Do you have questions about Catholic beliefs & Practices

[benhur]

Jesus did not have any brothers or sisters in the flesh. Common mistranslation

Nuts.I shouldn’t have thrown that in there, and possibly detract from the main thrust of the post. Christ became sin on the Cross, so I am sure He can receive praise from sinners also.

Blessings

 

[Michael68]

Nuts.I shouldn’t have thrown that in there, and possibly detract from the main thrust of the post. Christ became sin on the Cross, so I am sure He can receive praise from sinners also.

Blessings

To stay with the OP, I would say the Catholic teaching of the Blessed Virgin Mary is biblical since the Mary referred to as having Jesus’s brothers and sisters is a relative and not His mother. In scripture Mary, Jesus’s mother, was at the foot of the cross. This other Mary,His relative, looked upon the cross from afar. A question to ask yourself is that if Jesus had all these brothers and sisters, why did he charge an Apostle with her care?

 

[PJM]

Thank you, Patrick, for the detailed explanations. I will take a look at the links you provided.

I listen sometimes to Al Kresta on his radio show on EWTN and he once said something to the effect of (paraphrasing), “I once had trouble with some of the Catholic beliefs on Mary, but then when I realized that they existed because of the perfect and divine nature of Jesus and who He was, then I no longer had a problem with them”.

I can appreciate that. I like Al Kresta. He possesses a lot of wisdom and maturity, and having been an evangelical pastor at one stage of his life, I think he understands where people like me are coming from in a personal way.

Thanks again.

Thanks Tommy, I’d appreciate you’re feedback after you wade through them:thumbsup:

If I missed anything, please let me know.

God Bless you,

Patrick

 

[PJM]

Was Eve created with or without sin?

Both Adam & Eve were created without sin; they in a “sense” invented [originated it in HUMANITY]

A state of perfection was God’s plan for humanity; A & E altered it for all time

 

[PJM]

I’m not Catholic so I’ll leave it to the Catholics here to answer your questions. Personally, I don’t have a problem with many of the Catholic beliefs and practices surrounding Mary. I do however take issue with the fact that the Catholic Church declared some of their doctrines regarding Mary as dogma, infallible doctrine, divinely and formally revealed by God as a necessary truth for salvation.

That my dear friend is the precise roll that Christ envisioned for His Catholic Church

Please read the following passages paying very close attention to who Jesus was addressing 1. directly 2. precisely & 3. exclusively in each instance

Mt 10:1-8
Mt 16:15-19
John 17: 17-20 [as My Father Sent ME; so TOO I [NOW] Send YOU]
Mt 28:19-20

The POWER of the Key’s in Mt 16: verse 19 “Binding and Loosening” were at that time and place so commonly understood that they were actually covered under Jewish Laws.

Jesus Gave Peter & successors] UNLIMITED powers of His kingdom [Church] governance as was common for “walled in cities” at the time. IF you’d like more information on this; just send me a private message:thumbsup:

God Bless you,

Patrick

 

[In_His_Grace]

That my dear friend is the precise roll that Christ envisioned for His Catholic Church

Please read the following passages paying very close attention to who Jesus was addressing 1. directly 2. precisely & 3. exclusively in each instance

Mt 10:1-8
Mt 16:15-19
John 17: 17-20 [as My Father Sent ME; so TOO I [NOW] Send YOU]
Mt 28:19-20

The POWER of the Key’s in Mt 16: verse 19 “Binding and Loosening” were at that time and place so commonly understood that they were actually covered under Jewish Laws.

Jesus Gave Peter & successors] UNLIMITED powers of His kingdom [Church] governance as was common for “walled in cities” at the time. IF you’d like more information on this; just send me a private message:thumbsup:

God Bless you,

Patrick

Where does Matthew 16:15-19, or anywhere else is scripture for that matter, state that our salvation is dependent in any way whatsoever on being in communion or unity with any one particular bishop?

