Crossed The Tiber

Ordained Minister Abortionist

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:02:58 PST

He prays for those he aborts. God have mercy!

Anglican Pastor Comes Home: Welcome Home Timotheus!

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:12:38 PST

Here's a comment I just received on my Why I Returned to the Church"

Dear sir,

I am an Anglican/evangelical/Catholic who was raised RC. I am coming home!!
I live in Hunterdon County NJ.
Is that far from you? I am married with 5 kids and I am a pastor. Soon wont be. Also, without a job most likely. But I know the Catholic Church is the Fold of Christ.

Timotheus

Timotheus, our prayers are with you. We look forward to hearing your testimony!

Prayer Request for Haiti Medical Mission

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:34:54 PST

Next Saturday, Prodigal Daughter and I will be leaving for our second medical mission to Sts. Simon and Jude Parish in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Little more than a year ago, we were just establishing our first contact with Fr. Andrew, pastor of this Church. Now, there are will be three medical trips a year to his parish and possibly a fourth team as well! Our home parish, St Joseph the Worker, is planning a team in the late spring of 2010.

Over the past three months we have had a fund-raising concert, sold fresh-roasted Haitian coffee, sold CD's (Way to Emmaus is still available, hint hint) solicited donations and collected a huge amount of medications to bring with us. I estimate we will have more than half a ton of meds to bring down. That's 14 people each checking 2 fifty pound duffle bags full of meds and supplies. On this trip we will have three physicians and one pediatric nurse practitioner.

So once again, I ask my blogger friends to begin to pray for us as we make our final preparations.
These are our requests:

Pray for the Haitians that the ones who need to be seen will get into the clinic and God will grant us the wisdom to make correct diagnosis and treatments.
Pray for Fr. Andrew and his parish workers as they make preparations to house and feed 14 folks in his rectory.
Pray for health and safety and emotional strength for all of the team.
Pray that we can get all the meds through customs without incident or costly bribes.

We will be leaving November 14th and returning the 21st. Thanks so much.

Why Did You Return to the Church?

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:25:10 PST

I recently was in an e mail discussion with a ex-Catholic Christian who asked me directly why I ever would want to return to the Catholic Church. This was my response:

I believe Jesus gave us a Church in order to lead us in all truth. I don't believe he left it up to our individual private interpretations of Scripture to sort out the truth on our own. For one thing, there was no Bible for the first 380 years of Christianity until the Catholic Church canonized the New Testament and gave us the list of books that were considered inspired by the Holy Spirit to be part of Scripture, including 7 books of the Old Testament which Luther removed 1500 years later. So the Church grew and flourished through the ancient world for amost 4 centuries without the Bible as we know it, and the majority of the population was illiterate. So the people heard the gospel and truth as it was passed down from the apostles and preached in the Church.

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to lead us in all truth and I believe He does that through the Church that he started, the Catholic Church. Paul told Timothy that the pillar and foundation of Truth is the Church, not the Bible.(1 Timothy 3:15) Especially since the complete Bible was not canonized or available at the time Paul wrote those words to Timothy.(only the old testament was)
It is obvious since the Church did indeed canonize the Bible and discerned which books should be in it, she loves Scripture and believes it to be the infallible word of God.(St Jerome said in the fifth century: to be ignorant of Scripture is to be ignorant of Christ) But the Church has always held that the teachings of the apostles passed down from generation to generation of believers makes up a sacred deposit of faith called Sacred Tradition. Paul says that much Christian teaching is to be found in the tradition which is handed down by word of mouth (2 Tim. 2:2). He instructs us to "stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter" (2 Thess. 2:15). (Paul did not condemn tradition, and Jesus only condemned tradition when it was used wrongly by the pharisees to get them out of their responsibilities)
So we Catholics believe Scripture and the Sacred teachings passed down from the apostles comprise the Word of God, not just the Bible alone. Sacred Tradition never contradicts Scripture and Catholic teachings can all be supported by the Bible if one looks to the whole scripture.
So I don't suspect we will agree, but I appreciate your willingness to ask "why would you ever want to do that???" regarding my return to the Catholic Church.
The bottom line is that we are called to worship Him in Spirit and Truth.
I believe the Church is true and I can find no purer worship here on earth than in the Holy Mass where Jesus comes to us from heaven and allows us to eat his body and drink his blood.
May God bless you as you pursue Him and feel free to pass my thoughts along to others. It is my hope and prayer that more ex-Catholics will look back and re-consider the Church they left in their youth, not fully understanding what they were leaving.

In Him

Russ Rentler, M.D.

Director of Planned Parenthood Has a Conversion!

