Deep in Scripture Radio

I find it difficult to free my mind from the present scandal in the Church. It bombards us from every angle, if we are even the least bit connected to almost any form of media, especially the Catholic Internet. In today's episode, we'll address scandals in our own day in light of the scandals among God's people in Jesus' day, and look at how they point to the need for both reform in our Church, and a renewed call for conversion in our own lives.

You are a different person. I don’t mean different in the sense of strange, but rather if you have heard, believed, and were sealed through baptism in the Holy Spirit, then you are a different person. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, if you are “in Christ” then you are “a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.” But this was not to be understood only as a one time event—a rite of passage that happened many years ago in our lives—but the beginning of a life-long journey of faith, growing in holiness and in intimacy with Christ our Savior. In fact, St. Paul proclaims that we are to “be filled with all the fullness of God.” This is what we will discuss today on Deep In Scripture.

Jim Anderson, CHNetwork's manager of clergy converts to Catholicism, joins Marcus Grodi to discuss a perplexing set of teachings from Jesus. In Luke 9:50, Jesus says "he that is not against you is for you," but then in Luke 11:23, Jesus says "he who is not with me is against me."  So which is it?  Are those outside the Church to be considered adversaries, or allies, or does it all depend on the context? Jim and Marcus look at the situations Jesus is referring to in these two passages, and try to get at what Our Lord is trying to teach us.

Marcus Grodi looks at the high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17, when Jesus prays for his apostles to be consecrated in the truth. Marcus compares this prayer to the actions of St. Paul in Acts 20, as he's preparing to depart the Church at Ephesus. St. Paul's prayer and exhortation to those presbyters have many parallels to prayer Jesus offers in the Garden of Gethsemane, and Marcus unpacks some of those connections.

Former American Baptist pastor and Catholic convert Ken Hensley joins Marcus Grodi to look at the issue of Christian unity, and what the New Testament has to say about it in the letters of St. Paul and the words of Jesus himself.

Ken Hensley is online at www.kennethhensley.com