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There has been some heated debate on the site concerning the interpretation of Peter and of Scripture passages that have been controversial throughout centuries with resulting schisms in Christ’s body, bringing about much sadness for every believer.
I am disappointed when I look at the hostile and proud manner of some of you when you discuss these matters: Certain individuals in here like to type with CAPS so everyone can see their self esteem. Others say: “That’s just how it is!..” And some even condemn fellow Christians to hell.

What did particularly disturb me was the fact, that many of the attempts made inhere, by Catholics, to promote their view were to me often disturbing, very easy to misinterpret or even outright wrong.

I would like to make a somewhat different approach to some of the issues in question and I hope you will hear me out.

Firstly, I’d like to say that I am a Catholic. I became a member of the Catholic Church some few years ago after having been raised a protestant. This came by way of the Catholic mysticism and the charismatic movement. More precisely it came as a direct result of the, by now, world-famous apparitions in Medjugorje, as well as the prophetic writings of orthodox Vassula Rydén, both phenomena which I today hold to be authentic examples of the Grace of God in our times. I entered the Catholic Church most because I wanted to get as close to my Lord as possible through the holy Communion/Eucharist. Honestly I found much inspiration in the supernatural experiences in the lives of people I have met. I became a Christian who attends the Catholic Mass as often as I can. This, however, did not imply any contempt for my protestant family or other fellow Christians. On the contrary it gave me an aching need to work for the Unity of the Church(es). Also because I red the conversations between Vassula and Jesus, which spoke the Lord’s wish for us to bend, lower our voices and hear His: bend with love towards each other; by means of our love and humility He will unite us. But as I have stated in earlier posts, I also go often to pray and listen to sermons in other denominations like the Orthodox and the Messianic congregations and the Pentecostal Church in particular, whom the Lord gives great graces through His Spirit. I can and will not deny that God is working marvellously among All true Christians.

When it comes to Catholicism I need to state some points.

“Peter – the rock…”Guard my sheep”: I reckon, from reading these Passages, that Jesus did choose Peter to have a special role as the representative and leader of His apostles. That Jesus would choose to call Simon for Peter and then say: “And on this rock I will build My Church..” is for me a clear indication to Peters role. It seems illogical to me that Jesus would say this so clearly, with the obvious risk of confusion, if He did not mean it. Many learned people in here like to interpret the verse as a confirmation only on the fact that Jesus himself is the Rock and truly the Son of God, as confessed to by Peter. On this Truth the Church should be built, you hold. I can only agree with you. Isn’t it great, that the Word of God is so deep and we all need to help each other discern the riches in It? In fact I hold all three interpretations to be valid and most useful. Omitting any of them would seem strange and even suspicious to me.

