god bless allAt the consecration only ordained men are allowed in the sanctuary, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. Life Teen is a program that caters Catholicism and the Mass to Teens. It has upbeat music, usually rock and roll. It is also one of the biggest controversies in this forum. Many people prefer the Traditonal Liturgy compared to the current Liturgy, Life Teen is viewed by some as a pimple on the church.
When you say sanctuary are you refering to the alter or the entire church? I thought that a consecration (when Jesus becomes the bread & the wine ?) occurs at every mass (when they ring the little bell) or is that something that happens before hand when only the Priest is present?
The Sanctuary is the area around the altar and tabernacle. Only ordained men are supposed to be at the altar at the point of Consecration: “This is my body which will be given up for you.”
homer - you’re a good person, but you’re starting to rant. I really think you’re afraid the Catholic Church is a threat to your belief in the Bible alone. I’m secure in the belief that the Catholic Church is the one true Church established by Jesus Christ. Why would I want to go anywhere else? When I was a Methodist the Bible made little sense to me. There were too many conflicts as to what was taught to what was in the Bible. The Bible didn’t make sense until I became a Catholic and had the guidance of the Catholic Church. Everything became understandable and logical. I’m going to pray to Mary for you, homer.
Absolutely, you don’t need to. But morally and normatively, you do. Who are you but unworthy sinner in the eye of God. Offer your defective offerings in the hand of the good Queen Mother and she will set it right for you.
Given the emphasis that we Baptists put on the cross, I find that a little hard to believe.
Well, it is God’s word and does deserve honor.
Oh, like the Bible says to.
I can’t imagine praying to the dead would go over very well in a Baptist church.
This actually happens quite a bit. I have a copy of a letter that an evangelist friend sent me. A priest wrote to him to ask him to stop sharing the Gospel with the people in his church because they were all getting saved and leaving.
I know what you mean. I always felt something was missing when I would attend mass. I guess it was God’s word.
I reckon there are many ways to sense the presence of God.
You can interpret it that way if you want, but from my (our) point of view, that’s a condescending, wildly misinterpreted load of it. The priest did NOT write to stop “sharing the Gospel,” as you say. The Catholic was getting that every week at Mass. And they weren’t “getting saved,” they were already saved. It’s more likely that they lessened their chances of ultimate salvation by losing the Eucharist. They rejected Christ, in a way, for an emotional high somewhere else.
By the way, I married that nice fundamentalist co-worker. Lol. We’re about to have our first child, a boy, named Joseph–after my patron saint.Well, it wasn’t so much “undercover” as it was an exploratory journey. And I blew my cover pretty quickly, too. After one of their MANY intercessory prayers for members of the congregation, I made the sign of the Cross. Lol. You can take the Catholic out of the Church, but you can’t take the Catholocism out of the Catholic.
Or something like that…
Anyway, I don’t have much to say about it. I was invited by a nice fundamentalist co-worker friend and I thought it’d be interesting. It certainly was, but for a Baptist church, it was amazingly laid-back.
Some notes:
No crosses, crucifixes, nothing. But some of the stained-glass windows had bibles in them. Conclusion–images of Christ is verbotten, but they raise the Bible to a fourth member of the Trinity, apparently.
They opened with four hymns, then basically had a “meeting.” Missionaries spoke about their experiences, and the pastor assigned people to pray for their intentions. I SO wanted to talk to someone about Marian intercession. lol.
A nice, sharply angled marine and I had a decent conversation later. He was amazed that I admitted many Catholics were drawn away by fundamentalists who knew their Bible better. He also later called Rome a “fever swamp” of bad ideas.
Other than that, it was pretty uneventful. My overwhelming impression was of emptiness. They were all sincere, zealous, but there was something missing. I guess it was the Eucharist…
That’s what he said.
I never got it. Evidently, a lot of Roman Catholics don’t get it because when we share it with them, they say they’ve never heard that.
How do you know?
So, repentance, faith in Christ, and dying to the flesh and being raised to new life in Christ are really just rejecting Christ for an emotional high?
On the other hand, take a look at the hateful, bigoted, ex-Christians who suddenly become Christian scholars as soon as they leave the thing they never understood.
I didn’t say that. When speaking to me, please drop the fundamentalist trait of putting words in my mouth. I get that enough from my in-laws and their lying pastor.
I hear that a lot. But then, a lot of ex-fundamentalists and Bible scholars become Catholic after really digging deep into scripture and Church history.
I always try to assume the best of people. If he was baptized and in a state of grace, he was saved.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying.
Oh, I know it’s a two-way street. But I’ve never come across a Catholic who persists in spreading lies about Protestants. Sure, he may be insanely prejudiced, but not a liar. I see a lot of people continually misrepresent what Catholics believe even after being explained XYZ doctrine hundreds of times.
