Why Should I Become Catholic?

[treba]

Please give me a good argument as to why I should follow the Catholic Church.

Thank you.

Because you will go to HELL

 

[Lainey63]

Presenting arguments from the Bible is not something I partake in. I’m not good at it and to me it’s a waste of time. But from a very simple standpoint I can tell you why I will not follow any other faith. I will either be a practicing catholic or I will live my life in totally selfishness going after the pleasures of the world-those are my choices & I have lived in both worlds.
The reasons I will not follow any other faith is because the Catholic faith has the sacraments. The Catholic faith has the Body, Blood, Soul & divinity in the most Holy Eucharist. I believe in the Immaculate Conception, I believe in the intercession of saints, I believe that Jesus handed the keys of the kingdom to Peter and his successors and what is bound by Peter will be bound in heaven. I believe Christ & His apostles instituted all the sacraments of the Catholic Church. I would much rather listen to a priest give a homily on the Gospel who also knows the culture, society, norms, & customs, attitudes of the people who lived in the time of Christ and includes that knowledge within the sermon this gives a clearer understanding as to what Jesus was saying. I also believe that Jesus came through Mary to be with us and to be as one of us…and now I go through Mary to get to Jesus…The Wedding at Cana is an example of Mary’s intercession. I believe in the virginity of Mary…and as it says in the Bible…nothing is impossible with God. The Catholic church is akin to banquet of a variety of fruits, salads, vegetables, meats, fish, desserts, appetizers of the highest quality. Something all other faiths just simply don’t have. So for me I either a practicing catholic or I don’t follow any faith at all. It’s just that simple.

 

[TLM08]

**"I am the true vine, **and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:1-8

LOOK FAMILIAR?

For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." John 6:55-58

Reading John 6 in context reveals that Jesus was rebuking the the unbelieving crowd who was only seeking Jesus for a free meal. After all, he had just fed the 5000 the day before. It was morning and their bellies were empty!

"I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. John 6:26

 

[estesbob]

"I am the true vine,and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:1-8

LOOK FAMILIAR?

For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." John 6:55-58

Reading John 6 in context reveals that Jesus was rebuking the the unbelieving crowd who was only seeking Jesus for a free meal. After all, he had just fed the 5000 the day before. It was morning and their bellies were empty!

"I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. John 6:26

One of the great reasons to be Catholic is it frees you from the interminable verse wars like we see above. Not being shackled by the false doctine of sola scriptura one can spend their time praising and worshiping the Lord rather than spending interminable time trying to convince themselves and others that their interpreation of Scripture is better than everyone elses.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Why, if this was in the same ‘metaphorical’ character as your ‘vine’ example, did Jesus not correct those who said that the teaching of ‘eating flesh’ was 'too hard to follow?

And why does St. Paul later say that one can ‘profane the Body and Blood of the Lord’ through taking the Eucharist unworthily? if it’s only a SYMBOL how would it **profane **Christ and why it is so important not to receive unworthily, and why is it even mentioned?

And finally–if the teaching was only metaphorical, then this (being the ‘authentic’ Christian understanding, should be present ‘along with’ the ‘incorrect’ understanding, throughout Christian history). For example, the authentic Christian teaching of the Trinity is present in Scripture and is further understood throughout Christian history. There are also INCORRECT understandings (monophysitism, Arianism, Unitarianism) present at various times but these incorrect understandings are REFUTED by the Church at the time they are made. They are historically documented.

So where is the early teaching of the ‘metaphor’ of the Eucharist? Where is the practice of ‘symbolic’ Eucharist demonstrated as authentic Christian teaching and historically documented? Where is the REFUTATION of the "literal’ meaning as being ‘incorrect’ in the EARLY Church and sustained throughout Christian history?

Umm. . . nowhere, that’s where. Why? Because the ‘literal’ meaning is the correct and authentic one, sanctioned by the Spirit, manifest in Scripture and practiced through the Church of Christ Himself.

The Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself.

Do you know a huge reason why some of the early reformers tried to argue against the Eucharist? Because the confection of the Eucharist requires a priest. . .and many reformers were anti-clerical. A ‘clever’ way to argue against the ‘need’ for a priest was an attempt to argue that the sacraments themselves (like the Eucharist) weren’t ‘really’ sacraments, therefore we don’t really NEED a priest, therefore we cherry pick scripture to argue for this incorrect assumption and ignore anything other than words picked out of context.

 

[djeter]

Please give me a good argument as to why I should follow the Catholic Church.

Thank you.

