From: Larry Duffy
Subject: For Bong Fr Larry.
To: "Bong Lozano"
Date: Friday, January 30, 2009, 1:03 AM
Dear Bong,
Lovely to receive your email and I can catch your enthusiasm - the enthusiasm that you had a young student 22 yeas ago and now as a mature adult Christian many years later. YOU have done great good,and you will do much more. It is an inspiration to me indeed, and indeed someday I hope we can meet and share face to face. It brings me joy to know too of the activities of the CHSG and from time to time I hope to look at the website.
I would love to begin the same in Peru but perhaps at the present it is not quite possible as I have to travel quite a bit and there are already well established groups. The Holy Spirit may have this time.
I read the letter from the member of the sect and i hope with time there will be no reason at all to be confused.
To answer in any full way would be a long long letter - maybe a book, which you could write someday perhaps. Unfortunately there are many Christians out there -often very good people and sincere, and they are our brothers whom we love, but unfortunately they were either born into heretical groups or joined them and have not yet found the full truth of God's message in the Church.
Let me explain something a little. The explain it well would require good courses in theology and also a solid course of catholic apologetics which is the theological study that defends the true faith again false understandings of the message of Christ.
From the beginning the Church had to deal with different interpretations of Christ and the Scriptures (by the way the scriptures for the very early church was only theo old testament as the new testament was not yet complete or recognized as such). Some were true and some were false. The letters of Paul and especially the 3 letters of John illustrate this well. The authorative teachers were the apostles and their successors (cf. too the letters of Paul to Timothy and Titus, and the post-NT writings of Clement of Rome and St Ignatius of Antioch, Tertullian and Irenaeus).
In fact the faith of the Church founded by Jesus come from himself and the Apostles and the Tradition passed on by them (e.g. praying for the dead etc) and only gradually was recognized by that One Church, the Catholic Church to be in those 27 books of the New Testament which were approved by the Church and affirmed by the Church to be inspired by the Spirit. The Catholic Church recognized her faith in the Scriptures, but nobody ever said that it was all in the Scriptures, in fact the faith is prior to the NT. The one truth (which like all living things- develops and is understood better over the centuries) is contained in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition in the One Church guided by the Holy Spirit and accompanied by Christ until the end of time. In the early centuries of the Church after the books of the New Testament were accepted by the Church some teachers (often moved by pride and arrogance, and lacking humility) began to teach a different doctrine than that of the Church - in fact hundreds of sects began to appear all with different doctrines all claiming to base them on the Scriptures. 3 examples: the Gnostics (who believed there was a good and bad God, that the Old testament was written by the bad God and most of the NT by the good God, but they rejected some of the books of the NT), the Arians: followers of the priest Arius who tried to prove from the Holy Scriptures that Jesus was not God. One sect even believed that Mary was God. God raised up saints in his Church to combat these and other errors. St Irenaeus of Lyons, a great bishop, refuted the Gnostics in the 3rd century. St Athanasius and the first Council of the Church, Nicea in 325, proclaimed the full divinity of Christ. etc. The sects of those times are long dead now but of course, but God's Church, the Catholic Church, continued and will continue until the end of the World. In the 16th century a new doctrine appeared for the first time - propagated by a priest, Martin Luther, that everyone could interpret the Scriptures for themselves. This erroneous teaching this has lead to now about 24,000 Protestant sects each one teaching a different doctrine based on the pastor's interpretation of the Scriptures. The basic mistake is to separate the Scriptures from the Church and to interpret them outside the Holy Tradition and the authoratative teachers of the faith - the successors of the apostles, the bishops united with the bishop of Rome (whom we call the Pope) who continues withthe authority of St Peter and Paul. (cf. Mt 16,16-18, mt 28, 16-20).
If you study Church history you will notice few things. First the Church has never changed her doctrine but the understanding of it does develop with the centuries - after all the Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures is the soul of the Church and he is not a dead holy sprit but teaches all truth (Read about eh work of the Holy Spirit in the Church in the gospel of John Chs 14 to 16) The great Cardinal John Henry Newman who began life as Protestant after years of prayer and study saw this clearly and even had to lose his job to become a Catholic (as do many Anglican ministers do today in England who become Catholics, and quite a few protestant pastors in the USAwho have become Catholics when they see the truth. through prayer and study, if they are searchers of truth in humility). Second the Church is often weak and corrupt in its members, even priest and bishops. The Church itself is Holy, but its members may not respond and so damage the Church, but even bad popes have never taught false doctrine as the faith. This alone is an amazing miracle. When heresies (false doctrines) attach the Christian people God raises up saints to deal with this. Hundreds of saints appeared after those who attacked the church in the false doctrine of the protestant sects appeared for the first time in the 16 century - perhaps the most famous is Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
That brings me to the heart of the matter. To follow Jesus our Saviour is to be humble, to be ever ready to learn from God's Church, never to think that one can interpret the Scriptures better. You surely notice by now how difficult it can be reconcile some scriptures texts with one another. One of the greatest minds of all history, Saint Augustine, who studies the questions said you interpret the more difficult ones by means of the easier ones to understand, but in the end you submit to the judgment of the Church - because the Scriptures are the Word of God, infinitely mysterious and the Church is the Church of God, also infinitely mysterious. You see, truth is one - so there is one true church and has been since Christ. Error is multiple and so there are thousands of smaller churches and sects - all contradicting one another but the only thing they have in common.. what is that?.. guess... they all are against the Catholic Church. By means these errors (heresies) the Church is purified and over the centuries clarifies the Word of God and is still dong so. The Blessed Virgin, purification after death (purgatory), the authority of the bishop of Rome, the intercession of the saints, are all truth revealed by God in his Holy Church, which is his Bride and His Body, and it sad to see people who are sincere, but so mistaken, attacking them. For such people we pray. LIke St Paul who in sincerity persecuted the Church thinking he was doing good - he had a zeal but it was not enlightened (Ramans 10,2). o many of our sincere brothers in the sects.
