Catholics; tell me the wrongs in my protestant church!

[Marc_Anthony]

Then talk to Jesus about it through the Holy spirit that empowers us.

You just completely misunderstand what Catholics believe. Nobody said Catholics can’t pray to Jesus.

 

[benidict]

Pray for him Fine. Say you can’t speak to the lord himself: not fine.

Lord Jesus, let me know myself, and know you. and desire nothing ,save only you. let me do everything for the sake of you. let me humble myself and exalt you. let me think of nothing except you. let me die to myself and live in you. let me accept whatever happens as from you. let me banish self and follow you, and ever desire to follow you. let me fly from myself and take refuge in you, that i may deserve to be defended by you. let me fear for myself, let me fear you. and let me be amoung those who are chosen by you. let me distrust myself and put my trust in you. let me be willing to obey for the sake of you. let me cling to nothing, save only you. and let me be poor because of you. look upon me, that i may love you. call me that i may see you, and forever enjoy you. amen. the prayer of st. augustine. yes we can pray to the Lord himself. peace

 

[ShannonRae]

In my methodist church we only did communion like maybe one or twice every six months! We didn’t even use wine, instead it was grape juice or pomegramate juice. We didn’t even have a special cup, instead we used many plastic disposible cups. There was not even the unleavened, instead it was normal bread…

No confession, no prayer room for you to go in alone… nothing. It was very social but just not enough.

Roman Catholic Church is so much better for you, confession, prayer room; one for christ, one for mary. A place to light a candle in memory of a decese, an eternal prayer or a plea to God, Christ of for a miracle during alot of suffering.

…I have missed out out on all this for so long (I never knew the Catholic faith) I feel sad for those who will not turn to our church for their spiritruality to grow and be nuertured.

Please tell me the other bad things about my denomination to keep me from ever being so stupid as to go back there… or how about other stuff about catholicism that I don’t know about yet?

P.S. I am currently taking RICA classes. :yeah_me: (yay me!)

xXX zundrah XXx

~lol~ you have some zeal!! that’s good!! i haven’t read this thread in it’s entirety…so, forgive me if my advice has been mentioned…study the Apologetics of the Church…THAT will DEFINATELY open your eyes even moreso!!
As far as “telling you other bad things about your denomination”…i really couldn’t do that…it was actually a collective series of denominations i went through to realize i belonged in the Catholic Church…i was Pentacostal…i was Baptist…Full Gospel…Non Denominational…and finally Mormon…~lol~ soooo…it was ALL of these faiths and/or religions that led me back home!!
i CAN tell you that most of the Protestant faiths believe in “Sola Scriptura”…and that is COMPLETELY NOT scriptural!! i can tell you that i studied the HISTORY of the Catholic Church and found out without a shadow of a doubt…it leads back to the Church that Jesus established on this earth…
Apologetics really really helped me out…i believe they have an Apologetics forum here…

 

[workingman]

I believe my friend, that you are a good man, and will make it to heaven just fine! The major thing I disagree with Catholic’s on is talking to people to get to Jesus! Like the priest, praying to saints, but I don’t believe that keeps us out of heaven.

First all all thank you. God will judge me in the end. Same as all and I pray I am found worthy. Nothing is assured.

I was reading and Benidict responded how I would of in post #231 and #232.

Pray for him Fine. Say you can’t speak to the lord himself: not fine.

The CC does not teach this. The Saints are there to pray with us. Prayer in my opinion is stronger when there is more than one.

I would like to leave you with this to ponder from this link. Sorry about the copy and paste.
catholic.com/library/Praying_to_the_Saints.asp

The Bible directs us to invoke those in heaven and ask them to pray with us. Thus in Psalms 103, we pray, “Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will!” (Ps. 103:20-21). And in Psalms 148 we pray, “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host!” (Ps. 148:1-2).

Not only do those in heaven pray with us, they also pray for us. In the book of Revelation, we read: “[An] angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God” (Rev. 8:3-4).

And those in heaven who offer to God our prayers aren’t just angels, but humans as well. John sees that “the twenty-four elders [the leaders of the people of God in heaven] fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Rev. 5:8). The simple fact is, as this passage shows: The saints in heaven offer to God the prayers of the saints on earth.

 

[jmcrae]

Pray for him Fine. Say you can’t speak to the lord himself: not fine.

What on earth do you think we are doing when we go to Mass?

That is Jesus, Himself, at the Altar, and all of the prayers are addressed to Him, and then everyone who receives, receives Him alive, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, into their body and soul at Holy Communion.

I don’t think it’s even physically possible to have a more personal relationship with Jesus than what Catholics do at Mass.

 

[LittleSoldier]

Pray for him Fine. Say you can’t speak to the lord himself: not fine.

