Why should I become a Catholic?

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Just want to add this.

I just went to the kitchen to get a glass of water while thinking about the Catholic faith. I was thinking about Immaculate Conception and how I believe in it. That’s one Catholic belief I have always believed in. I was also thinking about how other denominations don’t honor Mary when she is great and should be honored. So, I sat down and decided to say “Hail Mary”. And when I did, my body was full of warmth, wholeness and love. God had opened my eyes. Catholicism is indeed the true religion. My mother had convinced me otherwise. She always talks about how Catholics are ‘idiots’. I remember one time when I had bought rosary beads and when she saw them she started ranting about how it’s of satan. I have prayed the rosary before, and I love to. I’m so glad that God has opened my eyes. I asked him last night actually to send a sign through a dream if Catholicism is the true denomination. And he did.
 
Zachary said:
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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I will! But I’m not sure when RCIA classes start in my region.
 
skrlife said:
I will! But I’m not sure when RCIA classes start in my region.
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Call your local parish and they will be happy to give you that information. 🙂

I remember my first “Hail Mary”–I too had been told it was evil. I found it to be just the opposite. Indeed, Mary is great and God is with her. 👍
 
Zachary said:
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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Zachary, volunteer at your local RCIA. As much as you think you will give to it, my experience is that you gain so much more.
 
As a fellow/former Protestant of charismatic persuasion interested in Catholicism, I find this delightful to read. It’s kind of like going to England…speaking the same language (of salvation through Christ Jesus), but the customs are different (pretty much everything else).

There seems to be greater fullness and richness of faith in the Catholic church — the saints who have gone before us, the many prayers and revelations, sacraments, and of course, the Real Presence of Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Do you ever miss your Protestant memories of church, friends in church, Protestant worship songs, etc?
 
skrlife said:
Just want to add this.

I just went to the kitchen to get a glass of water while thinking about the Catholic faith. I was thinking about Immaculate Conception and how I believe in it. That’s one Catholic belief I have always believed in. I was also thinking about how other denominations don’t honor Mary when she is great and should be honored. So, I sat down and decided to say “Hail Mary”. And when I did, my body was full of warmth, wholeness and love. God had opened my eyes. Catholicism is indeed the true religion. My mother had convinced me otherwise. She always talks about how Catholics are ‘idiots’. I remember one time when I had bought rosary beads and when she saw them she started ranting about how it’s of satan. I have prayed the rosary before, and I love to. I’m so glad that God has opened my eyes. I asked him last night actually to send a sign through a dream if Catholicism is the true denomination. And he did.
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Starting RCIA soon? Finding a Catholic Church so close to you? Wow that was quick…congrats and prayers ascending for your journey 👍

When the time is right, to answer your mom’s questions, you might show your mom an 11 min video on the Blessed mother. It’s all from scripture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg2OQ_iPTv8

I’m sure your RCIA class would enjoy it as well.
 
EIF5A said:
As a fellow/former Protestant of charismatic persuasion interested in Catholicism, I find this delightful to read. It’s kind of like going to England…speaking the same language (of salvation through Christ Jesus), but the customs are different (pretty much everything else).

There seems to be greater fullness and richness of faith in the Catholic church — the saints who have gone before us, the many prayers and revelations, sacraments, and of course, the Real Presence of Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Do you ever miss your Protestant memories of church, friends in church, Protestant worship songs, etc?
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I miss some of the liturgy but coming from the Episcopal Church much is the same. However, I can’t resist leaning over and whispering to my wife whenever we sing a good, old fashion Protestant hymm! They always seem so much easier to sing!
 
steve_b said:
Starting RCIA soon? Finding a Catholic Church so close to you? Wow that was quick…congrats and prayers ascending for your journey 👍

When the time is right, to answer your mom’s questions, you might show your mom an 11 min video on the Blessed mother. It’s all from scripture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg2OQ_iPTv8

I’m sure your RCIA class would enjoy it as well.
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Yeah, it was quick. But that’s because I already had a big connection with Catholicism.

I will do. Hopefully she understands.
 
EIF5A said:
Do you ever miss your Protestant memories of church, friends in church, Protestant worship songs, etc?
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Hmm… Not really, no. I didn’t really go to church for fellowship since I never made any friends. But I was friends with the Pastor’s wife. She was very nice. I know for sure that I don’t miss the Pentecostal church. It just isn’t me. I still listen to Protestant worship songs on YouTube, as I have my favorites.
 
EIF5A said:
As a fellow/former Protestant of charismatic persuasion interested in Catholicism, I find this delightful to read. It’s kind of like going to England…speaking the same language (of salvation through Christ Jesus), but the customs are different (pretty much everything else).

