I grew up Catholic, spent 16 years in Catholic school and university, and was proudly Catholic for 32 years. NOT ONCE in all that time, did anyone ever explain to me how I could FOR SURE have eternal life.
Now I am a born again Christian, an adherent of the Reformed faith, and a disciple of Messiah Jesus.
Do you know FOR SURE that you are going to Heaven when you die?
If you don't understand how to get rid of your sin (you can't, by the way, but Jesus can), then you have an eternal problem to confront. Don't trust in what YOU do, rather trust in what Jesus did FOR you.
Blessings!
"I grew up Catholic, spent 16 years in Catholic school and university, and was proudly Catholic for 32 years. NOT ONCE in all that time, did anyone ever explain to me how I could FOR SURE have eternal life.
Now I am a born again Christian, an adherent of the Reformed faith, and a disciple of Messiah Jesus.
Do you know FOR SURE that you are going to Heaven when you die?
If you don't understand how to get rid of your sin (you can't, by the way, but Jesus can), then you have an eternal problem to confront. Don't trust in what YOU do, rather trust in what Jesus did FOR you.
Blessings!"
Worth repeating!
Blah, blah, blah.
Ditto ... did they use the Baltimore Catechism in Religion Class, when you attended Catholic elementary school?
Only one who can ever tell you FOR SURE if you are going to heaven is Christ. So I am glad that no one ever did, as it would mean that Man is taking God's work into his own hands. The Church (as guided by the Word and Sacred Tradition) has been pretty clear on what is necessary for salvation, but MEN can NEVER say "Do this and you will go to heaven," as only Christ can say that.
I like the anti-Catholic site to which we were directed--those are some really ground-breaking arguments against the Church (arguments, when investigated, hold no water). Here's a question:
If the Bible is the Final Authority, where did the Bible come from? And why does the Protestant Bible have 7 fewer books than the original Catholic version?
So, they never told you that all who die in the state of grace go to heaven?
They never told you how to get into the state of grace?
They never told you how to stay in the state of grace once you got there?
Which is it? I ask, because I can guarantee that every one of those things is covered in the catechism.
By the way, there is no infallible assurance of salvation before death. St. Paul says so clearly in a number of places (1 Cor 9:24-10:12, Phil 3:12-14), as does Jesus. However, any Catholic who has made a good confession has a relative moral certainty that he would go to heaven if he died at that moment.
Seems to me that, after 32 years, you'd understand the Church a little more. Seems like it wasn't the Church that was lacking, but rather your desire to understand. The answers are there, you just have to actually investigate and put away your "feeling."
Sorry--last time--
You might investigate the site from which this article comes--catholiceducation.com. It answers any possible question you might have (provided you are honestly seeking truth), as well as questions you might NOT have, and also provides loads of OTHER information on other topics (gay marriage, for instance).
I'd rather be sure after the Judgment, not before.
Oh, I forgot. St. Paul was really into telling his flock to proclaim how sure they are, wasn't he? That's why he said to work out your salvation in fear and trembling. I wonder what he didn't know that you so obviously know. But then, what would he know about this stuff anyway?
Correction to # 37: 'really really sure they were sheep" instead of "really really sure. They were sheep."
"Now I am a born again Christian, an adherent of the Reformed faith, and a disciple of Messiah Jesus"
_________________________________
Shout it from the mountain top brother! Amen
Again I say Amen!
And you STILL don't know if you are going to heaven. So what have you gained by dumping the Catholic Church?
Mass? No, you've lost that.
Communion, His body, blood, soul and divinity....every day (except Good Friday) of our short lives? No, you've lost that too.
What have you gained? I dunno. I only know what you've lost.
If this (holy communion) isn't about what Jesus did for us/me, then you missed the entire point of Easter: passion, death and resurrection of the Son of God.
How could any Catholic NOT know that?
How could any sane Catholic NOT take the daily (when possible) opportunity to actually partake of our Lord's gift to us -- "Do this in memory of Me"?
You gave all that up for the ONE DAY A WEEK Sunday sermon and singing. Talk about your "blah blah blah."
Reformed? That's interesting. Who told Luther, Calvin, et al, that "reform" -- that is, getting away from holy communion and Mass -- were the right thing to do?
That the papacy was held by corrupt men for a few popes didn't make the papacy -- Peter, the rock Jesus chose to built His church -- corrupt for all time.
That some INSTITUTIONAL practices were horrible did negate the entire institution.
It would be like condemning the institution of marriage because some marriages are failures.
These "reforms" were decisions of angry men and women, not decisions from Jesus. HIS decisions were made for all time, not just until some angry people decided to "reform" what they didn't like.
You've lost the Mass, that is, holy communion, the body, blood, soul and divinity of your GOD, Lord and Savior.
That is a huge and sad loss for you. Perhaps it was because of a wife and her born-again faith. Just a guess. If that would tear you away from the divine supper, then perhaps there just isn't enough faith in you to believe in the holy supper. Faith IS a gift.
"Blessings"? Small potatoes. I would wish you back at the communion table, partaking of Jesus' body, blood, soul and divinity. That isn't a small word or token -- it's the essence of our God-given life, the blessing of all time for all souls.
Dominus vobiscum.
Oh, go ahead and post from that bigoted, misinformed site. Joe Mizzi is a fool - and he's unable to even defend himself when challenged.
Personally, I find that most Catholics, including those with otherwise excellent Catholic educations, are surprisingly uninstructed when it comes to the Bible.
I am amazed that anyone can be a Catholic for 32 years and not understand the sacraments. Even if you were not properly taught, at some time, I would think you would have tried to find out more about the sacrament of Holy Communion. Are you implying that you took Holy Communion for about 24 years and never really understood that you were receiving the Body and Blood of Your Savior, Jesus Christ?
I am truly comforted that through the Catholic Church, I can receive God's graces through the sacraments, comfort from Reconciliation, and all the other wonderous graces that come from the Holy Mass which is a precurser to the Heavenly Jerusalem as described in the Book of Revelation.
Yes......Catholics are born again.