The Church teaches that we can pray to God directly. And we do pray to Him. We say the Lord’s Prayer at every Mass and several times in every Rosary. The Holy Mass is the ultimate prayer because we consume the Body and Blood of Jesus. We also ask Him to have mercy on us and to grant us peace. We pray for the intentions of the Church and for our own private intentions. We pray to God over and over and over during Mass. We love Him, we have faith in Him.

I pray to God all day long. I’ve done it all my life. The first prayer I ever learned was “Night night, sweet Jesus. Jesus, I love you.”

We also believe that the saints in heaven can pray for us. We are united with them and with those in purgatory in the Communion of Saints. I ask my Mom to pray for me all the time because before she passed on she told me she would do anything she could for me when she got to heaven. I ask St. Michael, St. Francis of Assisi, and other saints to pray for me. Sometimes Catholics say we pray to saints. “Pray” has more than one meaning. When used in reference to “praying” to saints it is being used in the archaic sense, such as “I pray thee…” or “I beseech thee…”. It does not mean we are replacing God with the saints or asking the saints to forgive our sins or anything like that. God has the power, not the saints. What we are doing is making a request for the saints to pray to God for us. That doesn’t replace our prayers made directly to God, but shows that we are in unity with those that have gone before us.

It would be very wrong to tell someone he/she shouldn’t pray directly to God.

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

The major thing I disagree with Catholic’s on is talking to people to get to Jesus! Like the priest, praying to saints, but I don’t believe that keeps us out of heaven.

My friend–you are mistaken on the teachings of the Catholic Church. We ask saints to pray for us…we don’t pray to saints. I can tell you having recently come back to the Church that have have never heard more about Jesus, prayed to Jesus, or worshiped Jesus than I have in the Catholic Church. And I see how much I misunderstood the Church.

 

[LittleSoldier]

Zundrah, I may have missed it, but would you please tell me what you found lacking in or wrong with your old church?

BTW, I love your cats! I have a fold, too. They are really great!

Oops, sorry. I’ve seen what you said. I don’t know how I could have missed it, but I did.

I am so happy for you. Welcome home!!!

 

[Johnwesley]

I have been to mass, and I can tell you you don’t have to tell the saints to tell Jesus, or to pray with you. Prayer is a personal relationship with Jesus not a relationship with or through someone. You should share experiences with the Spirit though.

 

[benidict]

I have been to mass, and I can tell you you don’t have to tell the saints to tell Jesus, or to pray with you. Prayer is a personal relationship with Jesus not a relationship with or through someone. You should share experiences with the Spirit though.

i may be misreading this. if so i apologize my friend. i like it when i pray with my Catholic brothers/sisters. i think the time that prayer is most effective is when we all pray together. look at what happened when peter was in prison. the Church was together praying for him. a group of them. Peace

 

[Roman_Catholic_1]

I have been to mass, and I can tell you **you don’t have to **]tell the saints to tell Jesus, or to pray with you. Prayer is a personal relationship with Jesus not a relationship with or through someone. You should share experiences with the Spirit though.

Yep, no one certainly “has” to but they can. I don’t have to ask my wife, family or friends to pray for me just like I don’t have to ask the saints either, but I can and do. Where did you get the idea that prayer can’t include others? That is certainly unbiblical:

I appeal to you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf. Rm 15:30

Why did Paul ask others to be included in his “personal relationship” of prayer with God?

while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God in you. 2 Cor. 9:14

Why is Paul intervering in other people’s “personal relationship”?

Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. Eph. 6:28

Sorry John I have tested your belief of “Prayer is a personal relationship with Jesus not a relationship with or through someone” and find it unbiblical and a tradition of men.

God bless you

 

[LittleSoldier]

I have been to mass, and I can tell you you don’t have to tell the saints to tell Jesus, or to pray with you. Prayer is a personal relationship with Jesus not a relationship with or through someone. You should share experiences with the Spirit though.

No, you don’t have to tell the saints to tell Jesus. You’re right. Nobody here is saying you do.

However, you can do it if you want to. It is an option and Catholics do it because the practice is based on scripture and probably also on tradition, although I’m not sure about that. Maybe someone else here can comment on that. Prayer can be a personal experience with Jesus. Prayer can also be an experience for a community of believers.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” [Matthew 18:20, KJV]

Why two or three? If it’s all about a personal relationship with Jesus, why did He say that? Community is very important to Catholics and very important to me because I can’t get to Mass very often and I miss that feeling of being with those who pray with me and for me.

I’d like to present a hypothetical situation. Let’s say I committed a sin one day. I felt very bad about what I did and I asked a good friend to pray for me. Is there something wrong with that? I know God is the one who will forgive me for my terrible sin and that my friend doesn’t have that power. But he does have the power to pray for me, doesn’t he? Don’t friends do that for each other? I hear it all the time: “You are in my prayers.” I heard it today at the store.

