Pastor's Business Card

A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door.

Therefore, he took out a business card and wrote 'Revelation 3:20' on the back of it and stuck it in the door.

When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, 'Genesis 3:10..'

Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.' Genesis 3:10 reads, 'I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked.'

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Are Catholics, Christians ?

This is one of the most ridiculous question asked about Christianity. This is similar to asking: are Caucasians, Americans ? or Are Mercedes Benz, cars ?

The people who commonly assert that Catholics are not Christians are basically from "new Christians denominations" particularly the Evangelical Christians.

Read what David MacDonald of Catholic Bridge wrote about this issue:

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Evangelicals who assert that Catholics are not Christian will have a hard time standing on that, because they accept the authority of the Catholic Church every time they pick up the Bible. The history of the Bible is here.

Any time spent studying the Church Fathers will make it abundantly clear that early Christian beliefs were Catholic. Their complete unity over the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is only one example.

Why call yourselves Catholic, and not simply Christian ?

I could ask the same question, "why do Baptists, Pentecostals, United, Methodist, or even nondenominational communities use those words and not simply say Christian?" The word Catholic was used by the year 110 A.D. to distinguish the Church of the Apostles from heretical teachings. St. Ignatius of Antioch, was a disciple of St. John, along with St.Polycarp. The Church historian Theodoret says Ignatius was consecrated bishop by St.Peter,the apostle, who was the first bishop of Antioch before returning to Rome.

Ignatius was martyred in Rome under Emperor Trajan's rule. It was during the journey to Rome that he wrote his famous letters that contain invaluable information about the early Church. He was the first to document the term "Catholic" in it's current form to describe the Church. It means universal. Ignatius' use of the word shows it was in common use. His is the earliest extant writing which has "ekklesia katholicos" where Catholic is an adjective modifying "Church" in the nominative. In Acts 5:11 and 15:22 we find "holen ten ekklesian." It is derivative of the same root as katholicos and is in the nominative and is translated as "The Whole Church" and then in Acts 9:21 we find εκκλησια καθ'ολης (ekklesia kathholes) and here Catholic is also an adjective, but it does not modify "Church" because it is in the wrong case but rather modifies the words following. Best translated as "the Church throughout the whole of..."

Catholic, referring to the Whole Church was a term in common use at the time but Ignatius' writing is simply the oldest still existing text which contains a specific form of the phrase we still use today as a proper name. That of "ekklesia katholicos," which means "Universal Church". The terms "holen ten ekklesian" which means "The Whole Church" and "ekklesia kathholes"which means "The Church throughout the whole of" were also in use, and by the Apostles no less.

The Catholic Church defined the "Trinity" and fought the heresy of "Arianism"

In 325 A.D., the Catholic Church discerned the Holy Spirit's voice for the doctrine of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost, three person's in one). Yup, "Trinity" is a Catholic doctrine that predates the Evangelical community by 1200 years. That word isn't even in the Bible. The Catholic Church protected Christianity from the Arian heresy that almost gutted Christianity in the 4th century when many began to believe Jesus wasn't "fully God" and "fully human."

The Catholic Church protected the Bible

The Catholic Church protected the Bible across the ages until the Gutenberg press was invented. Century after century, Monks in Monasteries faithfully copied Scripture. It would take each monk ten years to copy one Bible and thousands of faithful Catholics dedicated their lives to this work. Catholics protected the Bible over the centuries of wars, famines, plaques, the fall of Rome,
fires, and threats from all sides. This was long before any other denomination existed.

The Catholic Church chose which books to include in the Bible

In the Synod's of Hippo (393 AD) and confirmed it at Carthage (397 AD). The non-Catholic Bible scholar Peter Flint, who won "best popular book" from the Biblical Archeology Society for his translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, tells us that there was no Bible until 397's when the Catholic Church decided on what books belong there. Before that there were hundreds of letters and the Septuagint.

"Without the Catholic Church you have no Bible!"

(Peter Flint - Protestant translator of the Dead Sea Scrolls)

The history of the decisions for books to include in the Bible is here.

Even the word Bible is not in the Bible. It was coined by Catholics. It means books from the Greek word βυβλος-byblos meaning "papyrus", from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported papyrus, the "paper" of the day. We love the Bible. Honest !

Do Evangelicals have a direct connection to the early Church independent of Catholicism ?

The modern Evangelical movement is a result of numerous splits that occured after the Reformation, in the 1500's. The only other Church not to be in union with Rome before that was the Orthodox Church which split off in 1054 A.D. There were also various heresies that came and went, such as Arianism that said Jesus was not fully human AND fully God.

