Considering Catholocism, questions

[addictedkoala]

About a year ago I turned away from the Catholic Church because (like many Protestants) I felt that it had turned away from the Bible. I became non-denominational as in what that really should be, independent. You could call my position Protestant Catholic. I didn’t reject all Catholic teachings as I had a rudimentary understanding of them, nor did I fully accept Protestant teachings such as sola scriptura. I knew that Catholics don’t “worship Mary” for example and ignored other claims like that from some Protestants. I just didn’t think it was the Church for me.

As someone who grew up in the Catholic church I obviously did not have a full understanding of it. But the last year has really helped me, I feel much closer to God after spending more time in prayer and with his Word. However, after this time of separation I felt I should really find out what the Catholic faith is all about instead of just going to Church on Sunday and forgetting about it the rest of the week like I had been doing for the early part of my life. In my study (thanks to this website which has taught me much) I have found peace with many Catholic teachings, and most just made sense to me when explained by someone who really knows the faith. I tend to side with people who have the simplest, most evident interpretation of Scripture and Catholicism is it. However, I find myself with a few questions which seem to be too technical for a google search. I’m sure they’re easy for you devout Catholics though

1. I understand Confession, to a point. I know the power of forgiveness doesn’t come from priests, the men, but from God. I also acknowledge the scripture where Jesus gives the apostles this authority. What I don’t understand is, why is it necessary for me to go to confession? Why doesn’t God forgive us on our own? (assuming of course that we are sincerely sorry)
2. As mentioned above, I also understand the Marian doctrine. Here what I don’t understand is why Mary have a “special” place in heaven. She was born and remained sinless, but isn’t being sinless a prerequisite for actual entrance to heaven, hence purgatory? And if that’s true, why aren’t all people in heaven in equal standing since they are all sinless?
3. If we must believe in whatever the Vatican says, and they have interpreted the Bible, why personally read the Bible at all instead of just looking up whatever has been declared by the Church?

3a. If the Vatican is made up of people, and people are fallible, why is everything they say infallible? Meaning, why is their interpretation of the Bible perfect as opposed to Joe shmoe?

3c. Going on the last question, how do we know that when the Vatican/Pope declares someone a saint that God acknowledges it? Or is it not a acknowledge of God thing, but a veneration by man thing, which is fine too.

1. This one is much less important, but I can still read my KJV Bible right? I really like the literary quality of it and I like how it seems to… to “flow” better in my opinion than other translations. I’m already in the practice of comparing it’s verses to more recent translations since I’m aware older vocabulary can be fuzzy. And my father already owns a Catholic Bible I can use for actually Bible Study and for the deuterocanon (I live at home still )

I realize this is a lot so feel free to answer one or any amount you wish. Links are great, explanations are great, and thanks so much in advance for helping me in my search for spiritual truth.

 

[Linda_Marie]

About a year ago I turned away from the Catholic Church because (like many Protestants) I felt that it had turned away from the Bible. I became non-denominational as in what that really should be, independent. You could call my position Protestant Catholic. I didn’t reject all Catholic teachings as I had a rudimentary understanding of them, nor did I fully accept Protestant teachings such as sola scriptura. I knew that Catholics don’t “worship Mary” for example and ignored other claims like that from some Protestants. I just didn’t think it was the Church for me.

As someone who grew up in the Catholic church I obviously did not have a full understanding of it. But the last year has really helped me, I feel much closer to God after spending more time in prayer and with his Word. However, after this time of separation I felt I should really find out what the Catholic faith is all about instead of just going to Church on Sunday and forgetting about it the rest of the week like I had been doing for the early part of my life. In my study (thanks to this website which has taught me much) I have found peace with many Catholic teachings, and most just made sense to me when explained by someone who really knows the faith. I tend to side with people who have the simplest, most evident interpretation of Scripture and Catholicism is it. However, I find myself with a few questions which seem to be too technical for a google search. I’m sure they’re easy for you devout Catholics though :thumbsup

1. I understand Confession, to a point. I know the power of forgiveness doesn’t come from priests, the men, but from God. I also acknowledge the scripture where Jesus gives the apostles this authority. What I don’t understand is, why is it necessary for me to go to confession? Why doesn’t God forgive us on our own? (assuming of course that we are sincerely sorry)

How do you know you really are forgiven if you do not hear the words, “I absolve you”. It is really hard to admit to someone that you have messed up in a big way, much less to a priest. It takes humilty and a real desire to be right again with God.

