Personal Savior

[Fidei]

Please forgive me with what I’m about to ask…

Are we (Catholics) told that we have a direct personal relationship with Christ or are we to have relationship with Jesus THROUGH the Church?

Now, i have been praying to Jesus my whole life without putting the Catholic Church in my thoughts, without thinking of my parish, nor the blessings from the saints past and present nor our colorful history, but just purely Jesus asking him for forgiveness, guidance, care to my loved ones, and for the life He has given me. I’m sure you would all agree to this. We even pray the Our Father and saying Grace without ever mentioning the Church!

But i tend to hear a lot from protestants that Catholics do not have a personal relationship with Christ! what are we Catholics entitled to say?

It raises another question too, if protestants believe they can have personal relationship with Christ, why belong to a denomination helping them to go to Christ? why do they still need pastors, reverends, ministers, a church denomination etc…?

What does having a personal relationship with Christ and accepting him as our sole mediator to the Father really mean?

 

[choy]

kamusta ka Fidei?

Christ’s relationship is with the Church. and we are the Church, and the Church is the Mystical Body of Jesus. through the Church we become one with Christ, so our relationship with Christ is direct.

protestants love using the term “personal relationship” but this is a heresy that they are propagating. that our relationship with Jesus is one-on-one alone. that is not true. its only one aspect of the relationship we have with Christ. remember that Christ simplified the commandments for us, love God, and love thy neighbor. and in loving they neighbor, we love the Church which is the community of believers. you cannot separate our one-on-one relationship with Jesus with our one-to-many relationship with everyone else. that is why Jesus asks of us to love one another as He loves us. and He further asks us to do for the least of our brethren as we would do for Him. to love Christ is to love everyone else, and to love everyone else is to love Christ. so our relationship is both personal and shared to all, at the same time, and inseparable.

during Easter Vigil, our parish priest made an excellent comment regarding “personal relationships”. he said that when we light the candles inside the dark church, lift the candles up a foot or two above your head, instead of holding it directly in front of your face. if you hold it in front of your face, you illuminate yourself but somehow you cover the light and the room is darker. but if you hold it up high, the light is spread around more and the room is brighter. and this is the difference between a faith that is personal, and a faith that is shared to all

It raises another question too, if protestants believe they can have personal relationship with Christ, why belong to a denomination helping them to go to Christ? why do they still need pastors, reverends, ministers, a church denomination etc…?

thats a good question to ask them. i’m sure they have a prepared answer for this one. but we need the Church because Christ established the Church for us. He did so when He told Peter that He will build His Church on Peter. if we do not need the Church, why did Christ establish one? and He even made a guarantee that not even the gates of hell would prevail against His Church

What does having a personal relationship with Christ and accepting him as our sole mediator to the Father really mean?

Christ is the sole mediator to God. i think we are in agreement with our Protestant brothers and sisters in this regard. what they are trying to trick you into is to say that you no longer need Mary or the other saints. while there is nothing that REQUIRES you to pray to Mary or the Saints in the Church, we have seen how helpful it is to approach those who have lived holy lives to help us do the same. we do not believe that the Chuch is a physical building or an earthly organization. we believe that the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, and the Church is present in both Heaven and Earth. and in the Catholic faith we are taught about the Communion of Saints, where every member of the Church faithfully help each other get to heaven through constant prayer. asking for prayers from the saints is no different from asking prayers from the person sitting beside you at church.

 

[Fidei]

Thanks for the answer! i guess, my idea comes from the false premise that church is an entirely separate entity from us and Jesus.

Salamat po! couldnt have asked for a better answer!

 

[choy]

don’t forget this, while Jesus and His Church are two entities, Christ always refer to the Church as a second but inseparable entity

the first is that Christ calls His Church his bride. as Christ has taught that a man and a woman become one in marriage, so is Christ and His Church become one

second is that Christ says He is the head, and the Church is the body. and we all know that the body cannot live without the head and they cannot be separated

 

[The_Reginator]

Are we (Catholics) told that we have a direct personal relationship with Christ or are we to have relationship with Jesus THROUGH the Church?

Here’s the first thought that popped into my head:
What could be more personal than having our Lord and Saviour placed on our tongue as we meekly kneel before him? Jesus Christ Himself enters our very bodies!
Now THAT’S personal.

So, therefore, we need to have a ‘personal relationship’ with Jesus to ensure that we are in a state of grace before receiving Him (as in an examination of conscience). And having received Him, it only makes sense to keep praying to Him. Especially since He is our Head.

 

[diggerdomer]

Please forgive me with what I’m about to ask…

Are we (Catholics) told that we have a direct personal relationship with Christ or are we to have relationship with Jesus THROUGH the Church?

Both according to Catholic teaching. Why would you think it’s either/or?