Some Evangelicals claim they have a direct connection to the early Church of the first centuries that bypasses Catholicism. If that is so, I would think the beliefs of modern Evangelicals would reflect the beliefs of the early Church. However, any time spent studying the Church Fathers will make it abundantly clear that early Christian beliefs were Catholic. The Church Fathers believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, honoured Mary, had elaborate ceremonies, prayed for the dead, respected the Church hierarchy, baptized babies, appointed bishops, recognized Peter as the Rock, built the Church upon him with successors and followed a rich tradition of Christianity. That was the Christianity of the early days, and is the Catholic Church of today. A timeline of the Catholic Church from 1-500 A.D. is here. Beginning with the apostles, century after century, Catholics died so that Christ's message would reach the nations. Yes, we are Christians, the originals.

Whether or not someone agrees with Catholic doctrine is their prerogative. But all who look at history will admit that Catholics are clearly Christian. "No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12:3)

Jesus has called Christians to unity "that they may all be one, as you Father, are in me and I am in you." (Jn 17:21) I hope we can love one another as He has loved us. (Jn 13:34).

Jesus Christ is Lord of all. If you have never made a personal decision for Christ, I beg you to do so now. It was the best thing I ever did. Here is an article that shows you how to do that.

...read more here.

Also watch these videos: Why The Catholic Church Is The True Church Of Jesus Christ

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Chris Patten

Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, better known as Chris Patten or Lord Patten, is a British Conservative politician and was Conservative Party Chairman and last British Governor of Hong Kong.

Chris Patten, a Catholic, was appointed by the British government to oversee the planning for the September 2010 Apostolic Journey to Great Britain by Pope Benedict XVI. With the Duke of Edinburgh he met the pontiff on his arrival at Edinburgh airport on 16 September.

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St. Jude Thaddaeus

St Jude Thaddaeus (aka St Judas), was a brother of St James the Less, and a relative of Jesus. St Jude was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus.

According to tradition, Saint Jude preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia and Libya. He is also said to have visited Beirut and Edessa, though the emissary of latter mission is also identified as Thaddeus of Edessa, one of the Seventy. Jude is reported as suffering martyrdom together with Simon the Zealot in Persia. The 14th century writer Nicephorus Callistus wrote that St. Jude was the bridegroom at the wedding at Cana.

Legend says, St. Jude was a son of Clopas, the brother of St. Joseph and his mother Mary, is the sister of the Virgin Mary. St. Jude is therefore the cousin of Jesus. Tradition has it that St. Jude's father, Clopas, was murdered because of his forthright and outspoken devotion to the risen Christ.

Because he has a similar name as the traitor, Judas Iscariot, people were confused between the two apostles and were apprehensive about venerating St. Jude for the first few centuries AD. However, for the last 700 hundreds of years or so, St. Jude has been venerated by the Church as patron Saint for desperate cases.

St. Jude is traditionally depicted carrying the image of Jesus in his hand or close to his chest, betokening the legend of the Image of Edessa. Additionally, St. Jude is often depicted with a flame above his head. This represents his presence at Pentecost, when he received the Holy Spirit with the other apostles.

According to legend King Abgar of Edessa (a city located in what is now southeast Turkey) asked Jesus to cure him of leprosy and sent an artist to bring him a drawing of Jesus. Impressed with Abgar's great faith, Jesus pressed his face into a cloth and gave it to St. Jude to take to Abgar. Upon seeing Jesus' image, The King was cured and he converted to Christianity along with most of the people under his rule.

He is believed to have been martyred in Persia or Syria around 65 A.D. The axe or club that he is often shown holding in pictures symbolizes the way in which he was killed. After his death his body was brought back to Rome and was placed in a crypt beneath St. Peter's Basilica which is visited by many devotees until this day.

Devotion to Saint Jude began again in earnest in the 19th century, starting in Italy and Spain, spreading to South America, and finally to the U.S. (starting in the area around Chicago) owing to the influence of the Claretians and the Dominicans in the 1920s. Novena prayers to St. Jude helped millions of people, especially newly arrived immigrants from Europe, deal with the pressures caused by the Great Depression, World War II, and the changing workplace and family life.

St. Jude's feast day is October 28th (Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Church) and June 19th (Eastern Orthodox Church).

A novena to St. Jude is said for 9 consecutive days:

Prayer

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Most holy apostle, Saint Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honours and invokes you universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, of things almost despaired of.

Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone. Make use I implore you, of that particular privilege given to you, to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of.

Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (here make your request) and that

I may praise God with you and all the elect forever. I promise, O blessed Saint Jude, to be mindful of this great favour, to always honour you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you. Amen.

"Saint Jude, Hope for the hopeless, Pray for me"

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[You should then follow your St. Jude prayer by saying 3 Our Father, 3 Hail Mary, and 3 Gloria prayers.]

Millions of people around the world have claimed to be assisted by Apostle St. Jude. Pray in confidence to this great Apostle and friend of Jesus for his intercession.

Read testimonials of prayers answered here and here. You'd be able to find many more testimonies attributed to St. Jude, online. I have also personally benefited many times from the intercession of St. Jude.

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