More questions I hope Catholics can answer

[Aravyndra]

Theresa here… If you read my last post you’d see I’m actually in the process of converting to Catholicism.

My former minister is none to happy. He sent me a scathing letter about converting. For some reason he dislikes Catholics. he denies he’s biased against Catholics… but it’s kind of obvious.

Anyhoo. I’m leaving basically because I am constantly questioning what he’s saying, and if I have that many questions, I worry. So I started talking about the Catholic faith, and I just seem to fit in the Catholic church.

My minister says things I just don’t seem to agree with. For example: He says Catholics are cultist who pray to statues rather than to God… however, my grandmother is Catholic (My mom too, I forgot to mention that in my first post.) and I know for a fact that’s not true. I have a picture of my dogs by my bedside, but that doesn’t mean I pray to my dogs. A statue or photo of Jesus or a saint is just that, a representation… like a photo.

My minister also said Catholics pray to false gods and hold Mary to an almost Christ like reverence.

My grandma always explained that Catholics ask saints to HELP us pray to Christ, but that we speak to Christ ourselves as well. we’re just asking for them to help us in our prayers. And after all, aren’t (saints) saints because they are holier than most people, closer in favor to God? and isn’t Mary the woman God personally chose to carry his son? Isn’t the fact that the saints and Mary hold favor with God and Christ, deserving of a little reverence? I never understood why other religions, have an issue with showing respect to Mary… after all, she wasn’t merely a woman… she was the mother of the son of GOD, personally chosen by GOD himself! I’ve never had an issue with that.

anyhoo. the one thing I don’t know, is the Catholics stance on a few topics, so I thought I’d ask. Sorry if they’re stupid questions… I’m just curious.

My minister always taught us that we need to be good people on earth, but we shouldn’t care about earthly ties and memories… because when we die and go to heaven, we will forget who we are. We won’t have any memories, we won’t know anyone, yet we will know everyone (IE our minds will be open and no one will be strangers, but if you meet your dad in heaven for example: You will know him… but you won’t know he was your dad in life. Or if a husband meets his wife in heaven, he will know her as a child of God, but not as his wife in life.)

Kind of how our minds race now, and we have thoughts, memories and a self awareness… all that will be gone when we’re in heaven. We won’t know ourselves as we know ourselves now… in otherwords, it will be as if we never existed. when we die, we won’t ever know if we are ressurected by God, because we won’t be ourselves…

but I always thought God loved us for who we are, and because of him, we are who we are… so wouldn’t he want us to be us in heaven? But if we forget who we are, we won’t be us anymore… or something like that.

My minister also firmly believes in 2012. He said the “bible code” proves that God has told us that is when the end will come… however, my mom and grandma always tell me “The bible specifically says 'no one knows the hour or day which the end will come. Not the son nor the angels in heaven. only the father.” So what is the Catholic stance on 2012?

and finally… The bible is full of prophets, and my minister firmly believes in some psychics. I know Catholics do not like psychics… but weren’t prophets kind of like psychics? Their prophecies were coming from God and they were predicting things that were going to happen… some psychics today say their “gift” is from God. How do we know they aren’t modern day prophets chosen by God? (I personally DON’T believe in psychics like Sylvia Browne for example: BIG fraud.) but I’m curious about the Catholic view.

I’m just curious because I’ve been taught to believe one way by my former minister… and some of the stuff he says just doesn’t seem right. So Since I’m becoming Catholic, I thought I should re-learn the truth.

or something. (Sorry if this doesn’t make sense. I’m extremely exhausted. I just got home from picking up a cousin who got stalled 2 hours away… it was a 4 hour drive there and back. lol)

 

[Trishie]

We will know each other and love each in heaven!
It is not the teaching of the Catholic Church that we forget who we are and whom we love!

 

[Trishie]

When we ask those in heaven to pray for us, the saints, we ask their prayers by their names, because they still are who they are, (St) Patrick, (St) Anthony, whoever, we name them for who they were on earth because they remain that person. You also will remain who you are, and you will know and continue to love your family and your dear ones.

God bless you in your courage in uour journey with the Holy Spirit to the trust.
Warmly, Trishie

 

[Todd_Easton]

The Bible doesn’t talk much about heaven but it does give us glimpses of the afterlife.

In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus Christ gives us a glimpse of the afterlife. A poor man named Lazarus and a rich man both died. In the afterlife, the rich man saw and recognized Lazarus and Abraham and he also remembered and interceded for his living brothers.

