Why should I become a Catholic?

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skrlife said:
After reading everyone’s two cents, I’m officially interested in Catholicism again. 😃
I’ll start learning about it tomorrow.
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Woooooooooooo!

There are great resources here besides just the chatter boards. If you need help finding q good debate (like John Martignoni on Faith and Works) or tracts about Catholic doctrine, many great people on the site can point you in the right direction.
 
Bonnie said:
I haven’t read the comments (dial up is real slow today so I can’t get to the article), but I did read the article when it was published last month. You do realize the headline was inaccurate, don’t you? No one gets an indulgence just for following the Pope on Twitter. What was announced was that Catholics could get the information about indulgences on Twitter and other social media. In the past, you found out about indulgences from the Enchiridion (Handbook) of Indulgences or from your priest.

To gain an indulgence involves one’s intention, prayer, going to Confession & Mass, along with a few other particulars, such as going on a pilgrimage or whatever.
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Actually, the Pope’s comments on the indulgences didn’t say anything about twitter whatsoever. What he was saying is that the people at World Youth Day were able to gain an indulgence for participating in the events. And people not able to make it to World Youth Day could gain an indulgence for participating “in spirit” via TV, radio, or internet media, as well as meeting the usual requirements for gaining an indulgence.
 
Razanir said:
  1. Prayer is not the same thing as worship. Technically, if you ask your neighbor to pray for you, you’re praying to them. From a Catholic viewpoint, there are three groups of people in the Church. The Church Militant (here on Earth), the Church Penitent (Purgatory) and the Church Triumphant (in Heaven). We can all pray for each other.
  2. If you can’t afford buses to get to Mass, you aren’t required to go. That said, you should still try to go a couple times per year (such as on Easter).
  3. Jesus gave the apostles the ability to forgive sins (or more accurately, Jesus can forgive sins through them). The ability just “passes down” to validly ordained priests.
  4. I offer two basic defenses of Purgatory:
    4a) Prayer for the dead. If a soul’s in Heaven, they’re already there and don’t need our prayers. If a soul’s in Hell, they’re already lost beyond all hope. Hence, if there is a point to praying for the dead, there must be a third position– that of Purgation
    4b) The basic concept of Purgatory is actually quite sound. You sin your entire life. Do you really think we are worthy to stand in God’s presence? Purgatory is like a last stop before Heaven where we are completely 100% cleaned of any and all sin. It’s where we are made spotless and truly worthy to stand in God’s presence.
  5. The Church will not condemn anyone to Hell. The ONLY people whose salvation or lack thereof it affirms are the saints, who by definition, are in Heaven. That said, the Catholic Church also doesn’t think Protestantism is a particularly easy way to get into Heaven.
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The reason purgatory isn’t mentioned in Protestant bibles is that it is in the OT book of 1 Maccabees one of the books Martin Luther erased from the Bible because he chose to. But 1 Maccabees was in the Bible from the 1st Century AD until Martin Luther took it out. So were about 6 other Old Testament books Luther didn’t like. (He would have gotten rid of much of the New Testament also had it not been for some other Protestant reformers who decided they should remain, namely all the books from Hebrews through Revelation). Some Protestant Bibles have some books called “The Apocrypha” You can find 1 Maccabees there if you would like to read it.🙂
 
skrlife said:
  • You pray to Mary, which contradicts the Bible, when you are only supposed to worship God.
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pray ≠ worship
pray = ask.

I can ask anyone to pray for me and with me. Catholics often choose the mother of God to pray with them and for them.
s:
  • Catholicism is full of guilt. Confessing your sins and getting a list out every night, ticking off every sin you have done isn’t…
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It’s good to daily assess one’s sins. That’s not obsession, that’s good management and care of one’s soul by examining their conscience. The sacrament of reconcilliation (confession) also removes mortal sin [John 20:21-23 (Douay-Rheims Bible, John Chapter 20) . Since none of us knows the moment we will die, one does NOT want to die with a mortal sin on their soul or they won’t inherit heaven [Galatians 5:19-21 (Douay-Rheims Bible, Galatians Chapter 5)
s:
  • You have to go to Mass every Sunday, or you’re going to hell… (I can’t even afford to go to a protestant church right now. The bus costs too much. And the most local Catholic church around me is too far.)
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Scripture is talking about missing mass
forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=11098219&postcount=51 scroll down to the discussion on Heb 10.
s:
  • You have to confess to a priest. Why can’t we just confess to God? Not to a human.
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Jas 5:
[14] Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests πρεσβύτερος presbyteros] of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15] And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man: and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him. [16] Confess therefore your sins one to another: and pray one for another, that you may be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man availeth much. (Douay translation from the Vulgate)

The context is confessing to a priest , because he can forgive sins.