Blessings Patrick

 

[In_His_Grace]

That my dear friend is the precise roll that Christ envisioned for His Catholic Church

Please read the following passages paying very close attention to who Jesus was addressing 1. directly 2. precisely & 3. exclusively in each instance

Mt 10:1-8
Mt 16:15-19
John 17: 17-20 [as My Father Sent ME; so TOO I [NOW] Send YOU]
Mt 28:19-20

The POWER of the Key’s in Mt 16: verse 19 “Binding and Loosening” were at that time and place so commonly understood that they were actually covered under Jewish Laws.

Jesus Gave Peter & successors] UNLIMITED powers of His kingdom [Church] governance as was common for “walled in cities” at the time. IF you’d like more information on this; just send me a private message:thumbsup:

God Bless you,

Patrick

Hoping this is not against CAF rules Patrick…

lcms.org/doctrine/doctrinalposition#church

God bless you.

 

[benhur]

To stay with the OP, I would say the Catholic teaching of the Blessed Virgin Mary is biblical since the Mary referred to as having Jesus’s brothers and sisters is a relative and not His mother. In scripture Mary, Jesus’s mother, was at the foot of the cross. This other Mary,His relative, looked upon the cross from afar. A question to ask yourself is that if Jesus had all these brothers and sisters, why did he charge an Apostle with her care?

Ok .Think about it from our perspective. What does it say about these other relatives/brothers at this time ? By Jewish tradition/law, these other relatives/brothers were still first in line for Mary’s care and way before John, who was not a relation at all.

Blessings

 

[MartinJordan]

Ok .Think about it from our perspective. What does it say about these other relatives/brothers at this time ? By Jewish tradition/law, these other relatives/brothers were still first in line for Mary’s care and way before John, who was not a relation at all.

Blessings

John was the disciple Jesus loved. Why can’t Jesus decide?

MJ

 

[benhur]

John was the disciple Jesus loved. Why can’t Jesus decide?

MJ

Of course, but M brought up the point of whom is usually chosen, and insinuated John was chosen due to lack of brethren, which I tried to say is not true for Jesus had brethren by any interpretation. But you are close to understanding our reasoning. Jesus for sure chose the best person, now just what made John the best candidate overriding default relations ?

Blessings

 

[blanchardman]

My last post on the transfiguration.
Matt 16:28. “till you see the Son of man coming in His kingdom.” (see also Mark 9:1).
Then six days three of them see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. Luke tells (Luke 9:31) they “appeared in glory”.
Elijah at the time this happened should still inhabit his physical body. Moses should still be in Abraham’s bosom. How then can they " appear in glory"
We know Peter,James and John have “tasted death” and we still pray for “Thy kingdom” to come. We know the kingdom is established after Jesus returns. Therefore this vision was of a future event.
That should explain how they were talking about His death which at the time of the vision was yet to come. For Moses and Elijah it would be past.

 

[patmiron]

I .

I still struggle a little with the Catholic belief that Mary was sinless. Although she was a wonderful woman with many ideal attributes, including humility, obedience (especially that one), a loving mother to her son who was also so brave that she risked her life to be with Him at the cross, I’m having trouble understanding why it is so important that she be sinless in order to bear our Lord

Hi Tommy have you read my rely to your Mary-Queen post yet?

As for Mary’s being sinless
This was NOT a condition imposed by God.

Mary’s Immaculate Conception [conceived W/O Original sin] was God initiated but not out any “absolute need” to do so. Rather God saw fit to grant Mary this Grace as being merited through the future birth of Her Son Jesus.

Mary being sinless after her birth was also not a “necessity”; BUT it too was fitting; and God offered sufficient grace to Mary who then had to FREELY choose to accept all of it and apply it to her life’s circumstances. Mary was far more extraordinary than “ordinary.” And like the rest of humanity HAD to be “perfect” to attain heaven [the Assumption] also God initiated.

