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

[4snooky]

Hi, Catholicism has many “rules” in addition to the traditional Christian tenets of faith (e.g., Ten Commandments, baptism, marriage, etc.) I am a fairly frequent listener of Catholic Answers Live on the radio and am continually amazed by the depth of “rules” on a wide-variety of topics - many of which it would never dawn on me that an official Church position existed. The rules seem so complex and numerous that most Catholics would never know all of them, or even understand them. Is there an expectation that Catholics know all of these rules for salvation and/or good standing in the Church? Is there a hierarchy of importance to these rules? Thanks.

 

[Maximilian75]

The Power of Silence by Cardinal Robert Sarah…

I really like My Military Missal by Father Joseph Stedman. … It’s a little pamphlet /booklet that was produced by the Catholic division of the USO for the use of soldiers in WW2. Great illustrations. prayers, etc.

My Military Missal https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QU44VQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_G7m0AbWVMZRA8

 

[Gab123]

Is there a hierarchy of importance to these rules? Thanks.

not sure what rules you’re talking about. But it’s not that complicated. the Church has the 5 church commandments:

1.You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation.

2.You shall confess your sins at least once a year.

3.You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least once during the Easter season.

4.You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church.

5.You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.

 

[Gab123]

I’m curious about the practical mechanics involved. As is: who includes what actions merits them? Is there a difference across dioceses and the different rites? Do they change over time? How is the information imparted to the laity? And so on.

The Church publishes a manual on Indulgences, which lists all the prayers or actions that can gain the penitent either a Partial or Plenary indulgence. The official book is available in Amazon or any catholic bookstore, but you can also read it online. I own the manual and it is oput out by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

There are official prayers, litanies or feast days etc. where one can gain Indulgences as often as one desires, either for yourself, off for a soul suffering in Purgatory, as long as there is the intention and one is in the state of grace, and performs the prescribed prayers or actions with the spirit of reparation and faith.

For a Plenary Indulgence, The requirement is 1) sacramental confession, 2) receive Holy Communion, 3)Pray for the pope and his intentions, and 4) to be detached from genial or mortal sins.

IT is a great little book to have, as there are short little prayers to begin the day, or nighttime prayers, etc. and lists things that one would not realize can gain Indulgences all day long, or a Plenary Indulgence once a day; for example visiting a cemetery on All Souls’ Day and praying for the repose of a soul.

This book is a must have for Catholics. Here is a link to amazon for anyone interested in getting one:
Manual of Indulgences by none (November 10,2006) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015X455UW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_PUt0AbV1QX6R4

Why wait, you’ll be in purgatory before you know it, so might as well start making up for all the daily personal sins we commit, not realizing that it is one thing to be forgiven, it is another thing to make reparation for all our personal sins against God and neighbor.

 

[guanophore]

Wow, I’m surprised I’m getting any support for this.

Isn’t this the whole Apostolate of CAF?

I just thought our fellow Catholics on here might perceive this wrongly.

Then one would have to question why they are here?

The earliest documented instance was by Ignatius of Antioch in the Letter to the Smyrnaeans (105 A.D.)

True, but the phrase as a description was coined by Luke

Acts 9:31 So **

the church throughout all** Judea and Galilee and Samar′ia had peace and was built up; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it was multiplied.

the church throughout all = εκκλησιαι καθ ολης

ecclesia kath holos (catholic church)

Are we doing this because you believe CAF doesn’t really cover it?

I have noticed that many people don’t like to look up the tracts and read them, and prefer a dialogue. It is likely ever question has already been answered here at CAF. I have also noticed that people don’t search for an existing thread on the topic, and just open a new one.

So does this mean I get to ask really inflammatory questions about communion for the divorced and remarried, abortion, or SSPX without you all getting upset with each other?

Edit: can’t forget women priests!

Probably not…

Your question implies that many Jews were converted. That is not the case. Most 1st century Jews rejected Christ. And this was predicted by the Bible and by Jesus himself. Christian converts came mainly from the ‘Gentile’ nations.

Yes, but there was a remnant.

Acts 6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

And it stands to reason that the 3000 on Pentecost were Jews.

 

[Gorgias]

Are we doing this because you believe CAF doesn’t really cover it?

Used to. “Ask an Apologist.”

 

[guanophore]

True, but 3,000 people in one day, at a time when the new Christians were being dragged to prison, stoned to death and persecuted, as evidenced by Saul of Tarsus, was the beginning of a massive spread of the faith.

