A response posted on Washington Post

Please feel free to correct me doctrinally - I posted a comment to an article on the Washington Post at:

The Bishops' Fear of Dissent

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As a ROMAN Catholic, we who try to be faithful to Church teaching on ALL matters, unlike pick and choose cafeteria Catholicism, find it awesome that the Hierarchy is finally standing up most courageously in defense of life. I am sure there are those with me who find it interesting that those claiming themselves as Catholic are uncomfortable.

But, the spirit of cafeteria catholicism goes way back and provides the fertile soil for dissent, heresy, and take your pick of any of the evils flourishing today seen as 'accepted' or 'a right'.

In John 17, Christ prays "The High Priestly Prayer" and in Christ's mind - He prayed first for the Church He founded in Matthew 16:18. Then He prays for the others who through "their word" believe in Jesus....THAT WE ALL MAY BE ONE.

Why? Why do we all need to be one? Strength in numbers. Strength in numbers to do what? The MAIN reason is so "that the world may believe that You sent Me." The second reason is because through strength in numbers, we are in the One Church worshipping the One God He intended to fight against evil in the spiritual warfare surrounding every soul on this planet.

So while all FAITHFUL Christians by their baptisms know that God sent His Son into the world, not to judge it, but to save it, lukewarm Christians and those of other faiths or no faith at all, can make the distinction of either what Christ really taught or who Christ was because their are 30,000 different churches worshipping different ways who ALL proclaim inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The answer to why we are losing this battle against evil; first, personal lack of conviction if a believer, or lack of faith if a non-believer - in Christ and what He really taught. Second, societies are falling apart because of the individual lack of convictions and faith projecting itself onto society as a collective 'societal lack of conviction or faith' Through unity we acknowledge there is One God the Father, One God the Son, One God the Holy Spirit...who evidently wants One Church to Worship IN UNITY the One Triune God SOOOO "that the world may believe that You sent Me."

If we, through our free wills, would aid in answering Christ's prayer of ONE CHURCH through the one worship God the Father logically intended for human history, we would have the strength in numbers to convict the world of Christ's divinity. The lukewarm would have the support they need to repent or leave. Non-believers, who through our common worship would be baptised and saved.

When Christianity - namely protestant Christianity - gets serious about the war against evil and defeating it, then it will turn to the Church Christ instituted, gave the Holy Spirit to, and graft itself back into the One Faith and One Fold most completely expressed through the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
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I really firmly believe that if we are to get serious about what Fr. Corapi calls "Immortal Combat", our first and foremost duty is to repair through evangelization, catechesis, and apologetics what was torn apart due to the Protestant Reformation. No matter however much reform was needed due to the HUMAN actions of those in positions of authority, The Mystical Body of Christ and it's mission did not need to be attacked by the reformers. The 'start your own church' mentality is the opposite of what God intends.

With that said, The Mystical Body of Christ is the Army of God in my eyes that we all need to do our part in repairing so "that the world may believe that You sent Me." For this world, under the dominion of the evil one, to believe in God's Son - we need ONE CHURCH, ONE FAITH, ONE FOLD. Division is a tactic of the devil and he's definitely had his day. The antidote is the strength in numbers of a united HUMBLE Church which has never been more important than it is in these obviously 'last days'.

May God bless you all -