When it comes to the role of Peter, I do love the title “servant of the servants”, which was formerly used very much when the Pope would introduce him self. The Vicar of Christ seems somewhat more intrusive or haughty to some.. Personally I like the first option, but then again I also think of the Pope as a granddad and a wise shepherd, chosen by the Holy Spirit to help the sheep in the world until the Groom comes in with all His Power and Majesty on the clouds. Jesus said to Peter: “Guard my sheep”. He even confirmed it three times.
But Jesus is Himself is the Good Shepherd, someone may object: why then does He appoint a mere human to guard His sheep? I cannot say.. How can I the poorest of all correct the Wisdom of God?
However, do we not need shepherds? And do we need a congregation of the doctrine of faith (call it whatever you like)? Certainly, in my view the sheep today are scattered and are dying, - dying within and out side of the established Christian Assemblies. We are all to blame for this.. all of us have been fighting each other, showing to the world the horrible face of division.. of tepidity.. of pride.. of indifference.. Can anyone not lean on his brother, in a time so obscure, when the bones are lying scattered and dry, and cry: “Lord have Mercy.. fulfil now the promise of Ezekiel 37!”
However, one thing should be totally clear: whatever branch of the Vine we belong to: Nobody can lay down any other foundation than the one which is there already, namely Jesus Christ. (1 Cor.3:11 ) We are the Temple and the House of the Lord. We are the branches, He is the Vine. He is the root from which we get our sap. Jesus is the Head. Not Peter, not Paul.. not anyone but Jesus and with Him the Father and the Spirit in their Trice Holy Oneness. All things wears away like a garment but Jesus’ Word remains eternally.
Peter, as well as any servant, does the will of the Lord God, and is therefore doing the work of Him. Therefore He can bind and loose. You see, no one can do anything without the Lord from whom all good things come. If the servant is not in unison with God then he can’t do anything. God is just, but He does not let the weaknesses of man keep Him from showering creation with mercy. The shepherd is where Jesus is and vs. Therefore it is not right to separate the mercy from God, like some do when they imply that Catholics go to their priest to get absolution. I do go to priest, certainly, but only because I know the One and Only High Priest Jesus is blessing me and granting me pardon in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He is present. When I confess at the side of the priest we are both aware of Jesus’ presence.. I kneel and say: I am sorry Lord, my God for I have grieved you… It is by God’s Spirit we can forgive.. it is by His Spirit that we can serve Him, have faith, and love… Jesus is acting in us. Separated from Him we can do nothing.
When we know His words, He says, we will be blessed if we act accordingly. A faith with out works is as dead as a body without breath, says Scripture. It is no secret that Martin Luther did not prefer the letter of James for this reason, but preferred rather the letter to Rome, in his own life, for its faith-redemption passage. (Thereby I don’t wish to judge Luther.. if I were to criticize someone it would rather be his confessor, who did not understand the frailty of man and let the Luther drive himself mad with remorse, which was never the intention of the Lord).
All this does not mean that I, as a Catholic, believe I can save my self. It is far from me. Only the Lord can save me. And my actions are important or worthwhile only inasmuch as He blesses them. Then, on the other hand, they do become very important. Our actions are precious to the Lord. He says: Not the man who says “Lord, Lord!” will be saved but the one who does the will of the Father. Is faith an action? Most certainly. But so is the thought, the kiss, the hug and the kind word, the ironing of a shirt and the cleaning of a bottle if it is done with love for Love. When Jesus worked as a carpenter then that work was also blessed and powerful in the hidden plan of redemption.. - Every motion done with love and in fellowship with Christ, holds the power of the Spirit of God. For God is Love. Therefore the Catholic Church also teaches that suffering, when it is entrusted into the Father’s Hands with acceptance and in remembrance of the Suffering of Jesus, this act of resigning to the will of God is a most powerful saving action, such as is prayer.

Continuation:    
When it comes to the Law: The whole Bible is the work of the Spirit. It is written that not one iota of the law shall pass away until all is accomplished. Now what is the core of the law? Like with all the wondrous things from the Lord, the core is Love. We all know that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law and did fulfil the Law in Its core-essence by being Love himself, Compassion, Truth and Pity. This means, no Christian should criticize the Work of God or the way He has walked with His People since ancient times. We have to look to Jesus in order to understand the law today, the law of the New Covenant, which The Lord has written in our hearts. Jesus says: Do not judge your brother.. treat others like you would have them treat you, for such is the law and the prophets. (Matt 7.12) Jesus did not in any way create something new.. He just opened the eyes of His followers to interpret the Law in the right way and He made everything new when His blood was shed, and the new covenant laws written on hearts of flesh instead of carved in stone. This is the time of Mercy as it is foretold and taught in the Word.

