HomeARC ML 0184
"ARE WE CATHOLICS OR PROTESTANTS?"--MO September 1972 GP No.184
Copyright © September 1972 by The Children of God
P.O. Box 31, London WCZE 7LX, England or GPO Box 3141, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936
Notes of a Leadership Meeting:
1. THE PENDULUM SWINGS FROM ONE EXTREME TO ANOTHER, but comes back somewhere near the middle. We have swung, in the Revolution, completely away from the churches; but now we have begun to recognise the absolute necessity of having to work with, or even within, some of the System to a certain degree in order to try and win some of them.--At least within certain segments of the System, particularly amongst those who call themselves Christians.
2. IN THE STATES THE CHURCHES REJECTED US; so, like Paul, we say, "Henceforth we go unto the Gentiles!" We go unto both extremes of the spectrum: on the one hand--the left hand--to what we would have considered anathema, the unbelievers, and the most unlikely objects of our love and endeavours to evangelise, the kids, the hippies, the radicals, the Communists, and even the World Council of Churches! On the other, or the right hand, we must go to the Roman Catholic Church!
3. THESE WERE TWO OPPOSITE EXTREMES, AND SEEMED THE MOST UNLIKELY targets of our evangelistic efforts. Everybody would have said both were impossible: the one too totally unreligious; and the other too totally churchy! But our extreme radicalism, communism and total divorce from the System has appealed to the radicals. On the other hand, our extreme fundamentalism and adherence to the old Faith of the Fathers and return to the Bible and extreme total dedication appeals to the Catholics.
4. LIVING IN COMMUNES AND HOUR UPON HOUR OF BIBLE STUDY--these are almost unheard of amongst the Protestants, but they are a familiar custom of the Catholic orders with their vows of poverty, etc., Many of their saints and orders practise all these, and were even martyred for their faith. Forsaking all for a total dedication of one-hundred-percent service is a thing which Catholics can understand, but it is almost totally foreign to the Protestant, even their ministers!
5. ANYONE CAN SEE THAT FEW PROTESTANTS PRACTISE TOTAL DEDICATION! You can't tell the average Protestant minister from any other business man! He looks like any other businessman, he lives like them, and frequently is engaged in some of their businesses! He's usually nothing in the world but a businessman who gets up and preaches in his church building on Sunday, and he runs his church like a business! He lives in a fine home and rears his family like any other businessman. He participates in the same activities, drives the same fancy cars and you usually can't tell him from any other man in the business world, with a few little, tiny exceptions that the Church has glorified as being the signs of a Christian, mostly just going to church on Sunday!
6. WHAT IS SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE IS SAUCE FOR THE GANDERS, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE ARE JUST LIKE THEIR PREACHERS: they too live in fine houses, drive fine cars, send their children to the same schools, enjoy the same pleasures, etc., as the rest of the wicked world!
7. NOW I'M NOT SPEAKING OF THESE LITTLE PENTECOSTAL AND HOLINESS CHURCHES, WHO HAVE THESE LITTLE TABOOS, but of the vast majority of Protestant Christians.--The only way in the world you can tell the difference between most Protestants and any other worldly people is that you can sometimes see them in church on Sunday morning! Most Protestants are absolutely no different from the rest of the world--no different except that they are sometimes in church on Sunday morning!
8. THE AVERAGE CHRISTIAN YOUNG PERSON looks at his parents, who are supposed to be good Christians, and he can't see any difference between them and any other worldlings, so why should he go to church? In fact, in the eyes of their children, most Christian parents are even worse than the rest of the world, because most of them are exactly like the rest of the world, only they pretend not to be!--They're hypocrites!
9. BUT LET US NOW CONSIDER THE AVERAGE ROMAN CATHOLICS. We might say that, by and large, most of them resemble all too much the average Protestants in that they too are so much like the rest of the world. They are engaged in much the same things as all the rest of the world, except that they, too, go to church on Sunday morning. So, looking at the average Catholic layman or woman or child, you wouldn't see too much difference between Catholics and Protestants, there are a few very notable exceptions!