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:14:53 PST

A woman who was a local director of Planned Parenthood (America's #1 for-profit abortion provider) quit her job after watching an abortion with an ultrasound. She has now joined Coalition For Life, the pro-life organization across the street and has had a conversion. She will be on
O Reilly Factor on Friday night. Pray for her.

"America won't stop abortion until it sees what abortion is" says Fr. Pavone.

Check out her story here

(H/t to Susie)

Happy All Souls Day!

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:40:26 PST

Purgatory really freaked me out as a non-Catholic Christian. When my wife first started dabbling in Catholicism, she actually liked the doctrine and we had some pretty heated discussions about this. In my mind it conjured images of the sale of indulgences(always condemned by the Church) and called to mind the famous saying of the 16th century indulgence merchant, Johann Tetzel*: "A coin in the coffer rings and another soul from purgatory springs!"

(I must admit, I actually used this line as the chorus in an anti-Catholic blues rant I composed when I was 15 years old and a brand new born-again Christian)

When I first returned to the Church in April 2004, this was one of the last doctrines that I struggled with. Now I'm blogging about it and encouraging others to pray for the departed, and spend a portion of each day praying for my loved ones.

Prayers and "suffrages" on behalf of the departed believers have been prayed since the first century. The earliest liturgies of the Church contain prayers for the dead. From the Syriac liturgy of St James: "We commend into thy mercy all other thy servants, which are departed hence from us with the sign of faith and now do rest in the sleep of peace: grant unto them, we beseech thee, thy mercy and everlasting peace."

The catacombs from the first century contain inscriptions asking for prayers for the dead. The early Church fathers wrote about it.
St. Augustine: The universal Church observes this law, handed down from the Fathers, that prayers should be offered for those who have died in the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ when they are commemorated in their proper place at the Sacrifice(mass)"

16th century theologians:
"Dear God, if the departed souls be in a state that they yet may be helped then I pray that you would be gracious. When you have thus prayed once or twice, then let it be sufficient and commend them unto God." (Martin Luther)

"We commend into thy mercy all other thy servants, which are departed hence from us with the sign of faith and now do rest in the sleep of peace: grant unto them, we beseech thee, thy mercy and everlasting peace." (Church of England 1549)

The Jews before Christ prayed for the dead (Maccabees)
St. Paul prayed for the dead (Onesiphorus)
Early Christians prayed for the dead (catacomb inscriptions)
Church fathers wrote about prayers for the dead
The earliest reformers prayed for the dead including Luther and the Church of England
The Catholic Church continues this practice and has made a day to particularly honor the dead and keep them in our prayers.

I am no longer freaked out by it but am thankful to God for his grace and mercy towards us in that we have an opportunity to be purged of the last vestiges of sin that we are attached to before we step into His throne room.
So like CS Lewis once said, I now say : "Purgatory ? Our souls demand it, don't they!"

Check out this excellent article on First Things on the meaning of All Soul's Day

*Johann Tetzel was censured by the Catholic Church not for the teaching of indulgences but the practice of money being exchanged for them. The Church never apporoved the sale of indulgences.
To learn more about what the Church teaches on indulgences go here.

Catholics Are Never Alone - Happy All Saints Day

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:43:06 PST

And neither are our non-Catholic brothers and sisters. Through the communion of saints as the early Christians proclaimed (Nicean Creed of 325 AD), we believe that the Church Triumphant (in heaven) is actively and effectively praying night and day for the believers here on earth. On a never-ending basis the saints cast their intercession for us before the throne of God and He hears their prayers to accomplish his purposes in our lives here on earth. Even if someone denies this intercession exists, it doesn't make our glorified brethren in heaven stop praying for them.

Some say we should just pray to Jesus alone but He has given us his mystical body to intercede to Him for us. Those same folks who say we should pray to Jesus alone have no problem asking other people to pray for them. That's what Catholics are doing as well, but we know that the ability of our holy brethren to pray for us doesn't end with their physical death. As a matter of fact we know their prayers are even more effective now that they are perfected in heaven.

So Happy All Saints to all my friends out there. You are never alone, take full advantage of the intercessions that are available to you. It's like a 24 hour prayer line that you can call with a 1-800 number, so there's no charge to you. You gain access to these wonderfully powerful prayer warriors based on faith. Through Him, with Him and In Him we can ask these things, AMEN.

"When in his frailty, a man invokes the saints, he invokes Christ, and without fail he will reach Christ whenever he calls upon their names, for wherever they are, they are in Christ and Christ is in them, and their name in Christ's name and Christ's name in their name." (Martin Luther)

Deer in the Backyard !