1. As mentioned above, I also understand the Marian doctrine. Here what I don’t understand is why Mary have a “special” place in heaven. She was born and remained sinless, but isn’t being sinless a prerequisite for actual entrance to heaven, hence purgatory? And if that’s true, why aren’t all people in heaven in equal standing since they are all sinless?

Heaven is a Kingdom, not a democracy. It has a heirarchy. Some people will have a higher place in heaven than others. Those who tried to be closer to Christ in this life, will be closer to Him in the next. In the Davidic Kingdom, the queen was not the wife of the king, but his mother. If you read Kings and Chronicles, every time they name a new king, they also name his mother. This is because the Queen Mother in the ancient kingdoms had real power, albeit granted by the king but wielded by the queen without having to ask the king. Moreover, she facilitated getting in to see the king. She was known as the Gebirah. Mary is Christ the King’s mother. He is the King of Heaven, which automatically makes her the Queen.

1. If we must believe in whatever the Vatican says, and they have interpreted the Bible, why personally read the Bible at all instead of just looking up whatever has been declared by the Church?

We read it to learn more about God and how to live our lives according to His Word. God speaks to us through Scripture. If, however, we ‘hear’ something that is contrary to the teachings of the Church, we know that we have misunderstood what He was trying to tell us.

3a. If the Vatican is made up of people, and people are fallible, why is everything they say infallible? Meaning, why is their interpretation of the Bible perfect as opposed to Joe shmoe?

The Church is only permitted to teach what She learned from the Apostles. She has been charged with this task by God, who promised to preserve Her from error through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

3c. Going on the last question, how do we know that when the Vatican/Pope declares someone a saint that God acknowledges it? Or is it not a acknowledge of God thing, but a veneration by man thing, which is fine too.

Exhaustive investigations are carried out before someone may be declared a saint. In some cases it has taken hundreds of years. 3 verified miracles are required for beatification and another 2 for sainthood. It is not God acknowledging what the Church has done, but rather the Church acknowledging what God has done. We believe there are many more Saints in heaven than those who have been declared so by the Church. These are just the ones God has let us know about.

1. This one is much less important, but I can still read my KJV Bible right? I really like the literary quality of it and I like how it seems to… to “flow” better in my opinion than other translations. I’m already in the practice of comparing it’s verses to more recent translations since I’m aware older vocabulary can be fuzzy. And my father already owns a Catholic Bible I can use for actually Bible Study and for the deuterocanon (I live at home still )

I realize this is a lot so feel free to answer one or any amount you wish. Links are great, explanations are great, and thanks so much in advance for helping me in my search for spiritual truth.

If you like the KJV, try the Douay Rheims. This English translation predates the KJV and is a Catholic bible.

 

[addictedkoala]

Awesome, thank you very much linda. Confession will be hard for me to truly accept, but I’m confident God will guide me.

 

[Rolltide]

I’ll answer these as I get to them…

3a. If the Vatican is made up of people, and people are fallible, why is everything they say infallible? Meaning, why is their interpretation of the Bible perfect as opposed to Joe shmoe?

First, not everything the pope says is infallible. In fact, MOST of what the pope says is completely fallible. It is ONLY when the Pope is teaching on matters of faith and morals that he is infallible, and even then, the Pope is only infallible if he actually STATES that he is invoking infallibility. Otherwise, it’s just a personal opinion. Further, the pope is not “impeccible”, meaning free of sin. Only Jesus and Mary, in all of human history, were sinless. A pope can sin. He can even commit sins so bad that he is doomed to hell. But he is protected by the Holy Spirit from making an error when it comes to definitive teachings on faith and morals. The pope can also not “undeclare” previous teachings that are dogmas or doctrines. For example, the current pope could not just come out and say there’s no such thing as the Trinity.

Now, we believe that Jesus established a visible church with St. Peter as the first pope when He said that “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). He also promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church, due to the protection of the Holy Spirit. Peter then passed on the authority to lead the church to future Bishops of Rome (popes) by commissioning them by the laying on of hands. This passed Peter’s authority on down through an unbroken line all the way to the present day.

 

[Rolltide]

1. As mentioned above, I also understand the Marian doctrine. Here what I don’t understand is why Mary have a “special” place in heaven. She was born and remained sinless, but isn’t being sinless a prerequisite for actual entrance to heaven, hence purgatory? And if that’s true, why aren’t all people in heaven in equal standing since they are all sinless?

