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Typical protestor with no basis of fact or reason without even reading the document.

One is not required to believe in Marian or Jesus apparitions.

Ignoring the messages can contribute to one losing their faith and salvation, as Jesus told us more than once “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” John 6:53

I believe that there are many faithful Catholics who accept and believe in the Catholic faith even if they do not fully understand all of the mysteries and teachings.

Yes, many Catholics have fallen away from the faith that Jesus gave us, but we can repent, confess and come back before we die. Many have followed the ways of the world and not the teachings of Christ. Some of the worst sinners have became the greatest saints. Read the Confessions of St Augustine and the prayers by his mother St Monica.

Why does someone want to choose sin and Hell over eternal life with God?

Jesus told us to find and enter by the narrow gate. Mt 7:13

Salvation is a process of learning, seeking and accepting God’s Truths and living it in our lives through love of God and neighbor.

As we mature and grow older and closer to dying, we can grow closer to God and put aside our sinful ways so that we may join Jesus in Heaven.

As Catholics we have the Sacraments to help us before we die.

Hey Karina What is more evil = abortion, killing your own babies or slavery?

I think they are both repugnant and evil, but killing innocent lives and supporting this atrocity may send many to Hell!

Keep God’s Commandments!

YOUR COMMENT: And clearly you don’t based on what you posted. it is all made up with some verse references smeared on top to make it sound true.

THEN PROVE IT. Your opinions are just opinions.

If you read and understood the Bible, then you prove to yourself that your opinions are fiction:

Praying for each other is simply part of what Christians do. As we saw, in 1 Timothy 2:1–4, Paul strongly encouraged Christians to intercede for many different things, and that passage is by no means unique in his writings. Elsewhere Paul directly asks others to pray for him (Rom. 15:30–32, Eph. 6:18–20, Col. 4:3, 1 Thess. 5:25, 2 Thess. 3:1), and he assured them that he was praying for them as well (2 Thess. 1:11). Most fundamentally, Jesus himself required us to pray for others, and not only for those who asked us to do so (Matt. 5:44).

One such benefit is that the faith and devotion of the saints can support our own weaknesses and supply what is lacking in our own faith and devotion. Jesus regularly supplied for one person based on another person’s faith (e.g., Matt. 8:13, 15:28, 17:15–18; Mark 9:17–29; Luke 8:49–55). And it goes without saying that those in heaven, being free of the body and the distractions of this life, have even greater confidence in and devotion to God than anyone on earth.

Not only do those in heaven pray with us, they also pray for us. In the book of Revelation, we read: “[An] angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God” (Rev. 8:3-4).

The simple fact is, as this passage (Rev 5:8) shows: The saints in heaven offer to God the prayers of the saints on earth.

I hope you find the path to the narrow gate and not take the easy path that leads to destruction. (MT 7:13)

I see you can not answer simple questions.

I suspect you maybe confused about God’s Truths.

I didn’t find your answers. They were simple questions.

Are you sure you an defend your faith beliefs?

If you can’t explain them to me, how are you going to explain them to Jesus when you die?

It is a shame that Bible only believers do not understand the Bible and God’s Truths.

Why Pray to Mary? Because Jesus has given us his Blessed Mother as our great spiritual mother (Rev.12:17), a heavenly advocate who intercedes for us.

Some Christians will ask, “Why pray to Mary when we can go directly to Jesus?” And yet they have no problem asking others here on earth to pray for them, instead of simply and solely praying to Jesus on their own. Indeed, St. Paul says that God grants blessings “in answer to many prayers” (2 Cor. 1:11). And if the prayer of a righteous man on earth avails much with God (Jas. 5:16–18), how much more would prayers from one who has finished the race and now reigns with Christ in heaven?

Scripture elsewhere speaks of the “the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven” and “the spirits of just men made perfect” (Heb. 12:23, emphasis added). Given their heavenly perfection in Jesus, which would include perfection in charity and thus concern for their brothers and sisters in Christ on earth (see 1 Cor. 2:12-26), we should not be surprised that Scripture presents these holy men and women of heaven bringing our prayers to Jesus the Lamb (Rev. 5:8), and that from the early Church onward Christians have asked the intercession of the saints who have gone before them to heaven.