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:13:06 PST

I Left The Catholic Church Because....

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:28:33 PDT

I have a new blog I am launching called I Left The Catholic Church Because...
I am interested in hearing the stories of those who have left the Church and continue to remain in another ecclesial community or none at all. I know the reasons why I left but would like to see why others did also.

Should Protestants Confess Their Sins?

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 09:59:39 PST

I have had a poll open on my sidebar for several weeks asking whether we converts confessed our sins on a regular basis to Jesus before we were Catholic. The results are "in" and are as follows. 21% said "Yes , daily."
14% said "Yes, on an as needed basis."
64% said "No just when I thought about it."

So the majority of us converts (64%) did not regularly confess our sins to the Lord before our conversion. Therefore, what was the mechanism or procedure for us to advance in holiness(sanctification) without confessing our sins?
The scriptures plainly tell us that we should confess our sins. Does confessing sins actually have anything to do with the process of sanctification? Why did Jesus talk about it if it was not necessary for believers to do this? What was I thinking as one who was in the 64% group above? Did I think I was forgiven at the Cross and therefore it was "all under the Blood?" I am not sure why I felt like I had a "free pass" to not regularly confess my sins.

The Scriptural basis for confession can be found here: John Salza's Scripture Catholic:

Some Lutherans and Anglicans still practice confession to their pastors though it is not widely done, but in my 30 year experience as an evangelical it was rare. Yes, there were "altar calls" and re-comittment services, but there was rarely a teaching on confessing your sins or examining your conscience. I had heard a teaching once that we should "keep short accounts with God" but there really was no imperative or perceived need to regularly confess our sins to God.
I now see this as a major loss to Protestantism when they removed the sacrament of reconciliation from their doctrines.

"The origin and establishment of private Confession lies in the fact that Christ Himself placed His Absolution into the hands of His Christian people with the command that they should absolve one another of their sins . So any heart that feels it sinfulness and desires consolation has here a sure refuge when he hears God's Word and makes the discovery that God through a human being looses and absolves him from his sins.

Furthermore, we strongly urge people not to despise a blessing that in view of our great need is so priceless. So we teach what a splendid, precious, and comforting thing Confession is.However, if you want to despise it and proudly continue without Confession, then we must draw the conclusion that you are no Christian and should not enjoy the Sacrament either. For you despise what no Christian should despise. In that way you make it so that you cannot have forgiveness of your sins. This is a sure sign that you also despise the Gospel."
(Dr. Martin Luther, Book of Concord)

So in 1529, even Luther was still admonishing Christians to participate in the sacrament of confession. By what authority did I decide 500 years later, that I can do just fine without this sacrament that had been given by Christ to his Church? How did I ignore these Scriptures and the ancient tradition of the Church that even the first reformer to break from the Church insisted on ?

Children of Their Own Age

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:57:58 PDT

The Swedish Lutheran Church is now capitulating to the pressures of the modern age by mandating that all Lutheran parishes must conduct homosexual marriage ceremonies.
It is so unfortunate that many of the protestant denominations are going down this path. Despite the many stains and scandals upon her 2000 year history, the Catholic Church cannot and will not change to accommodate the changing mores of society.

Chesterton said : The Catholic Church is the only thing which saves a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his own age.

USCCB on Healthcare Reform

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:53:43 PDT

The USCCB is sending an e mail to every parish in the US this weekend to be read and/or placed in the bulletin. They will be encouraging every Catholic to let congress know they will not support healthcare reform if it involves the taking of innocent life(tax payers funding the abortion industry)
I am so thankful for this valiant effort on behalf of the USCCB. Let us pray that it makes the difference.
Check out the story here

A Convert's Story

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:45:21 PDT

After 5 years of being back in the Catholic Church, I still get moved by reading stories of conversion. I recently found this blog by Jim and he has been blogging about his conversion/reversion for a couple of years now.
Here's a quote from his conversion story that could have been my own:

"It has been a real joy to start off this new year as a Catholic once again. Words cannot express the joy I have had since I returned. The completeness one feels is overwhelming. I look back on my days in fundamentalism now as a fading memory of a child. I don’t know if others have felt this way who have returned to the Church. I felt like what I had before was only a ‘50%’ Christianity. I look back on it like an adult looks back on the errors and mistakes of adolescence. God has restored so many things in my life.
I feel like I’ve finally grown up and became adult.
What a joy it is to receive the Eucharist knowing it is the Body and Blood of Christ. What joy it is to WORSHIP once again the way God intended. What a joy it is to go to a priest and confess my sins and know they are forgiven. What a joy it is to pray to our Lady who loves us and prays for us daily. What a joy it is to know there is an old German fellow in Rome who watches over our souls and one whom I can call a brother in Christ. What a joy it is to be part of a Church that is 2000 years old.
If non-Catholics knew how wonderful it is to be a Catholic, they would flock to it in droves.
I pray to our Lady for more converts."