10. LET'S BEGIN AT THE TOP with these remarkable differences: What do the Catholics have that the Protestants don't have? Catholic ministers are priests who have at once given a sign of more total dedication to their vocation by their apparent belief in, and the practice of, celibacy! Here is something tremendous that the Catholic priests have given up for the sake of their calling! I wouldn't necessarily agree with it as a rule, but it's certainly a sign of greater dedication!
11. THE GIVING UP OF A WIFE, A HOME, A FAMILY--and many of them very sincerely so--I would call a pretty big step toward total dedication! Wouldn't you call that a greater dedication than the average Protestant minister?--Whether you think it's right or wrong, Scriptural or unscriptural, good or bad, it is, nevertheless, a sign of greater dedication on the part of the average Catholic priest than on the part of the average Protestant minister! At least they are endeavouring to have some form of Godliness, even though they may not have much of the power thereof.
12. WOULDN'T YOU, THEREFORE, SAY THAT THE AVERAGE CATHOLIC FATHER SEEMS TO HAVE A GREATER SENSE OF DEDICATION, and an idea of what total dedication is, than the Protestant minister, and is therefore a greater example of total dedication?--Even if there may be some notable exceptions, and in some cases some possible hanky-panky going on behind the scenes, just like they've accused us of, nevertheless, by and large, most Catholic priests are notoriously dedicated, even though some, like us, may have made a few mistakes.
13. THE CATHOLIC MINISTRY AGAIN: Would you not say, if you know anything at all about the priesthood, that they know a great deal more about discipline and being in subjection and submission to spiritual authority and total obedience than the average Protestant minister? In the Protestants' desire for freedom, they have gone too far and have even cast away everything that was good about the Catholics!
14. WOULDN'T YOU SAY THAT THE CATHOLIC MINISTRY KNOWS A GREAT DEAL MORE ABOUT DILIGENT PRAYER, MEMORISATION, BRAINWASHING RITUALISM, etc.--(I'm using terms with which we are familiar, and things we are often accused of)--constant recitation and repetition of Scripture and prayers, and little familiar ceremonies, just like us, in order to keep their concentration on the Spiritual?--Just like our own constant study, memorisation, praise and prayer, punctuating with "Praise you, Jesus," "Thank you Lord," etc.!
15. THE CATHOLIC CLERGY HAVE A VERY STRICT LEADERSHIP HIERARCHY, a chain of command from the lowliest deacons and elders to the Bishops and the Pope--a Holy Father who dwells primarily in seclusion, issuing papal encyclicals from the Holy See, which are expected to be read, studied, and obeyed by all the faithful, with the most rigid adherence and discipline. It is true that much of this has developed into a mere formality in many cases, but most of it either had spiritual or Scriptural meaning in its original foundation.
16. SO, HERE WE HAVE THE PRIEST FORSAKING MORE THAN THE AVERAGE PROTEST MINISTER by far, willingly submissive to spiritual authorities much more than the average Protestant minister, and also willing to be set apart from others by a peculiar from of dress, even forsaking his clothing! Of course, any of these things, not done in the right spirit with the right motives, the same as with what we are doing, can become a pride trip and a self-righteousness. But, nevertheless, they do have some form of a greater, more total dedication than the Protestant ministry as a rule, do they not?
17. SPEAKING OF THE CATHOLIC MINISTRY, WHAT ABOUT THE SERVICES IN WHICH THEY ARE ENGAGED? Wouldn't you say that the average Catholic church service even has a show of greater reverence, respect, worship, awe, and devotion to God and his church, and his leadership, and his Lord, and law and order, and rules than the average Protestant church service?
