2/4/2019 0 Comments The Catholic Universalist Church of Asia Pacific: Registered under the Philippine's Security and Exchange Commission!
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1/26/2019 0 Comments Why do we baptize Children?Catholic Universalist Church (or simply Liberal Catholic) rite of Infant Baptism: In a Nutshell Since we do not believe in the literal interpretation of the 'Original Sin' thingy, and instead believe in the 'possibility' of a Soul's re-incarnation (to correct whatever mistakes he has done in the past before being one again with God in Paradise-- whatever that means to you), our process is quite 'esoteric' and 'mystical'. The Priest opens up 5 Chakra (Energy centers) of the infant. He crosses the crown of the Head, opening the crown chakra. He crosses the center of the brow opening the Third eye Chakra. He then crosses the throat opening the throat chakra. Next is the heart, opening the heart chakra. Lastly, he crosses the navel opening the solar plexus chakra. The Priest then pours water on the baby's crown, invoking the Trinity, to cleanse all his energy centers. By the process, the infant's new body will properly be aligned with his 'old soul'. The priest will then 'seal' back all his opened energy centers (chakras) using Holy Oils. By doing that, he also seals the 'negative attributes' carried by the child from his past life, while encouraging only the 'good attributes' he has. Lastly, the Priest tells all the sponsors and the parents that the 'seal' he made is just a temporary one. It is still the parents and the godparents responsibility to nurture the baby in this lifetime. It is their duty to teach the kid the Ultimate law: Love God, and love others. Namaste. St. Origen did not believe in the eternal suffering of sinners in hell. For him, all souls, including the devil himself, will eventually achieve salvation, even if it takes innumerable ages to do so; for Origen believed that God's love is so powerful as to soften even the hardest heart, and that the human intellect - being the image of God - will never freely choose oblivion over proximity to God, the font of Wisdom Himself. Certain critics of Origen have claimed that this teaching undermines his otherwise firm insistence on free will, for, these critics argue, the souls must maintin the freedom to ultimately reject or accept God, or else free will becomes a mere illusion. What escapes these critics is the fact that Origen's conception of free will is not our own; he considered freedom in the Platonic sense of the ability to choose the good. Since evil is not the polar opposite of good, but rather simply the absence of good - and thus having no real existence - then to 'choose' evil is not to make a conscious decision, but to act in ignorance of the measure of all rational decision, i.e., the good. Origen was unable to conceive of a God who would create souls that were capable of dissolving into the oblivion of evil (non-being) for all eternity. Therefore, he reasoned that a single lifetime is not enough for a soul to achieve salvation, for certain souls require more education or 'healing' than others. So he developed his doctrine of multiple ages, in which souls would be re-born, to experience the educative powers of God once again, with a view to ultimate salvation. This doctrine, of course, implies some form of transmigration of souls or metempsychosis. Yet Origen's version of metempsychosis was not the same as that of the Pythagoreans, for example, who taught that the basest of souls will eventually become incarnated as animals. For Origen, some sort of continuity between the present body, and the body in the age to come, was maintained (Jerome, Epistle to Avitus 7, quoting Origen; see also Commentary on Matthew 11.17). Origen did not, like many of his contemporaries, degrade the body to the status of an unwanted encrustation imprisoning the soul; for him, the body is a necessary principle of limitation, providing each soul with a unique identity. This is an important point for an understanding of Origen's epistemology, which is based upon the idea that God educates each soul according to its inherent abilities, and that the abilities of each soul will determine the manner of its knowledge. We may say, then, that the uniqueness of the soul's body is an image of its uniqueness of mind. This is the first inkling of the development of the concept of the person and personality in the history of Western thought. The restoration of all beings (apokatastasis) is the most important concept in Origen's philosophy, and the touchstone by which he judges all other theories. His concept of universal restoration is based on equally strong Scriptural and Hellenistic philosophical grounds and is not original, as it can be traced back to Heraclitus, who stated that "the beginning and end are common" (Fragment B 103, tr. J. Barnes 1987, p. 115). Considering that Origen's later opponents based their charges of heresy largely on this aspect of his teaching, it is surprising to see how well-grounded in scripture this doctrine really is. Origen's main biblical proof-text is 1 Corinthians 15:25-28, especially verse 28, which speaks of the time "when all things shall be subdued unto him [Christ], then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all" (KJV, my emphasis). This scriptural notion of God being "all in all" (panta en pasin) is a strong theological support for his theory of apokatastasis. There are, of course, numerous other passages in scripture that contradict this notion, but we must remember that Origen's strength resided in his philosophical ability to use reason and dialectic in support of humane doctrines, not in the ability to use scripture in support of dogmatical and anti-humanistic arguments. Origen imagined salvation not in terms of the saved rejoicing in heaven and the damned suffering in hell, but as a reunion of all souls with God. 1/26/2019 0 Comments Why do we need Worker-Priests?According to several anthropological studies conducted recently in the Philippines, for the past 10 years