For my fellow Catholic friends

[SnowWhite]

I noticed our daily Mass readings thread which was on the challenges board is no longer up and running.

Would any of you like to join me in maintaining a Catholic thread here on this board?

Thanks!
Peace Be with you!
XOXOXOXOXO

[Okira]

YES!!! Let me know what you'd like me to do!
Peace,
Okira

[SnowWhite]

awesome!

As soon as I can gather the readings for today I'll post them on another thread

XOOXXOXO

[Okira]

I get the readings (with commentary) daily in my e-mail. Would you like me to post them?
Peace,
Okira

[Okira]

Here is an example, but you may just want the actual reading!
Peace,
Okira


Feast: St. Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist

From: Matthew 9:9-13

The Call of Matthew
-------------------
[9] As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting
at the tax office; and He said to him, "Follow Me." And he rose and
followed Him.

[10] And as He sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors
and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and His disciples. [11] And
when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why does your
Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" [12] But when He heard
it, He said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those
who are sick. [13] Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, and
not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

************************************************** *********************
Commentary:

9. "Tax office": a public place for the payment of taxes. On
"following Jesus", see the note on Matthew 8:18-22.

The Matthew whom Jesus calls here is the Apostle of the same name and
the human author of the first Gospel. In Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27 he is
called Levi the son of Alphaeus or simply Levi.

In addition to Baptism, through which God calls all Christians (cf.
note on Matthew 8:18-22), the Lord can also extend, to whomever He
chooses, a further calling to engage in some specific mission in the
Church. This second calling is a special grace (cf. Matthew 4:19-21;
Mark 1:17-20; John 1:30; etc.) additional to the earlier calling
through Baptism. In other words, it is not man who takes the
initiative; it is Jesus who calls, and man who responds to this call by
his free personal decision: "You did not choose Me, but I chose you"
(John 15:16).

Matthew's promptitude in "following" Jesus' call is to be noted. When
God speaks, soul may be tempted to reply, "Tomorrow; I'm not ready
yet." In the last analysis this excuse, and other excuses, are nothing
but a sign of selfishness and fear (different from that fear which can
be an additional symptom of vocation: cf. John 1). "Tomorrow" runs the
risk of being too late.

As in the case of the other Apostles, St. Matthew is called in the
midst of the ordinary circumstances of his life: "What amazes you seems
natural to me: that God has sought you out in the practice of your
profession! That is how He sought the first, Peter and Andrew, James
and John, beside their nets, and Matthew, sitting in the custom-house.
And--wonder of wonders!--Paul, in his eagerness to destroy the seed of
the Christians" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 799).

10-11. The attitude of these Pharisees, who are so prone to judge
others and classify them as just men or sinners, is at odds with the
attitude and teaching of Jesus. Earlier on, He said, "Judge not, that
you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1), and elsewhere He added, "Let him who
is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her" (John
8:7).

The fact is that all of us are sinners; and our Lord has come to redeem
all of us. There is no basis, therefore, for Christians to be
scandalized by the sins of others, since any one of us is capable of
committing the vilest of sins unless God's grace comes to our aid.

12. There is no reason why anyone should be depressed when he realizes
he is full of failings: recognition that we are sinners is the only
correct attitude for us to have in the presence of God. He has come to
seek all men, but if a person considers himself to be righteous, by
doing so he is closing the door to God; all of us in fact are sinners.

13. Here Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, keeping the hyperbole of the Semitic
style. A more faithful translation would be: "I desire mercy MORE THAN
sacrifice". It is not that our Lord does not want the sacrifices we
offer Him: He is stressing that every sacrifice should come from the
heart, for charity should imbue everything a Christian does--especially
his worship of God (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Matthew 5:23-24).

[SnowWhite]

Thank You for going thru the trouble to do that! Yes, that's very similar to what I was going to do.

What name woulld you like to call our group? Catholic Lowcarbers?

[Sleepy]

that'd be great mel.

[SnowWhite]

Hi laura!!!! Great to see you here!!

[Okira]

Catholic low-carbers works for me!
Peace,
Okira

[psigna]

Question:

Have any of you converted to Catholicism from another religion? I am debating this now.

[mbcs]

Hello all........is anyone a ccd teacher? We start class this sunday night and I don't know WHY I have decided to teach 9th grade AGAIN...........last yr was my first yr...

looking forward to many interesting post

[SnowWhite]

I'll have the new thread up and running tomorrow.

I'm a PreK Religious Ed aid this year. I'm also involved in our church's nursing home ministry, rosary group, and Catholic Daughters.


XOXOXOXO

[Okira]

Hi psigna,
I am a convert of 7 years. If there's anything you'd like to discuss, please let me know! Also, I have a VAST library of books on Catholicism that I collected during the time I was converting, so if there are any you'd like, let me know!!
Peace,
Okira

[psigna]

Originally Posted by Okira

Hi psigna,
I am a convert of 7 years. If there's anything you'd like to discuss, please let me know! Also, I have a VAST library of books on Catholicism that I collected during the time I was converting, so if there are any you'd like, let me know!!
Peace,
Okira

Thanks. I grew up Pentecostal. My husband is Catholic. We have been married 19 years. In all that time, I have never really given any thought to converting. I have never once in all that time been asked my him or his family to convert. I still go to my church, but not as much as I should. We have two daughters that we are sending to catholic school, in part because the public school system in our town is horrendous.

I don't know why all of the sudden I am really thinking on this this time. I went to the meeting last night. Basically you go until Christmas, and then you make a decision as to whether or not you want to convert, and then continue RCIA if you do.

Right now the only thing that is really playing on my mind is what the reaction of my family (parents, etc) would be. I come from a long line of Pentecostal people. But then again, I am grown, and I have to decid efor myself. My husband would not even give his opinion to me, saying it had to be my decision.

[Okira]

Well, let me tell you briefly my experience. I was born and raised in the Presbyterian church and my entire family and all my friends are protestant. I went through RCIA in 1997, but when I completed it I just didn't feel ready to commit myself fully to the Church. I then studied for another year on my own and finally was confirmed. BTW, just because you go through RCIA doesn't mean you MUST convert at the end! When my family and friends were told that I was going through RCIA they were horrified. I grew up believing that the Catholic Church was a cult. No, I'm not kidding! Did I lose friends over my conversion? Yes, but that showed me that they were never true friends to begin with? Did I have to deal with family members that were upset? Yes, but they finally came around and have been very supportive. It took years, but it happened! You just can't allow yourself to be swayed by anyone. I'm curious...what has made you consider converting? Have you been studying Catholicism?
Peace,
Okira

[psigna]

No, have not been studying it. I have thought about it over the years, but never seriously. Not sure what is different this time around.

[Okira]

Sounds to me like God is calling you home If you ever want to talk about anything "Catholic", give me shout!
Peace,
Okira