"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 gave Me, that they may be one as We are one." (John 17:20-22)
"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:5)
quoting from the Decree on Ecumenism of the Second Vatical Council, from his Ut Unum Sint:
Division openly contradicts the will of Christ, provides a stumbling block to the world, and inflicts damage on the most holy cause of proclaiming the Good News to every creature." - Pope John Paul II
A Catholic apologetics site!
"You must follow the bishop as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the presbytery as you would the Apostles. Reverence the deacons as you would the command of God. Let no one do anything of concern to the Church without the bishop. Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by the bishop, or by one whom he appoints. Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there, just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrnaeans, 8:1-2, AD 107
All are welcome!!!
Established April 2006
"You know, God talks to us all the time. Do you know what he says? He says, 'I love you, I love you, I love you'". -- Pilgrim George Walters
This web site contains information about my Christian faith and beliefs, as a member of the Eastern (Byzantine rite) Catholic Church.
I encourage you to spend time browsing through the links to my pages, listed vertically, to the right.
"The Internet causes billions of images to appear on millions of computer monitors around the planet. From this galaxy of sight and sound will the face of Christ emerge and the voice of Christ be heard?"
–Pope John Paul II
The Lord has turned all our sunsets into sunrise. -- St. Clement of Alexandria
Have You Ever Been Asked,
"ARE YOU SURE FOR HEAVEN?"
Fundamentalists and certain Evangelicals claim that you can 'know for SURE" (once saved, always saved). While the motive of these types of questions are most often rooted in sincere well-meaning, we should ask ourselves in return, whether this claim is actually CONSISTENT with the entirety of Holy Scripture. Do we Christians have an iron-clad guarantee, no matter what? We certainly owe it to ourselves to know the truth about this very important matter and to be able to honestly answer these modern, man-derived questions!
See my pages on "R U Sure for Heaven?" for the answer.
"Confession is the beginning of glory, not the full desert of the crown; nor does it perfect our praise, but it initiates our dignity; and since it is written, 'He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved,' whatever has been before the end is a step by which we ascend to the summit of salvation, not a terminus wherein the full result of the ascent is already gained." Cyprian, Unity of the Church, 21 (A.D. 251).
"It is, indeed, to be wondered at, and greatly to be wondered at, that to some of His own children--whom He has regenerated in Christ--to whom He has given faith, hope, and love, God does not give perseverance also." Augustine, On Rebuke and Grace, 18 (A.D. 427).
"Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. But often shall ye come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if ye be not made perfect in the last time." Didache, 16 (A.D. 90).
To read: "SALVATION PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE", by
James Akinhttp://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/PASTPRES.HTM
Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song. -- Pope John Paul II
Salvation is not only from sin, but for sonship – in Christ. We are not only forgiven by God’s grace, we are adopted and divinized, that is, we “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). This is ultimately why God created us, to share in the life-giving love of the Trinity.
Edited by Scott Hahn and Leon J. Suprenant, Jr.
Catholic for a Reason I, Emmaus Road
"In seeking to emancipate himself from his body, (man) ends up by destroying himself. Against those who say that 'the Church should not involve herself in these matters,' we can only respond: does man not concern us, too? The Church and believers must raise their voices to defend man, the creature who, in the inseparable unity of body and spirit, is the image of God" (WorldNetDaily, Dec. 30, 2006). -- Pope Benedict XVI
http://www.thecatholictreasurechest.com/proud.htm
"Christian is my name, and Catholic my surname. The one designates me, while the other makes me specific..............."
Saint Pacian of Barcelona, Letter to Sympronian, 375 A.D..
BORN AGAIN?
the biblical way?
CLICK HERE AND FIND OUT: http://blog.catholic-convert.com/?p=238
and also,
http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2007/mbrumley_bornagain_nov07.asp
http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19980301/SCRMNTL/EVANGL.HTM
http://www.catholic.com/library/Are_Catholics_Born_Again.asp
http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19980301/SCRMNTL/BAPTISM.HTM
http://members.cox.net/sfobro/salvation.html
See my page, "PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP", to your right, or click here:
http://www.raeshomepage.bravehost.com/personal.html
Also, see this article, for a personal story:
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1990/9008conv.asp "I Have A Personal Relationship With Jesus Christ!"
SURVIVING EVANGELICAL BURNOUT, By HOWARD CHAREST
EARLY CHURCH FATHER QUOTE:
“The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ He says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever things you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, they shall be loosed also in heaven.’ And again He says to him after His resurrection: ‘Feed my sheep.’ On him He builds the Church, and to him He gives the command to feed the sheep; and although He assigns a like power to all the Apostles, yet He founded a single chair, and He established by His own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was; but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the Apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?”
St. Cyprian, AD 251 The Unity of the Catholic Church
"Maybe Evangelicals should give the Catholic Church a fair hearing, by reading what Catholic authors teach about the Catholic Church, and not just what Protestants write about Catholics." Should our separated Protestant brethren be concerned over the volume of denominations among Bible-believing worship communites? Is this evidence that defies the unity that Christ desires for his 'one Church and one Body'? See a newly added page, (Denominationalism pg 2 "What's in a Name?")
