I'm Catholic, Ask Me Anything (for non-Catholics)

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God’s the only one who can give you confidence that your sins are really forgiven. And like so many people here have said, Jesus gave human beings- in the form of priests and other Catholic clergy the same power to absolve sins as Jesus did.
 
Gab123 said:
Any serious sin is deadly to the soul. For example, If you hate someone and don’t forgive them, that is unforgivable, unless you repent.
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What about those who have Christ in them & die before they repent of a bad attitude that morning? They go to hell? That hardly seems worth a sacrifice of obedience for a person’s life.
 
I think there’s a difference between a bad attitude and hate. It’s one thing to be annoyed at someone, it’s another thing to wish damnation upon them, and it’s the latter that would be mortally sinful.
 
Ahhh… I wasn’t thinking about the Catholic view of hierarchy of sin. The comment would make sense from that point of view.
There are several things in my recent experiences and studies that have caused me to agree with the CC on some points, but the hierarchy of sin is one I just can’t reconcile.
 
birthjunkiemom said:
What about those who have Christ in them & die before they repent of a bad attitude that morning? They go to hell?
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Yes. Serious sin kills the life of grace in the soul; thus some sins are called mortal. If you die in the state of mortal sin, then you will be lost. it depends on the seriousness of the sin and your knowledge and consent. Someone with unforgiveness in their heart will have a tough time entering heaven; thus Jesus also warned about the prison and tortures of purgatory.
 
When Jesus institited Communion, He first consecrated the bread and gave to the disciples. Then He consecrated the wine and again gave to the disciples. Why do Catholic priests consecrate the bread and wine together in the mass and then offer both together at the same time, instead of following the pattern Jesus gave us for Comunion?
 
Gab123 said:
Yes. Serious sin kills the life of grace in the soul; thus some sins are called mortal. If you die in the state of mortal sin, then you will be lost. it depends on the seriousness of the sin and your knowledge and consent. Someone with unforgiveness in their heart will have a tough time entering heaven; thus Jesus also warned about the prison and tortures of purgatory.
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You can make an act of perfect contrition whilst you are dying, and perhaps not end up in Hell. No?
 
The Pope is the Authority figure named by Jesus, to represent Him, and explain church teachings to believers.
Mary and the saints are not worshipped; They intercede for us. It would be like me asking you, “will you say a prayer for my family”? You aren’t worshipped, and no one was other than God.
 
gazelam said:
When Jesus institited Communion, He first consecrated the bread and gave to the disciples. Then He consecrated the wine and again gave to the disciples. Why do Catholic priests consecrate the bread and wine together in the mass and then offer both together at the same time, instead of following the pattern Jesus gave us for Comunion?
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Basically the sequence is different otherwise everything is the same that does not make any difference to the Eucharist - the bread and wine being changed to the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

The liturgy is often designed in such a way so that it is practical for congregational worship while at the same time does not change anything. In that sense, the sequence of the liturgy might have changed. (I am not a litrugist. I would be glad to stand corrected).

It was easy for Jesus to do that with the twelve aposltes but when you have more than a thousand communicants to serve, the logistic may be a problem. Our liturgy therefore has to be standardized to make it doable in all situations.
 
The above being said, the priest does follow the pattern. He concentrates the bread followed by the wine into the body and blood of Christ.
 
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Purgatory…is it a place for bearing punishment…or…is it a place for purification? If it is a place for bearing punishment that I can see how indulgences might serve to provide some relief. If it is a place for purification, then how would indulgences apply or a “treasury of merit” apply.
 
nodelink said:
Purgatory…is it a place for bearing punishment…or…is it a place for purification? If it is a place for bearing punishment that I can see how indulgences might serve to provide some relief. If it is a place for purification, then how would indulgences apply or a “treasury of merit” apply.
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Purgatory isn’t merely a punishment. It’s a merciful gift and a testimony to God’s love. The role of suffering is to undo the damage we’ve done. It’s God the Healer applying the remedy to make us perfect images of Christ.

The Catholic doctrine of salvation is that God doesn’t simply desire to save us from hell — from a state of eternal separation from him. More fundamentally, he desires to save us from sin, from being anything less than the men and women he created us to be.

Purgatory is necessary purification to enter into perfect communion with God therefore the term purgatory does not indicate a place, but a condition of existence, where Christ removes the remnants of imperfection.

Indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed, gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church.

The treasury of the Church is the infinite value, which can never be exhausted, which Christ’s merits have before God. They were offered so that the whole of mankind could be set free from sin and attain communion with the Father.

In Christ, the Redeemer himself, the satisfactions and merits of his Redemption exist and find their efficacy.

This treasury includes as well the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary, all the saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps of Christ the Lord. In this way they attained their own salvation and at the same time cooperated in saving their brothers in the unity of the Mystical Body.

Colossians 1:24-25 “Now I [the Apostle Paul] rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you”.
 
The Catholic belief on the possibility of Jesus sinning. I know you could just answer yes/no, but I am really curious about the deeper implications of the question. Obviously, He could sin or Satan wouldn’t even have tried to tempt him after his 40 day fast. Was it easier for Him to not sin?
 
I keep hearing arguments that belief in the supernatural is not a scientific claim, but a logical argument only. As I understand it logic works by first defining your terms so that people can understand what you are trying to create. That is why we know what the logical equation 1+2=3 means and why it is logically correct. We agree with the definitions. Now, does that match reality? Yes it does, only after running the experiment against reality. But if it didn’t, would we throw out our logical conclusion referencing reality or would we go with what reality shows? Reality beats our logical conclusion every time. So on that, why is basing the seriousness of the implied implications of religion A based, not on referencing reality, but on non-scientifically testable claims but only logical arguments that can not be demonstrated to actually be tested in reality? Religion is just coming across as a bunch of nerds, geeking out about all the obscure rabbit holes they can navigate about their favorite comic book hero and it’s adventures. It’s got a logically consistent back story but can not be actually demonstrated to exist in reality at all.
Also, why is it important to teach people not to marry someone who does not actually believe the magical claims of the religion? If someone finds value in the cultural traditions and the people, why does it matter that they don’t actually believe bread turns to flesh, virgins give birth to demigods, etc? People in comicon find value in each other all the time but they don’t care that one person actually believes in the force and the other doesn’t. Just that they both value dressing up, singing the songs, etc.
 
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