In this light, we see that the saints—as faithful disciples of Jesus—are his collaborators, not his competitors in interceding for us. Consequently, because Mary is the Mother of God and the disciple par excellence (see Luke 1:28, 38), we should not be surprised that she is our preeminent intercessor among the angels and saints.

If you don’t understand God’s Truths in the Bible, how are you ever going to understand all of God’s Truths?

https://www.catholic.com/qa/why-pray-to-mary

The faith of the Church is that the saints are not really dead, but are fully alive in Jesus Christ, who is life itself (John 11:25; 14:6) and the bread of life who bestows life on all who eat his flesh and drink his blood (John 6:35, 48, 51, 53-56). The saints are alive in heaven because of the life they have received through their faith in Christ Jesus and through their eating of his body and blood.

The book of Revelation shows the saints worshipping God, singing hymns, playing instruments, making requests to Christ to avenge their martyrdom, and offering prayers for the saints on earth (Rev. 4:10, 5:8, 6:9-11).

First, God expects us to pray for one another. We see this in both the Old and New Testaments.

In a dream, God commanded King Abimelech to ask Abraham to intercede for him: “For [Abraham] is a prophet and he will pray for you, so you shall live” (Gen. 20:7). When the Lord is angry with Job’s friends because they did not speak rightly about God, he tells them, “Let my servant Job pray for you because I will accept his [prayer], lest I make a terror on you” (Job 42:8).

Paul wrote to the Romans: “I exhort you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive with me in prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judaea and that my ministry may be acceptable to the saints in Jerusalem, so that in the joy coming to you through the will of God I may rest with you” (Rom. 15:30-32).

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-bible-supports-praying-to-the-saints

I will pray for you so that Jesus will give you the graces to understand HIS WORD and believe.

You haven’t defended anything, you just claim that you have.

Just because you express an opinion or a false belief is not defending God’s Truths.

Just try to answer the questions with reason if you can?

You can’t or will not answer the questions, so you punt.

You can always look up why the Catholic Church respects the Blessed Mother as the first and most Holy Saint that is closest to Jesus.

If one is truly close to Jesus, then it should be easy to understand why we are close to the Blessed Mother and ask for her prayers and intercessions.

Can’t defend your faith, but blame the other guy.

Just as it is appointed that human beings die once,
and after this the judgment, so also Christ,
offered once to take away the sins of many,
will appear a second time, not to take away sin
but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.

-Heb. 9:24-28

Do you believe in the Apostles Creed that He will come to judge the living and the dead?

I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
He descended into hell;
on the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic Church,
the communion of Saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

Amen.

How so?

Thanks for your comment.

We all need to seek and understand God’s Truth.

I have three questions for anyone in general:

Since the Bible contains God’s Truth, how come the protestants claim sola scriptura but have thousands of different denominations with multiple interpretations of that Truth?

If Jesus founded His Church on Peter and the Apostles and stated “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (MT 28:20), Yet protestants follow a man made religions in 1500’s (and continuing to date) with no founding by Jesus?

How does on have true Faith in Jesus, if they do not believe His Words in the Bible? Even Peter denied Jesus three times before seeking forgiveness.

Peace be with you on the path to understanding and accepting God’s Truth.

THERE IS NO RAPTURE - NOT IN THE BIBLE - A PROTESTANT BELIEF

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Paul writes,

13 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, console one another with these words

The detail that I want to focus on here is Paul’s statement that when Christ comes from heaven the Christians “who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with [those raised from the dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (v.17).

Some Protestants[i] believe, contrary to Catholic teaching (CCC 675), this passage reveals that Christians will not experience the persecution of the Antichrist at the end of time but will be snatched up by the Lord prior to it. This is a doctrine known as the pre-tribulation Rapture.

Protestants argue that Paul can’t be talking about the Second Coming here, because Jesus only comes part-way down and then goes back up. Moreover, because no judgment of the nations is mentioned, like we see in Matthew 25:31-46 and Revelation 20, it must be referring to the “rapture.”

The responses that I will give here come from my book Meeting the Protestant Challenge: How to Answer 50 Biblical Objections to Catholic Beliefs.

The first is that this view misreads the text as a partial coming-from and return back to heaven. Verse 15 reads that the Lord will “descend from heaven with a cry of command” but nowhere does Paul actually say that Jesus returns to heaven. If Jesus’ descent is definitive, it’s not a partial coming like the pre-tribulation rapture requires it to be.

