Knights Of Columbus
St. Olivers KOC 13440

3200 Brooks Dr., Snellville, GA 30078

 

 


The Rapture

As The past Grand Knight of a Council in Florida we had Brothers who were married to others than Catholics.  One of the main topics or other times was the Rapture and how it is upon us.  Rapturites le, but explain that it’s from them thatwe get the word rapiemur, which St. Jerome used to translate the Gning “caught up” in this passage from St. Paul’s Thessalonians:For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ wil rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thess 4:15-17).

Another favorite rapturite passage also comes from St. Paul:
Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed (1 Cor 15:51-52).
According to adherents of the rapture theory, this blessed event will happen secretly and silently — which is why these proof texts are so puzzling, referring as they do to shouting, the trumpet of God, and the voice of an archangel (which has to be loud). The common rapturite explanation given for this apparent contradiction is that only those being raptured will see Jesus, and will hear him shout, the archangel speak, and the trumpet of God sound. That’s a handy explanation — except the Bible doesn’t say anything about it. In fact, the Bible never mentions a rapture distinct from the Second Coming. So how does the rapturite arrive at these two different events?

One justification often given is that three different words are used for the Second Coming — parousia, apokalypsis, and epiphaneia. Rapturites claim these refer to different events. The problem is that rapturiton, however, is a so-called “literal” radical dichotomy between Israel and the Church, which necessitates two separate comings of Christ. LaHaye writes that there are “two keys to understanding the prophetic Word of God.

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Court rejects Catholic concerns about new contraception mandate rules EWTN News/CNA)

A U.S. appeals court ruled Friday against Catholic organizations with objections to the Obama administration’s latest opt-out rules for mandated contraceptive and sterilization health insurance coverage.

“To ask a group of priests to cooperate in the government’s plan to expand access to birth control and abortion-inducing drugs is about as contrary to religious freedom as you can get,” Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, a lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services, said Nov. 14.

He said that if the government is sincere in providing an opt-out mechanism, “it is reasonable for us to insist that we be given a way to opt out that does not itself violate our moral conscience. And whether it violates our conscience is for us to say, not the government.” Fr. Pavone’s comments came in reaction to a ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

 


Pope Francis Confirms U.S. Visit to Attend Meeting on Family Issues

Francis confirmed Monday that he will travel to Philadelphia next September for the World Meeting of Families, a conference held every three years in a different city to celebrate the importance of family.

Francis' announcement, at an interreligious Vatican conference on traditional family values, ended months of lobbying and speculation.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, the conference's organizer, met with Francis at the Vatican and personally invited him to the city in March.

Vatican officials toured the city in May and President Barack Obama, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Congress have extended invitations.

Just last week, more than 10,000 Philadelphia Catholic school children sent handwritten notes encouraging Francis to make the visit.

New York and Washington, but Vatican officials Monday would not confirm those legs of the trip.

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