Guest Post: Sunday Meditation Reflecting on the Nicene Creed

Editor's note: I've never thought about the different format of the Nicene Creed from the rest of the prayers at Mass. We don't call it a prayer but a "profession of faith."

 It seems to me that the Creed is like a "pledge of allegiance" to God, or like an oath taken by the president, supreme court justices, etc. We are promising the King of King our fidelity. So I'm not sure I would want to see it changed into a prayer as Jim suggests in this article.

What do you think, readers? We recite the creed every Sunday and on certain feasts and solemnities. How often do we seriously reflect on what we say? Let's really listen next time we join together with the Catholic community in reciting the Creed.

THE NICENE PRAYER

by James M. Thunder* 

We will often hear news media, government officials, and private persons, say in consolation, “Our thoughts and our prayers are with you.” So very seldom do they state to Whom our prayers are addressed. And so it is with Thanksgiving. Although the Presidents -- from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to Franklin D. Roosevelt to President Trump’s 2018 Proclamation, state to Whom we ought to give thanks on Thanksgiving Day, the words God or the Almighty are seldom stated by news media, government officials, and private persons in conjunction with Thanksgiving Day.

Guest Post: Francis Calls Keepers of Doctrine "Fanatics"

By David Martin

Solicitous concern over the purity of doctrine reflects the truest love of God and neighbor, since doctrine, as with any of the Ten Commandments, is not an ideal that may be watered down or dismissed to suit ones fancy, but an eternal command set in stone for man's sanctification. In the same way a healthcare expert does not tolerate poison in the diet, so a true priest will never tolerate poison in the spiritual diet. It has to be pure, which means it has to be clear, without which it is poison. 

But Pope Francis has now come out and slammed conservative Catholics who earnestly maintain that purity of doctrine be preserved. Concerning such people, the pope said in his Friday morning homily: "They are fanatics about things that are not clear, such as these fanatics who go about there, sowing discord in order to divide the Christian community."