Both the LDS President ("Prophet") and Pope Leo Clarify teachings on Marriage & Family

Non-Catholic Religions
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Last week, the LDS President (“and Prophet”) Russell M. Nelson clarified their teaching on Marriage and Family (towards the end of the video).

Two weeks ago, Pope Leo corrected something that Pope Francis had said about Marriage and Family as well.

And I’m sure Reformed Protestant and Evangelical leaders have also been clarifying their teachings on Marriage and Family, because there is a lot of confusion these days about what Marriage is and what Marriage is not.

Now if we can get Catholic Bishops & Priests to do the same (and maybe some have), but I’m just not seeing it.

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Can you tell us briefly what they said, or do we have to watch the videos to find out?

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The LDS “Prophet” clarified that Marriage is between one man and one woman and that Family values are important. The LDS Church has not always held this view, so if they can get it right, then why Can’t Catholic Bishops?

Pope Leo corrected the confusion caused by Pope Francis, in regards to Marital grace. Pope Francis tried to suggest that we should re-think cohabitation. And that non-Sacramental Marriages also receive graces. Where he got this idea from, is unclear. This slippery-slope opens the doors for recognizing sąme-sęx so-called “marriages” in the Church, which is heresy. There can be no such thing, because these so-called spouses cannot consummate their Marriage. And though God can bestow graces on anyone He wants, the Sacraments are the intended means by which Christ’s graces are poured out.

Pope Leo clarified how much Sacramental grace helps Married spouses and encouraged individuals who have cooperated with God’s grace and have been Married for a very long time should share how much God has done for their Marriages with others, as an example to young people. It has been a few days since I watched this video, but that is what I recall.

Both the LDS and Catholic Christian Churches have way higher divorce rates than we should. And redefining Marriage to mean what the world means by “marriage” is not Covenantal. Jesus did not come to cohabitate, which is two lives living side-by-side. He came to have Covenant with us, which is two become one. And how does one enter into Covenant? As Christians, we enter into Covenant through Baptism and it is sealed by receiving the Holy Eucharist and Confirmation. As Married couples, we enter into Covenant through Wedlock and it is sealed by Consummation.

Both of these rites involve making vows and honoring God. In both of these Sacraments, there is a giving of one body to another, uniting in one love, which produces life. Jesus says if you are not Baptized and do not receive His Body & Blood, you do not have life within you. If one is not validly Baptized, he should not receive Holy Eucharist (the Early Church Fathers talked about this). If one is not validly Married, he should not partake in the Marital act. In both instances, one would be receiving unworthily and does not produce life and covenant, but rather spiritual death.

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Cade, you implied that non-sacramental marriages do not receive graces. Some Christians do not consider marriage a sacrament; some do not acknowledge sacraments at all. But I believe that God would bless couples who sincerely and properly enter marriage. Or would you consider it a sacrament even if the church and couple don’t call it that?

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I said that God can (and does) give graces to whomever and however He wants. I think it is a slippery slope to highlight that God blesses individuals who are playing house (cohabitating). Does God bless individuals who have not been Baptized? Yes. Do we then celebrate people not getting Baptized? No.

If I have confused anyone, I am not saying that individuals who are not Sacramentally Married cannot receive certain graces, but what I am saying is that God give specific graces to those who do it God’s way and not man’s way (courthouse by the Mayor, or on a beach by a friend who purchased the title “reverend” from a website for the sole purpose of marrying someone—never mind that this individual is not even Christian and many mock God—#NotAll)

I’m also not saying that we are more special than others. God loves all of his children, wherever they are on this journey. I’m simply saying that it does a disservice to give people the illusion that Sacramental Marriage is unimportant or that Baptism is unnecessary. Or that secular so-called “marriage” is the same thing as Sacramental Marriage. Or that Marriage is between one woman and one man. The next push after the trąns nonsense can go one of only a few ways. Most likely the next push will be for normalizing Polygamy (which the LDS Church has already tried and now rejects, rightfully so). Some sects of Islam still allows it. The secular push for this has already begun with television programming glamorizing individuals participating in Polygamy. Polygamy is in the Bible as well, but it is not viewed as a good thing, though God can bring good out of a bad situation. It does not mean that the situation is good.