18. WHAT ABOUT THEIR CONSISTENCY AND THEIR NUMBER? Whereas, the average Protestant church has primarily one big service on Sunday morning and maybe or maybe not on Sunday night, with very little else, the usual Catholic church has not only several masses on Sunday from early morning till right, but also at least one every morning of the week!--And these are early enough for the worker or businessman to go through the open door of his open church building and enjoy the quiet solitude of the worshipful, prayerful atmosphere and a little encouragement and inspiration from his priest before he goes about his business for the day.
19. CATHOLIC CHURCH BUILDINGS ARE ALSO USUALLY LEFT OPEN FOR ALL the remainder of the day and night, so that their sanctuaries can be available for your solace, consolation, prayer and seeking of refuge in the Spirit at any time of the day or night within its worshipful, prayerful atmosphere!
20. HOW MANY PROTESTANT CHURCHES ARE OPEN AND AVAILABLE that much? The average church building of the Protestant is locked 99% of the time, and you can't even use the toilet!
21. NOT ONLY THAT, THE CATHOLIC PRIEST IS ALWAYS CLOSE BY and seldom further than next door! He's available for counsel, confession, consolation, comfort, and prayer at any time of the day or night, because he's wholly devoted to his task, and it's his full-time 24-hour, 7-days-a-week task. He doesn't go home to his wife or his children or his business. His parish is his family, they are his wife and children, and his church building is his home!
22. HOW MANY PROTESTANT MINISTERS CAN SAY IN ALL HONESTY THAT THEY GIVE THEIR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION solely to, as we say, the Family, and live there all the time and are totally occupied with duties relating to the Family and their instruction, edification, consolation, consultation and comfort to meet their needs? Where in Protestantism, or the Protestant ministry do you find such dedication of their clergy? If so, it is rare and exceptional!
23. IN ALL MY LIFE I ONLY KNEW BUT ONE PROTESTANT MINISTER WHO SLEPT IN THE CHANCEL BEHIND THE BAPTISTRY AND KEPT HIS DOORS OPEN 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the lights burning at night so he could help any in need! He was Rev. John Wells, one of my Mother's old flames, and it was called the Little Brown Church in the Valley--nondenominational, but much more Catholic than Protestant in nature, with candles burning, and the ministering Father always there available for prayer, help, and consultation. It was such a rare exception in Protestantism that it gained worldwide fame, and was written up in newspapers all around the world and in Readers Digest!
24. HE BECAME FAMOUS BECAUSE HE LED SO MANY MOVIE STARS AND FAMOUS PEOPLE, AND EVEN INFAMOUS CRIMINALS, TO THE LORD in the wee hours of the night, who came there seeking help, knowing that he could always be found there! How many Protestant ministers sleep in their churches all night and are always there, so that they can be available to criminals and outsiders who are not even members of their churches, so they can be there at all times for those who need help, as do many Catholic priests?
25. I'LL NEVER FORGET, WHEN I WAS A YOUNG TEENAGER and was asked by a sincere Catholic boy, "Why don't your priests keep your church doors open all the time so people can come to pray or find help? Why don't your preachers sleep next door so they are always available when you need them?" We could probably go on and on, but so much here for the much greater dedication, and much greater availability for ministry, of the Catholic clergy in comparison to the once- or twice-a-week Protestants!
26. I SUPPOSE SOME PROTESTANTS WILL SAY "MY MINISTER IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE, and I can reach him by phone any time; I can get him out of bed if I have to, "But how many Protestants really do feel as free to get their poor preacher out of bed with his wife, and out of his warm home with his children and his family responsibilities, to come over and take care of them?--Whereas the average Catholic knows that that's all his Father exists for, that's why he's there! They are his family!
27. DOES THIS REMIND YOU OF ANYBODY ELSE,--LIKE THE CHILDREN OF GOD and their Shepherds and their elders? Married or not, they are there, with or without their wives or children! They are there, with their primary duty to minister, not to be ministered unto, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, living in what you might call their church building, and always available!--And wouldn't you call their total separation from their former families and homes and jobs and possessions, if not wives and children, much more like the Catholic priests than that of the average Protestant clergyman?
