PLEASE PRAY FOR THE CHURCH

There are amazing wonders about the Catholic Church that hold me spell bound.

In a world where hate and tribalism abound, in a world where a northerners cannot allow Southerners to rule, it is only in the Catholic Church that we see over I billion people united under one head, the Pope. Whether the Pope is from China or from Italy or from Germany or from Poland or from America. We see in the Pope, Christ's blessing on Peter which makes him the rock upon which Christianity is built.

In a world filled with racism, it is only among Catholics that a young AFRICAN will be given the highest level of respect in America, in Europe, in Asia, in every continent of the world just because he is a Catholic priest. No matter the age, no matter the color, no matter the background.

Among all the institutions of the world and empires of the world, it is only the Catholic Church that has lasted for up to 2000 years and is still strong. The same hierachy, the same liturgical formular, the same unity. That we all are Christians today is because of the Catholic Church. They endured series of persecutions, many of their members gave up their lives just to hand the gospel over to us.

Is it the Bible? They preserved the bible from the old ages. During the great wars and Renaissance, Catholic Monks had to recopy the bible with their own hand which took them many years just to preserve the Word of God. They studied Hebrew and Greek languages just to translate the Bible to our various languages. Instead of thanking them, we criticize them that they do not read the Bible.

In a world filled with hatred and envy that today even siblings kill each other, the love between one Catholic priest and another is greater than human understanding can fathom. Even if one is a stranger from China and another from from Africa, once both are priests, they eat together, laugh together and the trust is not broken. The fraternity between Catholic seminarians is much greater than the love between siblings.

They are the only Church that believe in conversion of sinners. Other churches try to be self-righteous, it is only the Catholic church that believe that the Church is meant for saints and sinners. They do not castigate sinners but urge them to repent. The care and patience of a priest at the confessional is Christ-like.

In a world filled with arrogance and pride, Catholic priesrs are all humility and tenderness especially at the confessional yet they are the highest learned people in the world. Why do we castigate these wonderful priests so much? It is through that a little err, but we all are human. Was Judas not also an apostle of Jesus?

Mary? Ofcourse as it should be of a long-lasting institution, they are full of wisdom. They know that the greatest affection is between the mother and the son. And if we are in need, do we not ask our family members and friends to pray for us? They know that Mary is close to Jesus and dear to him and so they take the easiest way to Jesus, through his mother. We all know that we listen to our mothers above every one else except she is a bad mother.

This is the only church that engages in a world wide dialogue with Islam and other denominations to fulfill Christ's prayer "Father, may they all be one." In our world where morality is very low, where husbands batter their wives because they do not give birth to male children, we see young men who sacrifice everything, father, mother, wife, children to serve the lord.

We should all pray for the Catholic Church, they way our world is moving, I pray that God helps to preserve their morality, if not for anything, because most of our children are in Catholic schools.

i am wondering wondering what the op is thinking