Dear Ellen.
Thank you for your response. To answer your quesions “Who told you”. Actually it was my Catholic neighbors. According to them they learned in the classes they took.
These are the same people who will party on christmas eve and stagger over to church for Mid Night mass so drunk they can hardly walk. I notice in their home in the mist of the Jim Beam and Vodka bottles on the bar is a little plastic Jesus.
**I’m so sorry to hear that

. Misinformed cultural Catholics, and I used to be one, unfortunately, do more harm to the Church (or at least the image of the Church) than all the “Jack Chicks and Dave Hunts and James Whites” put together, imo, because they are far more numerous and visible. Best stay here to learn what Catholics REALLY believe:thumbsup: **
I remember in Vietnam the Catholic soldiers referred to the Catholic Chaplain as “The Town drunk” because they had to carry him to his tent every night. And he never had confession until the afternoon because of a hangover.
I really can’t comment on that. Vietnam was a horrible place, and did a number on a lot of people. That priest might have been very devout and upright prior to getting there. My former supervisor was a Vietnam vet, and he was WAY messed up. I think it was only by the Grace of God (although being an agnostic, he’d never admit that) that he wasn’t a homeless drug addict
Is holy living not an issue for Catholics?
**It’s supposed to be. That’s why we have confession (and no, you can’t be forgiven if you’re not repentent, and you can’t confess sins ahead of time, or sin on purpose with the plan of going to confession later. I’ve heard all these claims made, by Catholics and nonCatholics, about the Sacrament), and Saints to model our lives after. That’s actually one of the main things we have in common w/ the “holiness” churches (Nazarene, Wesleyan, etc). **
BTW when Paul was writing to the Romans about Sin, he was not referring to the resurrected sinless Christ.
What about the precrucified Christ?
Just ribbing ya. St. Paul was actually making the point that there is no distinction b/t Jew and Gentile when it comes to sin, and Jews don’t have a “pass” just because they are Jews, nor do Gentiles because they haven’t had “the Law” passed onto them. We (general humanity “we”) all need Christ’s Saving Grace.
As to asking people for Prayer. My Sister had her Blind eye opened when the Church Prayed for her. My wife was healed from melenoma Brain Cancer when the Church prayed, even though 8 Doctors said she would not live to see daylight. She lived 9 years
after that day.
**That’s awesome! Really demonstrates the power of prayer, and that real miracles DO occur everyday

**
Do we ask people to pray with us? You bet we do, but we Pray to Jesus himself after all he is Jevoha Ropha our Healer. I don’t understand why you have so many levels of people dead and alive to get to Jesus. All you have to do is ask him. He said come unto me and I will give you rest.
We do too. I don’t why people have this idea that Jesus is the last person Catholics talk to :banghead: In fact, if you go to a Mass, which is considered the Church’s universal “prayer”, it’s ALL about Jesus. Mary and some of the Saints are mentioned like twice, unless it’s a Marian or Saints’ feast day,(then they’re mentioned a couple more times, but Jesus is still the center of the Mass). I actually start all my prayers with “Lord Jesus” or “Heavenly Father”. I ask for Mary or one of the Saints (if I have a specific problem that a particular Saint is “known for”) after I talk to Jesus and the Father. I also always ask the Holy Spirit to fill me and make me holy, open my eyes, and make me so people see Christ through me. We don’t put Mary and Saints before Jesus and God, we just recognize that, just like we have family and friends and fellow parishioners to pray for us (as we pray for them), we have Saints in heaven who can too
Now, with the Saints, we don’t need to pray for them, because being in heaven, they don’t need our prayers anymore, but the otherwise it’s exactly the same.
Blessings