Replies

Question:

So if you don’t have time to think to ask for forgiveness, cause car wrecks happen fairly quickly and usually without warning, you would not be saved???

Response:

It is not for us to say who would or would not be saved. Only God can look into our hearts and make that judgement.

Question:

I do agree with your last line....only God can forgive my sin. so if that is the case, why go to the priest?

Response:

There is a human element in going to confession. While it is God who forgives our sins, there is comfort in hearing that our sins are forgiven. It can be a source of great joy and consolation. I also find it to be an opportunity to ask the priest questions and seek guidance on how to become a better Christian.

Question:

I’d really be curious as to your answers on the other questions. As I understood the post, and Catholic teaching, we have to do good works as part of salvation or else we aren’t saved.

Response:

I kind of think that the love that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 13 is the key. While James says that faith without works is dead, Paul says that without love, we are nothing and we gain nothing. I believe that works is a manifestation of our love for God and one another, and that without love, faith is nothing and works is nothing. As Paul says, faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.