In 2 Maccabees 15:11-14, Judas Maccabee relates “a dream, a kind of vision, worthy of belief,” that gives us a glimpse of the afterlife. In the dream, Onias, a former high priest, and the prophet Jeremiah are seen in the afterlife and Onias recognizes the prophet Jeremiah as the prophet Jeremiah and introduces him as such to Judas.

 

[Luke65]

Hi Theresa, I can see why your minister is mad at you - you make too much sense! Of course we will remember our lives and our family and friends, in fact, we will know much more than that…

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.” (Luke 8:17)

“Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5)

But nothing will affect our happiness with God. As far as “psychics” go, here is what the Catechism says:

Divination and magic

2115 God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility.

2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future.48 Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one’s service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another’s credulity.

 

[Epeenchin]

I have come across in the Bible somewhere, a woman who kept on remarrying her husband’s brothers, and each one of her husband had died, the question asked was, who would be her husband in the afterlife if she too will die? if I remember correctly, the answer was none of the them will be her husband as we have no more 'body" but just the soul. I find that sad.

Another thing, the vow “till death do us part” and one’s re-marry and eventually died and so does the new husband, he died too, which husband shall she be with in the afterlife?

 

[NHInsider]

I have come across in the Bible somewhere, a woman who kept on remarrying her husband’s brothers, and each one of her husband had died, the question asked was, who would be her husband in the afterlife if she too will die? if I remember correctly, the answer was none of the them will be her husband as we have no more 'body" but just the soul. I find that sad.

Another thing, the vow “till death do us part” and one’s re-marry and eventually died and so does the new husband, he died too, which husband shall she be with in the afterlife?

That Scripture passage was a trick question the Sadducees made up to test Jesus, because they didn’t believe in the resurrection and wanted to create a ridiculous scenario to trip Him up. And Jesus’ response was that we would be “like the angels” which could I suppose be interpreted as without bodies, except that the Church teaches along with St. Paul that we will all one day be resurrected, body and spirit. So Jesus’ response must mean that our relationships will be different. I think it means we won’t need sexual intimacy to experience complete unity, because we will all be perfectly united in Him.

So we will share the earthly memories with our spouses (however many of them we may have had) but not have an issue of “who gets to sleep with her?”

Just my 2c

 

[JacktheCatholic]

Theresa here… If you read my last post you’d see I’m actually in the process of converting to Catholicism.

My former minister is none to happy. He sent me a scathing letter about converting. For some reason he dislikes Catholics. he denies he’s biased against Catholics… but it’s kind of obvious.

Anyhoo. I’m leaving basically because I am constantly questioning what he’s saying, and if I have that many questions, I worry. So I started talking about the Catholic faith, and I just seem to fit in the Catholic church.

My minister says things I just don’t seem to agree with. For example: He says Catholics are cultist who pray to statues rather than to God… however, my grandmother is Catholic (My mom too, I forgot to mention that in my first post.) and I know for a fact that’s not true. I have a picture of my dogs by my bedside, but that doesn’t mean I pray to my dogs. A statue or photo of Jesus or a saint is just that, a representation… like a photo.

My minister also said Catholics pray to false gods and hold Mary to an almost Christ like reverence.

My grandma always explained that Catholics ask saints to HELP us pray to Christ, but that we speak to Christ ourselves as well. we’re just asking for them to help us in our prayers. And after all, aren’t (saints) saints because they are holier than most people, closer in favor to God? and isn’t Mary the woman God personally chose to carry his son? Isn’t the fact that the saints and Mary hold favor with God and Christ, deserving of a little reverence? I never understood why other religions, have an issue with showing respect to Mary… after all, she wasn’t merely a woman… she was the mother of the son of GOD, personally chosen by GOD himself! I’ve never had an issue with that.

anyhoo. the one thing I don’t know, is the Catholics stance on a few topics, so I thought I’d ask. Sorry if they’re stupid questions… I’m just curious.

My minister always taught us that we need to be good people on earth, but we shouldn’t care about earthly ties and memories… because when we die and go to heaven, we will forget who we are. We won’t have any memories, we won’t know anyone, yet we will know everyone (IE our minds will be open and no one will be strangers, but if you meet your dad in heaven for example: You will know him… but you won’t know he was your dad in life. Or if a husband meets his wife in heaven, he will know her as a child of God, but not as his wife in life.)

