Catholics: Can you explain why God does this?

[RebeccaJ]

Whoever said that to you was WRONG! Not all LDS have it right and not all have it wrong - just like any other church. There will always be those who say something as if it were doctrine when in reality it is not!

Annie

Of course it is wrong. But it is what your church teaches about “apostates”.

It is also, in essence, what your church teaches about Catholicism, in its statements and teachings that revelation is lost to us. What is an answer to prayer, but God revealing His Will to us?

 

[wmscott]

To all who have posted: I merely asked a question looking for some (name removed by moderator)ut from the Catholics here. I was not trying to challenge anything or criticizes your beliefs. I am sorry that some have taken offense at the question. Most replies have been thoughtful and informative, others have appeared to be by those who may have been offended. I appreciate all the answers. I will leave this thread now, as it appears there may be a leaning towards argument rather than answers.
Thanks for posting -
Annie

Hi Annie, I hope I did not come across as being critical or that I took offense. Not so, my only intent was to show the official teachings of the Catholic Church. The problem is that there are far to many non-Catholics that think that the Church teaches that if you are not Catholic you are lost.

 

[Marie5890]

I am just wondering what the Catholics here think of God answering the prayers of people in other denominations and religions? If the RCC is the one true church, then why would He see fit to answer the prayers of those of other churches and religions? If everyone outside of the RCC is so wrong, why does God bless them? Maybe He sees past the lines of division of faiths and chooses to bless His children because they are His children! Do we only bless our children if the love us? NO! We bless them and care for them because they are our children and it is our place in life to care for them
Annie

Annie, if you were offended or hurt, than I am sorry for my part in that. I was just going by what seemed as the premise of your original post, as quoted above.

That

"If the RCC is the one true church, then why would He see fit to answer the prayers of those of other churches and religions? If everyone outside of the RCC is so wrong, why does God bless them? "

There is no such teaching from the Catholic Church, so I didn’t understand the question in the first place.

I was under the impression from what you wrote that you believed Catholics believe that, and that the Catholic Church teaches that.

I guess I saw it as a flawed question from the get go and that you were confused by a false belief.

Im sorry.

 

[fhansen]

Your thoughts reminded me of this from Spe Salvi

It’s been awhile since I read Spe Salvi. A beautiful quote from a beautiful mind. Thank you.

 

[xixxvmcm85]

I am just wondering what the Catholics here think of God answering the prayers of people in other denominations and religions? If the RCC is the one true church, then why would He see fit to answer the prayers of those of other churches and religions? If everyone outside of the RCC is so wrong, why does God bless them? Maybe He sees past the lines of division of faiths and chooses to bless His children because they are His children! Do we only bless our children if the love us? NO! We bless them and care for them because they are our children and it is our place in life to care for them
Annie

Greetings Annie!

Please pardon me if I sound like a parrot. The truth is I enjoy participating in threads on CAF but due to various time restraints I purposefully ignore much of the preceding pages so please just disregard my post if some other user has essentially said the same thing as I.

You are correct in your summation of Catholic dogma concerning the Catholic Church, what we call ‘ecclesiology’. The Catholic Church indeed teaches that she has the fullness of truth. The Catholic Church does not teach that she has a monopoly on truth, however. I’m very confident that God will answer any heartfelt prayer regardless of the petitioner’s religious affiliation, assuming he or she is diligently searching for the truth. I’m equally confident that there is much treasure to be found among the various Christian denominations, and even among non-Christian religions, and for what they are worth we ought to embrace them.

I notice that you’re LDS. My answer should resonate well with you seeing as the Mormon position isn’t much different. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, too, teaches that it has the “fullness of truth” yet that isn’t to be taken to mean that the LDS Church has some kind of copyright on truth. Being a post-Mormon I know first hand that the LDS Church takes a similarly ecumenical approach to its interfaith dialogue.

Very lucky for me, I can say that many of my experiences as a Mormon actually lead me to the truth in the Catholic Church. Being raised LDS gave me a profound respect for an authoritative priesthood (something not found in Protestantism). Being raised LDS gave me a profound respect for what you LDS call ‘ordinances’, which can roughly be related to the orthodox Christian concept of ‘sacraments’. Being raised LDS gave me a profound respect for exactly what and how canonization of scripture happens. I see all of these as examples of a non-Catholic religions exemplifying the truth, yet not having a fully actualized sense of said truth. The LDS concern for priesthood authority is very important. The LDS concern for valid and continuous ‘ordinances’ is very important. By such, you guys have parcels of the truth, and I do believe that it is by the grace of God that the LDS Church has come to such truth. The Catholic Church, however, holds the fullness of these truths by bringing them to a proper actualization. The concern for priesthood authority is important, but the LDS conception of the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods is incorrect. The concern for ‘ordinances’ is important, but the LDS conception of temple rites are wrong, and the LDS nonetheless teach incorrect doctrines concerning baptism, confirmation, and holy matrimony. The concern for scriptural canonization is important, but the LDS conception of post-canonization additions is incorrect, and all of the LDS standard works (save for the Holy Bible) are not valid Christian scriptures.

God really does have a funny way of working through other individuals and organizations, doesn’t he!?

 

[Ignatius]

Of course it is wrong. But it is what your church teaches.
It is also, in essence, what your church teaches about Catholicism, in its statements and teachings that revelation is lost to us.

Once again:
The Catholic Church does not teach that everyone outside of The Catholic Church is wrong. Quite the contrary if you check The Catechism of The Catholic Church, you will find that section ccc 819 tells us that those outside of the confines of The Catholic Church may have many elements of truth and Sanctification.
You have been given some seriously defective misinformation in this regard. I suggest that you go back to the person who tried to feed you this lie and make them substantiate their polemics from an authentic Catholic source.
And perhaps the next time someone trys to feed you a load like that you can do a little fact checking before swallowing it your self and then propagating the falsehood.