church attendance, especially in the Roman Catholic Church declined from 10℅ to 40℅. The trend is said to be going bigger and bigger each year. This is not only happening in the RC Church but to other Christian denominations as well. As a Liberal and Progressive Independent Catholic Priest, I am not alarmed by the recent statistics. In fact, a part of me is very, very happy. Why? Because finally, people are starting to see the truth. The Church as we see today is a very big money making scam, threatening people about eternal hell to continue filling in their donation boxes. For the past 2000 years, Christians has been enslaved by these scumbags using the fear of hell as their ultimate weapon. However, there is a risk of being too 'secular'. We must admit that spirituality (regardless of religion) plays a huge role in people's life especially in the Philippines. Though church attendance might be decreasing, this doesn't totally mean that Filipinos are becoming 'Atheists'. They just simply 'Believe in a God (or any Supernatural/Divine Being/thing somewhere out there), but just don't trust organized religions anymore. These people prefer to focus on leading a 'good' life without being active in their churches. Here's where the worker-priests are needed. 1. "Go into the world and proclaim the Gospel to all creation." -Mark 16:15 People doesn't have to go to big Churches. A Traditional 'holier than thou' priest-hood is not the trend anymore. We need to go back to Master Jesus' instruction to 'go into the world and proclaim the good news of Universalism'. An ordained priest may or may not start his own Parish or Church building. He can be a priest while being a corporate worker. He can be a factory worker, a pizza delivery boy, a food chain crew, or a bank manager. The Gospel needs to reach the people without letting them 'join' your church. You are there to offer the sacraments wherever you are for 'free'. 2. Teaching people authentic spirituality is easier when you are with them. When people see a priest wearing the same clothes as them, working the same jobs as them, having the same problems as them, people will have that impression that 'God is indeed with them'. Seeing genuinely humble ministers who are not afraid to show their flaws to others are what people needs nowadays. They do not need someone 'holier-than-thou' or a 'know-it-all-divine-man'. They need a human being like them, willing to listen and understand them for their weaknesses-- not judge and condemn them. This is why, we need more people to work in the vineyard of the Lord. We need to go back to the original instructions of our master. To go to people and preach the Gospel to them, not force them to join into our churches and ask tithes and donations, using the gift of eternal life as a bargain. We need more worker priests in the world now than ever before. Will you join us? Namaste. The Catholic Universalist Church is looking for more people who are interested to become Sub-deacons (Lay Leaders), Deacons, Priests and Bishops who will be able to spread God's inescapable love. We are a Church who doesn't believe in membership, but the faithfulness of each individual towards following the teachings of Master Yeshua. Our Ordination program is very comprehensive, but at the same time very simple. We let anyone take our courses and become a messenger of God's love without going through complicated Philosophy and Theology classes. We have prepared a program that is easy to read and follow for our seminarians to do in their free time. It is a self-paced study (for now) as we use the internet as the main platform for our Seminary. Anyone can enroll. Men, Women, Married, Single, Separated, Divorced-- even LGBT's can enter our seminary. After finishing the entire course and become ordained, a CUC Minister has the full autonomy in his type of Ministry. We do not require our ministers (though it is also ideal at some point) to put up a Parish and have regular masses on Sundays. A CUC Minister can choose to practice his ministry as: - a Chaplain (school, prison, workplace. etc.) - a Progressive Christian Educator - a social activist - a Christian Meditation facilitator - a Missionary Brother/Sister - On Call Minister - or simply a traditional Sunday Priest Since our ministry is non-stipendiary as we believe that the ordained ministry is a vocation and not a Profession, anyone may preach the Gospel in what ever possible method they could. You may do the Mass at home, conduct baptisms in the hotel or beach resorts, or simply give communion to the people inside your workplace. That is how the CUC works as it was shown to us by master Jesus 2000 years ago. Do you want to join this radical movement and Change the World? Change comes from within us. It starts from us. The Subdiaconate The subdiaconate is the lowest of the sacred or major orders in the Early Church. It is defined as the power by which one ordained as a subdeacon may carry the chalice with wine to the altar, prepare the necessaries for the Eucharist, and read the Epistles before the people. At present, for the CUC, subdeaconship is a minor order, though it is the highest ordination that any lay man may be able to receive.. The duties of a subdeacon in the Catholic Universalist Church are to serve the deacon at Mass; or to act as a deacon if needed; to prepare the bread and wine and sacred vessels for the Holy Sacrifice; to present the chalice and paten at the offertory and pour water into the wine for the Eucharist; to chant the Epistles solemnly; to wash the sacred linen. The subdeacon can also perform house or vehicle blessings, occasional baptism (if mandated by the Bishop) & a private deacon's mass at home (for personal & meditative purposes only). It is also a subdeacon's responsibility to spread the Gospel of Universal Reconciliation (Universalism) to everyone who wishes to hear it. A candidate for the subdiaconate could be anyone - Men, Women, LGBTQIA+, who would want to faithfully serve God through serving his fellow man. |
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