What dear friend, do you find strange about Catholicism?

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My dear friends in Christ;

What if anything do you find stange anout the Catholic Church/ Catholic Faith?

God Bless you,

Patrick
 
Nothing. It’s the only faith that makes perfect sense to me.
 
*Marian devotion, to outsider eyes almost to the exclusion of Christ…I’ve read that she knows Jesus better than any human so she can bring our petitions to Him and while I may see your point, Jesuz knows me better than any one, so He knows my heart and since Be does, I can go directly to Him, with no other heavenly mediator needed.
*That a human agent is necessary to receive the grace of God by his performing a ritual on my behalf.
*That the church is spoken of almost as much as Christ…I must be a part of an organization…the “true church” to please God…so many other organizations make the same claim.
*I just can’t accept a sacrificial priesthood modeled after the Levitical priesthood.
*rites and rituals needed to receive Gods grace…that grace is somehow measured out and dispensed by the performance of rites and rituals.
"Papal infallibility… To name a few.
 
My dear friends in Christ;

What if anything do you find stange anout the Catholic Church/ Catholic Faith?

God Bless you,

Patrick
What I find intriguing is this:

Jesus came proclaiming the simplist of messages, “follow me”, “believe in Me”, “I and the Father are one”, “ye must be born again”, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me”. He was homeless, not even having a pillow for is head. He railed against the established heiriarchal religious system. His message was one of love and the need for man to allow Him to reside in their hearts and lives. His kingdom “was not of this world” He said. Then He gave the keys to Peter and established a heiriarchal church, has guided it without error into centuries of luxury, friendships with earthly rulers, councils and bishops introducing doctrines and practices into the present age.

I hesitated to post this thread but what am I missing?
 
I hesitated to post this thread but what am I missing?
Come to Mass & you’ll find out. That’s pretty much what converted me. Tho actually, I just walked into the church and knew I belonged there.
 
Come to Mass & you’ll find out. That’s pretty much what converted me. Tho actually, I just walked into the church and knew I belonged there.
Sorry, I have been to numerous masses but it never gave me the answer.
 
It wasn’t just being in the church that gave me the answer, but the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to guide you.
 
What I find intriguing is this:

Jesus came proclaiming the simplist of messages, “follow me”, “believe in Me”, “I and the Father are one”, “ye must be born again”, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me”. He was homeless, not even having a pillow for is head. He railed against the established heiriarchal religious system. His message was one of love and the need for man to allow Him to reside in their hearts and lives. His kingdom “was not of this world” He said. Then He gave the keys to Peter and established a heiriarchal church, has guided it without error into centuries of luxury, friendships with earthly rulers, councils and bishops introducing doctrines and practices into the present age.

I hesitated to post this thread but what am I missing?
A couple of points, ok? 🙂
  1. The messages of Jesus of Nazareth were and continue to be profound ones. Though many may see them as simple today, I do believe that in His day many would have been shaken to their very core. And that is what the Truth is supposed to do! As He used to use phases like “You have heard it said, but I say”! As Bishop Barron said in His Catholicism series, Jesus calls us into His very nature of Divine Love, yet to do so we must come out of our sins!
  2. The Church of Rome does bear fault with some of the criticisms that it gets in regards to wealth. Many priests and Bishops gave into the ways of the world and as such set bad examples for the faithful! But it must be noted that having wealth in of itself is not a bad thing as long as it is used for the betterment of His people! One of the ways to bring people into His community is to build beautiful churches that glory Him. People see the beauty of His Church that brings people closer to Him.
  3. When He condemned the pharisees of His day, it wasn’t so much at the religious system itself but rather how they presented His Law to His people. It was through Moses that He had established the religious system to better guide His people from falling astray into false worship and pagan falsehoods.
 
A couple of points, ok? 🙂
  1. The messages of Jesus of Nazareth were and continue to be profound ones. Though many may see them as simple today, I do believe that in His day many would have been shaken to their very core. And that is what the Truth is supposed to do! As He used to use phases like “You have heard it said, but I say”! As Bishop Barron said in His Catholicism series, Jesus calls us into His very nature of Divine Love, yet to do so we must come out of our sins!
  2. The Church of Rome does bear fault with some of the criticisms that it gets in regards to wealth. Many priests and Bishops gave into the ways of the world and as such set bad examples for the faithful! But it must be noted that having wealth in of itself is not a bad thing as long as it is used for the betterment of His people! One of the ways to bring people into His community is to build beautiful churches that glory Him. People see the beauty of His Church that brings people closer to Him.
  3. When He condemned the pharisees of His day, it wasn’t so much at the religious system itself but rather how they presented His Law to His people. It was through Moses that He had established the religious system to better guide His people from falling astray into false worship and pagan falsehoods.
 
Since you ask, the thing that seems strange to me is why a human priest must stand daily at an altar to offer a “a sacrifice at his hands”. If one is to believe and rest in the finished work of Christ, then it would seem well to avoid all appearance of adding to it.