Isn’t it the Catholic belief that the Virgin Mary was saved “in advance” by Jesus before He was even born? I’m trying to understand how it was possible for a human Mary to be made sinless before the Savior she bore was even born. Since she was human, why wouldn’t Romans 3:23 apply to her?

Isaiah 55: 6-9
“Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God: for he is bountiful to forgive. For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts”

My friend, you’re trying to apply human reason to Divine Actions here. God who can be defined as: “GOD IS ALL GOOD THINGS PERFECTED”, can do ANY “good-thing.” Certainly gifting Mary without the stain of Original Sin is a “very good thing” and certainly within the capabilities of God to do. Amen! And there have been many Saints who have lived a large part of their lives in a state of listlessness. Mary just took it to its extreme end.

What is impossible for man; is a mere thought [accomplished] by our God.

To my simple mind, it takes more mental and spiritual gymnastics to believe that Mary did not inherit a human nature (that included sin) than to believe that God supernaturally protected Jesus in the womb from the human sinful nature that Mary inherited from her parents, although she was arguably as holy/godly as any person who ever walked the earth and blessed above all women

Tommy, there was in an absolute sense no need to “protect” Jesus in the womb from sin. SIN being contrary to the very Nature of God. And while Jesus assumed the mantel of humanity; He did so with the caveat of being sinless. For Jesus [not so with Mary] ; sin; any sin was an impossibility. Jesus possessed two perfect natures: a perfect human nature and always in possession at the same time of His Perfect Divine Nature.

Please explain why it is so important that Mary be sinless. Couldn’t God have protected Jesus in the womb from that if God is all powerful, which He undoubtedly is?

Again; in an absolute sense Mary did NOT “have to be” sinless. BUT it was FITTING that She be so.

Does that clarify for you?

God Bless,
Patrick [PJM]

---

 

[patmiron]

Originally Posted by Tommy999 View Post
Since she was human, why wouldn’t Romans 3:23 apply to her?

The REPLY

You refer to 23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
I have questions for you do you take this to mean there are not exceptions?
No exceptions are mentioned yet we know Jesus never sinned but it wasn’t deemed necessary to state it.
Would there be others? What about children? The mental handicapped? Would not these be exceptions too? Yet they too are not mentioned.
It wasn’t necessary in my view that she would be sinless but she was. It is fitting that the mother of Jesus be so.

MY reply added [PJM]

Quotes from CAF:

"The Catholic Answer
catholic.com/magazine/articles/hail-mary-conceived-without-sin

Not a few Protestants are surprised to discover the Catholic Church actually agrees that Mary was “saved.” Indeed, Mary needed a savior! However, Mary was “saved” from sin in a most sublime manner. She was given the grace to be “saved” completely from sin so that she never committed even the slightest transgression. Protestants tend to emphasize God’s “salvation” almost exclusively to the forgiveness of sins actually committed. However, Sacred Scripture indicates that salvation can also refer to man being protected from sinning before the fact:

Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and for ever. (Jude 24-25) END Quote]

 

[patmiron]

If the Catholic Marian dogmas are as important as some Catholics indicate, I am puzzled by why the Apostle Paul didn’t mention the Virgin Mary in his letters to the early Christian believers in his epistles as he taught them the fundamentals of Christianity. Shouldn’t such an important dogma have been touched upon in Scripture?

For example, I don’t recall Paul ever instructing anyone in any of his letters to the Romans, Ephesians, or Corinthians to have a special devotion to Mary or anything along those lines.

On the other hand, St Paul was clear as to what the heart of the gospel was, as he did in I Corinthians 2:2:

“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified”

GREAT point

It has to do with his priorities: and the GRACE of Prudence

1st Cor 1: 22-23
For both the Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: [23] But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness:

1St Cor 2: 2 " For I judged not myself to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ, and him crucified."

Paul’s audience were gentiles [PAGANS}; it would have been imprudent for Paul in these EARLY instructions to inject Marian beliefs and Doctrines.