Can I hear an AMEN brothus and sistas?

Just In Case They Forgot...

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:42:41 PDT

Pope Benedict reminded biblical scholars that the Church holds the ultimate key to the interpretation of Scripture. Got to love this Holy Father. Check it out here.
"If exegesis also wishes to be theology, it must recognise that faith in the Church is that form of 'sympathy' without which the Bible remains a closed book. Tradition does not close access to Scripture, but it opens it. Furthermore it is the Church, in her institutions, that has the decisive word in the interpretation of Scripture. It is, in fact, the Church that is entrusted with the task of authentically interpreting the Word of God as written and transmitted, exercising her authority in the name of Jesus Christ".

Alan Creech Rosary

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:06:26 PDT

Check out my recent gift of an Alan Creech-made Rosary.
Thanks Alan! It will be perfect for my drive to and from work which is pretty short but long enough for two or three decades .

Some Autumn Pics

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:28:15 PDT

Debate on Physician Assisted Suicide

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:47:27 PDT

Tomorrow night, 10/26/09 at 8 PM, a debate I participated in on the topic of legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide in Pennsylvania will be broadcast on WFMZ TV Channel 69. If you are out of our viewing area, which is northeastern PA, you can catch the online version at the archives here afterwards.
Since we were debating a senator and a local journalist known for his negative view of religion, I needed to make my argument based on natural law and common sense and kept hearkening to what a doctor is meant to be and do based on the Hippocratic Oath. I haven't seen the show myself yet so I hope they didn't edit out the "good parts." Thanks to all my blogger friends for your prayers during the taping.

"Good Without God?"

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:27:53 PDT

“History has demonstrated the absurdities to which man descends when he excludes God from the horizon of his choices and actions. “ Pope Benedict 16th

Eucharistic Belief: An "Oil That Will Penetrate the Bones"

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:12:19 PDT

St. Augustine said this regarding belief in the Eucharist:

For certain things in the scriptures were seeming hard, while they were obscure; when explained, they have been softened. For even the first heresy in the disciples of Christ, as it were from the hardness of His discourse. For when He said, ‘Except a man shall have eaten My flesh and shall have drunk My blood, he shall not have life in himself:’ they, not understanding, said to one another, ‘Hard is this discourse, who can hear it?’ Saying that, ‘Hard is this discourse,’ they separated from Him: He remained with the others, the twelve. When they had intimated to Him, that by His discourse they had been scandalized, ‘Will ye also,’ He saith, ‘choose to go?’ Then Peter: ‘Thou hast the Word of life eternal: to whom shall we go?’ Attend, we beseech you, and ye little ones learn godliness. Did Peter by any means at that time understand the secret of that discourse of the Lord? Not yet he understood: but that good were the words which he understood not, godly he believed. Therefore if hard is a discourse, and not yet is understood, be it hard to an ungodly man, but to thee be it by godliness softened: for whenever it is solved, it both will become for thee oil, and even unto the bones will penetrate.”

Jesus becoming apparent to me in the breaking of the bread(the Eucharist) was a reality that was indeed like an oil penetrated my dry and dusty bones(spiritually speaking).

A Few Anglican to Catholic Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:40:30 PDT

As I posted yesterday, Pope Benedict is creating a new pathway to allow Anglicans to convert to Catholicism. This is in response to the many requests that they have had over the past few years by Anglicans desiring orthodoxy.
I was perusing some Anglican blogs regarding this to get a sense of how they are perceiving this.
One American Anglican bishop said something to the effect of "This really isn't a good idea, because there was a reformation you know."
But, the reality is that Anglicanism was not the result of the reformation, though it certainly aided and abetted the process. King Henry now had a template to follow based on Luther's break from the Church in Germany. Anglicanism, however, was the result of one individual's desire to break away from the authority of the seat of Peter for a moral reason, not a doctrinal one. Earlier in his life, King Henry, the "founder" of the Anglican Church actually wrote a treatise against Martin Luther and the Reformation in which he defended the teachings of Catholicism. He was commended by the Pope for his work.