But what are we to make of Paul’s description that the saints who are alive will be “caught up…to meet the Lord in the air”? A possible interpretation is that Paul is describing how Christians will meet the Lord in the air to escort him, in a way that is analogous to the ancient custom of citizens ushering in important visitors.

It was common for citizens to meet an illustrious person (such as dignitary or victorious military leader) and his entourage outside the walls of their city and accompany him back in. This was a way for people to honor the visitor and take part in the celebration of the visitor’s coming.

We see an example of this in Acts 28:14-15, where the brethren at Rome went out of the city to meet Paul as he approached: “And so we came to Rome. And the brethren there, when they heard of us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us.” This ancient custom also explains why the crowds go out to meet Jesus on Palm Sunday and usher him into Jerusalem (see Matt. 21:1-17).

So, for Paul, those who are alive at the Second Coming will do for our blessed Lord what the ancients did for their dignitaries: they will be caught up in the air to meet the approaching king Jesus and escort him as he “descend[s] from heaven with a cry of command” (1 Thess. 4:16).

Second, the details of the passage reveal that Paul is talking about the final coming of Jesus at the end of time.

Notice that it’s not just the living who are caught up with the Lord, but also the dead in Christ: “And the dead in Christ will rise first” (v.16). That Paul speaks of the resurrection of the dead tells us that he’s referring to the end of time.

We know this for several reasons. First, Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15 that the end happens in tandem with the resurrection of the dead:

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power (1 Cor. 15:22-24).

If Paul viewed the resurrection of the dead as occurring in tandem with the end of time, and if he speaks of the resurrection of the dead in tandem with Christ’s coming in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, it follows that Christ’s coming in those verses is his coming at the end of time and not the beginning of a pre-tribulation rapture.

A second reason why we know Paul is talking about the end of time is because when he speaks about the “coming of the Lord” in 2 Thessalonians, he says that the Antichrist and his reign of evil must precede it:

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you this? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming (2 Thess. 2:1-8).

It’s clear that Paul is connecting the “coming of our Lord” here in 2 Thessalonians and the “coming of the Lord” in 1 Thessalonians 4:15, because he speaks of “our assembling to meet him.”

So, if the “coming of the Lord” in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 must be preceded by the Antichrist and his reign of evil, those verses can’t be referring to a pre-tribulation rapture. Rather, they must refer to our Lord’s coming at the end of time, when he vanquishes all evil and condemns those “who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:12).

A final clue for this being the final day of judgment is the fact that the Lord will descend with “the sound of the trumpet of God” (v.16). Paul speaks of the same trumpet when he describes the resurrection of the dead at the end of time:

Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:51-53).

Since in Paul’s mind the trumpet is associated with the resurrection of the dead at the end of time, and he speaks of it when describing the “coming of the Lord” in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, we can conclude that the “coming of the Lord” that Paul writes of in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 is the final coming at the end of time.

There’s one last thing that we can say in response. The rapture is often portrayed as a “secret coming” of Jesus. But in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Paul describes Christ’s coming with “the sound of the trumpet of God.” There is nothing secret about descending with the sound of a trumpet!

AUTHOR Karlo Broussard, staff apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers

Apparently Protestants claim only sola scriptura but they don’t have to believe in all the words (Truth) of Jesus and can follow man’s words and form thousands of different churches apart from the Church Jesus founded.

We all need to do God’s will and accept and believe in the words of Jesus and realize the Jesus established his Church for unity and to show us the path to salvation.

So much anger and hatred as a lefty communist.

Muslims can kill the body, but not the soul.

And hatred and murder will condemn you to Hell with your evil brothers. You may find some evil jews and others to share your eternal days in Hell with you.

There should be no limits to the Truth.

It is too bad that many do not understand or accept God’s Truth.

I wonder how many that support abortion and the practice of killing human life will end up in Hell?

May our prayers with God’s graces change hearts to prevent the senseless grave sins against life.

We could have peace if we listened to God and do His will.

Biden needs his own a come to Jesus meeting = first by repenting, then going to the Sacrament of Confession and then doing Penance.

We hope that he does this before he dies. Jesus is Merciful, but each of us chooses God or Satan.