Joel Osteen versus the Humble Parish Priest

Take advantage of a true treasure your own parish priest his homily at daily mass is much greater than what evangelic protestants wait in line to hear sitting in a stadium. The humble parish priest is much more expert than Joel Osteen or Billy Graham and will never receive their notoriety  except in Heaven. We have these holy men right down the street from us. they will be the last to acknowledge their holiness though they are truly treasures. Fight Protestantism, attend daily mass.


I received the following from Truth from Protestantism https://www.facebook.com/TruthForProtestantism

Joel Olsteen is NOT guided by the holy spirit I can promise you. He is a self made millionaire selling hope to the hopeless and you have boughten it hook line a...nd sinker. That he spends more on the church in tithes on years means absolutely nothing. Trust me as one who has handled multi million dollar budget that just means he has other investments from other years subsidizing his income. Tithes are just one income stream. 2 Timothy 4:3"For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.Some back to the church of Jesus, the one true faith. The catholic church created in the year 33. When did Joel's corporation start again? Then how can it match with matthew 16; 18-19? Jesus created a church in the year 33 not 1983.

I agree with what you are saying here and these are good points. I am wondering though if this is the best way to win people back. We all have our ways of evangelizing, and I am not questioning you or your call. My own experience for what its worth has been that I was born Catholic or baptized within the first two weeks of birth, I had a long journey from the church that lead me to Anglicanism, and evangelical or fundamental protestant sects, of which Joel Osteen is one. Osteen is a part  of an evangelically "non-demonitaional" branch known as prosperity theology.

Mainstream fundies make fun of his message as well(oh the things they say about Catholics especially after the wed night bible studies) but it doesn't seem to do much good raw criticism. His congregation continues to grow. there is nothing wrong with his message per say it is Protestantism and thus heretical (sola fide and sola scripptorum are the heresies of Protestantism), it can get heretical sometimes if the prosperity is hammered as gods blessing thus leading one to believe that it is worldly success that indicates a closeness to god, this is a heretical that in fact directly contradicts the words of our lord and if Pastor Osteens message as received by his disciples is interpreted this way. I do not think this is what Pastor Osteen in his heart believes though. It can also leads to a kind of spiritual snobbery which is somewhat hilarious from  a Catholic perspective.  But let us  remember the teaching of St. John Paul the Great, Joel has been baptized and thus has paid the price of admission into to the kingdom of God on earth -- the Catholic Church -- he is a brother not an enemy. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing leading people away from the faith on the one had, but he does much good on the other. What I have found to be true of evangelical pastors two things 1-they seem to be much more grace filled approachable and in touch with God then we might think (there is something to be said for being steeped in scripture day and night) and certainly more so than their congregations and second every time as a catholic who has received the sacrament of confirmation I challenge them using the correct understanding of scripture from those of us who wrote it, they back down, they are quick to see where others are right. I have done this even in front of partial congregations. I have done this online with Pastor Osteen and watched his message online change for a period of time.

If Pastor Osteen has accumulated too much wealth, that is between him and Jesus. It is not for me to say.  What is more I don't know what his personal wealth is.

I am wondering if a good tactic might be to write them and all protestant pastors when we notice specifics of their message that are not inline with teaching to write them and point this out. not on a constant basis and invite them into an ongoing dialogue with not a Catholic clergy but a Catholic lay person who has received confirmation. If you are like me you were told of the power we gained with confirmation but maybe didn't understand it fully. it is true we have the message of truth within us there is no reason to be on the defensive. we can tell these pastors straight up where they are wrong and why and they will back down. and maybe just as they have lead the ignorant away they will lead them back. there is precedence for this in for example Scott Hahn. additionally as Catholics who have received confirmation it is the pastors we should be talking to we know much more than they do. remember many of them have good hearts that are grace filled but they are ignorant and in many cases thirst for the truth that we as Catholics have. we do not need to attack them as their congregations attack us we simply can challenge their pastors as lay confirmed Catholics.

Try it you will win every time because we have the truth and you will chip away at their ignorance. and thus set the stage for bringing back their congregations. the congregations are sheep being led astray by these wolves in sheep’s clothing. but the wolves themselves are ignorant sheep when compared to a simple confirmed Catholic. none of them not Joel or Billy graham have the apostolic succession that we have received at conformation. none of them can say I have  been touched by a man and breathed on in the manner of Pentecost and with the same words 'receive the Holy Spirit, by a man who had the something done to him by a man who had the same thing done to him by a man who had the same thing done to him etc. ... all the way back in and unbroken chain through the centuries  to Jesus. No one can say this except we Roman Catholics and our Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters. the Anglicans have lost the chain its been broken they don't even claim it any more, the Lutherans  don't have it they don't claim although they did for a time since Luther was a priest.

  No no one has it but us. Also remember our own humble parish priests who live in true humility with much more knowledge and experience of grace then Joel can ever hope to have. Also the fullness of the message we have access too at daily mass from a much greater expert than Joel. Remember this each day at daily mass we have a homily that is much fuller and truer than one of Joels full stadiums talks by someone who is more expert than Joel, and could easily fill stadiums with their message but chooses not to.  Each day we have this a homily from a parish priest who is 100s of times better at understanding and explaining the Gospel 100s of times better at the very thing Joel does and we don't have to go stadium and wait in line to get this. in fact how many of us take this for granted our churches aren't filled each morning for daily mass. 

Father Paul Griesgrabber, who pours himself out for others. You can find him on youtube with deep understand of the Bible and the patience to pass on what he has lived.  You won't find him stadiums you will find him down the street in LA and on youtube.

Growing in intimacy with Jesus Part 1

 I tell you if you go you will be astounded at the message from you parish priest in his humble daily humbly. astounded. I had the privilege of living in father Leo McAlister’s parish for a time in Sacramento California and I went to daily mass. that humble parish priest had it all over Joel and we even came to understand after he died accomplished without notoriety much more prodigious acts of love and charity that remained hidden until his death than joel can hope to accomplish in his lifetime -- this is the humility  of the parish priest -- Fr. McAlester was the rule not the exception. these are the kind of holy men who live right down the street from you and will never preach in a stadium. anyway fr. McAlister could take the gospel reading and explain it in understandable terms and make it relevant for today in about 5 minutes. uncanny ability to do this just boom just like it was nothing things the protestants work weeks on and take 30 45 minutes to try and do fr, McAlister did in five minutes and it was completely thorough.  I wish I had taped on of these homilies. five minutes completely and thoroughly explain the gospel and put it in relevant context with meaning for our work today. These are our humble parish presets who labor anonymously performing prodigious acts of love and charity that we will not know and truly never fully know even after they die. remember this when you see you priest this week they deserve the respect we give them. pax chrisiti.

One of my favorite quotes from Father Leo McAlsiter, "Never give up on anyone."

"The Daily Prayer That Never Fails"

http://www.diocese-sacramento.org/herald_archives/articles/050219mcallister.html

http://www.stmichaelgodsknight.org/

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/107105887805739501454/

https://www.facebook.com/stmichaelgodsknight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrlr4bryjas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDRjaQnGcMs

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