So the only true reason originally for the creation of Anglicanism was an authority issue , not a doctrinal one. So 400 years later, the rift is being healed by those once again submitting to the authority of the pope. Let's hope and pray that other denominations will see the benefit that papal authority has had on maintaining orthodoxy. It will be harder for others though because of doctrinal issues in addition to authority issues. But I have been saying for the past 5 years, once you accept apostolic succession and the authority Christ has given the church in the successors of Peter, the doctrinal issues seem to fall into place quite nicely.

Anglicans Invited to Cross the Tiber En Masse

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:28:39 PDT

Pope Benedict has created a new pathway for Anglicans to come home to the Catholic Church and yet still maintain their distinctive liturgy and spirituality. The import of this move should not be under-estimated as Pope Benedict seeks to unify the body of Christ as much as he can during his tenure as chief shepherd. Lord willing, this will lead other communions to re-consider why they are not united with the Catholic Church.
Here's a few links on this news.
AP
Lifesite News

Feast of Saint Luke

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:27:20 PDT

Today the Catholic Church celebrates St. Luke described as the beloved physician by St. Paul.

His gospel above all others focuses on the merciful kindness of Jesus to the poor, the afflicted and sinners. Some believe that his attention to detail as a result of his physician's training no doubt impacted the detailed completeness of his account. He reports on Jesus' birth and childhood in a way that has led scholars to the conclusion that he was in direct communication with Mary as he wrote his gospel. "His mother stored up all these things in her heart."(Lk 2:51)

Today at the Cathedral in Allentown (the bishop's Church) we had a mass celebrated by the bishop himself for all physicians and healthcare workers in the diocese. This mass on the feast of St Luke is often celebrated in other diocese throughout the world and is called "The White Mass" because the health care workers will often don their lab coats for the mass. We didn't do that this morning but the health care workers who attended were blessed to hear a homily by the bishop directed to physicians.
At the end of the Mass, the president of our local guild of the Catholic Medical Association lead us all in a pledge to serve Christ and His Church through our healing ministry as physicians.
Once I became Catholic, I was amazed by the resources the Church provides to its physicians as promulgated in many encyclicals down through the years. In particular, Evangelium Vitae is superb in providing the most comprehensive guidelines for us to follow as health care providers.
As a physician dealing with end-of life scenarios on a daily basis, I am very thankful for the wisdom God has given us through the Catholic Church.

St Luke, pray for us as we strive to obey Christ and minister to all those He has entrusted to our care.

Eaglesmere, Pennsylvania

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:36:22 PDT

Eagles-mere is a tourist town located in the Endless Mountains of Sullivan County that we have gone to for years. It is a quaint little town called the "Town that Time Forgot." All these years we have been there and only recently noticed a little Catholic Church on the edge of town called St Francis of Assisi. We had the chance to go to Mass there and here are the pics below. It is a mission Church, meaning they only have Mass during the summer so we were blessed to hit it at the last Mass of the season! Wherever the sun sets in this world, you will find a Catholic Church.

More Tiber Hopping

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:05:42 PDT

Here's an interesting article commenting on the increasing number of young American evangelicals jumping the Tiber.

Some Thoughts on The Sacrifice of the Mass

noreply@blogger.com (TIBER JUMPER) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:57:41 PDT

I was reading the last chapter of Jeff Pinyan's new book, Praying the Mass, where he quoted from Mediator Dei, Pope Pius 12th's encyclical on the liturgy. The pope was encouraging the faithful to present themselves to God along with the Eucharistic sacrifice. While the priest, by virtue of his holy orders, has the singular privilege of offering the un-bloody sacrifice to God, we too offer ourselves to God in union with Jesus sacrifice in the Eucharist. "Nor should Christians forget to offer themselves, their cares, their sorrows, their distress and their necessities in union with their divine Savior upon the Cross." These are the spiritual sacrifices we can offer up that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.(1 Pet. 2:5)
Thinking of the Mass this way really invites and necessitates our participation. It moves us from observer to active participant, which is what is intended by the liturgy. Perhaps those who say they don't get anything out of going to Mass are not allowing themselves to participate in the sacrifice that is being offered. You have to give to get.

Is the Sacrifice of the Mass a medieval invention of the Catholic Church? Reading the writings of the Early Church would prove it is not:

"Assemble on the Lord’s day, and break bread and offer the Eucharist; but first make confession of your faults, so that your sacrifice may be a pure one. Anyone who has a difference with his fellow is not to take part with you until he has been reconciled, so as to avoid any profanation of your sacrifice [Matt. 5:23–24]. For this is the offering of which the Lord has said, ‘Everywhere and always bring me a sacrifice that is undefiled, for I am a great king, says the Lord, and my name is the wonder of nations’ [Mal. 1:11, 14]" (Didache A.D. 70).