by Charlie Hatcko
1 Cor. 1:10, St. Paul exhorts, "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all of speak the same thing, and there be no schisms among you: but that you be perfect in the same mind, and in the same judgment." In these magnificent words, St. Paul calls for perfect unity in the Church, and that the believers should agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among them, and that they may be perfectly united in mind and thought. True ecumenism is a spirit inspired repentance for the division in the Church, and through a pure heart, make every possible effort for the restoration of true unity in the Church, through the truth of the Word of God, and Apostolic Tradition.
Through faith, charity, and humility the faithful in Christ bind in heart mind and soul for the love of Christ. The primacy and infallibility of the Petrine office are generally considered as characteristic of the Catholic and Biblical understanding of the Church. The foundation in faith of ecumenism is not a relativism that would deny the true Church of Christ, which is the Catholic Church. Heresy and schisms are forms of pluralisms that abolish unity. Schism abolishes the unity of the lived community, especially of the liturgical community. Ecumenism leads through dialogue and cooperation to the removal of prejudices and misunderstandings. True ecumenism does not lead through pragmatic compromises or false peace-making that will obscure or deny the absolute Catholic truth of the gospel. The Holy Spirit guides the Church in all truth.
The Biblical verification can be found in John 14:26--John 15: 26---John 16:8! The goal of the ecumenical movement is unity in the body of Christ, the sanctification of the believer through the truth of God's Word, coming through the true Church, the Catholic Church. Through the ecumenical movement doctrines like justification and sanctification are carefully looked at and the declaration and proclamation of Catholic truth proclaimed. There is a significant difference between the Catholic and Protestant understanding of justification. Reformation Protestant theology teaches that justification is juridical, a legal declarative one time act. Compared to the Catholic position that justification is an on going process, an inner renewal and transformation of the sinner. The common ground is Sola Gratia - We are justified by the grace of God. Also, Sola Christus -- Only through the redemptive act of Christ on the cross are we justified. Justification and sanctification cannot be adulterated in ecumenical dialogue. The message of God's grace is the heart of the whole of Christianity.
In the Canons and Decrees of the Catholic Council at Trent the message of grace can be clearly seen. By the grace and mercies of the Almighty Heavenly Father the Lord Jesus Christ was sent forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood. Being justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ we become partakers of the divine nature. Ephesians 2: 4-5 states, "But God, who is rich in mercy out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved!" Sacred Scripture and Catholic doctrine gives evidence of the absolute impossibility of man's self-redemption and the absolute necessity of redemption through Jesus Christ. Let us never forget that by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ through a repentant contrite heart man is able to consent to his justification and cooperate with it. Catholic and Biblical teaching regards justification as a rebirth in Christ. In justification there is an inner renewal, one becomes a new creation in Christ by God's grace through faith. A sinner is made righteous by grace infused within man by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Baptism one is saved. John 3: 3-5 -- Titus 3:4-5 -- 1 Peter 3:20-21 give evidence that Baptism saves. The study of the early Church Fathers there is absolute evidence that "Born Again" is Baptism. The Catholic Church has always taught that Born Again--Born of Water and the Spirit is Baptism. Reformation Protestants changed this doctrine.
Justification is a doctrine in ecumenical dialogue. Justification to the Protestant is juridical. A sinner is declared righteous. Justification is extrinsic or forensic where a sinner is declared righteous through by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ imputed to a sinner. The Protestant doctrine of justification is a doctrine of imputed righteousness. A person's sins are covered, like snow covering a manure pile. This is not a eradication of sins, a rebirth in Christ where the sinner is eradicated. It is not a true renewal of the sinner. The Protestant doctrine of Sola Fides -- Salvation by faith alone -- was rejected by the Catholic Council at Trent. Sacred Scripture gives definitive affirmation that justification is an inner renewal and a sinner is made righteous not declared righteous, through the alien righteousness of Christ. Psalm 51:10 and Ezekiel 36: 26-27 gives evidence of an inner renewal. Jeremiah 31:31-33--Ezekiel 14:1-8--Psalm 40:8 give evidence that God or evil is within.