Kind of how our minds race now, and we have thoughts, memories and a self awareness… all that will be gone when we’re in heaven. We won’t know ourselves as we know ourselves now… in otherwords, it will be as if we never existed. when we die, we won’t ever know if we are ressurected by God, because we won’t be ourselves…

but I always thought God loved us for who we are, and because of him, we are who we are… so wouldn’t he want us to be us in heaven? But if we forget who we are, we won’t be us anymore… or something like that.

My minister also firmly believes in 2012. He said the “bible code” proves that God has told us that is when the end will come… however, my mom and grandma always tell me “The bible specifically says 'no one knows the hour or day which the end will come. Not the son nor the angels in heaven. only the father.” So what is the Catholic stance on 2012?

and finally… The bible is full of prophets, and my minister firmly believes in some psychics. I know Catholics do not like psychics… but weren’t prophets kind of like psychics? Their prophecies were coming from God and they were predicting things that were going to happen… some psychics today say their “gift” is from God. How do we know they aren’t modern day prophets chosen by God? (I personally DON’T believe in psychics like Sylvia Browne for example: BIG fraud.) but I’m curious about the Catholic view.

I’m just curious because I’ve been taught to believe one way by my former minister… and some of the stuff he says just doesn’t seem right. So Since I’m becoming Catholic, I thought I should re-learn the truth.

or something. (Sorry if this doesn’t make sense. I’m extremely exhausted. I just got home from picking up a cousin who got stalled 2 hours away… it was a 4 hour drive there and back. lol)

This Protestant pastor you are speaking of reminds me of the Millerites.

Basically he has made himself the sole interpretator of scripture based solely on his mind and whatever copy of scripture he has and is making many mistakes because he has rejected all of the Apostolic Tradition for scripture alone and that he has made himself infallible to the reading of scripture (which is ironic since he assuredly hates Catholics for their teaching that the Pope is Infallible on matters of Faith).

 

[Tom]

Welcome to the forum, and welcome home to the Catholic Church.
You mentioned your questions might be “stupid questions”, please don’t ever think that. This is your faith, the most important thing in your life. Ask any question you have, it’s very important to know the truth. To help you in your search, this link will take you to an online Catechism:
scborromeo.org/ccc.htm
It has a good search engines, just put general areas in the search and it will take you to an index of associated topics. We can answer most general questions, but sometimes people differ in their opinion, and the Catechism is the real teaching.

Theresa here… If you read my last post you’d see I’m actually in the process of converting to Catholicism. My former minister is none to happy. He sent me a scathing letter about converting. For some reason he dislikes Catholics. he denies he’s biased against Catholics… but it’s kind of obvious.

Most obvious reason is authority. Jesus placed the Catholic Church here on earth and gave this, One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, His authority. Any church outside of this unified Church lacks authority. To prove their individual authority they must, by necessity, attempt to prove the Catholic Church wrong.

 

[Tom]

My minister always taught us that we need to be good people on earth, but we shouldn’t care about earthly ties and memories… because when we die and go to heaven, we will forget who we are. We won’t have any memories, we won’t know anyone, yet we will know everyone (IE our minds will be open and no one will be strangers, but if you meet your dad in heaven for example: You will know him… but you won’t know he was your dad in life. Or if a husband meets his wife in heaven, he will know her as a child of God, but not as his wife in life.)

What he is attempting here is to show the Catholic Church wrong in praying to saints. Fact is saints can here us, and intercede for us. Scripture says the Apostles will sit in judgment of the twelve tribes of Israel, how can they judge if they don’t know what has happened on earth since their departure? How could Moses and Elijah have spoken to Jesus at the transfiguration? Most of their confusion comes from the fact that they reject the entire Christian Bible, including the deuterocanon. Those books the reformers rejected contain references to praying for and to those saints “living” in heaven.

 

[JBassist17]

Theresa here… If you read my last post you’d see I’m actually in the process of converting to Catholicism.

My former minister is none to happy. He sent me a scathing letter about converting. For some reason he dislikes Catholics. he denies he’s biased against Catholics… but it’s kind of obvious.

Anyhoo. I’m leaving basically because I am constantly questioning what he’s saying, and if I have that many questions, I worry. So I started talking about the Catholic faith, and I just seem to fit in the Catholic church.

