Good question, and good answers so far. I’d like to point out one aspect of Catholicism that is not mentioned much. While Protestant Churches focus solely on getting to heaven, the Catholic Church believes in Purgatory. We believe it is a horrible place to be, and should be avoided, and that those already in it should be prayed for. Not only that, we believe that even if we have become Holy ourselves, we must help others become so also. To do this we must fully emerse ourselves in the bottomless lake of mystery that is the body of Catholic faith. The more we love, search and do on earth, the greater our Glory will be in Heaven. We believe in degrees of glory. So don’t settle for a shack in heaven, even though it might be bigger than Bill Gates’ mansion. Believe EVERYTHING, and get EVERYTHING. Jesus said that those who eat His body and blood will never go hungry. He meant spiritualy. In order to have your hunger satisfied you must be hungry. So if you take Communion as Jesus commanded, then you will never be hungry. That means you can feast on EVERY Catholic doctrine, and you will always be given opportunities to do good works. But you must hunger first.
As for the points you may be reluctant to believe, I’ll adress one of them.
God chose to use prophets here on earth, and His angels in heaven all throughout the Bible. He uses us to do His works too. He could do them himself, but He has choosen in His infinite wisdom to use His creations. That’s how you can think of Mary and the Saints, because it is an unnessecary stumbling block for thousands of people. Just accept that God has and will continue to use His creations how He chooses and get over it. He gave Mary to us as our Mother. It is a blessing. So why fight it?
Patrick
Melanie
