In John 12:8, Jesus said that there will always be poor people amongst us. Then you have what appears to be a socialist Pope spouting this commie drivel. Who are you going to believe? Charity is supposed to be a function of the Church, not the government. The biblical standard is honesty in a free market, and that's the key.
There is too much government sponsored/protected theft and manipulation in the market today - there is no free market.
Someone better give this old guy a clue 'cause he ain't listening to Jesus.
THIS is what the bible says about the poor:
More on what this loon has to say.
There is too much government sponsored/protected theft and manipulation in the market today - there is no free market.
Someone better give this old guy a clue 'cause he ain't listening to Jesus.
THIS is what the bible says about the poor:
Deuteronomy 15:11
For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
Luke 14:13
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
John 12:8
You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
Luke 6:20-26
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
Luke 6:20-21
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Matthew 26:11
The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.
Mark 10:21
And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Isaiah 10:1-2
Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
More on what this loon has to say.
14 comments:
Those who need to listen, never will.
Years ago before government interference the churches and communities took care of those down and out. Now many churches are persecuted for helping others. Our church has a large food bank. No one is turned down who comes out for food. They are given cases of meats, vegetables, fruits and bread. If anyone is in need of any clothes or household items our congregation pitches in and gives what is in need. Our church very seldom just gives money to anyone. Learned a long time ago that people will take advantage of that but we have been known to pay rent, electric or water bill straight to the companies if it was a dire need. If the government would step out of the way I would bet this could happen again all over the US.
Time for this Catholic to leave, have a nice life.
I too am Catholic. I will not leave. This pope needs to leave. Like Obama can't make me not an American, having him sit where he does won't make me not a Catholic. He is not the Catholic as Obama is not an American.
Subvet- so be it. This is the problem that everyone must face, whether to follow Christ or man. As in Matthew 7:13, The path is narrow - "strait" or "restricted" - that leads to eternal life. It does not leave room for the mental meanderings of whomever thinks he is speaking for God. If the Pope said this as his own opinion I won't care at all. But he alleges himself to be the Vicar of the Son of God, representing the very Logos - he should be more careful of what he says. To be sure, there were Popes who were far worse than Francis over the centuries, but that does not excuse his carelessness.
I was a Catholic until my early twenties. Many Catholics are followers of Christ despite Catholic ritual and papal dictates. Christ knows His own and He doesn't care whether you call yourself Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican or non-denominational. No man, including the Pope, can get you into Heaven.
Aye, there is one Man. While kneeling is more for when we fail, or wish to show gratitude, I think He prefers us on our own two feet. Besides, it's difficult to work on your knees! :)
I have been most of those, came to Catholicism, but not of the social kind. For me, the faith is good, but I won't be tribal about it. I'm not quite with Einstein in his views, or yours in particular, if I'm much more on your side than his, I see points either way. But I will take the notion you offer to the bank on any given day of the week, twice on Sunday.
Not to beat this post to death or offend anyone else, but the bible is very clear that salvation is faith-based - Rom. 10:9
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
What the Pope implies is works-based, that what we do is more important than what we believe.
The world's problems are sin-based; the structural causes of inequality is sin, not lack of government action. That is why this supposed man of God sounds more like a socialist than the leader of one of the world's largest religions.
I'll disagree with both your takes though. Faith without works is dead. As for the pope indicating it is work?
Socialism is not work, or works, it is evil.
Good try though. Just... not good enough.
Doom - my take on faith: that it presupposes that you act as you believe.
That gosh darn Pope ain't listening to anything.
As a Catholic, I truly believe that the Pope is chosen with the help of the Holy Spirit. I also believe the Holy Spirit knows far better than I what both Catholics and the world in general needs to hear. However, I also know that the church teaches us that only in matters of faith and morals which of course directly impact what we must believe and in which the church says he is infallible do I have to accept his teaching as fact. Economic issues around governments do not impact faith and morals as does abortion or marriage between on man and one woman which we must believe and accept. The same would be true if he talked about climate change. He can be wrong just as any other Catholic. But I believe it is important to think about what he has to say as the vicar of Christ. Other popes have spoken out against unfettered capitalism that does not think about those in need. In this, I think the USA has long history of helping those in need with both our blood and sacrifices and our money. It does bother me to see some who are rich such as Bill Gates giving his money over to the murder of innocent babies. It also does not make sense for the government to waste taxes they collect on programs which have proven failures for long term stability of the family and the individual responsibility. Think about these things and read the Pope's actual words once again.
Green - I agree with you on many points that you have listed. I believe that the primary purpose of government is to hinder evil and promote good behavior.
And yes, he can be wrong as any man, (not just Catholics) can be. But still, he represents over one billion people, many of whom believe that he speaks for our Savior. He spoke of a moral imperative to reject market autonomy, etc. as the cause of inequality which is the cause of all the world's problems.
Wow, the last rapes I had to investigate were caused by the stock market? The last autopsy I had to photograph of a murder victim was because the perpetrator was moved by moral outrage at financial speculation?
Who knew?
I spent a good deal of time, well over a decade, working in our City's ghetto sections. What I saw there was poor decision making, no family planning, lack of self discipline, greed, hatred, envy, lust and sexual promiscuity on a level I never thought possible as a white boy raised up in a NYC bedroom community. I believe a lot of this was caused by the government removing the financial necessity of fathers by giving woman welfare. Like you said, the government is guilty of continuing programs that are not successful. The decades long War on Poverty is a joke.
And of course this type of behavior is not limited to people of any particular racial or ethnic group. But those who did not fall prey to this did better, much better overall than those who did not.
We are all equal before God and all equally in need of a Savior. Inequality is based on sin as the powerful seek advantage over those less powerful and then impose their will to maintain it.
What we see in Africa - the astounding, gut wrenching poverty - is for the most part, perpetrated by government. Every great famine of the last 100 years was caused by government as a means to control a segment of their population, primarily in Communist countries. Look at what Stalin and Mao did.
Markets had nothing to do with it. As a matter of fact, markets were the cure for famine as wealthy capitalist countries moved thousands and thousands of tons of food supplies which then rotted on wharves controlled by the government of that particular country. Just take a look at what happened in Somalia.
The problems of the poor are defined by sin and government elites. And yes, I could also be very wrong in my assumptions but to me they make more sense than just a blanket condemnation of the free market.
People are failing at all levels except for the middle class which is being eaten alive by those setup to maintain.
The Pope. The Priests. The politicians. The media. The 'educators'.
This is not trivial - of course.
And to top it all off, my wife was a better shot than I was today at the shooting range. 40 cal, 30-30, 22 pistola, 22 semi-auto rifle.
Good Lord.
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