Posted on 06/26/2015 10:18:59 AM PDT by Morgana
My grandmother celebrates 100 years of being a Catholic. She will most likely be a Catholic till her last breath as all my other grandparents were. Me? I’m a mere forty-year cradle Catholic. I own that it hasn’t been easy to remain a faithful daughter of the Church, particularly during my turbulent twenties. There was a period I disagreed with, questioned, and criticized Holy Mother Church. There were times I watched people I love abandon their baptismal promises. Still, I remained true to my heritage.
Why? Why am I still Catholic? It’s for the same reasons why people disagree, question, criticize and leave the Church:
1. The Eucharist. A mystery or a symbol to some, but the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord in the host is clear as the Catechism 1376 puts it, “because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread.” I am more than happy to remain in the Church where Jesus is really and truly present, and where I can be united to Him in receiving Communion.
2. Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church exalts the Mother of God as the perfect apostle and bestows dignity to womanhood. Since Mary was “preserved free from all stain of original sin” (Catechism 966), she is the role model for every Christian. The scripture on the wedding feast at Cana illustrates that she is a powerful intercessor to our prayers and that devotion to her is the fastest, surest way to unity with Christ as she encourages us: “do whatever [Jesus] tells you.” Our Lady is, to me, all that and a mother who cares about my everyday concerns, with the end goal of the sanctifying my soul. “Don’t be afraid of loving Mary too much,” St. Maximilian Kolbe said. “You can’t possibly love her more than Jesus does.”
3. The saints. By the rigorous process of canonization, the Catholic Church venerates the saints as humans who blazed the path on how to live the Christian life and who “provide us with examples on holiness.” The saints also obtain favors for us as they “do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as the proffer the merits which they acquired on earth.” (Catechism 956). Just like any good friend, saints inspire and pray for me. The journey of my spiritual life is easier with their assistance.
4. Penance and Reconciliation. Undoubtedly, the Church houses both saints and sinners. Knowing our fallen nature, which tempts us to sin and often characterizes us as Pharisees, Christ established the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a means for contrite sinners to obtain absolution for our sins. Jesus told St. Faustina “When you approach the confessional…I myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden in the priest.” Never have I heard more powerful words than the merciful ones voiced at the Sacrament of Reconcilation: “I absolve you from your sins, may God give you pardon and peace.”
5. Purgatory. Purgatory is the place where all who die in God’s grace and friendship but are still imperfectly purified undergo purification after death so as the achieve holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. (Catechism 1030). Purgatory as a manifestation of God’s mercy gives me hope that even if I can’t overcome my faults during my life on earth, I still have an opportunity to be sanctified by God’s justice so that I can one day enjoy the beatific vision.
6. Suffering. Suffering is inevitable in our lives because of man’s free will. The Catholic Church makes sense of suffering when it teaches that suffering can be untied with Christ’s passion in atonement for sins. According to St. John Paul II, suffering also increases our capacity for selfless love and hones the virtue of humility. Since scripture says that carrying my cross is necessary to share in Christ’s redemption, the Church not only explains suffering’s purpose but also offers me graces from the Sacraments to endure sacrifice.
7. Magisterium. Jesus Christ established the Catholic Church as the “pillar and bulwark of the truth” to sift through the muddled moral issues that confounds our modern age (and every age) so that she can provide clear guidelines on right versus wrong. “To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles.” (Catechism 2032) In every moral issue it has addressed, the Church has illustrated wisdom that only comes from the Holy Spirit. I rely on this wisdom to guard my soul from evil and to direct me on the path to eternal life as much as I rely on the promise of Jesus that “the gates of hell shall never prevail against [the Church].”
I could go on and on. The truth in the Catechism and experience of millions of Catholics over two thousand years are inexhaustible. I don't know how far back my Catholic roots go. But I hope I am not the branch that withers and rots off a steadfast family tree and I pray that I leave Catholicism as a fruitful legacy to my children, and generations after them.
Catechism 2030: “It is in the Church, in communion with all the baptized that the Christian fulfills his vocation.”
Go somewhere else with your human reasoning.
And the meaning of the resurrection??....
10-4.
No, I am staying right where I am.
“Mother Theresa knew it well evidently. She claimed they should just be better whatever they were. No need to change evidently.”
It really doesn’t matter what she claimed about the issue since her opinion was just that.
“Please answer my question “
Please distinguish between redemption and salvation.
“...can an observant Buddhist go to heaven ...”
Please distinguish between redemption and salvation.
“PS Mother Teresa thought so ...”
PS It doesn’t really matter what she thought on the issue.
“And the meaning of the resurrection??....”
So first you made it plain you could not distinguish the redemption and salvation and now you’re saying you don’t know what the resurrection means?
It’s shocking just how ignorant Protestant anti-Catholics are. https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/catechism/index.cfm?recnum=2418
The Intention of the Atonement
Why did Christ come to die? Did He come simply to make salvation possible, or did He come to actually obtain eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12)? Let’s consider some passages from Scripture in answer to this question.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10).
Here the Lord Jesus Himself speaks of the reason for His coming. He came to seek and to save the lost. Few have a problem with His seeking; many have a problem with the idea that He actually accomplished all of His mission. Jesus, however, made it clear that He came to actually save the lost. He did this by His death.
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-—of whom I am the worst (1 Timothy 1:15).