Jesus gave priests the power to forgive and retain sins[John 20:21-23 (Douay-Rheims Bible, John Chapter 20) . How do thay do that if confession is not part of the process?
s:
  • Purgatory (which, what I have been told, isn’t Biblical)
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It’s biblical [1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (Douay-Rheims Bible, 1 Corinthians Chapter 3)
s:
  • Extremely strict rules. Very fundamentalist.
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[Romans 1:1-12 (Douay-Rheims Bible, Romans Chapter 1)Paul writes to the Church of Rome. Notice his use of the word “faith”

What do you think obedience to faith means?
s:
  • I have constantly heard Catholics say they are closest to God, or that only Catholics go to heaven. Which sounds very arrogant. Excuse any ignorance here, but this is what I have been told my Catholics themselves. I don’t understand. We all believe in Jesus and the Word, that’s that. It doesn’t matter what denomination you are apart of.
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Jesus established and builds
 
Don’t let people effect your decision and journey for the truth. For every rude catholic, there are many great ones. Look into the lives of the saints. Some of my favorites are Saint Maximillian Kolbe, Saint Pio, and many others.
Good luck on your journey
 
I sort of thought the same as you until I met my husband and his family. I’ve had friends in the past who were non-practicing Catholics so I really didn’t have many good examples of the faith. You really need to get into a RCIA class or talk to a priest if possible, you can’t judge a religion by what you read on the internet or how rude someone is who happens to be a Catholic. There’s rude people in every denomination, color, culture, gender, sexual orientation, occupation, and nationality. The human race is ultimately flawed -that’s why we need Jesus.
 
Razanir said:
Hmm… Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the difference really just mortal v venial?
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Minor = Venial. Serious = Mortal. I used other terms because the OP may not be familiar with ones we Catholics commonly use. 🙂

skrlife, I’m glad to hear you are again interested in exploring Catholicism. 😃 We’re here to answer your questions, of course, but do seek out other good resources for your own reading, as people have suggested in this thread.
 
The simple general answer to why you should be a Catholic is a simple one, it’s because it is truth.

“What is truth?”
- Pontius Pilate (John 18:38)

Truth is absolute. Either a claim is true or it isn’t.
  • George Washington crossed the Delaware River: Either this event happened or it didn’t. Simple!
  • Ghosts are real: Only two possible outcomes are possible, either ghosts exist, or ghosts do not exist. Very similar to the claim that…
  • I am pregnant: I can’t be ‘sort of’ pregnant. Either I am or am not pregnant!
So the simple answer is because either Catholicism is true, or it isn’t.

Remember: truth does not depend upon your opinion of it.

Well who’s responsibility is it to “convince” you that Catholicism is truth?
  • Yours: It is our own responsibility to always seek truth. Why would we desire falsehood? “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7). But you must seek in earnest, not some bogus search with a hidden bias or agenda.
  • Ours: As members of the Body of Christ it is our responsibility to “shepherd” you and keep you/add you as a member of the flock.
  • The church’s: I once heard that the church essentially has two roles (this is extremely simplified of course), 1) to recruit souls 2) to retain souls.
So far, I’ve given you a lot of good points, but not a lot of Biblical substance. Not a lot of “meat and potatos.” You probably want things to chew on. So I will do my best as I myself, have struggled with faith at times and my own personal journey has ended up right back here in the Catholic faith because I have determined that it is, simply, truth.

If you are on this site, you take this topic seriously and requesting your heartfelt effort to seek truth feels a little bit silly to me, as it seems you are obviously already doing so. So allow me to point you in the direction of some things to answer your objection and hopefully quell the qualms you are having about the Catholic faith:

Let’s start at the top:
skrlife said:
You pray to Mary, which contradicts the Bible, when you are only supposed to worship God.
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What this sounds like to me is a questioning of the concept of the ‘Communion of Saints’ disguised as a questioning of our honoring Mary. Although, it is probably both.