We are not made sinless when we enter heaven. We will always be past sinners, but we do receive complete forgiveness and have the stain of our sins removed thanks to the great sacrifice of Jesus. Mary, however, had no need for any stain to be removed, since she the only person (besides Jesus) to have never sinned. Thanks to this special gift, she is considered the most highly regarded of all humans, besides Jesus.

 

[addictedkoala]

First, not everything the pope says is infallible. In fact, MOST of what the pope says is completely fallible. It is ONLY when the Pope is teaching on matters of faith and morals that he is infallible, and even then, the Pope is only infallible if he actually STATES that he is invoking infallibility. Otherwise, it’s just a personal opinion. Further, the pope is not “impeccible”, meaning free of sin. Only Jesus and Mary, in all of human history, were sinless. A pope can sin. He can even commit sins so bad that he is doomed to hell. But he is protected by the Holy Spirit from making an error when it comes to definitive teachings on faith and morals. The pope can also not “undeclare” previous teachings that are dogmas or doctrines. For example, the current pope could not just come out and say there’s no such thing as the Trinity.

Now, we believe that Jesus established a visible church with St. Peter as the first pope when He said that “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). He also promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church, due to the protection of the Holy Spirit. Peter then passed on the authority to lead the church to future Bishops of Rome (popes) by commissioning them by the laying on of hands. This passed Peter’s authority on down through an unbroken line all the way to the present day.

ok, I buy that Jesus founded the Church on Peter, and I know about Ex Cathedra. I clumsily phrased my question I think, it’s more along the lines of why do we have to accept what the Vatican says on matters not infallibly stated by the Pope?

 

[Church_Militant]

…

As someone who grew up in the Catholic church I obviously did not have a full understanding of it… However, after this time of separation I felt I should really find out what the Catholic faith is all about instead of just going to Church on Sunday and forgetting about it the rest of the week like I had been doing for the early part of my life. In my study (thanks to this website which has taught me much) I have found peace with many Catholic teachings, and most just made sense to me when explained by someone who really knows the faith. I tend to side with people who have the simplest, most evident interpretation of Scripture and Catholicism is it. However, I find myself with a few questions which seem to be too technical for a google search. I’m sure they’re easy for you devout Catholics though

Been there and done that. My Testimony

1. I understand Confession, to a point. I know the power of forgiveness doesn’t come from priests, the men, but from God. I also acknowledge the scripture where Jesus gives the apostles this authority. What I don’t understand is, why is it necessary

for me to go to confession? Why doesn’t God forgive us on our own? (assuming of course that we are sincerely sorry)As John Martignoni puts it…"…because that’s the way God wants us to do it." Check this out. Why do Catholics confess their sins to a priest, rather than going directly to God?

1. As mentioned above, I also understand the Marian doctrine. Here what I don’t understand is why Mary have a “special” place in heaven. She was born and remained sinless, but isn’t being sinless a prerequisite for actual entrance to heaven, hence purgatory? And if that’s true, why aren’t all people in heaven in equal standing since they are all sinless?

Consider that the Blessed Virgin is the 2nd most unique human being ever created. No one else was both blessed and afflicted as Mary was. That uniqueness is what that’s all about.

1. If we must believe in whatever the Vatican says, and they have interpreted the Bible, why personally read the Bible at all instead of just looking up whatever has been declared by the Church?

Here again, because that’s what God wants us to do and the Church tells us we should. (Did you know that there is a plenary indulgence attached to reading the Bible? Reading the Bible) All our most holy faith relates to the deposit of faith and the Bible is a big chunk of that deposit. I’ve read it many times over (all 73 books of it) and it’s well worth the read. It is an invaluable aspect of being Catholic for more reasons than I can fit into an internet post. One in particular is that it helps us recognize and refute errors in doctrine when someone speaks to us about a non-Catholic faith. That is especially important as we deal with those who have made themselves enemies of our faith and would happily mislead and proselytize Catholics away. They are usually unhappily surprised to encounter a Catholic like me who knows the Bible (at least) as well as they do, and sometimes better.

3a. If the Vatican is made up of people, and people are fallible, why is everything they say infallible? Meaning, why is their interpretation of the Bible perfect as opposed to Joe shmoe?