Second is the need for a separate priesthood. The reason for setting aside the Levitical priesthood was because of sin and a because a sinful people could no approach a holy God. But now that sin has been atoned for and put away forever and we are no longer separated from God as in the OT then why do we still need a separate priesthood to do spiritual things for us?

I don’t understand it.🤷
 
A couple of points, ok? 🙂
  1. The messages of Jesus of Nazareth were and continue to be profound ones. Though many may see them as simple today, I do believe that in His day many would have been shaken to their very core. And that is what the Truth is supposed to do! As He used to use phases like “You have heard it said, but I say”! As Bishop Barron said in His Catholicism series, Jesus calls us into His very nature of Divine Love, yet to do so we must come out of our sins!
  2. The Church of Rome does bear fault with some of the criticisms that it gets in regards to wealth. Many priests and Bishops gave into the ways of the world and as such set bad examples for the faithful! But it must be noted that having wealth in of itself is not a bad thing as long as it is used for the betterment of His people! One of the ways to bring people into His community is to build beautiful churches that glory Him. People see the beauty of His Church that brings people closer to Him.
  3. When He condemned the pharisees of His day, it wasn’t so much at the religious system itself but rather how they presented His Law to His people. It was through Moses that He had established the religious system to better guide His people from falling astray into false worship and pagan falsehoods.
Thanks, when I was in Europe we visited numerous elaborate churches. I have to admit it did not do much for me, I rather was aghast at the thought of peasants being taxed to the hilt to build golden edifices. I am afraid fancy churches often keep people at bay since churches of all denominations have a (maybe not always justified) reputation of money,money money

It is my take that He came to fulfill the Law and that He was the ultimate sacrifice. I tend to beleive that He did not come to start a new religion , rather to change men’s hearts and make His dwelling there.
 
Since you ask, the thing that seems strange to me is why a human priest must stand daily at an altar to offer a “a sacrifice at his hands”. If one is to believe and rest in the finished work of Christ, then it would seem well to avoid all appearance of adding to it.

Second is the need for a separate priesthood. The reason for setting aside the Levitical priesthood was because of sin and a because a sinful people could no approach a holy God. But now that sin has been atoned for and put away forever and we are no longer separated from God as in the OT then why do we still need a separate priesthood to do spiritual things for us?

I don’t understand it.🤷
This is my issue as well. He was against the hierarchial requirements put forth in Judaism… It was understood he preached against the need of a temple, where sacrifices and rituals occurred and layers and layers of requirements needed to come to God…those he came to remove.
We didn’t exchange one set of rituals for another set of rituals…We now have access to God without the he need of rituals performed by another on our behalf…I do T understand why more layers of barriers are placed between us and Godl?
 
Depends on your definition of strange. I find the Trinity strange. I find the Blessed Eucharist strange. I find God made Man strange. I find His death strange. Now don’t get me started on the Resurrection!
We must use our best intellectual endeavours to probe these “mysteries” yet rely on the foolishness of our Faith for our salvation.
Issues of Church bureaucracy; wealth; personal failures; pale into insignificance against the “strange” of its basic teachings.
However as Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
 
My dear friends in Christ;

What if anything do you find stange anout the Catholic Church/ Catholic Faith?

God Bless you,

Patrick
Yes. And please don’t take offense, but why do many Catholics seem bent towards superstition and sign seeking. Observing the images of Mary or Christ in overpasses and grilled cheese sandwiches etc. Then hundreds flock to the overpass to be close to the holy water stain. When I went to Mexico this behavior seemed to be even more intense amongst the Catholics. Is this as tawdry and offensive to you as it is to me?
 
Thanks, when I was in Europe we visited numerous elaborate churches. I have to admit it did not do much for me, I rather was aghast at the thought of peasants being taxed to the hilt to build golden edifices. I am afraid fancy churches often keep people at bay since churches of all denominations have a (maybe not always justified) reputation of money,money money

It is my take that He came to fulfill the Law and that He was the ultimate sacrifice. I tend to beleive that He did not come to start a new religion , rather to change men’s hearts and make His dwelling there.
The Israeilites travelled around a lot - they were a nomadic people.

The used this tent to worship God. It was called a tabernacle.

The tabernacle is no longer necessary since God is residing in our hearts.

Regarding the elaborate churches, I live here and have seen many in different countries. I agree with your point about the taxes collected. However, I do feel that they are a beautiful representation of the honor we give to God and I do feel His glory when I enter into one of these churches. They do kind of represent the magnificense of God.

The Catholic church is very wealthy, but each individual parish is not. Many have closed here where I live. I do understand your point though, as Bono once said many years ago:

My God Doesn’t Need Money Mister!

Hope the spirit is understood and posts don’t start comin’ in!

Fran
 
My dear friends in Christ;

What if anything do you find stange anout the Catholic Church/ Catholic Faith?

God Bless you,

Patrick
How we bicker and are not united in our beliefs.
 
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