People do pray for other people and as saints are alive in heaven and part of the Communion of Saints, I can’t see why there is anything wrong with asking them to pray for us.

“And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.” [Rev 5:8, KJV]

This passage shows that the saints have the power to present prayers to God. What are these prayers? The saints are already in heaven, in God. What would they be praying for? What could anyone in paradise possibly want? They are praying for us, those still on earth. They present our prayers to God.

 

[ShannonRae]

No, you don’t have to tell the saints to tell Jesus. You’re right. Nobody here is saying you do.

However, you can do it if you want to. It is an option and Catholics do it because the practice is based on scripture and probably also on tradition, although I’m not sure about that. Maybe someone else here can comment on that. Prayer can be a personal experience with Jesus. Prayer can also be an experience for a community of believers.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” [Matthew 18:20, KJV]

Why two or three? If it’s all about a personal relationship with Jesus, why did He say that? Community is very important to Catholics and very important to me because I can’t get to Mass very often and I miss that feeling of being with those who pray with me and for me.

I’d like to present a hypothetical situation. Let’s say I committed a sin one day. I felt very bad about what I did and I asked a good friend to pray for me. Is there something wrong with that? I know God is the one who will forgive me for my terrible sin and that my friend doesn’t have that power. But he does have the power to pray for me, doesn’t he? Don’t friends do that for each other? I hear it all the time: “You are in my prayers.” I heard it today at the store.

People do pray for other people and as saints are alive in heaven and part of the Communion of Saints, I can’t see why there is anything wrong with asking them to pray for us.

“And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.” [Rev 5:8, KJV]

This passage shows that the saints have the power to present prayers to God. What are these prayers? The saints are already in heaven, in God. What would they be praying for? What could anyone in paradise possibly want? They are praying for us, those still on earth. They present our prayers to God.

Very very well said!!! thank you for that!! i enjoyed your words…but i am seriously curious…and this has nothing to do with the forum thread…so, message me if you will so we don’t get tossed out…~loL~ but why do you say you will not respond to anyone with messages inserted into your quotes? i’m just curious!! (btw…i’m a newbie)

 

[Johnwesley]

i may be misreading this. if so i apologize my friend. i like it when i pray with my Catholic brothers/sisters. i think the time that prayer is most effective is when we all pray together. look at what happened when peter was in prison. the Church was together praying for him. a group of them. Peace

Your praying to dead people who even knows if Mother Theresa is in heaven or hell for godsakes?

 

[Johnwesley]

No, you don’t have to tell the saints to tell Jesus. You’re right. Nobody here is saying you do.

However, you can do it if you want to. It is an option and Catholics do it because the practice is based on scripture and probably also on tradition, although I’m not sure about that. Maybe someone else here can comment on that. Prayer can be a personal experience with Jesus. Prayer can also be an experience for a community of believers.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” [Matthew 18:20, KJV]

Why two or three? If it’s all about a personal relationship with Jesus, why did He say that? Community is very important to Catholics and very important to me because I can’t get to Mass very often and I miss that feeling of being with those who pray with me and for me.

I’d like to present a hypothetical situation. Let’s say I committed a sin one day. I felt very bad about what I did and I asked a good friend to pray for me. Is there something wrong with that? I know God is the one who will forgive me for my terrible sin and that my friend doesn’t have that power. But he does have the power to pray for me, doesn’t he? Don’t friends do that for each other? I hear it all the time: “You are in my prayers.” I heard it today at the store.

People do pray for other people and as saints are alive in heaven and part of the Communion of Saints, I can’t see why there is anything wrong with asking them to pray for us.

“And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.” [Rev 5:8, KJV]

This passage shows that the saints have the power to present prayers to God. What are these prayers? The saints are already in heaven, in God. What would they be praying for? What could anyone in paradise possibly want? They are praying for us, those still on earth. They present our prayers to God.

Well, if you think it’s unbiblical to have a personal relationship, you are blinded by rituals, and doctrines from your Church. Sharing in with Jesus’s fellowship is always a good and joyful thing, but you yoourself need to have a relationship, and know him. Or he will not know you, for those who don’t know him go to hell.

 

[Justin1982]

Well, if you think it’s unbiblical to have a personal relationship, you are blinded by rituals, and doctrines from your Church. Sharing in with Jesus’s fellowship is always a good and joyful thing, but you yoourself need to have a relationship, and know him. Or he will not know you, for those who don’t know him go to hell.

I think you misunderstand what is being said and misunderstand Catholicism altogether when it comes to prayer, prayer to saints is merely a petition to God through that particular saint who is known to be with God through understanding the Beatification process. Think of it as how you may ask a friend to pray for you but instead it is known through the Church that this person is in Heaven with God.

