LTRP Note: The following news article shows how Bible prophecy of the days before Christ’s return is again being fulfilled. In the Catechism of the Catholic church, homosexuality is a “mortal sin” (a sin, they say, that will condemn you and send you to hell). Now the Catholic church is being led by a man who implies that homosexuality is not a mortal sin ( i.e, homosexuality is acceptable to God). When you couple Pope Francis’ spiritual grounding in contemplative practices1 and his connection to the Jesuits (who are traditionally mystics) with his views on issues such as homosexuality and abortion, you basically have an emerging church Pope. What we foresee happening is the new Pope is going to reorient the Catholic church away from its traditionalist mortal sin approach (i.e., morality) and take it in the direction of Anthony DeMello and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (both panentheistic Jesuit priests and fervent mystics).
William Shannon (Thomas Merton’s biographer), in his book Silence on Fire, states that Catholicism has been traditionally based on the spirituality of devotion (trying to get to Heaven through pious acts and deeds). Contemplative spirituality is the antithesis of this, in that man, in essence, is already good because he (meaning all mankind) is intricately connected to God (that is, man has divinity inherently within him already).
We can see more clearly than ever now that even the Catholic church is “falling away” from its own traditional “faith.” This is going to allow Catholic contemplative teachers and leaders to really come out of the contemplative closet. The last pope constrained the contemplative view, for the most part. This one will bring it to the forefront of the Catholic church. This is closing the gap even more between the “new” emerging “progressive” Christianity (of which many Protestant and evangelical members are embracing) and the Roman Catholic church, a paradigm shift which will eventually develop into a world-wide ecumenical interfaith religious body that will ultimately reject the Messiah, Jesus Christ and rather will worship and follow a one-world global religious leader of which the Bible predicts.
While Bible-believing Christians observe what is happening today in the world around us, may we encourage ourselves in the Lord that the plan of salvation as laid out in Scripture in not found in either of these spiritual outlooks: man cannot earn his way to heaven and neither is he already connected to God through his own virtue. It is only through humbly acknowledging that we are lost sinners (anything but Divine) in need of a Savior who died on the Cross as an atonement for our sins and then by faith believing on Jesus Christ and accepting Him as Lord and Savior can we be saved by His grace. No earning our way and no Divinity within ourselves.
For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2)
For more understanding, read “A Jesuit Pope? Understanding The Jesuit Agenda and the Evangelical/Protestant Church.”
By Heather Clark
Christian News Network
“Pope Francis: Catholics Should Not Be ‘Obsessed’ With Speaking Against Homosexuality, Abortion”
ROME – In an article published on Thursday by the Italian magazine La Civilta Cattolica, Pope Francis explained that he believes the Roman Catholic Church needs to find a “new balance” in reaching unbelievers, rather than focusing on the issues of homosexuality and abortion.
During the lengthy piece, which covered a variety of topics, from being a Jesuit to the role of women in the church, Francis pointed back to comments he made last month when asked how Catholics can reach out to people who are divorced or involved in same-sex relationships.
“In Buenos Aires I used to receive letters from homosexual persons who are ‘socially wounded’ because they tell me that they feel like the church has always condemned them. But the church does not want to do this,” he said. “During the return flight from Rio de Janeiro, I said that if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge. By saying this, I said what the catechism says. Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.”
“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ Click here to continue reading.
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