May 8 – Homily – Fr. Ignatius: Priestly Prayer of Jesus Christ – Last Part
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Homily #080508 (
08min) Play - In today's Gospel Our Lord tells of the Four Marks of the True Church of Christ - One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. There is no salvation outside of the One, True, Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ.Ave Maria! Mass readings
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Dear Father Ignatius,
I have enjoyed and learned a lot from your three part homily. Thank you. I have a question on this third part of your homily about the salvation (or lack thereof) of those who are not Catholic. I’m hoping you can clarify this. You mentioned that those outside of the one, holy, apostolic Church cannot find salvation. Now … I believe you said something about those who *knowingly* reject the Catholic Faith. What about those (such as, say, Billy Graham and many other clearly Godly individuals) who are outside of the Faith? I struggle with this because, sadly, I know many evangelicals/fundamentalists who seem to be far more committed to Christ than most Catholics I know. In fact, I credit some of these people for my own re-version … had they not challenged me to read Scripture and other books and debate them on issues, I doubt I would have wandered away from being a very content lukewarm Catholic at best. Now, have these people looked into the Catholic Faith? Some have … some were Catholics who for one reason or another left the Church. What happens to those? Sadly, many of these have a much deeper faith now and are living much holier lives than when they were Catholics. It tears my heart out to no end … some are very good friends of mine and, yet, I am really helpless at being able to bring them back to Catholicism. I know the churches they attended and the priests they had … I understand FULLY why they left even though I believe they made a huge mistake. I also know some who took an Atheism vs. Belief course in my Jesuit college by a former Jesuit (now atheist) who REALLY struggled with their Faith afterwards due to this deranged man. (They tried getting rid of him but apparently legally couldn’t … gag me.) I am praying for a compassionate Lord for these people … our own Church is accountable for some of these lost sheep, I feel. Don’t you? What does the Church teach on these people?
Thank you and God bless you,
Jen A.
Dear Jen,
Much could be said about this, but I’ll keep it brief without going into all of the qualifications and speculations.
It all boils down to whether the individual is gravely culpable or not for either not having remained in the Church or for not having entered Her.
Keep praying and sacrificing for our separated brothers and sisters!
Ave Maria!