About the Mother. It is no secret that the Catholic Church interprets the Woman Clothed in the Sun as the Virgin Mary. (Apocalypse 12). I have often wondered why people, who otherwise boast of their literal interpretation of the Bible want to omit such an interpretation in this instance. I know some Christians hold, that the Woman in question is actually an image of Israel or of the Church. This I have no problem with. The Woman is crowned with 12 stars meaning the tribes of Israel and from Israel comes forth the Messiah. But still there is the question about Mary, a woman who with her “yes” so obviously contrasted Eve who was disobedient. God had always, in His infinite Wisdom known He would create a wonderful daughter and spouse of the Holy Spirit, a pure vessel, an Ark to carry the Fathers Most Beloved Son. Now the Bible says Mary was a virgin. This state of purity was a clear desire of the Lord. Now Jesus also says that if something is clean on the inside then the outside will also be clean. What is obvious to me now is that the heart of Mary must have been pure in a remarkable way .. That is what Christianity is all about. And with allusion to the Apocalypse 12 you can see Mary’s state already while she was pregnant – a Queen most wonderful to behold. About Her universal motherhood: It is said in the Apocalypse 12:17: “Then the Dragon was enraged and went away to make war on the rest of her children, who obey God’s commandments and have in themselves the witness of God.” This is one reason why we believe we are all the children of Mary. All who believe in her Son. How can Jesus be our brother if we have not the same Mother? Is it not written in the law that you shall honour your father and mother? Yet some Christians today believe that Jesus was actually rejecting His Mother, although His Word states that she was present both at the wedding in Cana where she said: “Do everything he tells you” (just like she says today whenever she appears), at the Cross and during the days of Pentecost. Jesus said to John: “Behold your Mother. And to His Mother: “There is your son.” One day when I was begging the Lord for enlightenment on the chastity of Mary after His birth, He gave me at that instant to remember this exact Scripture passage, while He told me: “If I raged at the Pharisees for not honouring and loving their parents according to the law, then how could I not teach my own brothers of flesh to do the same, but leave our Mother to someone, John, who was not her child of flesh. Therefore you can know that I was her only son, bone of her bones and flesh of her flesh.” (this can also serve to explain the biological similarities in the highly unusual tears wept by statues and pictures of Christ and His Mother all over the world in these decades). I have already said I entered the Church partly because of the apparitions in Medjugorje. I did not grow up thinking about the Virgin Mary. Today I see her as a gift, a friend, a Mother in intercession for her child. I honour her as my mother. Do I need her for my salvation. No. But I will not deny a gift from Jesus.
I became convinced of Mary’s love and mission during several pilgrimages to Medjugorje. Many people there have actually seen her, not to mention the miracles that appears wherever God is present in people’s lives. Medjugorje is a whole village of prayer and peace, which is so tangible you can almost feel it in the air. I met people .. several if not dozens, who said they had seen Jesus or seen the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje. - Very normal people like you and I, of different churches and backgrounds, whom the Lord had given a special grace. I will not dwell anymore on Medjugorje here but I urge you to examine it for your selves, without fear.
Some of you may know the miraculous medal, which many Catholics wear out of gratitude to Mary for her intercession. It’s a little oval image of Mary, which was revealed to a French nun in the 1800s. People who wear this often tell of miracles in connection with it. One of the most remarkable miracle-testimonies was the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne, a wealthy Jewish banker and lawyer and also a blasphemer and hater of Catholicism. In 1841 a Catholic friend, M. de Bussieres, gave him such a medal, daring him to wear it and say a Memorare. (prayer to Mary for intercession) After considerable persuasion Alphonse agreed to do so. Not long after, Alphonse accompanied M. de Bussieres to the Church of sant ‘Andrea delle Frate. And while Bussieres had a meeting elsewhere to make some funeral arrangements for a friend, he left Alphonse alone in the Church room. When he came back he found his friend on his knees, overwhelmed. He had had a vision of the Virgin Mary just like she appears on the medal. He was converted instantly and immediately begged for Baptism. He later on became a priest who worked for thirty years in the Holy Land, spreading the Gospel and caring for the needy. He built the sanctuary of the Ecce Homo on the spot where Pilate displayed Jesus to the crowds. Among the converts of Alphonse were a total of 28 members of his own family.
    
Some may object and say that veneration of Mary is due to a Tradition, which is given too much authority in the Orthodox as well as the Catholic Church. Whether this is true or not I leave up to our Lord. It should be known however, that the Second Vatican Counsel stated that the Bible is the highest and utmost source of authority, and the Church does not wish to contradict Scripture but to understand It as well as possible with the aid of the Spirit.
What is tradition for us then? It is God’s walking with His People. (By this I do not mean that the Israeli people does not hold a special place in God’s Heart.. He never breaks a Covenant and a bond of Love..). The Tradition is furthermore a record, if you like, of the wonders God has done since Jesus’ resurrection,.. a sort of continuation of Acta, and a record, describing the lights which Spirit-filled people have received on Holy Scripture during the centuries. Tradition is the result of the Holy Spirit’s leading the assembly of Christ, the Church, leading her both with mildness, firmness, fatherly love and admonition.  
    
Thank you for your patience. May the Lord bless you in abundance and give you Peace.

Katarina <><            

The day that Catholic and Protestant recognize they should bring their tithes and offerings to Israel (and put the blood of animals in the ground), I believe God will bless us.