Stephen K. Ray's Blog, page 20

Paul Cruise 14 Comments and Farewells

After 14 days together, our group shared our final meal with lots of comments and farewell’s and then they headed home. It was a wonderful trip and I can honestly say we did not have one complaint but 1000 compliments.

Enjoy this video with people sharing their thoughts and ideas of our trip through Italy, Greece, and Turkey.

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Paul Cruise 13 Corinth and Erastus Stone

It’s always sad to disembark from the ship, but we had the exciting city of Corinth ahead of us. Paul lived in Corinth for 18 months and wrote two very impassioned epistles to them. Seems he loved the Corinthian church more than the others.

An easy process getting off the ship and we headed to Corinth. We stopped first at the canal that was dug through the isthmus dividing Achaia from mainland of Greece. Amazing site! From there to the archaeological ruins of Corinth. We had Mass on a rock outdoors in front of the judgment seat (Bema) and a short tour of all the site.

I took everyone down to my favorite part of Corinth missed by other groups, the Erastus Stone which confirms the truth of Scripture. Then back to the canal for a lunch together before celebrating the anticipatory Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of St. Dionysius in Athens. Farewell dinner in the hotel and to bed early.

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Paul Cruise 12 Island of Patmos and Book of Revelation

A short voyage over to the Greek Island of Patmos. It was from here that John the Apostle was an exile, and wrote his book of Revelation as revealed to him by Jesus Christ. Read Revelation chapter 1.

We had an outdoor Mass overlooking the bay, and we all entered the Cave of St. John the Theologian where he wrote the book of Revelation. Many of the group also journeyed up to the top of the hill for the Greek Monastery of St. John. Beautiful walk and ancient artwork and a small museum.

The basic tour was over before lunch and everybody had the rest of the afternoon to enjoy the island or to go back on the ship.

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Sympathy for Cradle Catholics Who Can’t Explain or Defend the Faith

I thought of a helpful illustration to explain why “cradle Catholics” are often unable to explain and defend the Catholic faith. The example has its weaknesses, but it does help get the point across.

As an American I asked myself this question: if some one trained to attack America intellectually approached me on the street and challenged my country, would I be ready and able to defend the USA?

Would I know all the historical details, dates, and facts? Do I know the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Supreme Court rulings or, even the ancient documents that preceded the birth of our nation—the documents and events that formed the foundation for our government?

The answer is simple: “No, I would not be prepared.”

But I am an American. I love my country. I was born here and believe in the principles and love the freedom that are American. I know my country has many problems and I do not love everything that is American. But I would be unprepared to explain and defend the details and documents of my nation even though I love the USA and would readily stay an American citizen rather than join another country.

This is much the same as a “cradle Catholic”.  They are often ashamed that they cannot defend the faith, but they are like me as an American. I was born American and never been in a situation where I had to defend my country in a rigorous intellectual debate.

Take the Filipinos for example. They have been Catholics for 400 years. They love their faith, the Lord Jesus, Mama Mary and the Catholic Church. But for 400 years they have been a Catholic nation and never needed to “defend” it. They only needed to love it and obey it.

But now the wolves are approaching their islands and making great inroads devouring the flock. The attack comes not only from cults and sects, Protestants and liberal Catholics, but also from modernism and Americanism. They are pursued from every side. They are pushed to leave the Church, to join the cults and sects or to pursue pleasure, money, and sin.

Just like I would I need to take the time and energy to study my country and its history, so cradle Catholics are now required to learn their faith in a new and energetic way to defend the faith and their children.

The time for comfort is over. The time to study and learn is here. No longer can we—or anyone who has been born and raised Catholic—sit back and take the faith for granted. It is time for war! It is time for defense! It is time to get to work!

I do not criticize “cradle Catholics” for not knowing their faith. I understand the situation. But now we must begin rigorous study and learning—our children and our faith are at stake. We have no time to to waste. We are called to re-evangelize and defend Mother Church! God bless us all as we serve Our Lord.

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Paul Cruise 11 Ephesus and Mary’s House

One of the most anticipated days is now upon us! Ephesus is one of the most magnificent Roman ruins anywhere in the world. The massive city was visited by Saint Paul, who lived here for two years and wrote them a epistle.

We start with Mass at Mary’s House up on Nightingale Mountain. Then we toured the whole ancient city of Ephesus, including the 24,000 seat theater from ancient times. We took a group picture.

We also go to an out-of-the-way place which most groups know nothing about. It’s the “Double Church” or the “Church of the Virgin Mary”, which is where the 3rd Ecumenical Council of 431 was held, which declared that Mary was “Theotokos“ or “Mother of God.“ I give my talk there on Mary, the Mother of God.