I have two practical suggestions for you. First. Get your hands on and read the Document of Vatican II on Revelation, it is called Dei Verbum. It is not very long and its treats of the nature of revelation, how it is transmitted in the Church by Scripture and Tradition etc.... Read it and meditate on it, look up the scripture references in it. It is beautiful, and teaches the basis of our faith.
Second I would suggest you don't get into controversy with this man who wrote to you. That is what they do - they try to get Catholics and confuse them, but simple arguments that have no real foundation but often Catholics are do not know enough. They themselves have very limited knowledge and even his short letter to contains basic errors that I could refute in a fee minutes if I were talking with him. Better nor argue. Just tell him that he is your brother and you believe he is in error and that it is good to seek the whole truth. One the other hand first, study some good Catholic authors who have moved from the errors of sects into the Church. Look up Scott Hahn on the internet. He has wonderful things to say, is very clear and it took him some years of study to find the truth, but he was humble, prayerful and was LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH. By God's grace you were baptised into God's wonderful TRUTH as a child. May you ever deepen your knowledge of it, and with time as well as the Holy Scriptures, which are inspired by the God and totally out on their own, also read some of the great Catholic Doctors of the Church such as St Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, and the doctor mystics: St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Avila. There is an intellectual and spiritual challenge to you do go deeper, to learn more in humility, in holiness and especially great love for our Creator and the Lord Jesus, for the Church and for the Blessed Virgin who is able to crush the serpents hear when he tries to lead the faithful astray by false doctrine.
This email is much longer than I intended, but to write of the things of God is a joy. I hope you find it useful - love the scriptures, love the church, pray, study, proclaim - all in love and unity. You will shine like a star in the heavens... onthat day... Blessed be God forever.
With fond memories,
Fr Larry Duffy s.m.
Lovely to receive your email and I can catch your enthusiasm - the enthusiasm that you had a young student 22 yeas ago and now as a mature adult Christian many years later. YOU have done great good,and you will do much more. It is an inspiration to me indeed, and indeed someday I hope we can meet and share face to face. It brings me joy to know too of the activities of the CHSG and from time to time I hope to look at the website.
I would love to begin the same in Peru but perhaps at the present it is not quite possible as I have to travel quite a bit and there are already well established groups. The Holy Spirit may have this time.
I read the letter from the member of the sect and i hope with time there will be no reason at all to be confused.
To answer in any full way would be a long long letter - maybe a book, which you could write someday perhaps. Unfortunately there are many Christians out there -often very good people and sincere, and they are our brothers whom we love, but unfortunately they were either born into heretical groups or joined them and have not yet found the full truth of God's message in the Church.
Let me explain something a little. The explain it well would require good courses in theology and also a solid course of catholic apologetics which is the theological study that defends the true faith again false understandings of the message of Christ.
From the beginning the Church had to deal with different interpretations of Christ and the Scriptures (by the way the scriptures for the very early church was only theo old testament as the new testament was not yet complete or recognized as such). Some were true and some were false. The letters of Paul and especially the 3 letters of John illustrate this well. The authorative teachers were the apostles and their successors (cf. too the letters of Paul to Timothy and Titus, and the post-NT writings of Clement of Rome and St Ignatius of Antioch, Tertullian and Irenaeus).