28. WOULDN'T YOU SAY THAT OUR CLERGY, SO TO SPEAK, HAVE FOR CLERGY, SO TO SPEAK, HAVE FORSAKEN MORE, AND ARE MORE DEDICATED, AND ARE MORE LIVE-IN MINISTERS, and are more a part of their spiritual family or congregation, than the average Protestant minister?--And much more akin in this respect to the average Catholic priest?
29. TIME AND SPACE WOULD FAIL US TO SAY MORE REGARDING THE VAST DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CLERGY AND THE AVERAGE PROTESTANT ministry, and the radical differences between their apparent devotion, dedication, service, discipline, obedience, and leadership. Are we more like the Catholics or the Protestants?
30. BUT WHAT, NOW, ABOUT THE AVERAGE CATHOLIC LAYMAN who is not a priest of a local church? As we've said, the vast majority resemble the average Protestants in the respect that they don't live much differently, and there is not much difference between their lives and the lives of the average Protestants. But what of the layman or woman or young person who does seek a life of total dedication and devotion and fulltime service for his Church and his Lord? What are the differences between the courses open to them in the Catholic faith as compared to the Protestant faith?
31. WHAT DO THE USUAL PROTESTANT GROUPS HAVE, such as the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Church of England, Episcopalians, etc., in the way of doors of fulltime service and total dedication and forsaking all, in order to serve God and fellowman? What doors are open to the average Protestant in the average Protestant church as compared with the Catholics?
32. WELL, I REMEMBER AS A BOY THAT ALL THEY HAD TO OFFER ME WAS THE JOB OF A SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER once a week, or a song leader once or twice a week, or usher, or janitor once or twice a week, as far as the local church was concerned! And after all, how many Sunday school teachers, song leaders, ushers, or janitors can one local church use? Usually it was pretty hard to get most Protestants to even be interested in any if these jobs as brief, seldom and undemanding as they were! Most Protestants were too busy to even want such jobs or to even be interested!
33. --OR, FAILING THIS, WHAT OTHER DOORS ARE OPEN to the idealistic, fervent-in-faith, young Protestant man or woman who wishes to devote himself to God and His service, other than to hie himself off to Bible school or Bible college for a few brief years, with hopes that he might graduate from there amongst the two percent of Protestant Bible college graduates who ever reach a field of full-time service!
34. AND EVEN IF HE DOES, WHAT JOBS OF FULL TIME SERVICE ARE OPEN to him other than that of a pulpit preacher, music and choir director, perhaps a youth director, or associate minister, or maybe, in a few cases, a full time assistant pastor engaged primarily in personal visitation, etc.? But how many local churches have the numbers or the finances to support this many full time workers in one local congregation? Indeed, how many Protestant churches are you familiar with that can even afford one assistant pastor?
35. BUT THE AVERAGE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS SEVERAL DEVOTED PRIESTS who work in shifts, at confession, mass, baptism, night duty, calling, etc.--Think of that! Why?--Because the Catholic priest is willing to serve for really nothing much more than his room-and-board, has no wife or family to support, no new car to buy every year, nor a fancy house of his own to maintain! Usually all the fathers of the local congregation live in one house next door to the sanctuary and only require one housekeeper to serve their needs. They are live-in, full-time ministers; not live-out, part-time pastors like the Protestant preachers!
36. SO IN THE AVERAGE CATHOLIC CHURCH THERE ARE EVEN MORE JOBS open for their seminarians in each local congregation than in the average Protestant church! But the average Protestant Bible school or seminary graduate is finding that his denomination is producing more graduates, few as they may be, than they have congregations for them to minister to! In the past ten years in the United States alone, two major denominations confessed that, although they are actually producing more seminary graduates or potential pastors looking for jobs, each of these major denominations had lost between five and six hundred congregations, and so have that many fewer jobs to offer them!
