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by Georgie Márquez-André April 4, 2005
MOURNING, n. The act of sorrowing or expressing grief; lamentation; sorrow. HOPE, n. A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. Hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of possessing it. Hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety. (All definitions taken from Webster's 1828 Dictionary) Fear not.
This past few days, as we watch the events unfolding in Vatican City, Rome, one phrase is repeated over and over. As he lay dying, John Paul II used this phrase to address his flock, "Fear not."
Fear not... for one death cannot stop God's unfolding plans... Fear not... for as Christians, death is victory... Fear not... for there is no happenstance, no despair, no ends in God's economy...
I understand that for many Catholics are not Christian. And so, for many, all this attention to one man, a man who headed what to many is a heretical religion, is confusing, if not baffling. So... before we continue... let's quickly settle this...
In the Christian faith there are majors and there are minors. A minor would be whether the gifts of the Spirit include speaking in tongues or not. A minor is whether Calvin was right and Armenius wasn't. A minor is disagreeing on the pre-tribulation rapture.
There are very few majors... one, actually... and it all centers around one Person.
The one true major, the one that defines Christianity from all other religions, is the foundational belief that Jesus is God/Yahweh in the flesh. A Christian is one who believes that the God who reveals Himself in the Jewish Scriptures (the Tanak, or Old Testament) became incarnate, was born as Jesus and lived (or tabernacled) with us. The moment of conversion is the instant when that realization causes a trans-dimensional personal encounter, whereby, this same God, in the form of the Holy Spirit, touches and transforms an individual's whole existence. You are never the same again.
So... under this understanding... Muslims are not Christians, even though they believe in the Virgin birth. Neither Jehova's Witnesses, nor Mormons, are Christian...
But under this definition, the men and women who are baptized into the Catholic faith, and who every week recite (and believe):
We believe (I believe) in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
these men and women, are Christians.
So... fear not... God is still on the throne... and we can indeed honor this man (Rom. 13:7, I Pet. 2:17), who lived and died with dignity, always standing for life, a man of integrity. Disagree on the minors... but only judge based on the major.
Fear not... hope lives.
Have a blessed week.
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