There seems to be greater fullness and richness of faith in the Catholic church — the saints who have gone before us, the many prayers and revelations, sacraments, and of course, the Real Presence of Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Do you ever miss your Protestant memories of church, friends in church, Protestant worship songs, etc?
Click to expand...
I don’t miss them at all. Never had any real friends that I knew of at Protestant church. The worship songs were infantile. When I started being a Protestant they sang real hymns out of a hymn book. Then they switched to these !@#$% worship choruses shown on a huge screen.
 
steve_b said:
When the time is right, to answer your mom’s questions, you might show your mom an 11 min video on the Blessed mother. It’s all from scripture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg2OQ_iPTv8
Click to expand...
I just watched the video, and wow. That is truly amazing. How can we not honor her… All I can say is: Hail Mary. :gopray2:

But where do we draw the line before worshipping Mary instead of God? Because I’ll end up thinking that I don’t give enough attention to God, vice versa.
 
skrlife said:
I just watched the video, and wow. That is truly amazing. How can we not honor her… All I can say is: Hail Mary. :gopray2:

But where do we draw the line before worshipping Mary instead of God? Because I’ll end up thinking that I don’t give enough attention to God, vice versa.
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The difference is simple. We offer the one sacrifice of Christ to God at every Mass because worship means offering a sacrifice. We don’t offer sacrifices to Mary.

We offer Mary what the Church calls hyperdulia, or exalted honor. We offer dulia or honor to all the other saints for what God accomplished through their lives.
 
skrlife said:
I just watched the video, and wow. That is truly amazing. How can we not honor her… All I can say is: Hail Mary. :gopray2:

But where do we draw the line before worshipping Mary instead of God? Because I’ll end up thinking that I don’t give enough attention to God, vice versa.
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when a non Catholic lodges that accusation, here’s what you can say

Mt 15:4 Jesus said Honor your Father and Mother. How do we define “honor”?

In the Greek, “honor” = τιμάω timaō

Definition
  1. to estimate, fix the value
    a) for the value of something belonging to one’s self
  2. to honour, to have in honour, to revere, venerate
Definition of venerate

1: to regard with reverential respect or with admiring deference
2: to honor (as an icon or a relic) with a ritual act of devotion

If that’s what we are to do for our own birth parents, how do we honor the mother of God? And in extension, as that video showed so beautifully, scripture calls Mary our mother too. 👍

So we are to honor, revere, and venerate Mary. We don’t worship her. Worship is for God alone.

We can ask anyone to pray with us and for us.

Pray ≠ worship
Pray = Ask

As an aside,

people who attack Mary have no clue how offensive that is to Jesus and in extension the Father and the Holy Spirit.
 
skrlife said:
I was raised Pentecostal and now I am non-denominational. I was a pagan for two years after leaving the Pentecostal faith. I became a Christian again after my pagan phase. Now, before I became a Christian, I was drawn to the Catholic faith. But, I was rudely talked to by the Catholics on this forum as well as in real life. Which pulled me directly from the faith, and became Protestant. Now, I loved the Catholic tradition, so I am wondering, why should I even become one?

Considering the following things (now, I hope I don’t come off as rude or ignorant. I admit that I am uneducated in this. Which is why I am asking):
  • You pray to Mary, which contradicts the Bible, when you are only supposed to worship God.
  • 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 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.)
  • You have to confess to a priest. Why can’t we just confess to God? Not to a human.
  • Purgatory (which, what I have been told, isn’t Biblical)
  • Extremely strict rules. Very fundamentalist.
  • 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.
Again, I apologise if I come off as rude or ignorant. But all the Catholics I spoke to, apart from one, were rude to me. Which was horrible.

Answer my questions, please.

EDIT: To elaborate on the fact that I cannot go to church… The Catholic church most close to me is far away. I have to take 3 buses to get there, which costs too much. I can’t afford it. Honestly. Because I can’t even go to the most local church around me. That would mean I’d be sinning every week. I can’t take any money out of the bank to go to a Catholic church because then I would be in debt. I have loans to pay. 🤷

EDIT 2: I just saw this: independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/one-hell-of-a-deal-pope-francis-offers-reduced-time-in-purgatory-for-catholics-that-follow-him-on-twitter-8713666.html

I also read the comments. A lot of the reason why I choose not to be Catholic.
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I’m certainly sorry that you were treated rudely, my hearfelt apologies.