Matt. 23:25-28 - The Lord Jesus Christ gives evidence evil is within a person. Romans 7:23--James 4:1 gives evidence that evil is within a person. Romans 5:18-19 gives absolute evidence we are made righteous not declared righteous. The complete doctrine of justification can be clearly seen in the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. Sacred Scripture calls the Church to generate objective truths of the faith to all mankind. The Church, the bride of Christ, cannot become false to her spouse Jesus Christ.
Mortalium Animos, the great Papal Encyclical on fostering religious unity was promulgated by the supreme Pontiff, Pope Pius X1. This magnificent spiritual authoritative and dogmatic Encyclical, gives mankind objective truth in regards to true ecumenism. The Supreme Pontiff Pope Pius XI gives reference to the second epistle of St. John. 2 John 9-10: "Every one of you who recedeth, and continueth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God: he that continueth in the doctrine, he hath both the Father and the Son. If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house." The unity and uniqueness of the Church of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church, is deeply grounded in the mystery of the Church. Only a diversity of unity enables her to become all things to all men (Cf. 1 Cor. 9: 19-23).
We should distinguish this diversity in unity from a limitless plurality, from a noncommittal pluralism in which there is not a multiform expression of one and the same thing, but rather irreconcilable opposites. In this case, fruitful and even vitally necessary tensions become rigid and incompatible opposites. If such incompatible elements were to stand and exist next to one another in the Church, her unity would be dissolved. The Church would then lose her definite shape and could no longer be a sign for the world. The unity of the Church in faith especially in an ecumenical perspective, certainly cannot be uniformity; it can be a unity in the multiplicity of ways of proclamation, liturgical forms, theologies, and Church orders. But truth, absolute truth, is crucial. There is be a unity in the truth. Legitimate multiplicity is to be distinguished from a plurality of contradictory propositions about the faith. A unrestricted pluralism would make the search for unity meaningless.
There must be a demarcation of function where dogmatic proclamations of truth must be adhered to. In Luke 10:16 Christ exhorts, "He who listens to you, listens to me; he who rejects you, rejects me: he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me." Fundamentalist Protestants through private interpretation pride themselves on approaching theological problems non-dogmatically and pragmatically. The early Church absolutely formulated dogmatic truth for the sake of unity and unambiguousness of the faith. There was demarcation of function. Acts 15:1-29 gives definitive affirmation of the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem. Here the proclamation of freedom from the Jewish Law. Acts 16:4 - The dogmatic declarations of the Apostles can be seen. Galatians 1:6-10 St. Paul delivers the first "anathema!" Protestant should look closely at the doctrine of the Eucharist in light of this Biblical text. Look at the first 1500 years of Christianity, what was the Apostles and Church Fathers teaching regarding the Eucharist . Not Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and the other Reformation Protestants.
I beg the Protestant to look closely at the heretical sects in the early Church especially in the development of the Nicene Creed to dispute heresy. The Marks of the true Church are--One-Holy--Catholic--Apostolic Church! The Attributes of the true Church are--Visibility----Perpetuity--Indefectibility--Infallibility. Jesus Christ is the head and founder of the Church. The Church has been instituted by Christ and the Church is the House of God. Sacred Scripture gives definitive affirmation. Matt. 16:13-20--Matt. 28:16-20--Eph. 1:22-23--Mark 16:15-16--Eph. 5:23-25--Acts 20:28--1 Cor. 12:28--1 Cor. 10:32--Eph. 2:19-20--Col. 1:18--Matt. 10:40!
The Integrist, the Ultra-Traditionalist (IUT), in his learning is burdened with a completely incapacitating ignorance that Christ is the head of the Church and demands unity in the body of Christ. Integrism is a form of Jansenism. Yes, the Integrist closely correlates to the heretical Jansenist in their attitude. In the attitude of the Integrist is a permutation of rigorism against the Church. The IUT, in his false agenda, has an attitude and thoughts that there are moral aberrations, liturgical abuses and doctrinal deficiency in the Catholic Church. Their belief is that the Novus Ordo Mass is an abomination. The IUT absolutely opposes any ecumenical dialogue. The condemnation by the IUT of the Hierarchical Magisterium of the Church is horrific. Yes, the IUT is more Catholic than the Pope.