Not everything is infallible. Sports and weather predictions for instance…personal preferences of foods etc. The Church is infallible only in matters of faith and morals and it’s an important distinction. Why is she infallible in these areas? Back to the Bible again…[bibledrb]Matthew 28:16-18[/bibledrb]

As you can see, Our Lord did not promise that to all of us but to the Apostles (who were men too) and through them to His Church. Does that help?

3c. Going on the last question, how do we know that when the Vatican/Pope declares someone a saint that God acknowledges it? Or is it not a acknowledge of God thing, but a veneration by man thing, which is fine too.

I don’t think that canonizations of sainthood are infallible, but they are acclamations that the person lived out their Christian faith in an exemplary manner and may even have given their life for it. This is not done lightly and the investigation is pretty intense.

1. This one is much less important, but I can still read my KJV Bible right? I really like the literary quality of it and I like how it seems to… to “flow” better in my opinion than other translations. I’m already in the practice of comparing it’s verses to more recent translations since I’m aware older vocabulary can be fuzzy. And my father already owns a Catholic Bible I can use for actually Bible Study and for the deuterocanon (I live at home still )

You can read it, but I am personally not a fan of it. If you want a better Catholic translation with that same period English then I strongly recommend the Douay-Rheims Bible which actually came out 2 years prior to the KJV and is much better. In some places they read very similarly, but I just like it a lot better. Some n-Cs don’t even notice the difference.

I also have the RSV-CE 2nd ed, which I like very much, so you might take a look at it as well.

I realize this is a lot so feel free to answer one or any amount you wish. Links are great, explanations are great, and thanks so much in advance for helping me in my search for spiritual truth.

Not a problem! Glad to help and I hope I have been.

 

[Church_Militant]

ok, I buy that Jesus founded the Church on Peter, and I know about Ex Cathedra. I clumsily phrased my question I think, it’s more along the lines of why do we have to accept what the Vatican says on matters not infallibly stated by the Pope?

As Catholics, do we have to accept everything the Church teaches?

I’m glad you asked that! If you want a good FREE MP3 of that series, you can find it at
Two-Minute Apologetics

 

[mfj]

“Vatican/Pope declares someone a saint that God acknowledges it? Or is it not a acknowledge of God thing”

Gd does acknowledge them through miracles. If I am correct before canonization, there must be two miracles accredited to the saint’s intercession. It is of course Gd who completes the action at the saints request. What CM said “This is not done lightly and the investigation is pretty intense.” applies to the miracles also. The RCC usually takes years to proclaim a saint.

 

[grannymh]

I realize this is a lot so feel free to answer one or any amount you wish. Links are great, explanations are great, and thanks so much in advance for helping me in my search for spiritual truth.

These two websites contain TV ads about Catholicism. The first is from one of the Dioceses which is using them. The second is general information.

www.CatholicsComeHomeRockford.org

This is a link to the *Catechism of the Catholic Church, *Second Edition,
ISBN: 1-57455-109-4
Put any word or topic in the search box.

www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

This book is like an adventure to Catholicism.
**
Rome Sweet Home by Scott & Kimberly Hahn
Ignatius Press ISBN 978-0-89870-478-5

My all-time favorite book is

“In the Presence of Our Lord, the History, Theology, and Psychology of Eucharistic Devotion”
by Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., and James Monti.
ISBN 0-87973-920-7

For me, this book started out as hard to read. I took it to Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist and it became easier to read. It is informative and inspirational.
**
Jesus of Nazareth by Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI.
ISBN 978-0-385-52341-7

Blessings,
granny

All human life is sacred from the moment of conception.

 

[JustaServant]

I realiize this is a lot so feel free to answer one or any amount you wish. Links are great, explanations are great, and thanks so much in advance for helping me in my search for spiritual truth.

Many blessings to you. Take your time with understanding everything, don’t try to eat a gourmet meal in one sitting.
Feel free to read my testimony in my sig below.

 

[puzzleannie]

About a year ago I turned away from the Catholic Church because (like many Protestants) I felt that it had turned away from the Bible. I became non-denominational as in what that really should be, independent. You could call my position Protestant Catholic. I

you are still seeking and you will find your answers, and yes you will find the bible a sure guide for you, but you will have to learn to read it as it was written, in the bosom of the Church, writings inspired by the Holy Spirit and preserved by him from error, just as she is inspired by him and preserved from teaching error.

Making Sense out of Scripture: Reading the Bible as the First Christians Did by Mark Shea will be an excellent help for you since he also come out of the Evangelical tradition.