My minister says things I just don’t seem to agree with. For example: He says Catholics are cultist who pray to statues rather than to God… however, my grandmother is Catholic (My mom too, I forgot to mention that in my first post.) and I know for a fact that’s not true. I have a picture of my dogs by my bedside, but that doesn’t mean I pray to my dogs. A statue or photo of Jesus or a saint is just that, a representation… like a photo.

My minister also said Catholics pray to false gods and hold Mary to an almost Christ like reverence.

My grandma always explained that Catholics ask saints to HELP us pray to Christ, but that we speak to Christ ourselves as well. we’re just asking for them to help us in our prayers. And after all, aren’t (saints) saints because they are holier than most people, closer in favor to God? and isn’t Mary the woman God personally chose to carry his son? Isn’t the fact that the saints and Mary hold favor with God and Christ, deserving of a little reverence? I never understood why other religions, have an issue with showing respect to Mary… after all, she wasn’t merely a woman… she was the mother of the son of GOD, personally chosen by GOD himself! I’ve never had an issue with that.

anyhoo. the one thing I don’t know, is the Catholics stance on a few topics, so I thought I’d ask. Sorry if they’re stupid questions… I’m just curious.

My minister always taught us that we need to be good people on earth, but we shouldn’t care about earthly ties and memories… because when we die and go to heaven, we will forget who we are. We won’t have any memories, we won’t know anyone, yet we will know everyone (IE our minds will be open and no one will be strangers, but if you meet your dad in heaven for example: You will know him… but you won’t know he was your dad in life. Or if a husband meets his wife in heaven, he will know her as a child of God, but not as his wife in life.)

Kind of how our minds race now, and we have thoughts, memories and a self awareness… all that will be gone when we’re in heaven. We won’t know ourselves as we know ourselves now… in otherwords, it will be as if we never existed. when we die, we won’t ever know if we are ressurected by God, because we won’t be ourselves…

but I always thought God loved us for who we are, and because of him, we are who we are… so wouldn’t he want us to be us in heaven? But if we forget who we are, we won’t be us anymore… or something like that.

My minister also firmly believes in 2012. He said the “bible code” proves that God has told us that is when the end will come… however, my mom and grandma always tell me “The bible specifically says 'no one knows the hour or day which the end will come. Not the son nor the angels in heaven. only the father.” So what is the Catholic stance on 2012?

and finally… The bible is full of prophets, and my minister firmly believes in some psychics. I know Catholics do not like psychics… but weren’t prophets kind of like psychics? Their prophecies were coming from God and they were predicting things that were going to happen… some psychics today say their “gift” is from God. How do we know they aren’t modern day prophets chosen by God? (I personally DON’T believe in psychics like Sylvia Browne for example: BIG fraud.) but I’m curious about the Catholic view.

I’m just curious because I’ve been taught to believe one way by my former minister… and some of the stuff he says just doesn’t seem right. So Since I’m becoming Catholic, I thought I should re-learn the truth.

or something. (Sorry if this doesn’t make sense. I’m extremely exhausted. I just got home from picking up a cousin who got stalled 2 hours away… it was a 4 hour drive there and back. lol)

It seems to me you’ve already answered your questions! You’re exactly right on your former minister being wrong on those things and why he’s wrong on them.

But as for your reason for converting: don’t be afraid of the questions. One of the most beautiful things about the Catholic faith is that it is so deep and so thorough, but the only way to reach the truth it holds is to question it, to dig deeper.

 

[Tom]

My minister also firmly believes in 2012. He said the “bible code” proves that God has told us that is when the end will come… however, my mom and grandma always tell me “The bible specifically says 'no one knows the hour or day which the end will come. Not the son nor the angels in heaven. only the father.” So what is the Catholic stance on 2012?

Your grandma is absolutely correct! Scripture specifically says no man knows when He will come, and if someone tells you they know they are false. Point is, it doesn’t matter when, 2012, 2912, tomorrow, we should be ready every second! Why worry about any specific date when the Word of God tells us not to? There have been hundreds of groups which thought they knew the date! The Church puts absolutely no credence in any date!

 

[Epeenchin]

That Scripture passage was a trick question the Sadducees made up to test Jesus, because they didn’t believe in the resurrection and wanted to create a ridiculous scenario to trip Him up. And Jesus’ response was that we would be “like the angels” which could I suppose be interpreted as without bodies, except that the Church teaches along with St. Paul that we will all one day be resurrected, body and spirit. So Jesus’ response must mean that our relationships will be different. I think it means we won’t need sexual intimacy to experience complete unity, because we will all be perfectly united in Him.