John Martignoni does a great job explaining Catholicism’s concept of the Communion of Saints in this lecture:
youtube.com/watch?v=Eg-91hRAJ8Y

But because there is undoubtedly a question of Marian doctrine underlying, I will address it with some other discussions:

Scott Hahn discusses Mary:
youtube.com/watch?v=8HQy8XjM51I

John Martignoni explains why Marian docrine is Biblical:
youtube.com/watch?v=Nyx3jalIWdw
skrlife said:
  • Catholicism is full of guilt. Confessing your sins and getting a list out every night, ticking off every sin you have done isn’t…
  • You have to confess to a priest. Why can’t we just confess to God? Not to a human.
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Scott Hahn has a tremendous lecture on Confession:
youtube.com/watch?v=fZ0D-BLWY70
skrlife said:
You have to go to Mass every Sunday, or you’re going to hell… (I can’t even afford to go to a protestant church right now. The bus costs too much. And the most local Catholic church around me is too far.)
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I don’t really have an answer for you here. I would assume that if you really do not have the means to make it to Mass, that you wouldn’t be charged with a sin for not going. How could you? Perhaps someone with more knowledge in this area can chime in.
skrlife said:
Purgatory (which, what I have been told, isn’t Biblical)
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Michael Cumbie discusses the Catholic idea of Purgatory:
youtube.com/watch?v=dwsBQffhbXY
skrlife said:
Extremely strict rules. Very fundamentalist.
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This is pretty vague. In a general sense I would advise, the Catholic Church is against sin. So stop sinning! Either Jesus is the center of your life or he isn’t. If he is, then why do we, continuously, keep choosing otherwise with our actions? “What good is it, skrlife, if you say you have faith but you don’t live it out? Can that type of faith save you?” James 2
skrlife said:
I have constantly heard Catholics say they are closest to God, or that only Catholics go to heaven. Which sounds very arrogant. Excuse any ignorance here, but this is what I have been told my Catholics themselves. I don’t understand. We all believe in Jesus and the Word, that’s that. It doesn’t matter what denomination you are apart of.
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Catholicism is the religion that Jesus founded when he told Peter that he is the rock he will build his church on. (Matthew 16:18)

Scott Hahn has a great lecture on this:
youtube.com/watch?v=KCsxM45YwDk

as does Steve Ray:
youtube.com/watch?v=VXCUSAEVNIE

To add on to this topic, if you were able to go back in time, and visit the early church in its infancy, would it look more like the Catholic Church, or the Protestant Church?

Peter Kreeft tackled this question in his conversion story:
youtube.com/watch?v=VO2NGGmWBQo

Spoiler: Peter Kreeft is now Catholic.
“What is Truth?”

“Seek and ye will find.”
 
skrlife said:
Why should I become a Catholic?
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There is only one good answer to that question: Because the Church is really the One True Church established by Jesus Christ (as She claims to be, and I am aware of no other which make such a claim).
 
I just wanted to add, skrlife that you’ll be in my prayers. :crossrc: Please remember us, as well. :tiphat:
 
You should join, because I said so. 😛 🙂
Hehe, just kidding. 😃 I suggest if you want to delve further into Catholicism you should read a little about the early Church Fathers. 🙂 👍
 
I read your questions and read the responses to your detailed questions. These folks were VERY good at answering your specific inquiries.

You seem to be a very intelligent woman looking for intellectual answers. If you are TRULY seeking the Fullness of the Truth … the Catholic Church IS the ONLY answer.

Don’t listen to other American Catholics that suffer from the curse of moral relativism – DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH! If you are not looking for Truth then go back to your Big Box “church” for fellowship, coffee & donuts, modern music and a neutral, “feel good” message each week.

I HATE labels but I am a “Cradle Catholic”. I fell away in the 1980’s when I fell in love with a previously married woman. The Church refused to marry us so we went to the Lutheran Church that compromised my salvation. My sinful pride kept me away from the Church for almost 20 years. I explored other Protest Denominations but when I considered their history I felt they were ALL lacking. I wanted to get back to AD 50 – the First Century Christians – the Disciples of the Apostles. All roads DO lead back to Rome.