Secondly: The Church in Paul’s time was just an INFANT-church. Doctrine and even more so DOGMA evolved overtime.

The NORMAL process begins with HS inspired belief among the clergy and laity; that builds support after much prayerful discussion; which is then sent via a petition to ROME who makes the final determination. So its a PROCESS that takes time; discussion; prayer and HS direction.

God Bless you,

Non Catholic-Christians miss very much and are easily directed off-track by choosing to believe that everything is [or for that matter EVEN COULD BE] included in the bilbe; which BTW is a Catholic Book:thumbsup:

God Bless you,
Patrick [PJM] having computer issues

 

[patmiron]

I’m not sure if this question is already somewhere on this page, if so I haven’t found it.
But I’d really like to know what the catholic church says when it comes to prophecy?

Does is still exist and if so how does the church practice it?

Thank you

Hi, I’m the OP

Can you be a bit more specific; and I’ll try to answer your question

IF your reference is End Times: The RCC using the bible as its source teaches We JUST DON"T KNOW

God Bless you, PJM

Patrick

 

[patmiron]

Where does Matthew 16:15-19, or anywhere else is scripture for that matter, state that our salvation is dependent in any way whatsoever on being in communion or unity with any one particular bishop?

Blessings Patrick

I’m NOT sure I understand the point of you’re question> IF by “one bishop” you mean Peter; I have an answer for you. Other than Peter I’m confused by you’re question. Please clarify it and I’ll be happy to respond

Regarding Peter is the issue of Jesus initiated SUCCESSION by absolute necessity:
Mt 10:1-8

[1] And having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities. [2] And the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, [3] James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, [4] Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. [5] These twelve Jesus sent: commanding them, saying: **Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not.

[6] But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel**. [7] And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely have you received, freely give"

NOW see how Jesus Himself changed the MANDATE

Mt 28:19-20

[YOU!} “[19] Going therefore, teach YOU all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. [20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded YOU and behold I am with YOU all days, even to the consummation of the world”

ONLY though Succession of Powers and Authority could our Blessed Lords MANDATE possibly be fulfilled:thumbsup:.

Does this address your concern?

God Bless you,

Patrick [PJM] the OP

 

[patmiron]

Hoping this is not against CAF rules Patrick…

lcms.org/doctrine/doctrinalposition#church

God bless you.

THANKS, but how does that alter what I had shared.

Luther was an apostate catholic-priest who choose freely to establish HIS OWN religion to compete with what the RCC had up to that point taught for a VERY long time prior to his abandonment of Christ One True set of Faith beliefs.

So my friend; what am I missing about the point you were making?

God Bless you,

Patrick [PJM] the OP

 

[patmiron]

My last post on the transfiguration.
Matt 16:28. “till you see the Son of man coming in His kingdom.” (see also Mark 9:1).
Then six days three of them see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. Luke tells (Luke 9:31) they “appeared in glory”.
Elijah at the time this happened should still inhabit his physical body. Moses should still be in Abraham’s bosom. How then can they " appear in glory"
We know Peter,James and John have “tasted death” and we still pray for “Thy kingdom” to come. We know the kingdom is established after Jesus returns. Therefore this vision was of a future event.
That should explain how they were talking about His death which at the time of the vision was yet to come. For Moses and Elijah it would be past.

My friend your thinking in a purely HUMAN way here

GOD who can be described as:
“ALL GOOD THINGS PERFECTED” can at WILL accomplish ANY Good thing. So what God WILL’s becomes FACT.

There is a theological perspective here that THEY saw a VISION; not so different than SEEING angels [messengers’ sent from God]

Faith is…Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.

God Bless you,

Patrick [PJM] the OP

 

[blanchardman]

Patrick is Matt 17:2-3 fulfillment of Matt 16:28?

 

[benhur]

What is impossible for man; is a mere thought [accomplished] by our God.

Though dealing with another context I think, an early father quipped, " Let us not suppose that because God can that He did".

Blessings