Argument Clinic patrick j miron- and “Answers to my Catholic Friends” by Thomas F. Heinze

patrick j miron and

Protestant Theology & Catholic Doctrines

Exposed to cover & discover the “Naked Truth“... Catholic responses to the Booklet: “Answers to my Catholic Friends” by Thomas F. Heinze

A Catholic reply to Protestant “[mis]- Understandings” Part 1

“I Am Catholic” by Pat Miron

A message to our non-Catholic Friends

Psalm 95:8 “If today You Hear His Voice; Harden Not Your Hearts”

Deuteronomy 18: 15 - 20

"The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren -- him you shall heed -- just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, `Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die.' And the LORD said to me, `They have rightly said all that they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet [person] who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die… Yahweh; the God of the OT is the same God as Jesus in the NT. What was good for souls then is even more important in the Secular; Devil driven times of today. Jesus promised NOT to abandon us; [John 14:19]  and kept His Word by Appointing Peter and the Catholic Church, which He personally continues to guide, guard, protect and lead. [John17:15-19]

From the beginning of recorded history God has consistently chosen mortal men to lead “his Chosen people.”  Even if [and when] they sinned; God was with them.  They were commanded by God to speak on His behalf, guided and inspired by God, and to be heard as “God Himself is to be heard. …Noah, Abraham, Isaac, David, Solomon, the Prophets, John the Baptist; then Jesus Christ Himself; God Incarnate, who following His Own Tradition personally choose Peter to complete the New Covenant, and entrusted to Peter His own one-set of Faith beliefs, and the Only Church ever founded directly by God Himself. So the ONE question each man, women and child of age must ask themselves is: Do I listen and Obey God or someone else?

Matt. 16; 18:19 ..”And I [JESUS] tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Psalms 127:1 "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain."

Isaiah 55:8 -9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”

Here we are in the middle of January, 2012, and I’m just now opening one of my Christmas presents. This from our daughter, who no doubt saw the word “catholic” and exclaimed: “Oh! Dad would like this”

Although it is written by  a Protestant Theologian, I must confess that I am delighted to be able to report that the booklet is well thought out and presented with true Christian charity.  Thomas makes his case plain, and to the unknowing, or unsuspecting; convincingly . Mr. Heinze has a Masters Degree in Theology from the DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.

What became immediately apparent is the sincerity of the positions held by Mr. Heinze., 

 and his evident desire to be factual and true. Which only affirms my own opinion that God Himself has a role in these  well-intended Protestant positions which ,

 nevertheless, reflect  serious-errant misunderstandings of Catholic Doctrines and Dogma, along with an in ability to separate “church-practices,” which can change, from doctrine and dogma which cannot be changed. 

God Himself limits their ability to understand the bible by imposing upon them the plague of Ignorance.  

This will be proven and become very evident as we proceed though the booklet Thomas authored, and  which, God willing, we shall prove and provide biblical evidence of that explains and supports the Catholic Positions.

I have

 for sometime now  been Blessed by God, and able to recognize God’s hand in 

the lack of RIGHT understanding of what the bible really says as a rather common Protestant trait. 

In fact; it seems to be one thing many of the denominations have in common. This ought not be a surprise to any of us who are “bible-savvy,”  as clear warning is given by God through the bible itself., in a variety of ways.

Let’s begin with an understanding that the Bibles is a Catholic Book, in a very specific and precise manner. [This too is often debated as if there were actually grounds to despite it].

It is the Catholic Church that “birthed the Bible.”  It is historically provable that  it was the Catholic Church that selected and collected the Old Testament books to be included as part of the bible; and the entire New Testament is authored by men known today, to have been early Fathers of today’s Catholic Church. It was the Catholic Church that Codified and selected officially all of the books to be included in the bible.. Further as the bible was completely written by the end of the First Century; the only “church” that existed anywhere in the known world, is historically proven to be, today’s Catholic Church. Thus, all references in the bible to “church” or “churches” are a direct reference to today’s Catholic Church. And the final point, is that  it is Jesus Himself who first introduced the term “church” in Matthew 16:15-19, when He appointed Peter as the first leader of this one- church. A position, known today as the papacy.

        Jer.3: 15 "`And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding”

2^nd. Peter 1: 16-21  “You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,  because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Acts.20: 28 “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God  [SINGULAR] which he obtained with the blood of his own Son.”

John 10: 1-3 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door [I Christ choose] but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

1Tim. 3: 15 “if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the [SINGULAR] household of God, which is the church [SINGULAR] of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth [SINGULAR]”  

Luke 10:16 "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

1 John 4: Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

John 17:18-24 "As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth. "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,  I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.”