Fortunately, my wife’s first marriage was invalid which allowed me to come back to the Church.

Yes, the Church teaches, and the Holy Scriptures confirms the fact, that there is NO salvation outside the Catholic Church (Extra ecclesiam nulla salus). However, please read Lumen Gentium and Gaudium Et Spes to better understand this concept.

I used to think like you do that the Catholic Church had “extremely strict rules (and were) very fundamentalist”. One only has to read the New Testament to learn that “fundamentalist” means a literal interpretation of and strict adherence to doctrine. Christ Jesus does not equivocate in His strictness. Your non-denominational “church” may proffer a “nice” Jesus but He was anything but polite. He said some shocking things about those souls who fail to follow His teachings. ALL of His teachings – not just the ones a person might agree with.

There is nothing in the Church that contradicts Scripture and nothing in Scripture that contradicts the Church. There are some aspects is Church Tradition – like the Marian Dogmas that may give you some concern. However, once you understand the relation between Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition it will ALL become crystal clear.

All of your questions can be answered by reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

As I said above – if you TRULY seeking TRUTH, you can read what The Church of Jesus Christ teaches at: CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH or you can obtain a copy at your local bookstore for about $10.00.
 
I have another question. I found out today that my city has a bus service that’s cheap and can take me directly to the nearest Catholic parish. But what do I do? Am I allowed to participate in Eucharist, Communion, blessings? Things like that. I’ve searched the internet, but I am still nervous, and haven’t got all my answers.

Thank you.
 
Oh my goodness! All this time I had a Catholic parish down the street from me. I searched the internet for a Catholic church and it turns out that I have one that is just a minute walk away from me. How good is that. I thought it was an Orthodox church. I’m so glad! 🙂
 
skrlife said:
Oh my goodness! All this time I had a Catholic parish down the street from me. I searched the internet for a Catholic church and it turns out that I have one that is just a minute walk away from me. How good is that. I thought it was an Orthodox church. I’m so glad! 🙂
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You can go, in fact you are welcome, but you can’t take Communion. Just as if I were to visit a non-denominational church, I could not partake of their Communion.

Good luck!
 
skrlife said:
Oh my goodness! All this time I had a Catholic parish down the street from me. I searched the internet for a Catholic church and it turns out that I have one that is just a minute walk away from me. How good is that. I thought it was an Orthodox church. I’m so glad! 🙂
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That’s great news! God provides when we need it, doesn’t he? As SK wrote, you can participate in everything in the Mass except receiving communion. Simply stay in your pew and pray. No one will think anything of it. Let the readings, Gospel and homily enrich you with God’s grace. As others receive communion, if you feel so moved, you can pray a “spiritual” communion, such as:

Spiritual Communion Prayer
Code: 
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
 
Della said:
That’s great news! God provides when we need it, doesn’t he? As SK wrote, you can participate in everything in the Mass except receiving communion. Simply stay in your pew and pray. No one will think anything of it. Let the readings, Gospel and homily enrich you with God’s grace. As others receive communion, if you feel so moved, you can pray a “spiritual” communion, such as:

Spiritual Communion Prayer
Code: 
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
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👍

Yeah, don’t worry a bout it. I went to church for a year, stayed in the pew, no one batted an eye.
 
skrlife said:
Oh my goodness! All this time I had a Catholic parish down the street from me. I searched the internet for a Catholic church and it turns out that I have one that is just a minute walk away from me. How good is that. I thought it was an Orthodox church. I’m so glad! 🙂
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It’s time to knock on the door, tell the person you see that you need to speak with a priest about converting and want/need answers. Sign up for RCIA ( it should be starting with a couple of weeks ) and get your questions naswered. Convert because you accept that this is home, really home and not for any other touchy-feely reason. The relief and freedom is indecribable.
 
skrlife said:
Oh my goodness! All this time I had a Catholic parish down the street from me. I searched the internet for a Catholic church and it turns out that I have one that is just a minute walk away from me. How good is that. I thought it was an Orthodox church. I’m so glad! 🙂
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Step one - get their early, introduce yourself to a few folks and to the priest. He will guide you.
 
And whole you’re at it, if you care to share your RCIA journey, please keep a running journal here. It would be great to see the journey. Being Catholic all my life, I’ve always been interested in what it was to convert, to experience the journey.
 
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