Although there are some liturgical abuses which are occurring in some liturgies, such as improper dress, and irreverence, the IUT in his thinking condemns the Novo Ordo Mass to the fullest, even denying the true Sacrament of the Eucharist in an Novus Ordo Mass. The IUT in his thinking thinks he is more Catholic than the Pope. His attitude toward the Pope is abominable. His total condemnation of the Mass is wrong. Sedevacantist in attitude, his thinking is that the Catholic Church is in total disrepute. The IUT is a Traditionalist driven by private judgment, many from schismatic literature, and false visionaries. Look how the IUT has viciously attacked the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church. Many IUT have made the statement that Charismatic Renewal is from the devil. Many of the membership I know in the Traditionalist Church have come from Charismatic Renewal. Although there are some abuses of the Charisms, and some liturgical abuses in Charismatic Renewal, there is a magnificent movement of the Holy Spirit where many Catholics are renewed back to Christ and his Church in Charismatic Renewal. I myself was renewed back in the Catholic Church through Charismatic Renewal.
Many IUTs absolutely believe the Church is in formal heresy. They deny Dogmatic Constitutions such as Lumen Gentium. They believe in their minds they are the Remnant of God. With their self-righteous attitudes they absolutely think they are the elite of God. The IUT is pure as an angel, but proud as a devil. Pride and lack of charity is the absolute weakness of the IUT! Sacred Scripture gives definitive affirmation that pride is the reservoir of all sin. Jesus Christ castigates pride in his teaching. In Matt. 23:12, Jesus exhorts, "And whosoever shall exalt himself, shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself, shall be exalted." Luke 14:11--Luke 18:14--James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:6 give definitive evidence that pride is castigated and the humble will be exalted. Although I was Byzantine, my mother was of Polish-American descent and attended the Latin Mass. As a young boy I attended the Latin Mass. I also served as an altar boy from 1950-1958 when the Mass was celebrated in Latin. I love the Traditional Latin Mass. I love the reverence in the Traditional Latin Mass. I have been a parishioner at St. Michael's Church in Scranton, Pa. for the past ten years. St. Michael's Church is run by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter where the Latin Mass is celebrated. I also can say I personally have witnessed and listened to the propaganda of the IUT. They are judgmental and incapacitating ignorance have much condemnation regarding Church liturgy and the present Pope. Many have left our Church stating there is too much Liberalism in the Church. They are absolutely Sedevacantist in mind and thought. They absolutely judge the heart of John Paul II, our beloved Pope.
Jeremiah 17: 9-10 states, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt: who can understand it? I the Lord search the mind and try the heart, to give to every man according to his doings.” Wisdom 17: 10 states, “For whereas wickedness is fearful, it heareth witness of its condemnation: for a troubled conscience always forecasteth grievous things. 1 Tim. 4: 2 gives evidence of those speaking lies in hypocrisy, and having their conscience seared. 1 Tim. 1: 19 states, “By rejecting conscience certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith. Conscience is the law of the mind. Conscience is the voice of God in the soul. Look closely at John 16: 8!
Conscience includes the perception of the principles of morality. Conscience brings forth the interiorization of moral responsibility. Conscience provides evidence of man's moral nature. Conscience is the supreme subjective norm of morality. I was told by a very competent Biblical Theologian, a collaborator with the IUT, that there was no ecumenism in the Church prior to Vatican II. This is absolutely false. I asked this Biblical Theologian, to look closely at the Catholic Council of Trent. Three different Sessions at Trent give absolute evidence of ecumenism. In the Thirteenth and Fifteenth sessions promulgated by Supreme Pontiff Julius III is there is “safe conduct to Protestants”. In the Eighteenth Session promulgated by Supreme Pontiff Pius IV -- Safe-Conduct to German Nation, especially those of the Augsburg Confession. Yes, followers of Dr. Martin Luther, the father of Reformation Protestantism. The Eighteenth Session states that “the Protestants may come to the council of Trent, to remain, abide, and sojourn here, and to propose, speak, consider, examine, and discuss any matters whatever with the Council. To set forth any articles whatever either in writing or orally, and to explain, establish and prove them by the Sacred Scriptures, and the tradition of the Apostles.” This is ecumenism in action. This is an absolute ecumenical setting, where the Church allowed the Protestants through Sacred Scripture and Divine Tradition to give input into the Council.