1 John 4: 4-9  “Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

2 Tim. 4: 1-4 ”I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.”

Eph.3:  9 to 12  “And to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; that through the church [SINGULAR: meaning  THE CATHOLIC Church] the  manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him”

Matt.13:9-12 “He who has ears, let him hear." Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”  For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. “

2^nd. Peter 3: 14-17  “Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability”

Even all of this is not the complete set of warnings presented in the Bible; but these ought to verify my position, that it is nearly impossible for anyone not to be warned about the high probability of incorrect understanding of what God really taught and what he means and commands, without the chosen-guides that he himself has commanded. Those guides being exclusively of the Catholic Church.

John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” …Matt. 16: 18-19 “And I [JESUS] tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Matt. 28:16-20 “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. [THOMAS] And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."

Having identified the underlying cause of the problem as an apparent inability to consistently understand correctly and fully, the Written Words of God, I am now obligated to explain just why it happens. The underlying cause is a God imposed penalty for NOT doing what He say’s and NOT fully following ALL of His  teachings, as will be clearly demonstrated. Exactly how God accomplishes this remains a mystery. The fact that He is behind it, is not.

I suspect it is accomplished by withholding Devine guidance, as is His Right. There is evidence of an unintentional selective application of passages elected and chosen to solidify the positions expressed by Brother Heinze, that I have seen quite often by his contemporaries. At first I thought it might be intentional; but have come to understand that it is God who limits their understanding; making it still possible, but far more difficult for them to uncover and discover  God’s Fullness of Truth. It’s a battle between Pride and Humility; Good and Evil; Partial truths and the Fullness of Gods Own Truth.

Rom.9: 18 “What then are we to say? Is there injustice on the part of God? Of course not! For he says to Moses: "I will show mercy to whom I will, I will take pity on whom I will." So it depends not upon a person's will or exertion, but upon God, who shows mercy. “

Heb. 3 12 “Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.  But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end, while it is said, "Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."

Rom. 9:15 “For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

Mt. 11: 25-26  “At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

This “hidden messages” is God’s way of formulating a particular cross for non-Catholics to carry. Because God can ONLY be a “Good and Fair” God [anything less would deny His Divinity], this burden is imposed to make clear His displeasure with what is going on, and the fact that never once in the entire Bible, did or has God permitted a belief in  more than one God [Triune], or more than Only One set of Faith-beliefs, or ever guide, guard and protect more than one “church” [or one chosen people.] This FACT alone ought to put everyone on the “same page.”

That friends sets us up for the discussion of the positions expressed so kindly by Mr. Thomas Heinze. I will first share his views and evidences, and then provide our Catholic response to them. The first topic selected by Mr. Heinze, is the Catholic Mass.

“Answers to my Catholic Friends” by Thomas F. Heinze

“The outward form of the mass has been modified [as a result of the “Spirit of Vatican II”]

To make it much more similar to our communion services than when it was said in Latin [The now Extraordinary Form], but the differences in its basic meaning remain..

The Roman Catholic doctrine [actually it’s a dogma] of the mass was established at the Council of TRENT, [NO! The Mass dates back to at least the second Century A.D.] [1] which affirmed, among other things, that it is a “sacrifice of expiation…. of sins and the punishment for sins … not merely for the living but also for the poor souls in Purgatory [2] {Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic DOGMA, pp. 412-413}. The Roman church thus teaches that Christ’s sacrifice is renewed at each mass [3], and that each time the mass is said, this renewing of His Sacrifice adds a bit of merit that can count towards ones’ salvation. [4]. When mass is said for the dead, it supposed to reduce by an unknown amount of time they must suffer in Purgatory for their sins. [5] In practice, many people, probably the majority in most Roman countries [6], have been taught that after death in the family they must give [7] more or less and unending offering to priest for masses to shorten their loved one’s time in purgatory. [MY NOTE: a continuation of Luther’s “selling of Indulgences issue“ ?] [8] This is particularly tragic for widows who are often poor and very religious. [9] While many priest are not in agreement of this doctrine, and do not even accept offerings [THANK YOU!] for the mass in these conditions, others bring to mind the admonition of Christ in the scriptures… Mark 12-38-40 [Mr. Heinze went so far as to even be quoting the Catholic New American Bible… again THANK YOU!]. “And in his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes, and to have salutations in the market places and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation." In Italy, the very heart of Roman Catholism, there is a saying which is often used when someone wants to say “you only get what you pay for.” Translated word for word it is “Without money, they don’t sing the mass.” [10]

[1]  While “affirmed by the Council of Trent” this was no new, or even recent declaration. It is historical fact that “the mass” is a yet clearly defined and unregulated manner was celebrated by the Apostles and the early followers of  Christianity. This is clear from both secular historical information, the bible itself and the writings of the early Church Fathers. Here is a sample of the evidence. In the Bible the first termed for what was to become known as “the mass,” was “the Breaking of the Bread”

     THE BIBLE:

Luke.24: 35 “Then they told what had happened on the road, [to Emma'us,] and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

Acts.2: 42, 46 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. … And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts,” [Homes were the first physical churches].

