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Marc_Anthony
Guest
If you believe Jesus is present in the Eucharist, why would Eucharistic adoration bother you? It’s adoration of Jesus.
Saints only have the powers granted to them by God.
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Saints only have the powers granted to them by God.
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Charlotte1776
Guest
When I first started finding out that my old protestant misconceptions about the Catholic Church were wrong, I looked into it more and realized that there was a lot of truth in the Catholic faith. Even though I still had reservations and didn’t agree with everything the Church taught at the time, the Holy Spirit was drawing me the Church and I decided to take the plunge and start the RCIA process to join the church. The process will teach you everything the Church believes and why, and after going through it I fully agree with everything the Church teaches. I would suggest talking to the RCIA director at the parish you have been attending and starting the RCIA process. Once you start understanding the Church’s stance on issues you don’t agree with, I am sure you will come to accept them as the truth!
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paul_c
Guest
Okay, that’s good. Afterall, Jesus said that “this is my body” and " this is my blood" and he also said that if you don’t eat his body and drink his blood, you have no life within you.
Catholics believe that the Orthodox also have a valid eucharist because they have Apostolic succession.
Its actually amazingly relaxing. If you believe that Jesus is in the eucharist, its easy to understand how putting yourself in front of the eucharist is putting yourself in the presence of God. Its not for everyone, I guess. but I find it very peaceful and elevating.
The saints are those people who have died and gone to heaven. They are therefore examples to us on how to live our lives. Since they are now in the presence of God in heaven, they can intercede for us. They aren’t personally powerful. But their intercession is powerful. Catholics, by the way, are not obligated to pray to the Saints, including Mary, but we do believe in the communion of Saints and where 2 or 3 agree, Jesus said God would grant their wishes.
The rosary is a contemplative prayer where we contemplate the lives of Mary and Jesus as a way to lead ourselves to become more holy. There are 4 sets of 5 mysteries in the rosary. The joyous mysteries recount Jesus Childhood, the luminous mysteries recount Jesus’ ministry on earth, The sorrowful mysteries recount Jesus Passion and the Glorious mysteries recount his resurection and ascension as well as pentacost, Mary’s death and crowning as Queen of Heaven.
Mary was sinless because a perfectly pure woman was needed to bear the Saviour.
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Malia_Belen
Guest
Because the denomination of my family has always believed Jesus is somehow present in the communion however the idea of sitting in front of wafer praying somehow seems wrong…why would Jesus want us sitting in front of him staring at him because he’s present in the wafer instead of doing some good in his name? at least that’s the problem I can’t seem to shake.
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Malia_Belen
Guest
Also, why would God give powers to saints when he could do it all himself? I guess I don’t get it.
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paul_c
Guest
First of all, saying that you are sitting in front of a wafer praying is a bit disrespectful of the eucharist, don’t you think?
Also, there is value in prayer, just as there is value in good works. Both are needed and they need not be substitutes for the other.
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davidv
Guest
Why did God give powers to Moses and Elijah, when He could do it all Himself?
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paul_c
Guest
Keep in mind that he could have parted the Red Sea without Moses, but he used Moses for that task. God tends to work through others perhaps because it is easier for people to relate to other people than it is to an invisible yet all powerful God.
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Malia_Belen
Guest
I think that’s what I mean…because I had no idea that saying wafer was disrespectful. I don’t understand what’s behind it. Some things I understand them mentally but I still can’t… I guess I can’t get their spiritually yet. Others things like Mary I don’t understand it mentally or spiritually. It’s weird…can’t explain it…yet any ways…I just don’t know.
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paul_c
Guest
All this means is that you have more to learn. This is completely understandable in your position. Afterall, faith is a lifelong journey. And its all in the attitude you take. You see, the church only teaches what it was taught all the way back to the apostles. There are no new doctrines in the Catholic Church. Sure, sometimes doctrines need to be interpreted for new situations, but the core doctrines never change. That is why the Pope is infallible in teaching doctrine - he’s only passing on what was passed on to him.
Given that, when you find a church teaching that you think is wrong, your approach should be " what am I missing". Afterall, none of us is smarter than Jesus, who developed these doctrines and passed them on to the apostles, who passed them down to us. This will allow you to learn and come to know the truth. Unfortunately, many people, when they encounter a church teaching that they think is wrong, assume that the church must be wrong. If you think about this, what it means is that those people think they are more inspired or more intelligent than the Apostles.
So just be open to the truth. Keep reading on these pages and correlating what is said with the Bible. Let the Holy Spirit guide you. After all, it has already led you here…
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Paul_Rimmer
Guest
All who adopt for themselves the name Catholic, confess and believe on God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and upon all the statements in the Nicene Creed, and have apostolic succession.