Let us never forget the crux of Reformation Protestantism was Sola Fides and Sola Scriptura. Both --- Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura were a Theological Novum--A New Beginning in Christianity. Both were never taught the first 1500 years of Christianity. Dr. Martin Luther set forth these doctrines of Sola Fides and Sola Scriptura. Sacred Scripture gives a definition and affirmation of what is truth! St. Augustine in De Doctrina Christina III states everyone should consult the rule of faith which he gets from the clearer texts in Scripture and from the authority of the Church.
In John 14: 6, Jesus exhorts, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
John 1: 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1: 14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, we have beheld his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father.”
John 1: 17 “For the law came through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
In John 17: 17-23, Jesus Christ in his heavenly prayer to the Almighty Father prays, "Sanctify them in Truth, thy Word is Truth"! As thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world: I also have sent them into the world. And for them do I sanctify myself: that they also may be sanctified in truth. And not for them only do I pray, but for those also through their word shall believe in me. That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me: and the glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them: that they may be one, as we also are one. I in them, and thou in me: that they may be made perfect in one: and the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast also loved me.” In this magnificent prayer, Christ has shown that he has sanctified the Apostles by sanctifying himself, because they are members of his body, the Church. The Almighty God's magnificent plan comes forth in Jesus Christ that perfect unity may resemble the unity of persons in the divinity, by a perfect and exact likeness. By baptismal regeneration and faith in Christ through a sacramental life we can become holy.
Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God proves true, he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. “ Scripture gives evidence and affirmation of the magnificent authority of Christ given to the Church. In Matthew 16: 13-20, during St. Peter's profession of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God, Christ, tells Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! And I tell you, you art Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.“ Eph. 2: 19-20 gives evidence that the Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone. In 1 Tim.. 3: 15, St. Paul gives evidence in how one ought to behave in the Church. He then calls the Church, "The Pillar and Ground of Truth"! In Matt. 28: 16-20, the great commission for the Church, Jesus Christ exhorts, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and I will be with you always, to the consummation of the world.”
Genesis 1: 26-27 and Genesis 5:1 give Biblical affirmation that God made man is his image and likeness. Ecumenism can be proved in the following Biblical text. In 1 Tim. 2: 4 St. Paul exhorts, “God our Savior wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” It is the absolute mission and duty of the Catholic Church to make disciples of all nations. In Matt. 28: 16-20, this mandate comes from Christ himself. In 1 Thess. 4: 3 St. Paul exhorts, “God wants all men to be sanctified.” In Matt. 25: 31-46, the parable of the last judgment, the separation of the sheep and the goats, Jesus mandates fraternal charity, love of neighbor! Jesus exhorts in verse forty, “Truly I say to you, as you did for one of the least of these my brethren, you did for me. “
True ecumenism is to love with the love of Jesus, and to love as the Lord Jesus Christ loved, and to see Jesus Christ in all. Scripture and the Church speak of falsehood, false ecumenism. In Matthew 7: 15 Jesus exhorts, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” In Acts 10: 41-42, St. Peter obliges all men to give credence to the chosen witnesses of Jesus Christ, pre-ordained by God for the declaration of the truth. In Luke 10: 16 Jesus exhorts, “He who listens to you, listens to me. He who rejects you, reject me, and he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me.”
In Mortalium Animos, the supreme Pontiff writes, that many Christians under the guise of a falsely understood charity were generating great indifference to Biblical and Catholic objective truths. Pope Pius X1 denounced the dreamers and falsehood. This falsehood he called inconceivable, the federation of Christians in which every individual member retained and proclaimed his own opinions regarding interpretation of sacred Scripture. The Pope proclaimed that these pan Christians strove for the union of Churches and appeared to pursue the noblest ideas in the promotion of charity among all Christians. But really did not.