The Early Church Fathers

The early Church Fathers interpreted these passages literally. In summarizing the early Fathers’ teachings on Christ’s Real Presence, renowned Protestant historian of the early Church J. N. D. Kelly, writes: "Eucharistic teaching, it should be understood at the outset, was in general unquestioningly realist, i.e., the consecrated bread and wine were taken to be, and were treated and designated as, the Savior’s body and blood" (Early Christian Doctrines, 440).

Ignatius of Antioch
"I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible" (Letter to the Romans 7:3 [A.D. 110]).

And this teaching from the Catechism of the catholic Church # 1345 clearly shows that the mass has now been formatted, and it  said much the same to the present day.

“As early as the second century we have the witness of St. Justin Martyr for the basic lines of the order of the Eucharistic celebration. They have stayed the same until our own day for all the great liturgical families. St. Justin wrote to the pagan emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161) around the year 155, explaining what Christians did:

On the day we call the day of the sun, [Sunday]  all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place.

The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits.

When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things. [The Priest/ or Bishop]

Then we all rise together and offer prayers* [including prayers for the dead] for ourselves . . .and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation.

When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.

Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.

He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks (in Greek: eucharistian) that we have been judged worthy of these gifts.

When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: 'Amen.' [WHICH MEANS: “I BELIEVE.”]

When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the "eucharisted" [transubstanuated]  bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.”

       SECULAR HISTORY

Evidence from Pliny the Younger

Another important source of evidence about Jesus and early Christianity can be found in the letters of Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan. Pliny was the Roman governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor. In one of his letters, dated around A.D. 112, he asks Trajan's advice about the appropriate way to conduct legal proceedings against those accused of being Christians. Pliny says that he needed to consult the emperor about this issue because a great multitude of every age, class, and sex stood accused of Christianity.

At one point in his letter, Pliny relates some of the information he has learned about these Christians:

They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food--but food of an ordinary and innocent kind. [Like Christ Himself: ALL good things ..Pat]

Evidence from Josephus

Perhaps the most remarkable reference to Jesus outside the Bible can be found in the writings of Josephus, a first century Jewish historian. On two occasions, in his Jewish Antiquities, he mentions Jesus. The second, less revealing, reference describes the condemnation of one "James" by the Jewish Sanhedrin. This James, says Josephus, was "the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ." F.F. Bruce points out how this agrees with Paul's description of James in Galatians 1:19 as "the Lord's brother." And Edwin Yamauchi informs us that "few scholars have questioned" that Josephus actually penned this passage.

As interesting as this brief reference is, there is an earlier one, which is truly astonishing. Called the "Testimonium Flavianum," the relevant portion declares:

About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he . . . wrought surprising feats. . . . He was the Christ. When Pilate . . .condemned him to be crucified, those who had . . . come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared . . . restored to life. . . . And the tribe of Christians . . . has . . . not disappeared.

Much MORE EVIDENCE EXIST, BUT THIS GIVES EVIDENCE OF OUR POSITION.

[2] “sacrament of expiation” Actually the Eucharist is much more than that. It is at one and the same time a “three-way- sacrament”; 1. A Sacrifice Sacrament; 2. A Communion Sacrament ;3. A Worship Sacrament

The understanding of Mr. Heinze that Christ “sacrifice is renewed” is COMPLETELY INCORRECT. His erroneous assumption is that we Catholics “recrucify” Christ at every Mass, does an injustice to our actual belief that the human nature of Christ , like the rest of us, can only, and DID ONLY DIE ONCE.  The Catholic Catechism Teaches that Christ died ONLY once, as it was the human body of Christ that was tortured, suffered and died for our redemption. [CCC #1330, 1336, and 1367] ..Catechism of the CC]

The Sacrifice of Christ that is made present at every Mass throughout the world is the One and same identical sacrifice of Christ. :RE-Presented time, and time again. This Miracle is from God [The Father], of God the Son [Jesus] and accomplished by God the Holy Spirit. It is not a representation only; rather a RE-presentation of the one Same and actual Sacrifice of Christ  NOW IN AN UNBLOODY MANNER.

1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." "And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner. . . this sacrifice is truly propitiatory."

1330 The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection. The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church's offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used, since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.

1366 The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit:

[Christ], our Lord and God, was once and for all to offer himself to God the Father by his death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish there an everlasting redemption. But because his priesthood was not to end with his death, at the Last Supper "on the night when he was betrayed," [he wanted] to leave to his beloved spouse the Church a visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to accomplish once for all on the cross would be re-presented, its memory perpetuated until the end of the world, and its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit.