In fact the faith of the Church founded by Jesus come from himself and the Apostles and the Tradition passed on by them (e.g. praying for the dead etc) and only gradually was recognized by that One Church, the Catholic Church to be in those 27 books of the New Testament which were approved by the Church and affirmed by the Church to be inspired by the Spirit. The Catholic Church recognized her faith in the Scriptures, but nobody ever said that it was all in the Scriptures, in fact the faith is prior to the NT. The one truth (which like all living things- develops and is understood better over the centuries) is contained in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition in the One Church guided by the Holy Spirit and accompanied by Christ until the end of time. In the early centuries of the Church after the books of the New Testament were accepted by the Church some teachers (often moved by pride and arrogance, and lacking humility) began to teach a different doctrine than that of the Church - in fact hundreds of sects began to appear all with different doctrines all claiming to base them on the Scriptures. 3 examples: the Gnostics (who believed there was a good and bad God, that the Old testament was written by the bad God and most of the NT by the good God, but they rejected some of the books of the NT), the Arians: followers of the priest Arius who tried to prove from the Holy Scriptures that Jesus was not God. One sect even believed that Mary was God. God raised up saints in his Church to combat these and other errors. St Irenaeus of Lyons, a great bishop, refuted the Gnostics in the 3rd century. St Athanasius and the first Council of the Church, Nicea in 325, proclaimed the full divinity of Christ. etc. The sects of those times are long dead now but of course, but God's Church, the Catholic Church, continued and will continue until the end of the World. In the 16th century a new doctrine appeared for the first time - propagated by a priest, Martin Luther, that everyone could interpret the Scriptures for themselves. This erroneous teaching this has lead to now about 24,000 Protestant sects each one teaching a different doctrine based on the pastor's interpretation of the Scriptures. The basic mistake is to separate the Scriptures from the Church and to interpret them outside the Holy Tradition and the authoratative teachers of the faith - the successors of the apostles, the bishops united with the bishop of Rome (whom we call the Pope) who continues withthe authority of St Peter and Paul. (cf. Mt 16,16-18, mt 28, 16-20).
If you study Church history you will notice few things. First the Church has never changed her doctrine but the understanding of it does develop with the centuries - after all the Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures is the soul of the Church and he is not a dead holy sprit but teaches all truth (Read about eh work of the Holy Spirit in the Church in the gospel of John Chs 14 to 16) The great Cardinal John Henry Newman who began life as Protestant after years of prayer and study saw this clearly and even had to lose his job to become a Catholic (as do many Anglican ministers do today in England who become Catholics, and quite a few protestant pastors in the USAwho have become Catholics when they see the truth. through prayer and study, if they are searchers of truth in humility). Second the Church is often weak and corrupt in its members, even priest and bishops. The Church itself is Holy, but its members may not respond and so damage the Church, but even bad popes have never taught false doctrine as the faith. This alone is an amazing miracle. When heresies (false doctrines) attach the Christian people God raises up saints to deal with this. Hundreds of saints appeared after those who attacked the church in the false doctrine of the protestant sects appeared for the first time in the 16 century - perhaps the most famous is Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
That brings me to the heart of the matter. To follow Jesus our Saviour is to be humble, to be ever ready to learn from God's Church, never to think that one can interpret the Scriptures better. You surely notice by now how difficult it can be reconcile some scriptures texts with one another. One of the greatest minds of all history, Saint Augustine, who studies the questions said you interpret the more difficult ones by means of the easier ones to understand, but in the end you submit to the judgment of the Church - because the Scriptures are the Word of God, infinitely mysterious and the Church is the Church of God, also infinitely mysterious. You see, truth is one - so there is one true church and has been since Christ. Error is multiple and so there are thousands of smaller churches and sects - all contradicting one another but the only thing they have in common.. what is that?.. guess... they all are against the Catholic Church. By means these errors (heresies) the Church is purified and over the centuries clarifies the Word of God and is still dong so. The Blessed Virgin, purification after death (purgatory), the authority of the bishop of Rome, the intercession of the saints, are all truth revealed by God in his Holy Church, which is his Bride and His Body, and it sad to see people who are sincere, but so mistaken, attacking them. For such people we pray. LIke St Paul who in sincerity persecuted the Church thinking he was doing good - he had a zeal but it was not enlightened (Ramans 10,2). o many of our sincere brothers in the sects.
I have two practical suggestions for you. First. Get your hands on and read the Document of Vatican II on Revelation, it is called Dei Verbum. It is not very long and its treats of the nature of revelation, how it is transmitted in the Church by Scripture and Tradition etc.... Read it and meditate on it, look up the scripture references in it. It is beautiful, and teaches the basis of our faith.
Second I would suggest you don't get into controversy with this man who wrote to you. That is what they do - they try to get Catholics and confuse them, but simple arguments that have no real foundation but often Catholics are do not know enough. They themselves have very limited knowledge and even his short letter to contains basic errors that I could refute in a fee minutes if I were talking with him. Better nor argue. Just tell him that he is your brother and you believe he is in error and that it is good to seek the whole truth. One the other hand first, study some good Catholic authors who have moved from the errors of sects into the Church. Look up Scott Hahn on the internet. He has wonderful things to say, is very clear and it took him some years of study to find the truth, but he was humble, prayerful and was LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH. By God's grace you were baptised into God's wonderful TRUTH as a child. May you ever deepen your knowledge of it, and with time as well as the Holy Scriptures, which are inspired by the God and totally out on their own, also read some of the great Catholic Doctors of the Church such as St Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, and the doctor mystics: St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Avila. There is an intellectual and spiritual challenge to you do go deeper, to learn more in humility, in holiness and especially great love for our Creator and the Lord Jesus, for the Church and for the Blessed Virgin who is able to crush the serpents hear when he tries to lead the faithful astray by false doctrine.
This email is much longer than I intended, but to write of the things of God is a joy. I hope you find it useful - love the scriptures, love the church, pray, study, proclaim - all in love and unity. You will shine like a star in the heavens... onthat day... Blessed be God forever.
With fond memories,
Fr Larry Duffy s.m.
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