This Seaman’s first-class!
First, I would like to say that your group is a God-send because
Envoy is so awesome to read. I first found out about you guys from
the Missionaries of Faith Foundation site on the Web. I have read
through all the articles and have been absolutely impressed! I am
planning to start a Catholic prayer and Bible study group on our
ship, the USS Blue Ridge. I know that Envoy will be a great help
in providing my fellow Catholic shipmates with a better
understanding of what the Catholic Faith is all about. My prayers
are with you all.
Seaman Tin T. Tran, USS Blue Ridge
Paging Michaelangelo
Congratulations on a magazine well worth reading. I love it and
have sent copies to some of my family members. Praise God for
people like you who can help us learn our Faith and understand
where we are being led astray by others within and outside of the
Church. One suggestion for you: include one full page featuring a
piece of great Church art. You don’t know how many people never
make it to some of the great museums to see the art or don’t
spend the money on pictures, sculptures, art books, etc. Just a
brief description of the art and artist would be great also. Keep
up the good work.
Barbara Patterson, via e-mail
Took a Wiccan, but kept on tickin’
Hello. I just wanted to drop you a quick e-mail thanking you and
John Gibson for his article “Wiccan Work It Out,”
[September/October 1997]. My wife and I were Wiccans for over
seven years, from February 1991 to November 1998. For the final
four years, we were second-degree “Priest” and “Priestess”
(Lord have mercy!) and were responsible for the “spiritual
guidance” of others. When I think of all of the poor souls that
we led astray, it’s only my faith in our Lord’s infinite mercy
and love that keeps me from despair. Like Mr. Gibson, the initial
thing that set us on the path back toward the Catholic Church was
the abortion issue. Since my wife and I have been back in the
Church, we’ve been volunteers at a pro-life crisis pregnancy
center in New Jersey. Along with the Franciscan sisters who
established the center as a part of their community’s
apostolate, we’ve been trying to establish an outreach to those
who are still entangled in paganism. Unfortunately, it’s been
met with a great deal of skepticism (apparently most people view
our conversion as somewhat of a “fluke”). Your article,
however, helps to show people that sometimes Jesus calls even
hardcore pagans back, and that “His mercy endures forever.”
It’s a great comfort to know that someone out there has shared
our conversion experience, and it fills us with renewed hope for
all of the pagan friends we pray for every day.
Bob Kondrk, via e-mail
There’s one in every millennium
Hopefully, you will open your eyes and realize the warped
interpretation of the Word of God that the papacy spews out to
loyal Catholics everywhere. Do you think God is dumb? Do you think
He left out important doctrines of Christianity from the Bible:
things like the infallibility of the pope, the Immaculate
Conception and Sunday worship? These are nowhere to be found in
the Bible. These are men’s ideas! Unless, of course, you
consider the pope to be God Himself. The God of the Bible warns
about following men, praying and kneeling to idols. Don’t follow
just because there are so many who do. The Bible and Jesus is all
we need. All these other things are extra, added by men! Much of
the world reveres the pope and his teachings. But they are not in
the Holy Bible. They are added. Don’t ignore the Bible! Ask
yourself why so many Catholic practices are not in the Bible but
come from the mouths of men! Follow God or Man! The pope makes
clear his wish: “It is the task of the Church of the Holy See,
of all pastors, to fight on the side of man,” (Lumen Gentium 23;
Vatican Web site). Please pray about this.
Hugh Stoddard, via e-mail
Mr. Stoddard’s
grasp of what the Catholic Church is and what it teaches
doesn’t appear to be very firm. Perhaps he’s relying on
others for his information. But since he reads Envoy (or at
least the issue that prompted his ire and letter), let’s
assume he will abandon his allegation once he discovers the
facts. To that end, here is the actual quote from Lumen Gentium.
See if you can locate here anything like what Mr. Stoddard
alleges about the Catholic Church. Oh, and Mr. Stoddard? Better
check your sources more carefully next time. — The Editor
“The task of announcing the Gospel in the whole world belongs
to the body of pastors, to whom, as a group, Christ gave a
general injunction and imposed a general obligation, to which
already Pope Celestine called the attention of the Fathers of
the Council of Ephesus. Consequently, the bishops, each for his
own part, in so far as the due performance of their own duty
permits, are obliged to enter into collaboration with one
another and with Peter’s successor, to whom, in a special way,
the noble task of propagating the Christian name was entrusted.