37. ON THE OTHER HAND, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS EXPERIENCING A SHORTAGE OF PRIESTS!--Particularly parish priests. There are not enough of them to go around to minister to all of their congregations! Think of that! Could this be any possible sign of the difference in spiritual condition between the Protestants and the Catholics?--Is it a sign that there is a greater general interest on the part of the average Catholic in his church and church attendance than the average Protestant?--It is apparently so much so that they cannot even produce enough priests to serve them all!
38. THE PROTESTANT FAITH IN THE U.S. AND MANY OTHER COUNTRIES IS ON THE DECLINE and waning! Perhaps this is not only because of the Protestants' waning faith and increasing unbelief, but because of too many sermons and not enough samples of dedication, full time examples, forsaking all and self-sacrificial devotion to both their faith, their church and their flock! I would say that faith on the part of Catholics seems to be on the rise compared to the Protestants, or at least not declining as rapidly as the Protestants!
39. COULD THIS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT THE PROTESTANTS SEE AMONGST THEIR PREACHERS LESS DEVOTION, less example, less dedication, and less forsaking all to serve than do the Catholics? Could this have anything to do with the fact that the Protestants seem to have less unity, less discipline, less leadership, less dedication, and less self-sacrifice amongst their clergy, and less strict organisational unity of doctrine, purpose, and practice than do the Catholics?
40. BUT TO PROCEED WITH THE NUMBER OF POSSIBLE DOORS OF FULL TIME SERVICE OPEN TO THE AVERAGE PROTESTANT: What else is there besides the local pulpits, other than some distant mission field, a mission field which is flooded with women because the poor Protestant female has found no other place she can serve her church full-time than as a missionary, so that over 80 percent of Protestant mission doors are held open by women!
41. SHE IS NOT ACCEPTED AS A MINISTER in the average local congregation amongst Protestants. There is no place for her as a Sister in a local convent, nor for a young man as a Brother in the local monastery, no ministry in the local parish school, church, or hospital, or mission, such as there is for the Catholic youth who seeks a rewarding life of full time service and dedication to his Lord and his Church!
42. WHERE BUT IN THE CATHOLIC FAITH CAN THE AVERAGE YOUTH FIND SUCH ORDERS AS THESE CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES OFFERING A LIFE OF SERVICE for the average layman? It is not unusual for the average Catholic layman, or woman or youth to join such an order, to forsake all, to take vows of dedication, poverty, total obedience, and full time service with no salary or material reward!--Where else but in the Catholic orders or, perhaps might I say, with the Children of God!
43. WHERE ELSE CAN YOUTH AND THE LAITY FIND SUCH A PLACE OF SERVICE OPEN TO VIRTUALLY ALL, WITH SUCH TOTAL DEDICATION and such self-sacrifice and full time service, as can be found in the Catholic orders of Sisters and Brothers so much like the Children of God? And where else can they find such discipline and strict obedience to the Rule, or rules, and such total loyalty and faithfulness to leadership and the chain of command, than in the Catholic Church or the Children of God?--Certainly little or nowhere in Protestantism, outside of perhaps the Episcopalian church, the Church of England, or the Orthodox churches!
44. WHERE CAN YOU FIND PROTESTANT CONVENTS OR MONASTERIES OR FULL TIME CHRISTIAN ORDERS WITH FAMILY COMMUNES OPEN TO THE AVERAGE CHRISTIAN for full time service or dedication, with brothers and sisters and a live-in family engaged in a full time service for God and each other in sacrificial service, except amongst the Catholics or the Children of God? Some Catholics, in entering an order, even say farewell forever to the outside world, and totally abandon all communication with it and their families from then on, never to see them again!--Where else but in the Catholic Church, or perhaps even the Children of God!
45. AND WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN? The child of the average Protestant--where does he go to school? Most Protestant children, with very rare exceptions, of course, go to the local Godless, atheistic, vice-ridden, crime-ridden, drug-ridden public school with all the rest of the children of the Godless, the worldly and the anti-Christ, for a Godless, secular, materialistic, anti-God education!
