Information about Catholic history and practices

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Megwalters2288

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I was baptized Catholic as a baby. I believe that was the one and only time I was ever in church with my parents. I returned to my Catholic faith in my late twenties. I than met my husband who was raised SDA. I was astonished at first when his Mother began to share some of their beliefs. I believe the saturday sabbath is what really shook me. Because, there is biblical evidence to back it up. So I was than baptized into the SDA faith. I have since come to realize it is not a biblical faith and cannot bring myself to study its message any longer. I want to study my Catholic. Everything about it. Its beginnings, both it’s dark past and good past, the reasons why they chose certain books for their Bible that are not in the KJV, the reasons behind their practices at mass and other worship practices, etc. I want to learn everything as I am searching for where Jesus is leading me. I go to my old Catholic church and I cry because it feels like home to me. But, what if I am being lead astray and do not realize. Please, give me references for anything that will provide this information and help me to learn. I will be honest in saying I do have my doubts about the Catholic faith but, I strongly feel I am being lead to do this.
 
I am an Italian Catholic catechist (i am not sure if this word exists in English, but i mean i am a Catholic person that teach Catholic stuff to children and teenagers). If you need something, you can write to me. Your will of learning is a very appreciable thing. God bless you.
 
A very short, easy to read book that’s a great starter:

Why We’re Catholic by Trent Horn available here at catholic.com
 
One question I have first is about communion. As I was reading on this topic I noted the long list of reasons someone cannot receive communion during mass. There seemed to be a wide range of reasons why someone should not receive communion. Can you better explain communion to me and why this is. Is there a period of time when individuals will be able to again receive communion?
 
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You can receive communion when you are in a status of grace, when you don’t have sins that load heavily your soul because you confessed them. So, the best thing is to confess your sins before receiving communion 😉 mainly if the sins are great and mortal ones 😉 There are some situations that don’t afford to receive communion, for example to live together another person (sharing the same home, having children, etc) without being husband and wife. The reason is that you can confess this but, if you continue living with him, it means you aren’t really aware that this condition is a sin and that you are really repented 😉 is it clearer now?
 
Welcome, and rest assured that the Holy Spirit is prompting you to seek the truth. You are already halfway home. Since your knowledge of Catholicism is in its infancy, so to speak, a good primer will help.

I can think of none better than Catholicism for Dummies, written by two extremely well educated priests. It deals with all of the various aspects of the faith, but is not exhaustive. It would be very good also for your husband and MIL to read it - if they are willing.

https://www.amazon.com/Catholicism-Dummies-Rev-John-Trigilio/dp/1119295602
 
I do understand. A person must recognize their sin, confess it, and remove it from their life.
 
Yes, we must try to remove it, but, of course, it can happen that we fall again. The important fact is to understand, to accept and ask to be forgiven again and again and so on. God doesn’t get tired to forgive us, maybe we get tired to ask Him it. And always remember none sin is so big that it can’t be forgiven by God, because God is much greater than the worst sin we can do 😉
 
Another question I have is about the sabbath. Many argue the 10 commandments being written on stone are a symbolic way of saying this will stand forever. When Christ first encountered the adulteress woman caught in the act, who many say is Mary Magdalene, he wrote what they assume to be the sins of her accusers in sand. This is symbolic because sin can be wiped away as something is easily removed from sand. But, you cannot remove something from stone. There is new testament scripture backing sabbath keeping. After Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection the disciples only communicated to us that they did much of their teaching on sabbath days. It can be argued that this is because they were Jewish and still practiced customs. But, Christ was noted saying if you love me keep my commandments. Also,when he spoke to the rich man who asked Him how he may be saved Christ’s first reply was “You know the commandments”. Implying that through the 10 commandements we keep Christ’s character. It is strange to me that out of all the commandments only one would be changed and that is the sabbath. It is the only argument SDA have that I can honestly say I am cannot seem to let go of.
 
Your question is very interesting 🙂 firstly, it is not so probable that the woman you talk about is Mary Magdalene, but this is only a not important fact 😉 it is true that God gave Moses and Hebrew people the 10 commandments to respect them, but the arrival of Christ can’t be underestimated. We are Christians because we believe and follow Christ, our Truth, our Life and our Way. And we can’t underestimate the great victory He did against the Death. And this happened and was revealed to the Apostles on Sunday. We Christians modified the date of the Easter (Jesus and His Apostles commemorate the Hebrew Easter during the Last Supper), we put it on Sunday and so, as we celebrate Easter one time a year on a Sunday, we celebrate the weekly Easter on Sunday. And also the meaning of the festive day was modified by Jesus, when He said that the man wasn’t done for Shabbat but Shabbat for the man, focusing about the importance of the man, fulcrum of the divine creation. After all, as Paul stated, if Jesus didn’t resuscitate, our faith is nonsense; the fulcrum of our faith is the Jesus resuscitated and won the Death and, thank to Him, everyone can be saved. There is a before and an after Jesus in the human history and like the pact with the Hebrew was extended to everyone, other differences were done. God bless you 😉
 
Thank you so much for answering back to me. I have many questions still and I hope you will still help me to find answers. Now please know every question I ask has no disrespect meant by it. I am just searching for answers. I am not sure if you are familiar with the Seventh Day Adventist faith but, they believe that the Pope himself is the antichrist so to speak and that the Catholic church will usher in the end of days. That the Catholic church will enforce the mark of the beast referred to in Revelations and the sign of the mark will be sunday worship. They believe Pope Francis is trying to force a sunday law by his strong belief in climate change. They think a sunday keeping will be used as a day of rest for the planet. Which, in my mind sounds like absolute nonsense to me because around the world saturday and sunday are already thought of as days of rest from the work week. Also, I know Pope Francis has had many controversial statements in regards to traditional church beliefs but, his stance on the environment was explained when he chose the name Francis because of St. Francis who held strong beliefs in the poor and nature. So I find that explanation dismisses the Seventh Day Adventists belief of Pope Francis. He seems to hold a very empathetic view of the people in this world. More of which I can say about many of the Seventh Day Adventists I have met. But, I cannot find any blatant biblical reference of God giving man the power to change one of His commandments. I have begun studying the ministry of Peter and I cannot find much historical evidence of this change. The only biblical reference I can recall is 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 and Acts 20:7. But, they do not refer to any change of the sabbath. Also, could God really entrust fully the ability to change Gods commandments to a human being. We can be quite awful in our existence. We can be selfish, evil, fickle, and vindictive. I do not know if God would entrust such a responsibility to man.
 
As I am Italian and, like you maybe know, in Italy there are so few non-Catholic Christians, i don’t know this religious movement very well. But, talking about Sunday, the modify was taken looking at Jesus and His life (and Jesus is true man and true God, with human and divine nature and will). Jesus resuscitated and revealed it on Sunday and again appeared again (as John wrote) the next Sunday, to show Himself to Thomas (who wasn’t present the previous week), in the day which became the Day of the Lord (in Italian we say Domenica and it derives from the latin “Dominus Dies”, Day of the Lord; the English words “dominate” or “dominator” have the same roots). Again John wrote in his Apocalypse that he was taken by the Spirit in the Day of the Lord, so again on Sunday. Sunday (that in English is linked to our star, the Sun, but that explains well its Christian meaning in latin or italian) became the memorial day of the Lord, a new feast which couldn’t be celebrated before because these facts happened only in that historical period, modifing our history and our destiny for ever. Joy yourselves because the Death was killed by our Saviour, Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. This is the happy message we Christians and we Catholics have to give the world 🙂
 
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