And this brings me back to Pope Francis and his comments causing confusion. And Bishops celebrating “pRıDe” Masses! Are they shepherds or are they wolves in sheep’s clothing? Whom do they serve? God, man, their politics, or evil itself?

If I’m getting wordy, it is because I do not want to cause any confusion, as it appears some of what I said earlier did that. So, I have to say what I am saying, as well as what I am not saying.

To summarize:

  • Sacramental Marriage and Baptism are ideal.
  • In Sacramental Marriages and Baptism we enter into Covenant.
  • God gives graces through these Sacraments.
  • This does not mean that God does not give grace to individuals who are ignorant.
  • God does not bless sin. He does lead individual to good, if they are open to co-operating with God’s help.
  • Bishops and Priests have a duty to protect truth from error and do their best not to confuse the Faithful and the world.
  • Meeting individuals where they are is good; participating in, or, God forbid, affirming nonsense is bad.
  • The Church is not a democracy (thanks be to God).
  • Truth is not subjective. Preferences are. We must not confuse the two.
  • I am not more special to God than anyone else, but this does not mean that we are not special to God.
  • The Bible does not glamorize polygamy; Other religions do (and I’m including LGBTQA.i.+ as a religion).
  • The LDS Church is headed in the right direction.
  • The Catholic Christian Church is headed in the wrong direction.
  • Some Catholic Bishops (including Pope Leo) are preaching the truth; too many are not.
  • Pope Leo is appointing men who push their preferences, rather than protecting the truth.
  • The definition of pervęrsion is "the alteration of something from its original course, meaning, or state to a distortion or corruption of what was first intended.

It is my Prayer that God blesses the Apostolic Christian Church (The Catholic Church) with good Bishops and new Priests who understand the importance of leading people to truth and not to their preferences. Also, I Pray for the church (all Christians) that we seek God and His ways and not our own fallen desires.

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When you say “to me” are you implying that you are God or do you mean “to me” as in you believe?

I think Pope Francis did what Jesuits do. They preach Christ’s mercy, but tend to neglect Jesus’ follow up, which is, “Go and sin no more.” Jesus did, and does, not affirm individuals in their sin/disorder. He delivers them!

Some Christians will do this thing where they will make their identity, as “sinner” their identity. What I mean by this is, it is good to admit that we have/do commit sin (even as Christians), but some Christians highlight their sin, as to say, that we are no different than non-Christians in this matter.

Scripture does say that we are measured by how we judge others, but this is not a loophole to be exploited. What do I mean this? Some think that by saying that we are all sinners, that sin does not matter, and thus making their concupiscence their identity.

The problem with this is that it cheapens what Christ has done for us and does in us, when we seek His grace. It says that we are who we are and Jesus can’t help us overcome sin and death. This is a lie. A lie that we as Christians must reject.

And if Pope Francis was simply trying to bring souls to Jesus, (in a disingenuous way), as St. Paul says, “I became all things so that many might be saves…” (1 Corinthians 9:22), I believe this is a sort of bait & switch. It rings of dishonesty to me.

Perhaps I am misinterpreting what St. Paul is saying here and what Pope Francis was doing. I do see it as causing confusion. If St. Paul was talking with individuals from the trąns community, would he dress in drąg? If Pope Francis wants to make individuals from the LGPTQA.i.+ cult feel welcomed (and I do believe it to be a cult), would he make a mockery of the Sacred Liturgy by draping rąinbow flags on the Sacred Altar? Some Bishops and Priests are doing this!!!

Jesus met individuals where they are in their everyday lives (at the well, in the streets, and everywhere in between). He did not corrupt Sacred places to do so. If He wanted to reach the money changers and merchants in the Temple, some today might think Jesus was wrong for flipping their tables in righteous anger. Some today might think that Jesus should have put up giant “Sale” signs and banners to promote what these people were doing.

This is why the Pachamama scandal was not good. We can be respectful of others’ Religious beliefs without corrupting ours. When Pope John Paul II kissed the Quran, he was wrong to do so. And I love JP2, but we must call out scandal when it happens if we want to restore the truth in Christ’s Church. And, we must do it in righteous anger, and not out of hate.

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Yes, Steve, you have nailed it. But you have to try to express yourself in words that us simple souls can follow.

