A Shrinking Church?

Early Christian Church - Conflicts and Divisions

We are the Church of God - Prayer

As we read these days from the Acts of the Apostles about the Struggle and Growth of the Church

We are the Church of God 

Lord Jesus, as we read these days from the Acts of the Apostles, we are enlightened by the fact that you are alive, and that you are building your Church through each of us. Your Church is built upon your life, death, burial, and resurrection. It is through the proclamation of this message—the gospel—that the Church will either visibly rise or fall.

India's first Rocket was brought on a bicycle and started from a church

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India's first rocket being transported on bicycle (1963)

St. Thomas and Kerala (India)

Fear of Sundays - Church Humour

To make it possible for everyone to attend church next Sunday, we are going to have a special "No Excuse Sunday."
Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say, "Sunday is my only day to sleep in."
There will be a special section with lounge chairs for those who feel that our pews are too hard.
Eye drops will be available for those with tired eyes from watching TV late Saturday night.

Pope Benedict: Quote for January 20th

"The Church does not engage in proselytism. Instead, she grows by “attraction”: just as Christ 'draws all to himself' by the power of his love, culminating in the sacrifice of the Cross, so the Church fulfills her mission..."

- Pope Benedict XVI

 

Directory: Dioceses/Bishops of Asia

Check out the dioceses and bishops of Asia:

http://directory.ucanews.com/

Better Management of Church Finances

Francis, Bishop of Rome, has appointed an eight-member commission to study the function of the Vatican Bank, and to suggest steps to be taken to improve not only its functioning but also its integrity. For some years the Vatican Bank has been functioning like ‘a den of thieves’ (Mk 11.17). When John Paul I became the Bishop of Rome there was fear that he would go into the functioning of the Vatican Bank. That was one reason why he was murdered. The eight-member commission appointed by Francis has seven lay persons and only one cleric. The president of this commission is a lay person. Can we learn something from Francis?

Pope Francis says atheists can do good and go to heaven too!

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)

Pope Francis has good news for atheists. Jesus died and was raised for them as well. His redemptive embrace was for all, not just a chosen few.The choice to accept its reach is our own. The Holy Father was not teaching anything new. In fact, this hope that all who do not yet know God are not only capable of doing good - but will progress toward that knowledge of God by doing good - is ancient. The Church wants all men and women to be saved.

Pope Francis calls us to love one another more clearly.

 

Pastor Rick Warren

Life & God – Rick Warren

 

Pastor Warren is the same person who prayed for President Obama on the day of the President’s swearing in. You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having ‘wealth’ from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, ‘Purpose Driven Life’ author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California. In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said: People ask me, What is the purpose of life?

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal.

Do you know how the apostles died?

1 Matthew
Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia , killed by a sword.

2 Mark
Died in Alexandria , Egypt , after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.
3 Luke
Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.

Catholic Social Teaching

Surprise! Catholic social teaching is the church's best-kept secret

by Tony Magliano

• Making a Difference

The Catholic church has a very big secret. It is so powerful, challenging and relevant that if every bishop, priest, deacon, religious and layperson was committed to communicating and implementing this secret, it would turn society upside-down and literally transform the world.
However, revealing its contents and tirelessly urging the full application of its message would surely cause great controversy. The church would come under fierce attack from both conservatives and liberals for being naïve and acting outside acceptable ecclesial boundaries.

Did Jesus PROHIBIT women - NCR Discussion

Did Jesus PROHIBIT women

Submitted by Petrus Romanus (not verified) on Apr. 18, 2012.

Did Jesus PROHIBIT women priests and bishops by "not choosing" women, or by "not including" women to be apostles? And if so, did Jesus PROHIBIT women priests and bishops for ALL times and in ALL places?
Not everyone so thinks, or believes, including many current members of the Roman church, some of whom are priests and bishops. These brave and intrepid believers know that if they must be considered "disobedient," it should rather be to the pope and his curia rather than to Jesus and God.
The evidence for a prohibition by Jesus is weak and underwhelming, even if it can be said to exist at all. This leaves "tradition," such as it is, and the voice of current Roman church authority, all male and thoroughly clerical, as "the voice of God."
Could all this change with the election of a new pope? And if not the next pope, how about the one after the next one? [By that time, will change by or from the Vatican make any difference?]

Celibacy Today?

How safe are celibates?

The new emphasis is on companionship and compatibility.

By Chhotebhai

Do celibate Catholic priests need a safety net? How different is safe sex from unsafe celibacy? A recent meeting of the Conference of Diocesan Priests of India, held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, occasioned these thoughts.

The priests “pledged to safeguard their celibacy vow in the face of modern-day challenges, and treat it as a gift from God.” At the conference Fr. Francis Scaria said that priests in the West and in Africa were facing serious issues related to celibacy. What about India? If there was no problem, then why the concern?