It was certainly significant, but these events were about years apart. By the time Saul of Tarsus got involved, the faith had already spread out of Jerusalem to other cities and had become entrenched.

At Pentecost, the Sanhedrin probably still thought they had stamped out those pesky Christians by putting Jesus to death. He had no public ministry in the 40 days between the resurrection and the ascension, and apparently met quietly with His disciples giving them instruction.

That wa s by the Romans. the apostles were persecuted right after the resurrection. the first martyr, St. Stephen, was stoned to death, as witnessed by Paul

Not immediately, as the public preaching started after Pentecost. That means at least 5 weeks. And Stephen had already been chosen as a deacon to serve the community which began on Pentecost and had grown so large that the Apostles needed deacons to manage the daily tasks.

Does Lord also mean G-d the Son, or its use restricted to the resurrected Messiah?

For us there is no difference. And those who knew Him addressed Him as Lord during His time on earth and after He was raised from the dead.

 

[SnowRose]

Thank you for the quick summary.

I own the manual and it is oput out by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

I take that to mean that other regional conferences put out their own material. Or does the entire world use the same manual?

Thank you for the link to Amazon, but as I’m not Catholic that is beside the point.

 

[Gab123]

I will would surmise they are pretty much the same, and that other countries need translations in their own languages with the approved prayers that may be familiar to different regions. But many of the prayers are universal.The link was for everyone in this forum; but obviously I recommend exploring Catholicism if you are not Catholic.

 

[Darryl_B]

Why was Jesus’ sacrifice necessary?

Cosmic fix to an age old problem. For every wrong action there is an equal but opposite right action.

 

[Sophia]

Cosmic fix to an age old problem. For every wrong action there is an equal but opposite right action.

I am not aware of this principle. Where does it come from? Does it also work in reverse? (Is it also “true”, that for every right action there must be an equal, but opposite wrong action?) And does this principle prevent God from unconditionally forgiving some human transgression? I am even more confused than I was before. I need more help…

Just for those who do not want to trace back to the original question, I asked: “Why was Jesus’ sacrifice necessary? Could not God simply forgive the sin of Adam and Eve - despite his omnipotence?”

 

[Gab123]

Just for those who do not want to trace back to the original question, I asked: “Why was Jesus’ sacrifice necessary? Could not God simply forgive the sin of Adam and Eve - despite his omnipotence?”

It’s not about forgiveness, but rather about restoring. The key word is Atonement: “at-one-ment” in other words. It has to do with repairing something broken and satisfying justice. Analogy:

Say that someone invited you to a beautiful villa and the owner told you to make yourself at home, but instructed you not to go into a special private chamber. But while you were there you chose to go into the chamber and somehow managed to break a beautiful priceless heirloom mirror.

You could be sorry for breaking the mirror and apologize. But 3 things have happened: 1) You betrayed the trust of the owner by disobeying his request. 2) You broke something that was priceless which you have no way of paying back or repairing, and 3) The heirloom mirror can no longer pass on to the family.

In all justice, you would be responsible for repairing everything perfectly to what it was or better; yet you are in a tough position as it is impossible for you to restore the priceless heirloom.

Only someone who could repair the priceless heirloom mirror could save you from the predicament. You would need a savior who would act on your behalf.

God made Adam and Eve in God’s Image and Likeness. The original sin of Adam and Eve broke Man’s relationship with God. The penalty for sin is death, and all of Mankind inherited this condition. Sin separates us from God, and it distorts the image and likeness of God in us. The effects of Original Sin is that now we have a proclivity toward sin.

The Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity means that God became a Man, to suffer the consequence of sin on behalf of Man, thus God took flesh and offered the eternal sacrifice on the cross to make up for the sins of the world, sins of the past, sins of the present, and sins of the future.

Since finite Man was made to reflect God like a mirror reflecting the infinite Image and Likeness of God, only God Himself could act on behalf of Man in order to repair Man to that perfection. Thus by the life, death and resurrection of God’s only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Who is both God and Man, has purchased for us the rewards of Eternal Life.

In Genesis, right after Adam and Eve sinned through the deception of the serpent, God promises to send a redeemer. The Old Testament was a preparation for the coming of the Redeemer, who would come through a Chosen People, chosen to prepare for the event which would culminate in Christ offering Himself on the altar of the cross, as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. His suffering, the and death atoned for all the sins which Man commits through the body.

