there is a Native American who is a Saint…
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jimkhong
Guest
Not to invalidate your point but we did come very close to coverting China, but maybe not in the time-frame you wre referring to.
The Jesuits had a major role in bringing Christ to Asia. Not only they brought Christianity to Asia, but they brought Asian indentities into Christianity. They did more than dress in secular clothes. In 16th century China, European Jesuits dressed as mandarins and studied the language, philosophy and culture like mandarins did. While this was very controversial in Europe and the Curia, they came close to converting the Emperor. During the Chinese Rites dispute (when Chinese Jesuits were praying the Liturgy of the Hours in Chinese - three centuries ahead of their time) and the Pope wrote to forbid it, the Chinese Emperor himself wrote to the Pope to ask him to reconsider.
In India, Jesuits dressed as wandering swamis. In Japan, they had a great influence over Japanese life. Did you know tempura was Lent food introduced by Portuguese Jesuits to the Japanese? The seed they planted was so strong that despite a persecution in which all priests were expelled or martyred, the faith survived for two centuries without any priests. The response of European priests when they discovered these Christians, though, still rankle to this day.
So, if it weren’t for Europeans in Rome who thought that there was only one way to be Catholic, there would be far more Catholics in Asia today.
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