Paul asserts that the purpose of Christ’s coming into the world was to actually save sinners. Nothing in Paul’s words leads us to the conclusion that is so popular today-—that Christ’s death simply makes salvation a possibility rather than a reality. Christ came to save. So, did He? And how did He? Was it not by His death? Most certainly. The atoning death of Christ provides forgiveness of sins for all those for whom it is made. That is why Christ came.
http://vintage.aomin.org/Was%20Anyone%20Saved.html
That is the roman church talking..
To the saved..it was all accomplished at the cross.. Christ redeemed us, saved us and justified us.. it is a finished work...
PS It doesn’t really matter what she thought on the issue.
So you deny Invincible ignorance????
All follower of Yeshua keep the true Sabbath.
Churchians keep the Sun god’s day: Sunday.
All of the apostles and their flocks kept the sabbath. Sabbath worship was continuous until the mid 4th century.
The book of Acts soundly affirms the keeping of the Sabbath and the appointed times. Sunday worship is the result of mostly misunderstanding of Havdalah (the “first day of the week” gathering on what we call saturday evening.
God’s days begin at sundown, so Havdalah was a coming together on “the first day of the week.” That is what was what was called “coming together on the first day of the week” in every instance in the entire NT.
Seventh Day Adventists are correct to some extent on that, but have other issues WRT the divinity of Yeshua.
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>> “Just what sort of reason do you suppose man is capable of except human reason?” <<
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Missing the entire meaning of the word “reason” as it is used by the apostles.
To “reason
‘ means to debate an issue with others. To explain your beliefs to unbelievers.
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Redemption and Salvation cannot be ‘conflated,’ since they are one and the same.
Redemption has not happened yet. What happened at the cross was payment of the penalty.
We will be redeemed at the Last Trump, when Yeshua gathers his elect and exchanges their corrupt bodies for incorruptible spiritual bodies. All who ever will be redeemed will be redeemed in that moment, “in a twinkling of an eye,” as Paul explained so clearly in 1Corinthians 15.
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“That is the roman church talking..”
Learn to read. I posted links to you THAT WERE FROM PROTESTANT SITES:
Even Protestants know this:
http://holdingtotruth.com/2013/04/08/what-is-redemption-how-is-salvation-different/
http://www.christianity.com/theology/redemption-and-salvation-11541696.html
http://www.bugsinheaven.com/insidethebook/redempt.html
“To the saved..it was all accomplished at the cross.. Christ redeemed us, saved us and justified us.. it is a finished work...”
No, the grace for those things were established on the cross. Our justification, however - according to Protestants - is contingent upon someone coming to a faith in Christ. Isn’t that what Protestant anti-Catholics like yourself keep insisting that Catholics do not believe (which shows further the ignorance of Protestant anti-Catholics, but that’s another thread). In other words, if Christ justified men at the cross in the sense we use the word justification today, it could only apply to those LITERALLY AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS who had a saving faith in Christ. After all isn’t that why you post threads like this?: http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3263201/posts
and this: http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3298071/posts
and this: http://209.157.64.201/focus/f-religion/3260672/posts
and this: http://209.157.64.200/focus/religion/3278681/posts?page=4
and this: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3256178/posts
and this: http://209.157.64.201/focus/f-religion/3289159/posts
Ironically, it looks as though none of the authors whose works you posted actually agree with you.
“So you deny Invincible ignorance????”
Do you deny that you still have not distinguished between redemption and salvation?
“Redemption and Salvation cannot be ‘conflated,’ since they are one and the same. Redemption has not happened yet. What happened at the cross was payment of the penalty.”
Payment. Exactly. When you pay, you redeem.
Example: “Redemption Defined: To be set free from captivity or slavery.”
which is different from:
“Salvation Defined: Biblically, salvation refers to the act of being saved from the eternal consequences of sin.”
http://www.christianity.com/theology/redemption-and-salvation-11541696.html
That’s written by a Protestant, not me.
Too bad that you were not there to help the poor wretches responsible for the King James version of Scripture, who translated Isaiah as “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord . . .” And, my request still stands: can you cite any recognized experts who have the same view of Isaiah as you do?
At the cross of Christ ...I was "bought with a price", my sin atoned for with the blood of Christ.. and I stood justified before the father that gave me to Christ.. HE DID IT ALL AT THE CROSS...
For Roman Catholics all the suffering of Christ at the cross did was open the gates of heaven so they could crawl through the fire of purgatory into heaven if the are "good enough " and "do enough "
Once again ""cricket" on the salvation of heathens..without Christ.. Can observant Buddhists get into heaven ??
“At the cross of Christ ...I was “bought with a price”, my sin atoned for with the blood of Christ.. and I stood justified before the father that gave me to Christ.. HE DID IT ALL AT THE CROSS...”
What you’re saying is that a man need not accept Christ, or repent of your sins to be justified. Thus, you believe in universalism.
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The context in Isaiah does not support your wild assertion.
It is not about the meaning of scripture, but about convincing the unbelieving.
It demolishes your whole plan.
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LOL..still no answer to my question?? .. Catholics have my pity , they have a weak jesus that is unable save those the Father gives to Him...
The distinction you offer is of little consequence in that the passage has God calling on human reason as guide leading toward faith. Again, I suggest that this supports teachings that faith and reason are meant to be allies, not adversaries, and that even those without faith may nevertheless distinguish good and evil.
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