 

[LittleSoldier]

Very very well said!!! thank you for that!! i enjoyed your words…but i am seriously curious…and this has nothing to do with the forum thread…so, message me if you will so we don’t get tossed out…~loL~ but why do you say you will not respond to anyone with messages inserted into your quotes? i’m just curious!! (btw…i’m a newbie)

I think it’s OK to discuss it here. Sometimes people respond to a post by quoting the entire post and then inserting their thoughts into the quote, sometimes in a different color or different sized letters. The proper way is to break the quote up into parts so each part can be responded to separately.

For example, if I post the following:

I love Jesus and I love the Holy Spirit and I love God the Father. I will gladly give my life for them, for they are my life.

and then someone wants to respond he might quote my entire post and then do something like this:

I love Jesus WHY?and I love the Holy Spirit WHY?and I love God the Father. WHY DON’T YOU JUST SAY YOU LOVE GOD? THEY’RE ALL GOD! I will gladly give my life for them, for they are my life. HUH? THAT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE AND FRANKLY, I DON’T BELIEVE YOU.

When they should do this:

I love Jesus

Why?

and I love the Holy Spirit

Why?

and I love God the Father.

Why don’t you just say you love God? They’re all God!

I will gladly give my life for them, for they are my life.

Huh? That doesn’t make sense and frankly, I don’t believe you.

If someone else puts their words into my quote, their words are now attributed to me but I didn’t write them! And if I want to respond to the person who inserted his words into my quote I have to pick it apart and fix it or else it turns out to be a real mess. I’ve done it a few times and it’s time-consuming.

I hope this helps! If you click on in this post you can see how I used the function, first incorrectly and then correctly. Lots of people are putting this message into their signatures because it’s a real nightmare to try to pick apart a post that has another person’s words in it.

(BTW, I made up a silly example and don’t mean to imply any sarcasm or insult to anyone. It’s just an example to show the misuse and use of the function and I don’t intend for it to be taken as referring to any person on CAF.)

Welcome to CAF and God bless!

 

[LittleSoldier]

Well, if you think it’s unbiblical to have a personal relationship, you are blinded by rituals, and doctrines from your Church. Sharing in with Jesus’s fellowship is always a good and joyful thing, but you yoourself need to have a relationship, and know him. Or he will not know you, for those who don’t know him go to hell.

I’m sorry but I did not say it is not biblical to have a personal relationship. What I stated is that
prayer can be a personal experience with Jesus. Prayer can also be an experience for a community of believers.

I then questioned why the scripture I posted was in the bible if it’s all about a personal experience with Jesus. Why did He say that? I’m asking a question. Can you answer it? I’m seeking your (name removed by moderator)ut.

Of course sharing in Jesus’ fellowship is always a good and joyful thing. So is sharing in the fellowship of Jesus and the Communion of Saints. Aren’t churches there so people can join in community to pray? Do you go to a church? If you do, why do you go there?

What Catholic Church rituals and doctrines have blinded me?

I have a relationship with Jesus; both a personal one which is close and loving, and a community one, which is also close and loving. Having both makes my spiritual life much richer than if I only had a personal relationship. I’m happy to pray by myself. I’m happy to pray with the Catholic community. I’m happy to pray with anyone, but I’m especially happy to know that I am a member of the Communion of Saints.

I do not choose to go to hell. I am going home, to heaven and Jesus. There are people there waiting for me. Jesus knows me very well; much better than I know myself. He created me in His image. He knows that I love him with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind and that I try my best to love my neighbor as myself. If I falter He is there is help me up; He knows how sorry I am to have hurt Him. I have experienced the ecstasy of His love and it transcends anything I can describe here.

Pax vobiscum.

 

[LittleSoldier]

Your praying to dead people who even knows if Mother Theresa is in heaven or hell for godsakes?

We know the saints are not dead.

"About eight days after he said this, he took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. [Luke 9:28-31, NAB]

If Moses and Elijah were dead, how could Jesus speak to them? They weren’t dead and neither is any other saint or person in purgatory (or hell). They are alive and, with the exception of those in hell (and they chose to go there), they are part of the Communion of Saints.

As far as I know, Mother Teresa has not been canonized by the Church and I don’t believe she was mentioned in the post to which you responded.

Pax Vobiscum.

 

[benidict]

Your praying to dead people who even knows if Mother Theresa is in heaven or hell for godsakes?

interesting. i dont think Jesus would agree that they are dead. for He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. as for praying to them. i ask them to pray for me. they are closer to him, in that they are actually in his presence. its no different than if i would ask you to pray for me. how do i know you are actually on the other end somewhere behind a computer? i dont see you, i dont hear you. all i see are words typed on a screen, just like you. but i can ask you to pray for me all the same. even though we have never met, and neither of us are really sure if we even are on the our respective computers, and just some computer program responding…i just dont think this came out correctly. if it doesnt make any sense to you. i understand. peace