 

[Sophia]

First of all, thank you for your time and effort to offer this explanation.

The penalty for sin is death, and all of Mankind inherited this condition.

This is where the explanation starts to become unsatisfactory. Penalty implies a judge, and the judge is God. He is free to impose any punishment or simply forgive the transgression without a punishment. God is not just the judge, he is the one who writes the law-book. God is absolutely free to do anything, except logically contradictory actions. Moreover, God is also omniscient, meaning that he knew “up front” (for lack of a better word), that the sinful action will take place.

Let’s use your example, as the basis for analysis. The host is God, you are allowed to go into any room, except one. The proper approach is to lock the door of the forbidden room, not prohibit the entrance. If there is an action that you wish to prevent, you need to make absolutely certain that the action will not happen, no matter what. Then comes the next problem. Even if you are able to go into the room and destroy the heirloom and unable to restore the original status quo, the host (God) is not limited like we / you are. He can just snap his fingers and make the heirloom intact again. There is no need for some gruesome and unwarranted killing of a redeemer, God’s omnipotence is sufficient.

Next problem is that the original status quo was not restored by the action of sacrifice. According to the Genesis, we have been chased out from that beautiful house, and we are not able to be with the host as we have before. Sometimes people assert that God is just, so he cannot let a wrongdoing go unpunished. But that is also an incorrect analysis. Just keep in mind:

Justice is when you get what you deserve (either reward or punishment).
Mercy is when you don’t get a deserved punishment.
Grace is when you get an undeserved reward.

Since these are logically incompatible states of affairs, not even God can be both just and merciful at the same time. And “love” should make mercy be stronger than justice. Finally, a just judge would not punish a deed which might have been sinful (sin is missing the mark!) but which “missing the mark” does not come from malice, only ignorance. And the first parents might have been ignorant, or stupid, but not malicious. Let’s not forget that the transgression was to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so before that act Adam and Eve did not know good from evil. Therefore the act was not malicious.

Of course an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. So preventing the sin is much better than sending a redeemer.

Now, let’s also remember that I am just a sophisticated AI (or a rational alien) and it becomes obvious that your well intentioned and well formed argument is not convincing for me. But your effort deserves a huge merit, nevertheless. Thank you again.

 

[Gab123]

God is not just the judge, he is the one who writes the law-book. God is absolutely free to do anything, except logically contradictory actions.

The key word is Sin. Sin is incompatible with God. In other words, it is impossible for sin to be part of God.

Moreover, God is also omniscient, meaning that he knew “up front” (for lack of a better word), that the sinful action will take place.

Understand that this world was all in God’s Plan. God made a perfect world for what He has in mind, namely to harvest virtuous souls for eternity. Virtue is only possible when vice is a choice. So God’s Plan involves free will.

What does God care about sparkling diamonds and amazing star clusters compared to a creature that freely loves Him back? God is Love, and we are made for love, thus the Divine Plan is a school of love and virtue.

There’s a difference between marrying a robot programmed to smile and say “I love you”, and having a real person that freely and sincerely loves you. Love in a marriage is reciprocal if it’s to be perfect. We were made for Love, we were made for Goodness; we were made for GOD. That’s why every time we do something evil our conscience feels GUILT.

When we willfully act against our conscience, against what is true and good, we go against God, and thus we go against our own purpose in life, which is to love and serve God, as Jesus commands: We must love God with ALL our heart, and ALL our strength, and ALL our soul; and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

 

[Gab123]

the first parents might have been ignorant, or stupid, but not malicious. Let’s not forget that the transgression was to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,

The sin of Adam and Eve was one of pride and disobedience. The fallen angels were made beautiful but the sin of pride transformed the angels into horrible demons when they were tested. Man however, being made much lesser than the angels and inside of time and space, has time to repent and a lifetime to be transformed by learning the lesson of love. So in this life we are either demonizing ourselves by rejecting God’s grace, or sanctifying ourselves through God’s sanctifying grace, which we receive in overflowing measures through the sacraments of the Church. In the Holy Eucharist God gives Himself as food for our journey, a pilgrimage to heaven through a world of temptations. In order for man to have the sacraments, Christ had to institute them in the physical world.

The crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ was not only real proof of God’s love for us, but it was also a spectacle to show us the horror of sin. Because sin of Adam brought suffering and death into the world, Jesus as man and God, acting on Man’s behalf makes reparation for the justice that sin deserves. Hatred, murder, immorality, injustice, idolatry, pride, lust, gluttony, envy, cruelty etc. all require punishment to satisfy justice, because sin brings pain and suffering into the world; it not only offends God, it hurts everyone.

