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| Catholics Are Called To The New Evangelization |
Many are called but few are chosen! Yet if the number of practicing Catholics are down more so the number of faithful priests are down since Vatican II Council. The number of priests are dwindling in alarming rate and only few are able to teach and preach. For this reason there is a need for each Lay Catholic to do their duty and obligation as member of the Catholic Church to bring Catholics back home and to convert non-believers to the Catholic Faith. We should all contribute to bring the number of practicing Catholics to practice the faith.
The Catholic Church is fighting the forces of evil, the gates of hell (heresies) which have penetrated the Church and while they will not succeed in bringing down the church, they will nevertheless bring with them souls of those that will lose faith. As Catholics it is our sacred duty to defend the faith from those attacking the church from the non-Catholics but our worst and effective enemies are those that managed to enter and penetrate the Church with the aim of destroying it. Those who got inside by masquerading as lambs but inside they are ravenous wolves.
OTFS is founded and is being built up in answer to the call of the Pope for a renewed Evangelization which is good for the church and good for the soul. We cant give what we don't have but what we have we must give this is the essence of charity and of love of neighbor. Each Catholic has the charism, the gift of the Holy Spirit which is not shared by many who have gone on with their lives unmindful that we are a Church that is in communion with our fellow Catholics because we belong to one body of Christ.
Even if you have faith but you don't share it or do the works for the continuing building of the Catholic Church worldwide then your faith is in vain. It is dead. Faith is shared to those who may listen and be converted for it is written in Hebrew 4:1-2 "Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it. For we also received the good news, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it." While many have heard, they have not shared the faith and therefore of no value to them that heard it.
In the Calvary the followers of Jesus failed to defend him with all their might so that the Lord has asked in Psalm 94:16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers? Are we going to leave the Church who is Jesus to be left alone once more? Today the fight is even fierce will there be left when the Lord comes back? We must therefore wear the armor of God and defend him this time, defend the Catholic faith at all times. This is the OTFS call, this is our commitment, this is our work of a lifetime. Defend the Catholic Faith whenever, wherever, and whatever situation we are in.
St. Jude the Apostle said, in Jude 1:3 "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write
to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to
contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. What is contend? It means to assert and maintain our position against opposing argument. Thus it means to engage whenever the situation calls for it especially when there are souls that maybe lost. Doing so we give the Lord honor to be in his defense not because God cant defend himself but because we are called to defend his church as taught in 1 Peter 3:15 "but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Likewise the successors of St. Peter, the Popes. Pope Francis is the the latest to make the call Pope to defend in new evangelization the Catholic Faith.
Now defending the Catholic faith is not without its danger and persecution. Even today the same persecution exists only in different forms. In fact many Christians have met their untimely death in the hands of the Islamic Extremists who have extreme hatred against the Christians they call infidels. We know this and we are aware but if God is with us who can be against us? We go to battle with complete trust and abandonment to the care of our Lord and doing so we carry his armor that makes us courageous even if we will feel threatened at times. Oh how easy it is to go with tide, to be compromising, to just let go but this is not the spirit of the Lord has given to his people. The Lord said in in John 16:33 "I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world."
And so we have our great consolation in words of the Lord and likewise in 1 Peter 4:14 "If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. None of you, however, should suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he should not be ashamed but should glorify God in having that name."
By Bro. Manny OTFS Chief Apologist
Copyright © 2016 by ONE TRUE FAITH SOCIETY
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