Pope Benedict XVI, in a rare television speech, speaks to the people of Germany, beseeching Germans to bring God back into their horizon.
Merkel eagerly welcomes the pope to Germany to find common ground with Protestants.
Angela Merkel, daughter of a Lutheran pastor, has encouraged Germans on her weekly podcast to welcome Pope Benedict XVI, calling all Christians to focus on what unites them.
“I think it is important to constantly reinforce the unity of Christians at a time when we are confronted by a growing secularism,” said Merkel.
Later this week the pope will travel to Berlin. He will address the Parliament and travel to Erfurt, the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation, 500 years ago this year. The Pope will join Protestant ministers in prayer and then travel to Freiburg where he will address the youth and have a public Mass. The pope’s message is for Germany to re-connect to God.
“Its significance is well expressed in the motto accompanying these days: ‘Where God is, there lies the future.’ What this means is that we must restore God to our horizon, the God who is so often absent but of whom we have such great need,” stated the pope.
Pope Benedict leaves for his visit to Germany this Thursday, Sept. 22. He will give 18 sermons and speeches during the four-day trip. Amongst his travels, he will speak to the German Parliament. One-hundred members have decided to boycott the speech on September 23rd because they insist there should be a separation of church and state and believe allowing the pope to speak violates that principle.
He suggested that those who want to know about God should look to space and the cosmos:
“the world is built in a rational way; and in the great rationality of the world we can get some idea of the Creator Spirit from which it comes; in the beauty of creation we can get some idea of the beauty, the greatness and the goodness of God.”
The pope stated that we can not physically touch God:
“It is, indeed, true that we cannot place God on the table, we cannot touch Him or pick Him up like an ordinary object. We must rediscover our capacity to perceive God, a capacity that exists within us.”
we also “catch a glimpse of God” in Holy Scriptures where “we hear the words of eternal life” and in meeting “people who have been touched” by God. This not only includes the great saints, he said, but also “the many simple people about whom nobody speaks” yet whose lives emanate “goodness, sincerity and joy,” so that “we know that God is there and that He also touches us.”
“Thus, over these days,” said the Pope concluding his television address, “let us commit ourselves to seeing God again, to becoming people who bring the light of hope into the world, a light that comes from God and that helps us to live.”
Source: CNA
My Comment:
The pope just denied Catholic teaching by stating:
“It is, indeed, true that we cannot place God on the table, we cannot touch Him or pick Him up like an ordinary object. We must rediscover our capacity to perceive God, a capacity that exists within us.”
The Catholic Church believes that you can touch God in your own hands by receiving the Eucharist. Ironically, they say he is placed on an alter or table and then locked in a tabernacle. They say the Jesus they consume is the body, blood, soul and Divinity. How is it the pope contradicts his own teachings with the above statement? He knows this may not go over too well with Lutheran Germany and he is trying to build a major bridge with Lutherans. He wants them back in the fold of “Mother Church.”
What would Luther and the reformers and all those who lost their lives as martyrs say about the joint prayer to take place at Erfert? The Reformers called the pope the antichrist. You won’t hear many Protestant ministers calling him that these days. They have forgotten what the Reformation was all about. The pure Gospel!! The Gospel is getting a very murky definition these days and we can be sure it will be compromised by all those who give in to the pope’s one world religion to come.
The pope stated we can “catch a glimpse” of God in Scripture. A glimpse? Jesus IS the WORD. Jesus said :
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)
This is more than a “glimpse.” Within it’s pages are Life itself!
The Pope, who calls himself the Holy Father, the name Jesus called His Father, will be recognized in Germany and will be given a place of dignity in their government meeting. This is a far cry from the Reformation. Just recently the Catholic Church gained a church privilege in Germany in all Catholic institutions. If a man divorces his wife and works in a Catholic hospital, the hospital can fire him for breaking cannon law. This man can not seek legal action against the hospital for violating his rights. This is a perfect example of civil law and canon law merging..just as it was during the Inquisition. She used civil power to achieve her goals. Hence, she will continue to seduce all nations, making concordats around the globe to give her more power in governments worldwide.
Daniel 7:25
He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.
Written by Sue
Posted by ivarfjeld 