Hi Tristan:

Consider an anecdote that Thomas Merton relates in The Seven Story Mountain when he first encounters the thought of becoming a Saint from his friend Robert Lax:

Therefore, another one of those times that turned out to be historical, as far as my own soul is concerned, was when Lax and I were walking down Sixth Avenue, one night in the spring. The Street was all torn up and trenched and banked high with dirt and marked out. with red lanterns where they were digging the subway, and we picked our way along the fronts of the dark little stores, going downtown to Greenwich Village. I forget what we were arguing about, but in the end Lax suddenly turned around and asked me the question:
“What do you want to be, anyway?”
I could not say, “I want to be Thomas Merton the well-known writer of all those book reviews in the back pages of the Times Book Review,” or “Thomas Merton the assistant instructor of Freshman English at the New Life Social Institute for Progress and Culture,” so I put the thing on the spiritual plane, where I knew it belonged and said:
“I don’t know; I guess what I want is to be a good Catholic.”
“What do you mean, you want to be a good Catholic?”
The explanation I gave was lame enough, and ex pressed my confusion, and betrayed how little I had really thought about it at all.
Lax did not accept it.
“What you should say”—he told me—”what you should say is that you want to be a saint.”
A saint! The thought struck me as a little weird. I said:
“How do you expect me to become a saint?”
“By wanting to,” said Lax, simply.
“I can’t be a saint,” I said, “I can’t be a saint.” And my mind darkened with a confusion of realities and unrealities: the knowledge of my own sins, and the false humility which makes men say that they cannot do the things that they must do, cannot reach the level that they must reach: the cowardice that says: “I am satisfied to save my soul, to keep out of mortal sin,” but which means, by those words: “I do not want to give up my sins and my attachments.”
The Seven Storey Mountain pp 236-7

Being Catholic means being called to holiness; something we can only pursue in communion with others and in the Catholic Church. The rest of the meditation on being called to holiness is here:

payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/06/22/called-to-holiness/

See if it makes as much sense for you as it did for me.

In Christ

dj

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Oh Trist, you missed the point.

Remember, I was arguing not that ‘anything’ that makes one uncomfortable is a ‘truth’. I was saying specifically that when one is discerning CATHOLICISM, and becomes uncomfortable with a CATHOLIC teaching, because it goes against one’s ‘rational’ or comfortable beliefs, one should consider the discomfort argues for the truth of the Catholic teaching.

You rather commented on your ‘offense’ at Mormonism. “Offense” and “discomfort” are not synonymous.

While I see that you might be arguing that the contemplation of say Kolob makes you ‘uncomfortable’ and one should not therefore take it as ‘truth’ (in which I concur), two points>

1. I repeat, I was referencing Catholicism specifically because its teachings ARE true. Therefore, ‘discomfort’ at falsehood in, say, Mormon teachings, is a moot point because Mormon teachings are not Catholic ones.
2. Regarding Mormonism, your discomfort at the teachings are not because they specifically go against your ‘rational’ thinking (few people find Morman doctrines ‘rational’ in that sense.) But in Catholicism, despite your perhaps thinking that say the Trinity sounds irrational, there is a sense that, IF the teaching is really true, it is not only true, but that all the arguments you’ve thought spoke against it really speak FOR it, when viewed correctly. And that works again I note specifically for TRUTH–and also as I noted when one listens to God and not one’s own ‘reason’ in opposition to God.

 

[CradleCath]

Please give me a good argument as to why I should follow the Catholic Church.

Thank you.

Before I can do that, I’ll need a good argument from you as to why you SHOULDN’T follow the Catholic Church.

I’ve read several posts from you & I’ll simply say that if you cannot embrace Catholicism with all of your heart…perhaps you should not follow the Church.

I don’t say this to be hateful or to denigrate you in any way, nor do I judge you. The Church has never expected us to “follow like sheep”, never questioning. However, when all the questions have been answered (hopefully by your RICA director or your pastor…discussions here are good, but those one has with his own priest, face to face are better) one needs to have the ability to think with the Church .

 

[TLM08]

One of the great reasons to be Catholic is it frees you from the interminable verse wars like we see above. Not being shackled by the false doctine of sola scriptura one can spend their time praising and worshiping the Lord rather than spending interminable time trying to convince themselves and others that their interpreation of Scripture is better than everyone elses.

What verse wars? Scripture itself praised the Berean Christians for checking the teachings of St. Paul himself and holding them up to the light of scripture to see if these teachings were true! How else are Christians to discern truth from error?