Thus, they should come to the aid of the missions by every means
in their power, supplying both harvest workers and also
spiritual and material aids, either directly and personally
themselves, or by arousing the fervent cooperation of the
faithful. Lastly, in accordance with the venerable example of
former times, bishops should gladly extend their fraternal
assistance, in the fellowship of an all-pervading charity, to
other Churches, especially to neighboring ones and to those most
in need of help” (LG 23:3).
Catholic, and
loving it
I have been receiving Envoy since 1997, and I really enjoy it.
It’s a delight to have a Catholic magazine that supports the
Church, instead of another soft-soaping of what the Church says,
mingled with a message that all religions and beliefs are equally
valid, as long as it makes you feel good.
There is nothing quite like a conversion story. I think it is very
powerful witness to see how many “ordinary” people take the
step to the Roman Catholic Church today. I think it helps support
those people who look at the Church but think, “nobody converts
in today’s world.”
Charlene Fleming, via e-mail
Help set prisoners free
I have heard that you offer free subscriptions to people in
prison. This sounds too good to be true. Please, let me know about
your prison policy. I am a lay minister to Tucker Prison in
Arkansas. I am Catholic and a minister to the Catholic inmates.
Your magazine would be a great help.
Tommy Wise, Conway, AR
Attention
subscribers! Envoy does offer free one-year bulk subscriptions
to prisons; but we ask your help in covering the costs. You can
help us by sponsoring a subscription: just $61.20 for five
copies of each issue. The magazines go a long way in prison.
They get passed around to dozens of inmates. Your gift may be
the difference between despair and the hope and salvation found
in Jesus Christ.
— Editor
Like taking candy
from an atheist
Thank you for your article on atheism [“The Blind Faith of
Atheism,” July/ August 1999]. For several weeks now (in an
on-line news group), I have been trying to get an atheist to admit
that atheists use a different level of evidence when judging
things from atheist sources, than they do when judging things from
theist sources.
Thanks to your article, I knew exactly where the weak point in his
argument was and how to exploit it. He’s now hopping mad
(claiming all sorts of other things for which he has no support),
but, I hope, a little more internally honest.
Ted Seeber, via e-mail
Dear old Catholic school days
I am writing in response to Chris Fletcher’s piece “Catholic
Child, Public School,” [July/August 1999] which seemed to
endorse public schools for Catholic students.
The Church has clearly and consistently discouraged Catholics from
using secular public schools. In his 1929 encyclical On Christian
Education, Pope Pius XI states that for a school to be a fit place
for Catholic students, the whole organization of the school must
be “regulated by the Christian spirit, under the direction and
maternal supervision of the Church.” This same encyclical also
states that schools which exclude religion are “contrary to the
fundamental principles of education.”
The Vatican II Declaration on Christian Education reminds parents
of their “duty to entrust their children to Catholic schools,
when and where this is possible.” Canon 798 of the 1983 Code of
Canon Law also requires that, when possible, parents entrust their
children to schools which provide Catholic education.
Ellen Langford, Fort Wayne, IN
Three cheers, to
start the year
I have been getting your magazine for several years and enjoy it
tremendously. God bless you for your devotion to Him and His Holy
Catholic Church. Thank you for your refreshing, orthodox
publication.
Sue McLaughlin, Wilmington, DE
Great magazine. I’ve only read two issues, but am more impressed
each time!
Joe Carducci, Edgewater, MD
Just returned home from visiting relatives. My brother said he
almost ordered the “Y2K Sacramental Kit” from the “At
Ease” page [March/April 1999]. My teenage kids love Envoy as
much as I do. If I set it down, they pick it up and carry it off
to read!
Anne Stuckey, Katy, TX |
Got
Something
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Express yourself!
Write
to:
Envoy Magazine
P.O. Box 640
Granville, OH 43023
or email us at
editor@envoymagazine.com
Got
Something
on your mind?
Express yourself!
Write
to:
Envoy Magazine
P.O. Box 640
Granville, OH 43023
or email us at
editor@envoymagazine.com
Got
Something
on your mind?
Express yourself!
Write
to:
Envoy Magazine
P.O. Box 640
Granville, OH 43023
or email us at
editor@envoymagazine.com
Got
Something
on your mind?
Express yourself!
Write
to:
Envoy Magazine
P.O. Box 640
Granville, OH 43023
or email us at
editor@envoymagazine.com |