46. BUT THE CATHOLIC?--EVEN THE POOREST LAYMAN TRIES TO SQUEEZE OUT ENOUGH TO SEND HIS CHILD TO A CATHOLIC SCHOOL, where he can be reared in the faith as a Catholic, separated from the ungodly world! Where else are such faith, dedication and devotion found, and such concern for their children, but amongst the Catholics and the Children of God! Certainly not amongst most Protestants!
47. AS A YOUNG HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER IN A PAROCHIAL SCHOOL, I ONCE HAD TO ARGUE WITH MANY PROTESTANT PARENTS about the advisability of sending their children to a Christian school instead of the local Godless cesspool of iniquity of the public school, only to find that they couldn't have cared less or been less interested! Frequently they used the old excuses: "Well, I don't want my child to be that different and separated from others, so that he doesn't know what the world is all about! And how is he going to do any good for other children, and be a witness and missionary for his faith, unless he goes to school with them in the public school?"
48. OF COURSE, THE RESULT OF THIS WAS USUALLY THAT THEIR CHILD TURNED OUT JUST LIKE MOST OF THE REST OF THE WICKED KIDS in the public school, because he couldn't stand against the stream. He became infected with the same sins, unbelief, criminal tendencies, dope addiction and vices of the rest of the world's children in their damnable, Godless, materialistic schools!
49. AFTER THIS THEIR PARENTS WOULD COME TO ME PLEADING to please take their children back in!--Little Johnny or little Jenny had gotten in trouble with the law or with sex or dope or crime! Then I would remind them how I used to plead with them to send their children to our Christian school: "Isn't your child's soul worth at least 50 cents a day?" But, of course, they said they couldn't afford it!
50. BUT THE CATHOLICS ARE SO CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR CHILDREN that they make their rates as low as possible so that the average Catholic parent has no excuse for not sending his children to the Catholic school. The Church also does all it can to help them by subsidising these schools as much as they can, and furnishing them with unpaid volunteer labourers: Fathers, Sisters and Brothers who are cared for by the Church and need no salary, have no families to support, and can devote their full time to the education of Catholic children, asking no more than their room and board, willing to live together and share communally within the local school, convent, or monastery, of which the school is so often a part and an essential ministry!
51. WHERE THROUGHOUT ALL PROTESTANTISM IS THIS PROVISION AND DEDICATION MADE FOR THEIR YOUTH, OR THOSE WHO WISH TO MINISTER TO THEM?--And what about the far-flung foreign fields? How many positions of service there are open to Protestants, except jobs similar to the local Protestant pastorate of a local Protestant church, with the addition perhaps of his wife and maybe one or two helpers!
52. WHERE IN PROTESTANT MISSIONS DO YOU FIND AS MANY LARGE CONVENTS OR MONASTERIES OR MISSION COMPOUNDS, SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS on the mission field, with multitudes of Fathers, Sisters, and Brothers serving full-time and without pay, in total dedication and forsake-all devotion under lifetime vows?--Where else but with the Catholics and amongst the Children of God, with their far-flung Colonies throughout the world!
53. WHERE ELSE DO YOU FIND SUCH UNITY OF FAITH, such commonness of belief, so that all speak the same thing, as in the Catholic Church, in contrast to the myriad voices and extreme variety of belief or unbelief amongst the Babel, babble, and Babylon of Protestantism? And why? Because Protestants have no principal leader, no central authority, no hierarchy, no chain of command, no unifying Voice, no single Prophet, no Holy Father, no unified leadership to speak with one Voice instead of many voices, one Voice to which all true Catholics must say "Amen"!
54. WHERE ELSE IS THERE SUCH UNITY OF FAITH, such unity of doctrine, such oneness of soul, heart, mind, and voice, but in the Catholic Church and the Children of God!--Certainly not in Protestantism!