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xcheid
Guest
It’s just like if I were a millionaire and I wanted to give money to a particular organisation in a distant country. I hear that I have some cousins who are going there, so I can choose to simply give my money through these cousins. Ultimately, it is my money but ultimately it is also my call on how I want to distribute the $.
Another way of looking at it is like this: God really doesn’t need to distribute these graces/powers to saints, but He is so full of never-ending love he wants to share these graces with everyone, heavenly saints and humans on earth alike. These saints who have finally achieved Heaven are pure/selfless (Since nothing unclean enters heaven) and they in turn want to share the graces granted to them by God to humans on earth who earnestly seek God.
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paul_c
Guest
So what do you think separates you from Catholics of the Latin Rite?
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Paul_Rimmer
Guest
Certain elements that I think are non-essential, but you may (or may not) think are essential, in four groups.
The form of worship (use of the Book of Common Prayer)
Non-doctrinal institutional issues (such as the consecration of Bishops without permission of the Pope)
Doctrinal issues about which we both agree, but about which I think there should be freedom of opinion amongst Catholics (i.e. purgatory, transubstantiation)
Doctrinal Issues about which we disagree (i.e. infallible authority of the Pope, the permanency of hell)
What separates Orthodox and Latin-rite Catholics is very similar. The lists would be different in some places, but the problems are virtually identical.
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Church_Militant
Guest
My dear Malia,
I have an article on my blog that might help you a bit with regard to the Eucharist. Maybe take a look?
The Eucharist IS Scriptural
Maybe if you can PM me with some of those “issues” you mentioned, I can steer you to some official information that might help get you “into the swim across the Tiber” .
The forums here are good and there are some very knowledgeable folks who post but sometimes we forget to bring the basic and authoritative Catholic teachings when we get in a hurry to share our most holy faith with someone who is willing to hear and seriously consider conversion. It’s just us…
Anyway, know that I will include you in my prayers from now on and may the Holy Spirit guide you in your journey of faith.
May the peace of the Lord be always with you.
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paul_c
Guest
The catholic church allows some variation in Church practice,
This is a big issue because the Catholic Church is unified by the Pope. This issue causes division. In the case of the Anglican church, it resulted in the State (King Henry VIII) defining Bishops that agreed with him rather than the Pope. I think its obvious how slippery that slope is - leading to secular rather than religious leadership with secular goals rather than the truth being the ultimate goal.
The truth is not a matter of opinion. Prugatory is attested in the bible (Macabees among other places) and transubstation is a basic tenet of our understanding of the sacraments. Read John 6 again if you think this is really open to debate.
The pope is infallible because he passes on the truths that were passed on to him. And the church is guided by the Holy spirit as well. I am absolutely shocked that you think hell is temporary. That means you have a fundamental misunderstanding of life and the afterlife.
No, you are wrong here. The Orthodox do NOT believe that church doctrine is negotiable, they certainly beleive in transubstation and they certainly don’t believe that hell is temporary. You are trying to justify your form of Anglicism by saying that it is similar to the Orthodox, but this is not true. The angilcan church has its history in rebellion, where leaders can make their own rules if they don’t agree with what the church teaches. They attempt to change the truth to match their wills rather than change their wills to match the truth. If you go through your post objectively , you will see how this original attitude from King Henry is being propagated today through your own views.
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Philthy
Guest
Doesnt quite ring true IMHO Paul…why are you here? It would seem that you are trying to convince everyone else of the validity of your personal opinion regarding the catholicity of the Anglican church. Everyone knows what the term Catholic means, and it doesnt mean Anglican - thats why the name Anglican exists.
Blessings!
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Paul_Rimmer
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Because I’m Catholic and this is a Catholic forum.
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Paul_Rimmer
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paul_c, I’m not interested in further arguing the issue. I answered your question, and by your response, I can tell you understood the answer, however much you disagree with it.
About the issue with the Orthodox, the list is different, but there still is a list: (1) Orthodox Worship, (2) Papal jurisdiction, (3) Immaculate Conception (most Orthodox I talk to say ‘it’s essentially true, but it shouldn’t have been dogmatically defined’, and some other Orthodox friends of mine disagree with it), and (4) Papal Supremacy and Infallibility
That’s the Orthodox list. Different from the Anglican list (we aren’t in communion with the Orthodox) but there you go.
About the issue with the Orthodox, the list is different, but there still is a list: (1) Orthodox Worship, (2) Papal jurisdiction, (3) Immaculate Conception (most Orthodox I talk to say ‘it’s essentially true, but it shouldn’t have been dogmatically defined’, and some other Orthodox friends of mine disagree with it), and (4) Papal Supremacy and Infallibility
That’s the Orthodox list. Different from the Anglican list (we aren’t in communion with the Orthodox) but there you go.
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paul_c
Guest
You’re not in communion with the Catholics either (at least at this point) , so you shouldn’t represent yourself as such. To do so is deceptive.
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