The Protestant doctrines of Sola Fides and Sola Scriptura Scripture Alone has tragically caused massive division and disunity in the Christian faith. The 1982 Oxford Christian Encyclopedia has given informative truth. Since the Protestant Reformation which started in the year 1517, there are over 20,800 different denominations and Bible Churches in Protestantism. The rejection of "Paradosis" - Divine and Apostolic Tradition- and the Protestant dogmatic position of Salvation by Faith Alone is the main cause of this massive division in Protestantism.
Let me inform the Protestant reader that everything the Catholic Church teaches is explicitly or implicitly Biblical. Let us look at Christ's priestly prayer to his Father in heaven. John 17: 20-23 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you have given me, that they may be one as we are one; I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” Ephesians 4: 2-6 -- St. Paul exhorts, “Be completely humble and gentle: be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit though the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called--one Lord, one faith, one baptism: one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. “ This is the reason the holy Pontiff Pope Pius X1 stated, how can men with opposite convictions belong to one and the same federation of the faithful; those who accept Sacred Tradition as a source of Revelation and those who reject Sacred Tradition?
The Bible mandates Tradition! 2 Thes. 2: 13-15: “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth, or by letter.”
2 Tim. 1: 13-14 “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you-guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”
Let us look at the duty of the Bishop. Titus 1: 9 - “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others with sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. True ecumenism is to imitate the life of Jesus, to love as Jesus loved, to see the face of the Lord Jesus Christ in all.”
But let us never forget the words of sacred Scripture referred to by the beloved Pontiff in Mortalium Animos regarding a mutilated and corrupt form of Christ's teaching in his reference to Apostolic teaching in St. John's epistle. In 2 John 10-11 - “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine do not receive him into the house or give him any greeting; for he who greets him shares his wicked work.” Charism and Church office are not antithesis: they must complement and be linked to one another. The Church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. When Sacred Scripture speaks of holiness, it does not primarily mean ethical perfection, but the transformation of the sinner into a life of Christ.
The Church founded and grounded in Christ rests permanently in the foundation of the Apostles, with the initial foundation laid by the Lord Jesus Christ who is the chief cornerstone of the Church. Eph. 2: 19-20--Matt. 16: 18--Matt. 28: 20--Rev. 21:14 gives definitive affirmation. Matt. 16: 18 St. Peter is given the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The IUT must realize that the leadership of the Church are the persons called by God in the proclamation of the Divine Word and in the distribution of the Sacraments. The primacy of jurisdiction is closely linked with the doctrine of infallibility of the Papal office. The Pope's primacy of jurisdiction and the infallibility of his Magisterium were defined at the First Vatican Council.
God's Word has been spoken definitively, unsurpassably, and entirely in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the living Word of God. Heb. 4: 12-15. The Catholic Church has her true foundation in the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The foundational meaning of the cross is expressed in sacred Scripture in the Eucharistic Biblical texts that speak of the "Blood of the Covenant" -Matt. 26: 27--Mark 14:24--Luke 22: 20-and 1 Cor. 11: 25! The Church Fathers interpreted the Blood and Water from the side of Christ--John 19:34 symbolizing the two fundamental Sacraments of the Church. Baptism and the Eucharist.
Let us all realize that holiness is not a product of self-achievement, but the fruit of the Holy Spirit and his gifts. The magnificent salvific work of Christ is central to the Catholic faith. The Catholic Church affirms Jesus Christ as the Eternal Son of God, the Word became flesh, the Lord of glory, who died on the cross at Calvary. John 1: 14--1 Cor. 1: 18--1 Cor. 2: 8---1 Cor. 5: 7--Rom. 9: 5--Titus 2: 13--Heb. 1: 8--Heb. 9: 26-- Heb. 10:10--Heb. 10: 12-14--1 Pet. 2: 24! Christ is the head of the Church. The Church is the body of Christ. Rom. 10: 17 gives definitive affirmation that faith comes from hearing the message, the message is the words of Christ. Given the active presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, the proclamation of God's Word is not only about God, but sent forth by the power of God and standing in his presence. 2 Cor. 2: 17!
The Word is not the word of men, but the Word of God. 1 Thess. 2: 13.
God's Word will not go void. Isaiah 55: 10-11 !
The Word is the wisdom and power of God-1 Cor. 1: 24.
The Word of Salvation. Acts 14: 3!