From there we go to the most elegant outdoor lunch we have on the whole trip, which is reminiscent of Downton Abbey. We visit the rug factory and people are always thrilled by the demonstration. Lots of people bought rugs.

From there, we go to the ruins of the St. John Church, which has the remains physical remains of St. John the Apostle under a huge marble slab where the altar once stood. We had free time to enjoy all of the seafood restaurants along the shore or to go back to the ship.

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In Ephesus I Always Give My Short Talk on Mary the Mother of God and the End of Mary’s Life

Today we are in Ephesus where St. Paul lived for two years, where St. John was the bishop, where Mary lived and where the 3rd Ecumenical Council took place in 431. The photo to the right is the Church of the Virgin Mary where the 3rd Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church took place. We are here today.

On a previous trip to Ephesus, we video recorded my talk at this site (see below). I am standing in the ruins of the Church of the Virgin Mary where the title “Theotokos”, Mother of God was officially declared as a title of Mary. I am giving the talk again today for our group.

My talk is about Mary in Ephesus, the title “Mother of God”, and the truth about Mary as taught by the Catholic Church.

Do you understand the end of Mary’s life or what happened? I hope you enjoy this short talk while I was in Ephesus where Mary lived and where the 3rd Ecumenical Council took place proclaiming Mary as the Thetokos, the Mother of God. A LOT of people have watched and liked this video, so I thought I would post it again especially since we arh

If you want to visit Ephesus with us, join our September 2020 St. Paul Mediterranean Cruise & Pilgrimage: A Seminar at Sea! You can see the map and all the biblical sites we will visit HERE.

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Paul Cruise 10 Pergamum (Rev 2), Altar of Satan snd Asklepion

We spent the morning on the ship and I gave my talk “Saint Paul’s Life, Travels, and Theology” Part 2. We had Mass in the auditorium on the ship.

Because we could not dock on the ship, we took tenders to get to the shore. These are like little tug boats which ferry people back-and-forth from the ship to the land. We landed in Dikili Turkey and then drove to the ancient site of Pergamum, which was where parchment was invented, and it has the second largest library in the ancient world. It was also the location of the massive Altar of Zeus.

We love this site because it’s mentioned twice in the book of Revelation chapter 2. So I act as a “runner“ for St. John the Apostle who was bishop of this area while exiled on the island of Patmos. He wrote a letter to Pergamum and I rush in and read the letter and explain it and then dash off to the next of the seven churches

We also went to Asklepion which was a medical center in ancient times and one of the best preserved of the Roman ruins. We came back to the ship and again used the tenders to board. Dinner and a good night sleep.

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Conversion Stories Galore!

Many people don’t realize that we have a Conversion Story page on our website with hundreds of stories.

There are wonderful, emotional, educational and exciting stories of Catholic converts from all walks of life and all types of religions. Some are long and some are short, but they are all interesting with their own story of God’s grace.

Please feel free to read them at www.catholic-convert.com > Community > Conversion Stories, or by clicking here. And if you haven’t added your story yet, please do so.

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Paul Cruise 9 Istanbul All Day

Turkey Istanbul Turkey used to be called Constantinople and across the Bosporus River was Chalcedon. South a ways is Nicaea and Ephesus. The first Eight Ecemenical Councils took place here. Six of them in the Istanbul area. If Christianity was born in Israel, it grew up in the area of modern-day Turkey.

We started our day by approaching Istanbul through the Marmara Sea with the stunning view of the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia looming over us on the left. The Hagia Sophia is now a mosque, but for 1000 years (500-1500) it was the largest church in the world and probably the most beautiful.

We toured through the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) which is bittersweet, seeing a shadow of its former Christian glory, but knowing today it’s a mosque where we have to take off our shoes and the women have their heads covered with Hajibs. Still stunning!

Lunch at our favorite Hamdi’s Restaurant and the everyone cut loose in the exotic Spice Market for over an hour. You have to see and smell it to believe it. Then Mass at St. Anthony of Padua before returning to the ship dinner and free evening. Everything is going beautifully smooth, and everyone’s having a great time.

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Imagine the Music in Hagia Sophia, Largest Church for 1,000 Years

Today we are in Istanbul Turkey with our pilgrims, and we are visiting the Hagia Sophia (see the whole video on another post). For 1,000 years the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (today’s Istanbul) was the largest church in the world.

What would it have sounded like? Imaging attending the Easter Vigil with all those newly baptized Christians singing in their native language of Greek with St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, presiding.

Country folks walking in from the farms miles away with the smell of manure as their daily fare — coming into the splendor of this church, with the smell of incense and the heavenly music and the preaching of the Word of God and the miracle of the Eucharist.

They must have thought they’d entered heaven. The music starts at 1 minute into this YouTube video.

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