Many other Christians, including many on this board, are also unwilling to speak the truth or permit it to be spoken if doing so has the potential to upset a fellow member.
Speaking the truth without love is just mean.
Speaking in love without truth is meaningless.
As Christians, we are taught to speak the truth in love.
Sometimes, people need to hear something that they may very well dislike.
When we speak truth without love and try to justify it because we have truth on our side, it only serves our own ego and is simply being mean.
As most know, we do have a few Catholics on this site. But even if we didn't we should not bash the Catholic faith for the sake of simply "speaking truth".
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Kissing the Bible is rich in symbology and stems back many, many centuries. I found this article that did a good job explaining the tradition.
The tradition of kissing the Gospel at Mass is an ancient one with rich symbolism. Nikolaus Gihr in his book
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass explains, “The Book of the Gospels, or rather, the sacred text of the Gospels in general,
represents our divine Savior Himself and was, therefore, ever (the same as the images of Christ) a subject of religious veneration … After having tasted and experienced in the Gospel how sweet the Lord is, how faultless His doctrine, how good and refreshing His consolations and promises, the heart of the priest overflows with happiness and joy, and he kisses the words of eternal life, in order to testify his profound reverence, his great and ardent love for them.”
The
Second Vatican Council reiterated this belief that Jesus his present in a special way when his Word is proclaimed at Mass, “
He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church.”
The early liturgies of the Catholic Church included a special reverence of the Gospels for everyone present.
aleteia.org
So the question remains, why did Pope John Paul the second kiss a Koran?
Here is an excellent article which explains why.
FATHER JOE:
Is it not a book that speaks directly against the Catholic faith? Does it not reduce the Son of God to a mere prophet? Did not the popes of the past demand its burning? The answer to all these questions is YES, and yet what the Holy Father did was more complicated than what the anti-Catholic and/or sedevacantist spin-doctors might say about it.
One critic argues that it was a blasphemous act, showing his “hatred” of God and his apostate defection from the true faith. It was none of these things. The Pope is on the record about the differences between Catholics and the followers of Islam. Let us look at the situation. The Pope longed to go to Iraq in order to walk in the footsteps of Abraham, claimed as a “father in faith” by Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Pope John Paul II saw firsthand the depth of man’s inhumanity to his brothers and sisters. Our history as a world is written in blood. As illustrated in his repeated “mea culpa,” he strives for a new understanding between peoples where dialogue, tolerance, and cooperation will replace anathemas, persecution, and rivalry. Abraham is an integral figure of unity in turning things around politically. Looking at the incident in question, the Holy Father received a delegation that included the Shiite Imam of Khadum Mosque, the Sunni President of the council that operates the Iraqi Islamic Bank, and a member of the Iraqi Ministry of Religion. The invitation of a papal visit was renewed. They even went so far as to say that it would be “a grace from heaven.” While Iraq has been guilty of real violations of human rights, this Islamic state was the most tolerant of Christians than any of its Islamic neighbors. Many Catholics held positions in government, commerce, education, etc. The Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon (Iraq), His Beatitude Raphael I Bidawid, was a major spokesman for the delegation. He applauded the Pope’s actions and words as a true sign of concern from the Successor of St. Peter. (Christians represented 5% of the 20 million people in Iraq. Catholics of the large Chaldean rite [implementing the Aramaic language] and of the smaller Latin rite represented 80% of all Christians there.) It was said that a papal visit would confirm the faith of Christian believers while showing forth a genuine love for all in this mostly Muslim nation.
The Koran was a gift to him from the delegation. Islamic peoples are not casual in the giving of gifts. It represents the giver. They knew perfectly well that the Pope was a Catholic Christian, but they gave to him that which was regarded as most important in their life, their own holy book. Thus, at the end of the audience, the Pope showed his deep appreciation to this intimate self-donation, by bowing and kissing the Koran as a sign of respect. Such a gesture ran totally against the grain of crusades and condemnations. It did not mean that the Pope accepted all that was in the book, only that his love for the Muslim people, and the Iraqis in particular, was genuine. He makes the first move, not in the capitulation of our faith, but in the recognition that the followers of Jesus and those who cherish Mohammed should not be engaged in name-calling, or worse, killing each other. The Pope appreciated the suffering of the Iraqi people, particularly the women and children. It showed he did not look down upon them but had a genuine respect for them within the brotherhood of man.
Although a number of years have passed, many still wonder, why did Pope John Paul II kiss a Koran presented to him? The debate rages on. FATHER JOE: Is it not a book that speaks directly against th…
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