Acts 20: 32 gives evidence that God's Word is the Word of grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among those who are being sanctified.
The IUT must realize the New Testament presents the Word of God attested in form of doctrine. Rom. 6: 17--2 Tim. 4: 2--Titus 1: 9! The Catholic Church is not superior to the Word of God but the servant of the Word of God. The Ordinary Magisterium and Extraordinary Magisterium speak as teacher and judge on questions of faith and morals. Yes, the Pope and Magisterium have been given the authority from Christ, not the IUT!
The foundation on the Church's teaching on ecumenism can be found in the following paragraphs in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Paragraphs-- 820---821---822. Truth--Mercy and Charity are the absolute foundation of ecumenism. I humbly ask the IUT to read the Word of God. Mercy and Charity are the absolute weakness of the IUT! The IUT is an absolute Catholic Legalist! James 2:13 “For judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy. And mercy exalted itself over judgment. “ Look closely at Romans 2: 5-10 regarding judgment.
Psalm 25: 3 For thy mercy is before my eyes; and I am well pleased with thy truth
Psalm 84: 11 Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed. Hebrews 4 :15-16 Let us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace: that we may obtain mercy and grace in seasonable aid. 1 Cor. 14: 33 St. Paul exhorts, “For God is not a God of dissension, but of peace: as also I teach in all the churches of the saints.”
Let me inform the IUT that charity is the greatest theological virtue. God is charity. The IUT has a vast amount of knowledge regarding Church doctrine and discipline. But the average IUT lacks Biblical knowledge and absolutely lacks charity. What is Charity?
1 John 3: 16-18 states, “in this we know we have the charity of God, because he hath laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed, and in truth.”
Romans 12: 9-10 St. Paul exhorts, “Let love be without dissimulation. Hating that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good. Loving one another with the charity of brotherhood, with honour preventing one another.” Let me again inform the IUT! 1 Tim. 3: 15 gives definitive affirmation that the Church is the Pillar and Ground of Truth! The IUT is not the truth! The Church is the truth!
1 John 4: 7-8 -- “Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for charity is of God. And every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God is charity.”
1 John 4: 16 --God is charity: and he that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him.
1 Cor. 13: 4-8 --Charity is patient, is kind, charity envieth not, dealeth not peversely, is not puffed up" is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger,thinking no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth: beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth al things. Charity never falleth away.
1 Cor. 16: 14 -- Let all your things be done in charity.
1 Peter 4: 8 --But before all things, have a constant mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covereth a multitude of sins.
Matt. 25: 31-46 gives definitive affirmation of the righteous judgment of Christ is based on charity. The seperation of the sheep and the goats is judged on one's charity. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.
1 Tim. 1: 5 states, “Now the end of the commandment is charity, from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith.”
Let us all remember! Especially the Fundamentalist Protestant and the IUT!
Prov. 15: 25 --“The Lord will destroy the house of the proud.”
Prov. 16: 18 -- “Pride goeth before destruction.”
Prov. 14: 12 -- “There is a way which seemeth just to a man: but the ends thereof leads to death.”
Matt. 28: 20 -- “Christ will be with the Church till the consummation of the world.”
John 14: 18 -- “Christ will not leave the Church orphans.”
Heb. 13: 5 -- “Christ hath said! I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee.”
Matt. 16: 18 -- Christ exhorts, “Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
Matt. 6: 33 -- Christ exhorts, “Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.”
In 1 Tim. 6: 11,14 --St. Paul states, “Pursue justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, mildness. That thou keep the commandment without spot, blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In the search for truth one may never compromise truth! Let us never forget the words of Pope John Paul XXIII in the opening of Vatican II!
“The certain and unchangeable doctrine, to which we must remain ever faithful, the teaching of Mother Church as it still shines forth in the acts of the Council of Trent and the first Vatican Council.”
Yes! The Church is the Pillar and Ground of Truth! The Pope is the Vicar of Christ!
May God richly bless you! Amen! Hallelujah!
Charlie Hatchko
The Catholic Legate
November 24, 2004
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This article was originally two
articles which appeared in the Lackawanna County News (May/June,
2001) - You gotta see it to believe it, folks!