So we will share the earthly memories with our spouses (however many of them we may have had) but not have an issue of “who gets to sleep with her?”

Just my 2c

Thanks NH

 

[Tom]

The bible is full of prophets, and my minister firmly believes in some psychics. I know Catholics do not like psychics… but weren’t prophets kind of like psychics? Their prophecies were coming from God and they were predicting things that were going to happen… some psychics today say their “gift” is from God. How do we know they aren’t modern day prophets chosen by God? (I personally DON’T believe in psychics like Sylvia Browne for example: BIG fraud.) but I’m curious about the Catholic view.

The Church doesn’t investigate psychics. It isn’t it’s job to verify or disprove anyone. Can you imagine if they had to investigate all the supposed “psychics”? The question is who is “dead”. To a Christian death is separation from God, in other words someone in hell. Any person who says they can communicate, two ways, with the dead, someone in hell, is probably right, and it ain’t a gift from God! This is NOT like a prophet. Prophets don’t speak with the “dead”.

 

[VociMike]

Regarding prophets, what was the job of the prophets but to prepare the way of the Lord? But now our Lord has come. His coming is the fulfillment of the plan that the prophets were called by God to advance. The revelation he gave us is the fulfillment of God’s revelation. God has given us his only son, and his complete revelation, and his Church. There is nothing more that he has to give us, the human race (of course God gives graces of many different kinds to individuals).

 

[DCD]

Theresa here… If you read my last post you’d see I’m actually in the process of converting to Catholicism.

My former minister is none to happy. He sent me a scathing letter about converting. For some reason he dislikes Catholics. he denies he’s biased against Catholics… but it’s kind of obvious.

Anyhoo. I’m leaving basically because I am constantly questioning what he’s saying, and if I have that many questions, I worry. So I started talking about the Catholic faith, and I just seem to fit in the Catholic church.

My minister says things I just don’t seem to agree with. For example: He says Catholics are cultist who pray to statues rather than to God… however, my grandmother is Catholic (My mom too, I forgot to mention that in my first post.) and I know for a fact that’s not true. I have a picture of my dogs by my bedside, but that doesn’t mean I pray to my dogs. A statue or photo of Jesus or a saint is just that, a representation… like a photo.

My minister also said Catholics pray to false gods and hold Mary to an almost Christ like reverence.

My grandma always explained that Catholics ask saints to HELP us pray to Christ, but that we speak to Christ ourselves as well. we’re just asking for them to help us in our prayers. And after all, aren’t (saints) saints because they are holier than most people, closer in favor to God? and isn’t Mary the woman God personally chose to carry his son? Isn’t the fact that the saints and Mary hold favor with God and Christ, deserving of a little reverence? I never understood why other religions, have an issue with showing respect to Mary… after all, she wasn’t merely a woman… she was the mother of the son of GOD, personally chosen by GOD himself! I’ve never had an issue with that.

anyhoo. the one thing I don’t know, is the Catholics stance on a few topics, so I thought I’d ask. Sorry if they’re stupid questions… I’m just curious.

My minister always taught us that we need to be good people on earth, but we shouldn’t care about earthly ties and memories… because when we die and go to heaven, we will forget who we are. We won’t have any memories, we won’t know anyone, yet we will know everyone (IE our minds will be open and no one will be strangers, but if you meet your dad in heaven for example: You will know him… but you won’t know he was your dad in life. Or if a husband meets his wife in heaven, he will know her as a child of God, but not as his wife in life.)

Kind of how our minds race now, and we have thoughts, memories and a self awareness… all that will be gone when we’re in heaven. We won’t know ourselves as we know ourselves now… in otherwords, it will be as if we never existed. when we die, we won’t ever know if we are ressurected by God, because we won’t be ourselves…

but I always thought God loved us for who we are, and because of him, we are who we are… so wouldn’t he want us to be us in heaven? But if we forget who we are, we won’t be us anymore… or something like that.

My minister also firmly believes in 2012. He said the “bible code” proves that God has told us that is when the end will come… however, my mom and grandma always tell me “The bible specifically says 'no one knows the hour or day which the end will come. Not the son nor the angels in heaven. only the father.” So what is the Catholic stance on 2012?

and finally… The bible is full of prophets, and my minister firmly believes in some psychics. I know Catholics do not like psychics… but weren’t prophets kind of like psychics? Their prophecies were coming from God and they were predicting things that were going to happen… some psychics today say their “gift” is from God. How do we know they aren’t modern day prophets chosen by God? (I personally DON’T believe in psychics like Sylvia Browne for example: BIG fraud.) but I’m curious about the Catholic view.