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11

There is no way to read John 6 *in context *and honestly come up with a command to eat the actual physical real flesh of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the entire chapter (John 6) has nothing to do with the communion meal that Jesus instituted at the Last Supper. Connecting John 6 with the Lord’s Supper is a terrible error.

 

[estesbob]

What verse wars? Scripture itself praised the Berean Christians for checking the teachings of St. Paul himself and holding them up to the light of scripture to see if these teachings were true! How else are Christians to discern truth from error?

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11

There is no way to read John 6 *in context *and honestly come up with a command to eat the actual physical real flesh of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the entire chapter (John 6) has nothing to do with the communion meal that Jesus instituted at the Last Supper. Connecting John 6 with the Lord’s Supper is a terrible error.

Oh no- MORE verses wars!!! And not only that but the usual attempt to present Bereans as Baptists! (based on ONE verse)

The OP should note the problems inherent with the Sola scriptura -complex theologies based on nothing more than personal interpretation of a handful of scripture verses almost excusivley form the Epistles of St Paul.

 

[tcm22]

There is no way to read John 6 in context and honestly refute the command to eat the transubstantiated * flesh of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the entire chapter (John 6) has everything to do with the communion meal that Jesus instituted at the Last Supper. Failing to connect* John 6 with the Lord’s Supper is a terrible error.

Fixed

 

[TLM08]

Oh no- MORE verses wars!!! And not only that but the usual attempt to present Bereans as Baptists! (based on ONE verse)

The OP should note the problems inherent with the Sola scriptura -complex theologies based on nothing more than personal interpretation of a handful of scripture verses almost excusivley form the Epistles of St Paul.

Yes, you are right. The Berean Christians were praised for searching the scriptures to verify Paul’s teachings. We certainly cannot have THAT going on in the church these days. By the way, this great apostle Paul only wrote half of the books in the New Testament. He did not get these teachings from man, he got them directly from God. But we can just ignore minor details like that too.

The Sola Scriptura crowd invents “complex theologies”? Please share!

 

[TLM08]

Fixed

I don’t think we are supposed to be editing each other’s quotes, but if it encourages people to go back and read my original statement regarding the error of connecting John 6 with the Lord’s Supper than I suppose that’s a good thing.

 

[estesbob]

Yes, you are right. The Berean Christians were praised for searching the scriptures to verify Paul’s teachings. We certainly cannot have THAT going on in the church these days. By the way, this great apostle Paul only wrote half of the books in the New Testament. He did not get these teachings from man, he got them directly from God. But we can just ignore minor details like that too.

The Sola Scriptura crowd invents “complex theologies”? Please share!

WHY THE BEREANS REJECTED SOLA SCRIPTURA

catholic.com/thisrock/1997/9703fea3.asp

Theologies created by Sola Scriptura:

Invisible church
Salvation by Faith Alone
OSAS
Adult Baptism
Rejection of the POne True Church
just to name a few.

 

[Carlan]

Yes, you are right. The Berean Christians were praised for searching the scriptures to verify Paul’s teachings. We certainly cannot have THAT going on in the church these days. By the way, this great apostle Paul only wrote half of the books in the New Testament. He did not get these teachings from man, he got them directly from God. But we can just ignore minor details like that too.

The Sola Scriptura crowd invents “complex theologies”? Please share!

We surely do love Paul and we thank Jesus for knocking him off his horse and bringing him to his senses and as much as we are thankful for the holy saint, I’d like you to read what Jesus has to say about it all in the Gospel of Matthew. Carlan

be sure to take a look at the Beatitudes and the ‘Sermon on the Mount’!

and Matt 16 24-27

 

[TNKnight]

Tristan, some of your previous posts have led me to wonder whether you are considering becoming a Catholic, or just looking to worship in the same way that you have and just call yourself a Catholic. The Catholic Church is the only one that can trace its roots back to Jesus. All other Christian religions broke away and were created by a human being. Do you think that any human can create a better religion than Jesus? I admit that the Catholic Church is not perfect, but at least the succession of Popes goes back to St. Peter, who was appointed by Jesus Himself. This is one fact upon which you may want to meditate.

 

[TristanCross]

I find it funny that everyone is making assumptions about me. You know, the “have led me to wonder” and, “I think you’re…”.

 

[tcm22]

I find it funny that everyone is making assumptions about me. You know, the “have led me to wonder” and, “I think you’re…”.

All people know about you is what you have written here. If people are getting the wrong idea, it could be because they jump to conclusions, but it could also be that you come across that way.

My question for is whether you really want to be Catholic, and if so, what draws you to it?

You clearly have some misgivings and concerns, so it would be interesting to see what brought you this far.