The first thing I would ask you if we were face to face and you were asking your–very excellent–questions in an RCIA class, would be, by whose authority do those leading worhsip in our current denomination (and it is one, even if they don’t have a name) interpret Scripture and tell you what it says? Until you have satisfied yourself that their authority trumps that of the Catholic church, you cannot with an honest and full conscience follow them. If there answer is that each of us self-interpret, number one they would not have founded their own church because there would be no need, we would all be in perfect agreement. And no. 2 to read again the story of Adam and Eve who thought they could interpret God’s meaning in his words to them for themselves.

 

[JRKH]

I see many good answers above but I note that no one has provided a link yet to the Catachism so I will do so.

The Catholic Church Catachism

This is a good one with a search engine at the bottom of the page.
As an example I got These results for "Confession"

Selecting the second Choice (paragraph 1456) yielded THIS.
You’ll note from the choices below the paragraph that from here you can enter the catachism at this point. I have found this very useful for looking up answers that I need.

By using the catachism you can be sure of receiving actual church teaching. Then If you have any questions on what you read, you can sak for clarification.
Peace
James

 

[JRKH]

you are still seeking and you will find your answers, and yes you will find the bible a sure guide for you, but you will have to learn to read it as it was written, in the bosom of the Church, writings inspired by the Holy Spirit and preserved by him from error, just as she is inspired by him and preserved from teaching error.

Making Sense out of Scripture: Reading the Bible as the First Christians Did by Mark Shea will be an excellent help for you since he also come out of the Evangelical tradition.

The first thing I would ask you if we were face to face and you were asking your–very excellent–questions in an RCIA class, would be, by whose authority do those leading worhsip in our current denomination (and it is one, even if they don’t have a name) interpret Scripture and tell you what it says? Until you have satisfied yourself that their authority trumps that of the Catholic church, you cannot with an honest and full conscience follow them. If there answer is that each of us self-interpret, number one they would not have founded their own church because there would be no need, we would all be in perfect agreement. And no. 2 to read again the story of Adam and Eve who thought they could interpret God’s meaning in his words to them for themselves.

Annie makes an excellent point here about authority.
Why do you accept the authority of the bible?
That really is the fundemental question that led me back to the Church.
I could not accept the Bible because the Bible itself says so for any book will attempt to authenticate itself. Plus the Bible is actually a collection of books and one needs to understand, at least generally how that specific set of books came to be accepted.
Then one can only accept the Bible if one accepts the process and the organization that put it together.

Peace
James

 

[grannymh]

I see many good answers above but I note that no one has provided a link yet to the Catachism so I will do so.

The Catholic Church Catachism

This is a good one with a search engine at the bottom of the page.
As an example I got These results for "Confession"

Selecting the second Choice (paragraph 1456) yielded THIS.
You’ll note from the choices below the paragraph that from here you can enter the catachism at this point. I have found this very useful for looking up answers that I need.

By using the catachism you can be sure of receiving actual church teaching. Then If you have any questions on what you read, you can sak for clarification.
Peace
James

 

[addictedkoala]

woah, I wake up and there’s tons of answers happily greeting me, all great. I think that pretty much sums up everything. It may take me a bit before I really “get it.” Someone earlier mentioned not trying to take this all in at once and that’s what I’ll do. I can’t think of anymore questions your (the community’s) responses have generated in me, so it’s just a matter of when/if I can fully accept the Church’s teachings.

P.S. On a side note, last night I had a dream about convincing someone that the deuterocanon books are valid

P.S.S. I just realized I spelled “Catholicism” wrong in the title

 

[grannymh]

Here is the website for the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition,
ISBN: 1-57455-109-4 which was included, with other information, in post 10.

www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

 

[mike52ad]

I know you got a lot of answers here, but let me put my two cents worth in as well…some of what I say duplicates what is above, some expands on it etc…

1. I understand Confession, to a point. I know the power of forgiveness doesn’t come from priests, the men, but from God.

When you sin, the first thing you should do is go to God and express your sorrow for what you did or failed to do. There is nothing wrong with that. Why do we have to follow this up with confession? We humans are great at fooling ourselves, not being completely honest withourselves and excusing ourselves…(After all I did it ONLY one time…etc) Going to confession acknowledges this common failing and gives us the opportunity to get an outsiders take on what we did and some advice on how to avoid the sin in the future. Also, no sin is private. We are all part of the Body of Christ and when we sin we sin against the Body of Christ. When we receive absolution we repair the sin against the Body as well as our own soul. Also, it is good to be sure one hundred percent that your sins have been forgiven and hearing the words of absolution gives us that and helps us to begin the healing process.