As you rightly say there is one real family, and we are all members…and the family you are speaking of is not made of material elements… we simply have to grasp this and begin to act on it, with our bodies, our minds and our hearts.

As people who are exiled from the Garden of Eden, we have to struggle very hard. We are like people who are in a prison because we have broken the law. But instead of qualifying ourselves for leaving the prison, we try to make arrangements whereby we can make prison life very nice. This is the direction of most members of the church. We approach God for enhancing our stay in prison.

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When pope Paul ll kissed the Koran, he is taking a step in the right direction. There is no difference between the teachings of the Koran and the teachings of Jesus. Whether on is Hindu, Christian, Muslim or Jew, the teachings of all scripture is One: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all the strength and all thy might.” Every scripture teaches this. And the test of one who tries to follow his scripture is how much they he has succeeded in awakening his dormant love of God. If this goal is achieved, then the path he is following has served him perfectly. And the symptom of one who has successfully cultivated love for God, our eternal Father…is that he now loves his neighbor as much as he loves himself. Therefore we can all take stock…because we know what we feel from day to day, moment to moment.

One who thinks that because he can say, “I have accepted Jesus.”, that therefore he is saved, or better than anyone else…while at the same time he doesn’t recognize every man on earth as a child of our eternal Father, and a dearmost brother…this is the person to whom Jesus says, “I never knew you.”

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The truth is that we are so far away from becoming totally purified of the dishonesty that we have in our own hearts, in terms of our relationship with Jesus and his eternal Father…that we are not in a position to judge anyone, what to speak of Pope John Paul ll.

Scripture says, “Judge not that you be not judged.”

The “job” of a spiritual representative of God is to bring us earthly beings a step closer to understanding our real position. Whether such people are gay, trans, Hindu, Christian, Jew, etc…we are all gross materialists, who seek our pleasures in terms of the gratification of our senses, non-stop. We are out of touch with our eternal spiritual nature, and we are addicted to the pursuit of material fulfillments. We even approach God with requests to facilitate our pursuit of material satisfactions, …which is diametrically in opposition to what Jesus is teaching us. In other words, we have hardly begun to be real Christians.

If the Ketchua native Americans give thanks to “Pachamama” (Mother Earth) for supplying everything that the earth provides to us, they are ahead of the average Christian who eats his food, puts on his cotton clothing, drinks his soft drink (made with sugar and water), all without giving a second thought to the earth that has provided these gifts. Who has created this earth, if not God? Therefore when giving thanks to Pachamama, this is a way of being thankful to God …everytime we take a sip of water, accept some foodstuff, wear a piece of cotton cloth, etc., etc. are we acting in this way? If Jesus was today walking among us he would say, “Just see what these people are doing, how they are giving thanks…try to learn something from them.”

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Honestly, I just don’t innerstand why this is so hard for the Catholic Church. If what someone says, regardless of what position they hold in the Church, does not fall within Church Doctrine and Church teaching, all they need to do is either re-educate their staff or fire them. The fact that not even Church leadership agrees with eachother on simple fundamental issues is mind-blowing to me. All businesses have a basic foundation of how things operate, why can’t the Church do the same?

Intellectually this is confusing….

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Stephen, this is cute as hell! Hahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahaha.

You know, I had a really really sh*tty day, and when I read this, I laughed so damn hard. A logicless dapper bapper….now that’s an insult if I ever heard of one HAHAHAHAHAHA! I’ve been called many things, but a logicless dapper bapper isn’t one of them. Thank you so much my mystic friend for making me laugh. I really needed this today. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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What we need to do is do a nationwide burning of all things LGBTQ+. Every movie, every song, every television series, anything that screams LGBTQ+ propoganda needs to all be burned, and I think it should be televised. Get this sh*t out of here!

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The first understanding of spritual life, the first step in realization, is that “I am not this body”. This body is a temporary dress. And the eternal being is the spirit inside. As soon as the spirit departs, no one wants to embrace the body, as it begins to compost and return to the earth.
If I am not this body, I am not white or black. If I am not this body, I am not male or female. If I am not this body, although the body was born in a specific country, I have no nationality. If I am not this body, I am not young or old……I am eternal. If I am not this body, don’t belong to a little family of 5, 10 or more……I belong to God’s family of unlimited billions or trillions.
And lastly, to address the LGBTQ issue, if I am not this body…….I am not gay or straight. These are only symptoms of material identification, and the subsequent desires of the flesh.
A spiritual being who is growing, has this realization, as the first step in his growth. This is why the adepts in all spiritual traditions no longer engage in marital relationships. They see all human beings as pure spirit soul, and relate to them equally, beyond the scope of the bodily dress. This is what those in monastic dress aspire for. This is the symptom of spirtual growth that the saints have always been able to demonstrate. This is why the Pope doesn’t have a wife. He is not being austere. He is happy understanding himself as spirit. That is his qualification.