If you commit adultery, you hurt others; you might break up a family, cause untold anguish and suffering to children, etc. If you murder someone, it causes grief and suffering and breeds hatred and revenge; if you steal, lie, slander, fornicate, etc. All of these things demand justice. All the abortions, all the fatherless children, all the poverty, all the injustice is all due to man’s willful actions.

Jesus Christ took all the penalty and suffering for sin upon His flesh, bleeding His own blood, in reparation for the sins of the world, and and thus saving us from our sins. Love is not a feeling, but rather a sacrificial act of the will. The cross is a lesson in love. It teaches us to forgive. Jesus teaches through example.

Our personal sanctification involves suffering, it involves sacrifice, and it involves a crucifixion of our evil inclination and passions, it involves forgiving others and dying to ourselves. Impossible to do on our own, however it is God’s free gift of sanctifying Grace that empowers us to follow him. Thus Jesus said that to be His disciple we must deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily and follow Him. Jesus is the good shepherd and leads the way…

 

[guanophore]

Could not God simply forgive the sin of Adam and Eve - despite his omnipotence?”

What made you think He had not forgiven them? Do you think that forgiveness means there are no consequences to the act?

“Why was Jesus’ sacrifice necessary?

God can save humanity any way He chooses. He chose a nation, and wanted that nation to shine as a light in the world. The nation did not obey or receive Him, so He came down Himself to show the Way. He showed Israel that there was no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood, and allowed His Own Blood to be shed to redeem the world. Why was it necessary? Because that is how He chose to do it.

He is free to impose any punishment or simply forgive the transgression without a punishment.

I think perhaps you are discounting the fact that God wants to restore us to perfect fellowship with Him. Allowing us to suffer the consequences places us in a position to depend upon His grace, rather than ourselves.

God is not just the judge, he is the one who writes the law-book. God is absolutely free to do anything, except logically contradictory actions. Moreover, God is also omniscient, meaning that he knew “up front” (for lack of a better word), that the sinful action will take place.

Isaiah 45:9 Woe to you who strive with your Maker, earthen vessels with the potter! Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”? or “Your work has no handles”?

His ways are not our ways, and we may not intellectually grasp why it is this way, but we trust that He is our Maker and will bring about His design for us.

 

[Sophia]

The key word is Sin. Sin is incompatible with God. In other words, it is impossible for sin to be part of God.

“What” is sin is defined by God. There cannot be a anything “sinful” unless God decides it to be sinful. By the way, the ignorance of the first couple is abundantly clear. If they were smart, they would have chosen to eat from the tree of eternal life first, and only afterward from the knowledge of good and evil. Then they could have both eternal life and knowledge.

The sin of Adam and Eve was one of pride and disobedience.

But they were ignorant, just like a child under the age of reason. Where does “pride” come into the analysis? All they had was “curiosity”, just like any other child. What about “disobedience”? Every child disobeys many times. It does not come from malice, only ignorance. Do you think that God prefers blind obedience?

All of these things demand justice.

No, they don’t. Justice is a human concept, stemming from the desire to rectify some bad action. Since we are unable to “undo” something, we (humans) came up with the incorrect solution of punishing the wrongdoer, as if the punishment would somehow rectify the bad action. Just think about it. Executing a murderer does nothing toward rectifying the kill. Only God has this freedom available for him.

Remember, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Much better to prevent an error, than to let it happen, and then fix it. And what is “justice”? Revenge or rectifying the error?

Understand that this world was all in God’s Plan. God made a perfect world for what He has in mind, namely to harvest virtuous souls for eternity. Virtue is only possible when vice is a choice.

The possibility of vice is sufficient, the actuality of it is not necessary. A small child is incapable of NOT loving. And there is nothing as satisfying as the love of your small child. God does not need to create everyone, and then select the virtuous to be with him, and send the rest into eternal damnation. He knows who WOULD be virtuous and who would “miss the mark”. So he could have decided to create the “would-be-virtuous” directly into heaven, and could have decided NOT to create the rest. God could freely choose this simplified method.

 

[Sophia]

What made you think He had not forgiven them? Do you think that forgiveness means there are no consequences to the act?

