Catholic Bible 101

As we read about the Jews worshipping the golden calf as a god, and not trusting in God to water them, feed them, and to overcome the Canaanites in the Promised Land, we should try to apply this to our lives today, instead of just reading it as history. We all travel through a secular wasteland today, filled with false gods of money, illicit sex, drugs, abortion, pleasure, etc. And how many of us know and care more about these things than the Word of God in the Bible?  A LOT!  And how many of us put more trust in our 401K's or condoms or drugs than we do in Jesus Christ?  A LOT!  So try to personalize the story about the Jews and their resultant punishment from God. You will soon see that nothing has changed much in human nature!

1 Corinthians 10:1-14: I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless with most of them God was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to dance." We must not indulge in immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents; nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, shun the worship of idols.

"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men."

1. Loving God with all we've got, and

2. Loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Somebody once asked John Henry Newman why the Catholic Church and its rituals were hated so much. He replied, "Because the same spirit that once hollered out "CRUCIFY HIM" is still very much alive and well today."

The press and the mainstream media, along with Hollywood, academia, atheists, and SOME protestants, hate the Holy Catholic Church. Why? Because they see things through the lens of the here and now, rather than the hereafter.  They think that absolute freedom of the mind and the body is what life is all about, and they want NO limits in their life, while the Church, which has Jesus Christ as its head (Ephesians 5:23), says no to them and the world, and that there are limits in life.  

Just ask yourself about limits in life - Should we all be allowed to eat whatever we want to, whenever we want to, as much as we want to? Should we all be allowed to drive as fast as we want to on the freeway, and drink alcohol while we do?  The obvious answer is no, because there are natural limits in eating and driving. The same is true in life, with sex, with lying, with stealing, with doing our own thing, etc.  The absolute worst thing that can happen to a man or a woman is to live life with too much money, too much sex, too much comfort, and too much food.  

And the Holy Catholic Church is there forever to tell us about these limits, so as to get us into heaven, the true goal of life. And we get there by getting as close to Jesus Christ as possible in all things, which is what confession and Holy Communion are all about. When we receive Holy Communion in a state of grace following a good confession, Christ abides in us, and we in him (John 6:56)

And always remember - Being holy does not get us closer to Christ;  Rather, getting closer to Christ makes us holy!

The world needs a church  with outspoken priests who will warn us all that we're headed over a 5000 ft cliff at 1000 miles an hour, try to get us to stop, turn around, and then go the other way. What the world doesn't need is a church or a preacher who will make us feel good about ourselves as we're heading for the cliff and our eternal damnation.  It's either "the world" or Christ. Choose wisely!