Therefore one who has sexual attraction to the body of his own gender (homosexual), and one who has sexual attraction to the body of the opposite gender (herterosexual), they are both on the same level: identification with the material body, and the demands of the material body.

When people are ill, they go to a doctor. The doctor doesn’t hate them because they are ill. With compassion in his heart, his only wish is to return them to their healthy condition. In the same way, God’s bonafide empowered messengers, don’t hate people for identifying with their material bodies. They try to share with them a path whereby those afflicted with bodily identification can realize, as Jesus came to teach, that “I am in this world; but I am not of this world.” The symptom of one who has this realization is that all the desires of the flesh no longer have a grip on him. He doesn’t see himself as man or woman. He understands his eternal identity as spirt soul, and enjoys his eternal relationship of loving reciprocation is with God. This is the goal of monastic life in all traditions.

Such an enlightened soul is rare in this world. But this is the goal of the spiritual journey. And one who has attaned this goal wishes to share this understanding with others. They don’t hate people for identifying with the material body as “me”. They have compassion.

One who judges others in terms of their material faults, instead of seeing them as afflicted spirit souls…….such a person is on the same platform as those whom he judges…… because he is seeing others in terms of the flesh, instead of the spirit. Therefore jesus instructs, “Judge not that ye be not judged.” Jesus didn’t come to save us because we are saints. He came because we are all living in the darkness of material identification, instead of understanding ourselves as eternal spirit souls.
There is one verse in the Bible which states, that if we approach the altar of God, and we are harboring feelings of resentment towards anyone in, we should go back and establish feelings of love with them, and then return to the altar. What God is telling us, is that until we love each other regardless, it will be difficult for us to approach Him.

I can’t say that I have attained this platform of spiritual vision 100%. But the purpose of our discussions here, is to encourage each other in our eternal sense of direction.

Stephen Andrew always writes in his entries with, “Peace to all.” I like that.

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Though I like your enthusiasm, I do not think censorship is the answer. I do however think that if anyone is being payed to include such propaganda, this should be transparent.

You know how Major League Sports events are payed to promote patriotism. There should be a disclaimer or at least an independent media organization should report when this happens, so that the public remains informed that they are being manipulated.

But, a book burning will only make people crave these things all the more. Like how I watched the beheading of Nick Berg after our government banned the video (I was able to find it online and I do regret watching it, but would not have sought it out has it not been banned). And how my main personal reading list in High School was all the books that were banned when my Mom was in High School.

Maybe it is my concupiscence, but when those in authority tell me I can’t see something, I interpret this as, I now need to see this. I parent my children by saying that I would prefer them not watch certain things or that it would not be very wise for them to do, but I try not to tell them that they can’t watch or do something.

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Well regardless, we need to purge this from the system. It’s pointless, it’s propoganda, and the world is better off without it. It poisons the minds of the youth and it ruins people. They’re trying to snuff out the Divine Feminine with trans men, men who can get pregnant. These people are sick, and they need to go back to their home planet, because Earth has always been a binary, man and woman.

I just wish this sh*t never existed, cause my life has been ruined because of that b.s. I don’t wish this life on anyone, especially children.

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I know…you and I both know Peter that I don’t identify as Jake (or Jacob). This body, this character I play is temporary in this 3D plane of existence.

But, this is something I do struggle with, which is, homosexual tendencies. Yes, the world is a stage, but I also don’t feel like it’s a good thing to just do whatever you want either. We are down here to learn and to graduate, and not be stuck down here LOL! I just hope that I do graduate, I’m so tired of being here. I mean, sh*t, give us some incentive for being down here. Make pizza free or something LOL!