I’m just curious because I’ve been taught to believe one way by my former minister… and some of the stuff he says just doesn’t seem right. So Since I’m becoming Catholic, I thought I should re-learn the truth.

or something. (Sorry if this doesn’t make sense. I’m extremely exhausted. I just got home from picking up a cousin who got stalled 2 hours away… it was a 4 hour drive there and back. lol)

Why don’t you invite your minister to CAF? This way he would be forced to back up his statements with facts. Sometimes people just wallow in their ignorance their entire life. Some because they want to Just a thought.

Pax,
DCD

 

[Aravyndra]

Thanks for all the answers everyone.

I just wanted confirmation that I wasn’t insane for feeling my former minister was insane. lol.

Plus, he’s fed my former church so much p oop, that I just kind of wondered where the Catholic church stood on things like Heaven and 2012. It’s nice to hear it from a different point of view.

I think it would be very sad in heaven if I wasn’t who I am. I love the life God gave me, and I’d like to remember it so I can thank him one day if I’m worthy enough to get to heaven.

and I hope 2012 is not “the end” cause I’m going to need to get old and gray to make up for being human to deserve going to heaven.

I’m not big on 2012 personally, not like my former minister. I mean… Yeesh.
A. why would you WANT to know?
B. If you seriously think you know, why wouldn’t you be huddled in a corner somewhere begging God to let it be painless? and
C I mean, predicting the EXACT time? 11:11? That just seems a bit toooooo precise. So I just wasn’t buying into it.

But I was curious about the Catholic church’s stance since I just don’t know. I’m still glad I’m converting. I just feel like this is the right place for me.

thanks for the answers!

 

[judechild]

and finally… The bible is full of prophets, and my minister firmly believes in some psychics. I know Catholics do not like psychics… but weren’t prophets kind of like psychics? Their prophecies were coming from God and they were predicting things that were going to happen… some psychics today say their “gift” is from God. How do we know they aren’t modern day prophets chosen by God? (I personally DON’T believe in psychics like Sylvia Browne for example: BIG fraud.) but I’m curious about the Catholic view.

I’ll try my best to answer this question. You’re right that there are some things that are similar between prophets and psychics, but the two are fundamentally different. First of all, a prophet doesn’t necessarily make predictions of the future all the time; a prophet’s main job is to reveal what God wants to make known. The perfect example of this is Jesus, whom every other prophet only prefiguares or reflects. But Jesus was not a psychic, a psychic uses his or her supposed “gift” to serve the whims and desires of people, not God. In fact, the best way to tell if someone has an honest gift from God, or is a sharlatan, is humility. If the person has the gift of prophecy, chances are you don’t know about it, and you will only know about it when the time is right (only God knows). If, on the other hand, the person is making money off of it, he’s probably a freud, and possibly even under demonic influence.

I hope that helps. Congradulations on considering the Church; I wish you many blessings.

 

[JBassist17]

C I mean, predicting the EXACT time? 11:11? That just seems a bit toooooo precise. So I just wasn’t buying into it.

The other big problem with this, besides it being so oddly precise, as you say, is a pretty big one, and kind of humorous: 11:11 am or pm? Eastern time? Chinese time? Stuff like this is just silly.

 

[Mintaka]

VociMike said:
“Regarding prophets, what was the job of the prophets but to prepare the way of the Lord? But now our Lord has come. His coming is the fulfillment of the plan that the prophets were called by God to advance.”

Yeah, but in Paul’s letters we see that Christians did prophesy after the Lord had come and ascended again. There were rules and regulations for prophesying, even; and later books and accounts of Church ceremonies by early Christians do indicate that prophets were busily doing their prophetic thing. It’s not uncommon to run across such folks even now, although it’s not like I advise looking for them. (And of course most mothers are given to prophecies of doom if you don’t change your ways…)

That said, I entirely agree that there’s a vast difference between a ‘psychic’ and someone speaking real prophetic words. One of the rules of the early Christians was that, if someone said they were a prophet, and then tried to mooch off you, stay longer in your house than three days, or get money or presents from you for prophesying, they were fakes or deceived by the Devil. That says it all.