55. SO IS IT ANY WONDER THAT WE ARE MORE APT TO BE BETTER UNDERSTOOD BY THE CATHOLICS THAN THE PROTESTANTS, and even more commended by Catholics in contrast to our frequent rejection by Protestants? We are like something totally foreign to the Protestants, as foreign to them as being a Catholic, and as abhorrent! So they reject our whole way of life, our dedication, our forsaking all, our communal living, our full time service, which they neither have nor want in Protestantism, and which can only be found amongst us and the Catholics!
56. IS IT ANY WONDER THEN THAT WE ARE DRIVEN BY THESE UNDEDICATED AND UNFAITHFUL PROTESTANTS, WHO REJECT US, INTO THE ARMS OF OUR CATHOLIC BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO RECEIVE US? For in us the Catholics see their own origins, beginnings, and original purity of faith and practice of both clergy and laity, saints and sinners, Brothers and Sisters!
57. WE HAVE COME FULL CIRCLE AROUND IN OUR REVOLUTION for Jesus, our complete metanoia or repentance, to a return to the same complete dedication, faith, practice, service, and devotion of some of the original saints and orders of the Catholic Church! Indeed, we have become an inspiration to many of them of today, as a reminder of their own beginnings and original purity of faith and practice!
58. SO IS IT ANY WONDER THAT THE CHILDREN OF GOD REMIND YOU MORE OF THE EARLY CATHOLICS, as well as the Early Church, rather than of most Protestants? Is it any wonder that ecumenically-minded Catholics can find more in common with the Children of God than with most Protestants? We have so much more, as the Catholics say, that "We and our separated brethren can share!" We surely have much to share, and certainly far more to share, in common with our Catholic friends, than with our now separated Protestant brethren!
59. CAN WE NOT BUT ADD OUR SIMPLE, CHILDLIKE FAITH AND LOVE of Jesus to their simple, child-like devotion, dedication, loyalty and desire for service, which we have in common, in order to work in cooperation and in fellowship in the love of God and the love of fellowman in common cause together to win the world? And can we not pity the average Protestant for his unbelief, unconcern, indifference, lack of unity, lack of leadership, lack of discipline, and general lack of whole-souled dedication and sacrificial service?
60. SURELY, WE CHILDREN OF GOD HAVE MORE IN COMMON WITH THE CATHOLICS than with the Protestants, and actually have even fewer differences! Perhaps we, of all the "separated brethren," have returned closer to the original spirit and practice of the Mother Church than many others, and may help serve as a reminder to her of what she once was, and whence she came, and what she yet could be, if she would share with us the same love and zeal that she once had!
61. --AND MAY WE REMIND YOU PROTESTANTS THAT NEARLY ALL YOUR ORIGINAL FOUNDING FATHERS, REFORMERS, AND PROPHETS, ETC., WERE MOSTLY CATHOLICS themselves! Most of them only intended to purify and reform the Church, and not break with it! Perhaps the Catholics of today will be more enlightened and more tolerant of minor differences in the recognition of a desperate need to unite in common cause for the preservation of the basic principles and beliefs we have in common, for the preservation of the faith--yea, indeed, for the very preservation of the life of the Church itself and its members in the midst of an anti-Christ, anti-God world of unbelief, secularism and materialism!
62. GOD HELP US TO HELP THE CATHOLICS to live their own faith--a true faith in the same Christ we both proclaim--and to work together with them in a faith and practice which we must share if we are to survive and show the world the love of Jesus! The Protestants are failing and they know it, but most of them are also rejecting our answer. But perhaps it is not too late for the Catholics, many of whom are receiving us and His Spirit with open arms and a camaraderie of purpose.
63. MAY GOD HAVE HIS WAY! Are you willing for Him to have His way? Many Protestants, such as the World Council of Churches, are sincerely trying to find greater grounds for our common Faith, in order to work together in some measure of unity toward the same end--the preservation of the Church and the Salvation and betterment of mankind with the love of God and faith of Jesus Christ and personal service and sacrifice to share with our fellowmen! Are you willing to do the same?--To become "to the Catholic as a Catholic" to love one another, to show the world His love? In the love of Jesus, amen?
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family}