There are days when I just want out of this fake Sims game. Knowing that life here is some dream (or in my case, a nightmare) and the only time we escape the dream (or nightmare) is when we go to sleep. I’m always excited when I go to sleep, cause I have the best dreams. Yes, dreams are weird and usually make no coherent sense, but it’s better than waking up in this sh*thole. I’m just pissed off that in the womb I was messed with and have this disordered attraction towards men. That or my Dad is just a really bad father (which is possible seeing as though he thought it was a smart idea to hit me when I was 25 years old and I was on medication for a mental disorder).

I just want out of here. There’s nothing for me here. I don’t have a gf, or a kid. My family may as well be non-existent. And, I’m alone. If I wanted to I could indirectly end my life, I know how to do it. No one would ever know that it was me who took my life. All I would have to do is manifest it, so like it could be a car crash, or someone just shoots me. But, God would know that I took my life, and I’m NOT coming back here. I know I volunteered to be here, and I honestly regret my decision. I hope I never have to come back here ever again. This is hell….being here is absolute hell, and all I do is search for the exit LOL.

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That’s it…….we are all “earth students”. And you are in the most fortunate position……..simply because you are understanding how painful life is in the material world. Those who come into this world, to be born in a palace as a prince, or the son of a billionaire, or the body that is destined to an olympic athlete, or a movie star that is worshipped by thousands of people, or to be recognized as the most handsome or the most beautiful…….these people rarely become serious about spiritual life. Because they are intoxicated with their material success. And they are blind to the fact, that all of it can come to an end at any moment. The wealthiest man on the planet can’t take a penny with him when he has to leave this body behind. Also everyone here, in this world, will grow old, diseased and die.
This life is meant for spiritual cultivation. So that we don’t have to come back here and do it again. And the only ticket out of here is if we have love of God in our hearts. Being a “good” person is not enough. Jesus says “Not by good works alone…..”. No God wants our love, and this is the commandment of Jesus. I speak like this because we are having this discussion on Catholic Talk. Therefore I am expressing the truth of all religions in words that Catholics can relate to. Jesus says that of all the rules by which God wants us to live, the highest rule is to love God with all of our heart and all of our strength. Love is more than being a good person. Love is a personal feeling about the person we love. And this is what God wants from us. He wants us to love Him. Then He accepts us into His kingdom. This is the ticket, the entrance fee.

When God likes someone, He may give them what they want in this world. But if He really likes someone, He takes everything away from them…..so that they will turn to Him as their only shelter, as their only source of satisfaction, as their only happiness.
Worldly satisfaction is short-lived. All of the saints are spritual practitioners who have turned their backs on the so-called worldly pleasures. They are not ascetics. They have spiritual pleasure in their hearts , pleasure that causes them to consider the things of this world to be insignificant.

Therefore you have a head-start. I am in a similar boat. I have always been like a square peg in a round hole in this world. And it caused me to search for something that I could hold on to, something that could fulfill my heart. And that led me to religion. A person like you……you are like me…….we have no choice……because we can’t find it in the things of this world. Therefore this is God’s kindness, this is God’s love. We are very fortunate. Now let us make the best use of our good fortune, by openiong our hearts to God, and asking Him to be our Father, our Mother, our best Friend, our wealth, our everything. Then our lives can be the most successful. Instead of seeing this world as a horrible place, we can begin to see this world as an institution for our reclamation. And as we grow spiritually, we will only have loving compassion on the people of this world, because all of their hopes, all of their dreams, all of their endeavors for family, society, friendship and love will be taken from them by the relentless passing of time. And if they are not prepared, they will only die with empty hearts.
Thank you for being honest enough to express you pain. This takes courage. I respect you for that. Ask God how you can come closer to Him….. and as as you do…..you will begin to feel yourself to be the most fortunate, the most wealthy person in the world. You won’t want anything more. You won’t even want to leave this place. You will only pray, “Please God, I am not asking You for anything. You can keep me here in this world, or You can place me wherever You like. All I am asking You for is to be able to feel Your presence in my heart, and to feel Your love.” I believe in my heart that this is only thing to shoot for. I am working on this in my own small way. Let us give each other strength.

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Hi Cade! That’s the way God relates to us. He tells us that He prefers that we don’t watch certain things, and don’t do certain things, that it wouldn’t be wise for us ………but He doesn’t tell us that we can’t. Then He gives us freedom to choose.