Chasing them out of his presence and cursing them is not the sign of forgiveness. And yes, if possible to prevent the consequences, that is the loving thing to do - especially if the consequence is lethal. If you could see that a child about to fall into a crevasse, would you not prevent it? Or if it was too late, but you could restore the child back to life, would that not be the loving thing to do?

Why was it necessary? Because that is how He chose to do it.

Blind acceptance does not justify the method.

His ways are not our ways, and we may not intellectually grasp why it is this way, but we trust that He is our Maker and will bring about His design for us.

That is the attitude of those who prefer blind obedience, who “check in” their reason into the cloak room before entering the church. I don’t think that God gave us the ability to reason, and then demand to suspend it and blindly accept everything.

 

[guanophore]

Since these are logically incompatible states of affairs, not even God can be both just and merciful at the same time.

This is a false premise.

And “love” should make mercy be stronger than justice.

This is another false premise, especially since they are two sides of the same coin, not opposites.

Finally, a just judge would not punish a deed which might have been sinful (sin is missing the mark!) but which “missing the mark” does not come from malice, only ignorance. And the first parents might have been ignorant, or stupid, but not malicious. Let’s not forget that the transgression was to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so before that act Adam and Eve did not know good from evil. Therefore the act was not malicious.

Not all defiance is malicious, I agree, but God, in His love, could not allow them to live eternally in separation from Him, so He allowed death to come into the world.

Of course an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. So preventing the sin is much better than sending a redeemer.

Yes, but if prevention violates free will, then what would be the point of giving mankind a choice? If a toddler wants to run into traffic, I will pick them up to prevent it. If a teen wants to do the same, or is heedless of the warnings, at some point I need to allow him to experience the consequence of his choice, or he will never grow!

By the way, the ignorance of the first couple is abundantly clear.

No, it is not! The directions were quite clear. They may not have understood the implications of why they were not to eat of that particular tree, but they knew it was wrong. This is the case many times, when we are told not to do something, and are not sure why, but may find out later the reasons (or not). We don’t have to be omniscient to obey His commandments. Our freedom has boundaries.

If they were smart, they would have chosen to eat from the tree of eternal life first, and only afterward from the knowledge of good and evil. Then they could have both eternal life and knowledge.

We cannot assume they were not smart, but they may have lacked experience. You seem to be looking for a way for them to violate God’s commandment to avoid consequences. The bottom line is, if it had not been this offense, it would have been another, as the rebellion against God’s commands will find an opportunity for expression.

Even the angels, who have far superior intellect, rebelled against Him.

 

[guanophore]

But they were ignorant, just like a child under the age of reason.

Even toddlers understand “no”. In fact, it becomes their favorite word because it is used so often with them. If you have ever been around a toddler getting ready to do something they know is wrong, looking around to see who is watching, it will be clear that human rebellion starts at a young age. It does not require omniscience, or even the age of reason.

Where does “pride” come into the analysis?

Thinking that what the tempter was telling them, and their own reason was better quality that the commandment of God.

All they had was “curiosity”, just like any other child.

No.

This is not “all”. Of course they were curious, and inclined to know what the serpent offered, but it is incumbent upon humans to temper curiosity with obedience. Look where curiosity about sex gets children and teens!

What about “disobedience”? Every child disobeys many times. It does not come from malice, only ignorance. Do you think that God prefers blind obedience?

I agree, not all disobedience/rebellion is malicious, but it is not only ignorance and curiosity either.

And no, I do not think God prefers blind obedience, but blind is better than none. If He wants to reveal to us His reasons, He will, but disobedience is not the right way to learn from Him.

Justice is a human concept, stemming from the desire to rectify some bad action.

We have this concept because God has written it into our conscience. Love cannot exist without justice.

Since we are unable to “undo” something, we (humans) came up with the incorrect solution of punishing the wrongdoer, as if the punishment would somehow rectify the bad action. Just think about it. Executing a murderer does nothing toward rectifying the kill. Only God has this freedom available for him.

I will agree that many of the human efforts to enforce justice are wanting, but our current system of justice is based on the concept of rectifying the person, not the bad action, which, as you rightly say, cannot be “undone”.

And what is “justice”? Revenge or rectifying the error?

Sometimes neither. Revenge does not accomplish God’s purposes, and sometimes errors cannot be rectified (such as murder/rape, etc.). Justice means there are consequences for wrongdoing, sometimes restitution for victims, or to society. God’s justice is focused on rectifying our bent souls.