Newman said, "To be deep in history is to cease being a Protestant."
Check out the article, in my box files below, by convert and apologist, Steven Ray, entitled: The "Myth" of the 33,000
and Swallowing the Holy Ghost, Feathers and All.
PLEASE COME AND GET TO KNOW A GENUINE 'PILGRIM FOR CHRIST'!!! See my page (listed on the right) entitled "A Pilgrim for Christ", and also visit the blog site, "Friends of Pilgrim George" at:
http://421kolorae.bravejournal.com/
It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.
--St. Francis of Assisi
"My calling is to walk and pray," - Pilgrim George Walters
"My home is in heaven. I'm just passing through. I don't have a home on Earth. But I'm not homeless." - Pilgrim George Walters
"God loves you very much, and if you open your heart to his love you will have peace now and forever." - Pilgrim George Walters
New Feature - "PILGRIM'S REFLECTIONS" Inspirational quotes from Pilgrim George (SEE THE LINK IN THE INDEX TO YOUR RIGHT)
'PILGRIM' GEORGE FLORIAN WALTER
Miscellaneous Topics:
WHAT CONSTITUTES 'REAL WORSHIP'? See my "What is Worship" pages!
DID CATHOLICS 'CHANGE' THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, AS SOME CLAIM? Find out, on my "Ten Commandments' pages!
WHAT DO CATHOLICS MEAN WHEN USING THE TERM "REAL PRESENCE', find out on my 'Eucharist pages' (there's a wonderful article, by Dwight Longenecker on page 2) and on my 'Real Presence' pages!
"People say that the doctrine of Transubstantiation is difficult to believe...It is difficult, impossible to imagine, I grant — but how is it difficult to believe?...For myself, I cannot, indeed prove it, I cannot tell how it is; but I say, 'Why should it not be? What's to hinder it? What do I know of substance or matter? Just as much as the greatest philosophers, and that is nothing at all."
-Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman
How does one become a CATHOLIC?
Click here to find out:
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/HOW2.htm
and
FOR NON-CATHOLIC MINISTERS AND LAYPERSONS WANTING TO MAKE THE JOURNEY HOME, CHECK OUT THE COMING HOME NETWORK'S WEBSITE, TO FIND INFORMATION AND SUPPORT:
"CATHOLICISM: WHAT ELSE IS THERE?" http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/WHATELSE.HTM
"DOES BEING CATHOLIC MAKE A DIFFERENCE?" Rev. Ray Ryland http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/CATHDIFF.HTM
"THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS THE ANSWER", by Paul Whitcomb http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/CHUANSWR.HTMBEING CATHOLIC AND CHRISTIAN: FAITH AND SALVATION
http://www.catholicapologetics.org/Slides/Being Catholic and Christian_files/frame.htm
For the Beginning Catholic:http://www.beginningcatholic.com/index.html
Express your faith, on a t-shirt!
(check out more links, on the "Catholic's Shopping Bag" page!)
http://crazytees.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=31_32&sort=20a&page=3
Try some fun 'Catholic' quizzes
http://acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2006/01/catholic-exam.html
http://www.gotoquiz.com/catholic_truths
The World's Toughest Catholic Quiz: http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1993/9302fea1.asp
http://www.byzantines.net/quiz/
THE BYZANTINE QUIZ
Bible Quizhttp://www.carr.org/~meripper/bible/bible-q1.htm
http://blog.catholic-convert.com/?p=261
Bible Riddles
http://blog.catholic-convert.com/?p=2013
Catechism Search resource:
http://www.kofc.org/publications/cis/catechism/index.cfm
The Bible Gateway (searchable Bible):
http://www.catholic.net/RCC/Catechism/bible.html
Catholic Audio Lectures
Read the Bible and Catechism in one year! http://www.chnetwork.org/journals/readguide04.pdf
IN DEFENSE OF THE FAITH:
Have you heard or seen things of an anti-Catholic nature, in your area? See the web site for 'The Catholic League', and make it known.
http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3893&Itemid=48
BEHOLD THE SPAM OF GOD - A comical response to the oh-so-typical, anti-Catholic approach to writing "in Christian love"
QUESTION: Should Catholics Go to Non-Denominational Bible Studies?
CLICK HERE FOR THE ANSWER...........
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2007/0701fea5.asp
The Donut Man is Catholic!
See his 'reconciliation' story on my 'Converts' page! His web page is also located at www.lateforsupper.com!
1 Timothy 3:15 "The pillar and foundation of Truth is the Church!!!!"
THE FOURTH CUP
The Sacrament of the Eucharist
http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/4cp.html
Newman Apologetics Resource
AS CATHOLICS, WE HAVE THE BEST 'ALTAR CALL' AROUND!!!!
check out the fantastic article (PDF file), in my box files below, entitled "You Gotta Eat the Lamb"!!!
bravenet.com