The impetus for today's post was this article that a protestant friend of mine shared. It reminded me (again) that we are so very blessed to have found the fullness of truth in our Holy Roman Catholic Church. We are so blessed to have the real presence of Jesus at every Mass and at Adoration -- body, blood, soul and divinity.
Here is the article (with my comments in red):
Do You Have The Blahs? by Ray Stedman
In Mark 8:17, Jesus asked some questions that help combat the spiritual“blahs,”
(you know, when you have no interest in reading your Bible, talking with God, going to church, etc…)
“Do you not yet see or understand?” Use your mind. Stop and think about where you are, what’s happening to you and why. Read what God’s word says about it. God gave us a mind. He wants us to use it and He’s given us His word to study and apply (. . . . with the essential guidance of our Magisterium -- because God did not leave us alone to interpret His Word. In John 10:11 Jesus tells us He is our Good Shepherd. He has taken the ultimate responsibility for our souls. Then in John 14 Jesus tells us He is leaving. But He tells us He is sending the Holy Spirit to guide us. Did He leave it to the conscience of the individual to discover truth or did he leave a quantifiable deposit of faith and give His authority to certain people to pass it on? He established authority. The pillar of support and Truth is the Church. (1st Timothy 3:15)
Matthew 16:13 -- "Who do people say that I am?" This was asked BY JESUS waaaaay before splits of churches. The answers were diverse, and this was DURING Jesus' time. The answers they gave were: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets. Those 4 answers were wrong. And this was DURING Jesus' time!! We need more than our own reflection. We need more than an individual relationship between us and Jesus. As Peter tells us in his Epistle, "No revelation (prophesy) is of a private interpretation." 2 Peter 1:20
Then Jesus asks His apostles, "Who do you say that I am?" Remember Peter's answer?
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God!"
And what did Jesus do right after that? Jesus established, as the head of His Church,
Peter. Jesus gave Peter "keys to the kingdom of heaven." Jesus continued, " Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” There is a special anointing on the Vicar of Christ to guide us and direct us.
But I digress. Here is the rest of the article.
“Do you have a hardened heart?” In other words, analyze the state of your heart. Is it dull and unresponsive to God and the things of God? If the heart does not respond to what the mind has read and understood, it’s because you didn’t believe it. You’ve mentally understood the truth, but you haven’t acted on it. The Gospel truth always moves us when we believe. It excites us and gives us joy. If you don’t experience that, it’s because your mind has grasped it, but your heart hasn’t. So what do you do then? Pray. Ask God to open the eyes of your heart to see the truth of the Gospel and your own need for it. If you want to know Him, He will respond.
“You have eyes, do you not see? You have ears, do you not hear?” Jesus said these words again and again to the people he taught, and each time He means the same thing. Do not just look at the events you are seeing and think that is all there is to it. It is a parable, a parallel to something deeper and more important, concerning your spirit. We need to see beyond the physical to the spiritual truths. In this part of Mark the people were looking for Jesus to give them food, He wanted them to see the deeper truth, their more demanding need for daily replenishment spiritually that only He, the Bread of Life, can give. This part of the Gospel of Mark is the story of the loaves and the fishes. The loaves and the fishes are a prefiguration of the Eucharist. When you leave the authority of the Catholic Church you run into many paths Only 60 years after the protestant revolution there was a book published entitled, 200 interpretations of the words, "This is My Body."
As is evident here in this article, by Ray Stedman, one can see how the author just misses a crucial understanding of the miracle of The Eucharist.
When you google Mr. Stedman, you may find this blurb:
And finally, “Do you not remember when…” Hasn't God taught you things in the past through your circumstances? Hasn't he led you through events which have made you understand something about your life? Do you think that the things happening to you right now, whoever and wherever you are, are just accidents? Or is God saying something to you? Do you not remember the times He said things like that in the past? Well, remember them now, and interpret these events now, and recognize that you are in the hands of a loving Father who has put you right where you are to teach you a very needed truth. Learn to lay hold of that truth, and rejoice!”
"Forgive us, Father, for the dullness of our hearts, for the way we reflect so frequently the attitude of the pagan worldlings around us, who see no further than the surface of events, and never think any deeper. Forgive us for living like animals, in this respect, and help us to remember that we are men and women, that we have a spirit as well as a body, and that it needs strengthening, needs upholding, and needs to be fed. Lord, help us to give ourselves every day, afresh and anew, to this One who is the bread sent down from heaven, the One who can strengthen us and keep us and establish us. We ask in his name, Amen."
"[The Ray Stedman Library] helps you move beyond religion, rules and rituals to become intimately connected with Christ -- this is authentic Christianity!"
Frightening!
A much better response to "Do you Have the Blahs?" is this excellent Catholic audio!
http://www.catholicscomehome.org/lighthouse-popup.php?song=NotBeingFed
The source is Lighthouse Media
In a dynamic talk, Jeff Cavins explores some of the reasons why so many have left the Catholic Church for evangelical Christianity. He responds to the most commonly heard complaint of these former Catholics – that they simply were not being “fed” by their Church. As he presents the story of his own return to Catholicism, Cavins builds a case for the unique character of the Catholic Church as the church founded by Christ.
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