[3] The satirical claim of “merit” earned through the Mass, is actually factual.

[4]  The same applies to the dead as Merit is too a fact [There is a biblical foundation for this in the Second Book of Maccabee’s 12:41-45

[5] Speaks of the role of a “Purgatory” that he denies is a reality.  Like most Protestants who deny this reality; a reality made absolutely Necessary by Devine Justice because of the Divine need in an absolute sense for Souls to be “perfected” prior to gaining the Beatific Vision; on the grounds  that the term “Purgatory” does not appear in the bible; gives evidence of all of the following:

        1. That as I claimed; here is more evidence of them not understanding God’s Word fully or correctly.

It is a fact, that the term “purgatory” itself does not appear in the Bible. This is not unusual as the terms Protestant, Catholic, dogma, doctrine, codified, Sacraments, papacy, pope and many other terms later added to give direction and meaning to recognized and widely accepted theologies, ALS do appear in the bible. The idea that there “is no mention of Purgatory in the bible,” too is a GREAT ERROR.

Rev. 21: 27 “But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.”

Mt. 5: 26 truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.

Matt.5: 48 “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Heb. 2: 10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering.

1John.3: 2 to 3 “Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

2. Even more alarming seems to be evidence that they do not have a full and correct understanding of  

God’s Nature, nor of the manner humanity is created “in the image of God [Gen. 1:26-27]?

Purgatory, like heaven and hell, are a creations of our “Perfect God”. It is because God is and HAS TO BE perfect that Mary, His Mother HAD TO BE PERFECTED in order to become the Mother of Jesus. Only those who have been perfected either on earth or after death [if they died without unconfessed Mortal sins] can and will attain heaven. God’s nearly incomprehensible desire to be is a Personal Relationship with His Created humanity, led Jesus to devise and make available a path of reconciliation available to those who die in the “State of Grace” but are not yet perfected. The Mass, the Sacraments of Confession and the Most Holy Eucharist [Jesus Himself ], Indulgences, Good works, and the Sacraments of the “last Rite”  all have a role in accomplishing this task before ones dies. EACH of these can be justified by either Christ Himself; or the powers and authority passed unto the Apostles and there successors on the Feast of the First Pentecost.

John 20:19-23 “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

All of the following took place in this brief passage.

1. The official formation of today’s Roman Catholic Church

2. The First Pentecost celebration

3. The Institution of the sacrament of Confirmation

4.  Jesus passes along His OWN Powers and Authority as God to the Apostles, and through them to there successors. If you doubt this consider the following:

Matt. 10: 1-8  “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zeb'edee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And preach as you go, saying, `The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without pay” …. This is later expanded to the entire world as the Hebrews as a Nation; reject the Messiah. [Luke 19:41 …. Matt. 28:16-20].

5. The necessary and essential Sacrament of Known Forgiveness of sins [the ONLY acceptable method as Ordained and commanded by God himself.] The PATH to the “Peace” that Jesus desires for each of us.

[6]  “have been taught that after death in the family they must give”

Like a great many Protestants, Thomas seems to find great difficulty is discerning the significance of doctrines, dogma’s  from what are merely “church practices.” Thomas’ remarks on this topic seem to indicate an important VOID IN HIS EDUCATION.. This  has never been NEVER been a mandatory practice but does have some Tradition behind it.

Church doctrines  and dogma are unchangeable; while “church practices”, can and even must change to keep current with the changes in the times. After all today’s Catholic Church is some 2,000 years old.  One ought not expect practices of 2,000 years ago to necessarily apply today, exactly as they did when developed.

[7] “more or less and unending offering to priest for masses to shorten their loved one’s time in purgatory.” …  Keep in mind that Mr. Heinze is one who holds to the OSAS theology of many Protestant denominations. So He would then naturally find Catholic doctrine of Purgatory and Merits of prayer and sacrifices for the deceased to be completely unnecessary; even foolish.

[8 through 10] Make the point that this changing is both unbiblical and un-Christ-Like

This a issue of practice. It is not mandatory; many parishes do not do it; and I rather doubt that ANY priest would take “food off the table” of a poor widow.

CCC #2122 The minister should ask nothing for the administration of the sacraments beyond the offerings defined by the competent authority, always being careful that the needy are not deprived of the help of the sacraments because of their poverty." The competent authority determines these "offerings" in accordance with the principle that the Christian people ought to contribute to the support of the Church's ministers. "The laborer deserves his food."

Matt. 10: 8-10 “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without pay. Take no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborer deserves his food

Because Protestant ministers are often Full time and Married, they expect and get a MUCH larger fee “for services rendered” than do our catholic priest.

END OF FIRST SECTION # 1