1. As mentioned above, I also understand the Marian doctrine. Here what I don’t understand is why Mary have a “special” place in heaven.

Heaven of course is a place of absolute joy and happiness. Mary occupies a very important spot in heaven because she is the Mother of Jesus. Jesus continues to honor her as such. Each of us when we get to heaven will be as happy as we can be and in that respect we will all be equal.

1. If we must believe in whatever the Vatican says, and they have interpreted the Bible, why personally read the Bible at all instead of just looking up whatever has been declared by the Church?

3a. If the Vatican is made up of people, and people are fallible, why is everything they say infallible? Meaning, why is their interpretation of the Bible perfect as opposed to Joe shmoe?

Quite honestly, I do not know where you got the idea that everything that the Vatican says is infallible. When it comes to faith and morals, the Pope and his fellow bishops as sucessors to the Apostles can and do teach infallibly. But really there is not enough room here to go over this, please consult the Catecism beginning here:

**892 **Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a “definitive manner,” they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful “are to adhere to it with religious assent” which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it.

There is a lot more to this and I would only say that infalliblity is more misunderstood by those of us in the pews than a lot of other things. What it boils down to is this, someone has to make a decision. In the time of the Apostles, it was Peter who was the head of the Church. In our time it is Benedict who is the sucessor to Peter and who is head of the Church.

As far as personal interpretation of the Bible, it just does not work. Look where it has gotten our Protestant brothers and sisters, 39,000 denominations spawned because someone interpreted the Bible differently. For me, I enjoy the freedom of knowing what the Church says about the Book She wrote. I can trust her becasue she is protected by the Holy Spirit.

3c. Going on the last question, how do we know that when the Vatican/Pope declares someone a saint that God acknowledges it? Or is it not a acknowledge of God thing, but a veneration by man thing, which is fine too.

I am not sure I understand this question, but let me give it a try. When a person is declared a saint he or she has gone through a process that is designed to weed out pious fakers (such as I see my sinfulself sometimes?). The process is rigorous and the person has to be proven to be of heroic virtue. Their life is examined in minute detail, as are their writings. Miracles have to be attributed to them etc. Only then will the Pope declare a person to be a Saint. How do we know God acknowledges this person as a saint? The very process assures us that this person lived a God centered life and thus should be imitated by those of us in the pews. This being the case and becasue God brings his children home and we have proven to the nth degree that this is a child of God I believe we can the newly cannonized saint is acknowledged by God.

1. This one is much less important, but I can still read my KJV Bible right? I really like the literary quality of it and I like how it seems to… to “flow” better in my opinion than other translations. I’m already in the practice of comparing it’s verses to more recent translations since I’m aware older vocabulary can be fuzzy. And my father already owns a Catholic Bible I can use for actually Bible Study and for the deuterocanon (I live at home s

I would suggest that you get a Catholic Bible becasue the footnotes and study helps in the Catholic Bible will be more helpful to you to understand Catholic teachings.

 

[addictedkoala]

I am not sure I understand this question, but let me give it a try. When a person is declared a saint he or she has gone through a process that is designed to weed out pious fakers (such as I see my sinfulself sometimes?). The process is rigorous and the person has to be proven to be of heroic virtue. Their life is examined in minute detail, as are their writings. Miracles have to be attributed to them etc. Only then will the Pope declare a person to be a Saint. How do we know God acknowledges this person as a saint? The very process assures us that this person lived a God centered life and thus should be imitated by those of us in the pews. This being the case and becasue God brings his children home and we have proven to the nth degree that this is a child of God I believe we can the newly cannonized saint is acknowledged by God.

Yeah that touched on everything. And luckily that confirms what I thought and I have absolutely no qualms with it. I already knew about the rigorous process. I went to a private Catholic school for 8 years and that was a heck of a paper we had to write on saints, specifically our confirmation name saint in 8th grade

 

[Church_Militant]

Yeah that touched on everything. And luckily that confirms what I thought and I have absolutely no qualms with it. I already knew about the rigorous process. I went to a private Catholic school for 8 years and that was a heck of a paper we had to write on saints, specifically our confirmation name saint in 8th grade

That would be St. Benedict. (for me)