I heard a wise priest say something like “we follow Jesus Christ and noone else, and remember not to get attached to anyone else but Jesus. Priests and people come and go, but Jesus remains, and that is who you should stay with and follow and noone else.”

I think you have some legitimate questions, and tho I feel confident they all will be answered here by someone, it still takes time for the mind to digest and make its own what knowledge is arrived at. So patience is a good thing to put on the front burner.

I can only give you reasons I am catholic but I will save them all for now except for one.
The real reason is that it is the WAY that Jesus left to us, his WAY from the beginning.

May God bless and keep you. May God’s face shine on you. May God be kind to you and give you peace.
 
There are still two things I don’t understand: purgatory and confession. Can someone direct me to an article that explains this? And how do I perform an examination of conscience properly. I tried last night, but I don’t think I got everything.
 
skrlife said:
There are still two things I don’t understand: purgatory and confession. Can someone direct me to an article that explains this? And how do I perform an examination of conscience properly. I tried last night, but I don’t think I got everything.
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As far as purgatory, we see a place referenced in the Bible that talks of a purification after death. One must be perfect like God to enter heaven which is referenced in the book of revelations. Souls in purgation have been saved by God’s mercy and some do have some cleaning up to do before they are able to join the saints in Heaven. Let’s face it, we can make a mess of our lives and the lives of others through our sins. Although we have the sacrament of reconciliation, to confess our sins, we still have done damage to others. Some of these damages can be made up by “good works”, but some sin we are not aware of the consequences. This is where some purification after death may come into play. When one suffers death he or she is either condemned to Hell or saved in Heaven. Purgatory is a state of purification of the soul before it enters the Gates of Heaven. Here are just a few versus in scripture that reference the Catholic Church’s position
Matthew 12:32 says, “And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” Here Jesus speaks of sin against the Holy Spirit. The implication is that some sins can be forgiven in the world to come. We know that in Hell there is no liberation and in Heaven nothing imperfect can enter it as we see in the next part. Sin is not forgiven when a soul reaches its final destination because in heaven there is no need for forgiveness of sin and in hell the choice to go there is already made.

Revelation 21:27: “…but nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who does abominable things or tells lies.” The place that is to be entered (the place to which this passage refers) is heaven

Here is an article that discusses some private revelations of purgatory. This could shed some light on what some of purgatory might look like (Bear in mind, the Church does not require one to believe on private revelations)
mysticsofthechurch.com/2012/04/amazing-stories-from-purgatory-and.html?m=1
 
Here in 1 Corinthians 3, we see a state of purification referenced again.

1 Cor. 3:10-15 - works are judged after death and tested by fire. Some works are lost, but the person is still saved. Paul is referring to the state of purgation called purgatory. The venial sins (bad works) that were committed are burned up after death, but the person is still brought to salvation. This state after death cannot be heaven (no one with venial sins is present) or hell (there is no forgiveness and salvation).

1 Cor. 3:15 – “if any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” The phrase for “suffer loss” in the Greek is “zemiothesetai.” The root word is “zemioo” which also refers to punishment. The construction “zemiothesetai” is used in Ex. 21:22 and Prov. 19:19 which refers to punishment (from the Hebrew “anash” meaning “punish” or “penalty”). Hence, this verse proves that there is an expiation of temporal punishment after our death, but the person is still saved. This cannot mean heaven (there is no punishment in heaven) and this cannot mean hell (the possibility of expiation no longer exists and the person is not saved).

1 Cor. 3:15 – further, Paul writes “he himself will be saved, “but only” (or “yet so”) as through fire.” “He will be saved” in the Greek is “sothesetai” (which means eternal salvation). The phrase “but only” (or “yet so”) in the Greek is “houtos” which means “in the same manner.” This means that man is both eternally rewarded and eternally saved in the same manner by fire.

1 Cor. 3:13 - when Paul writes about God revealing the quality of each man’s work by fire and purifying him, this purification relates to his sins (not just his good works). Protestants, in attempting to disprove the reality of purgatory, argue that Paul was only writing about rewarding good works, and not punishing sins (because punishing and purifying a man from sins would be admitting that there is a purgatory).

1 Cor. 3:17 - but this verse proves that the purgation after death deals with punishing sin. That is, destroying God’s temple is a bad work, which is a mortal sin, which leads to death. 1 Cor. 3:14,15,17 - purgatory thus reveals the state of righteousness (v.14), state of venial sin (v.15) and the state of mortal sin (v.17), all of which are judged after death.

More first hand testimony in this article could be of help
michaeljournal.org/simma.htm
 
Thank you for the links. I understand purgatory now. It makes sense. I hope my time in purgatory is very little.
 
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