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.”
What an incredibly sad discourse on paganism. Not one of the points she mentioned is taught in scripture.
Most people are what ever religion they are because that is what their parents were. This is a list of things you like about your religion, but it’s not really why the author is a Catholic. That’s probably down to birth.
Well, when you are trying to put together a list of why to be Catholic versus Protestant what else are you going to do? You can’t list anything that comes from the Bible because both groups have that. So all they have left is to trumpet their extra-Biblical additions.
You’ve got a point there. Christians follow Christ and Catholics follow the Catholic Church.
YAWN!
Christians follow Christ. Protestants follow their own individual interpretations of their preferred Bible(s).
I am more than happy to remain in the Church where Jesus is really and truly present,
Wrong. Sorry, but Christ doesn't hang with anti-christs
with the end goal of the sanctifying my soul.
Sorry, but a long dead woman CANNOT sanctify your soul, nor can some fanatical following of her.
Just like any good friend, saints inspire and pray for me. The journey of my spiritual life is easier with their assistance.
Wrong and wrong again. The saints are dead. Christ says no one gets to the Father but through him. Not through Mary. Not through a priest, and certainly not through dead "saints".
“I absolve you from your sins, may God give you pardon and peace.”
Only God can save you from your sins. A priest cannot.
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.
No such thing. This is a figment of catholic imagination. You go to Heaven or you go to Hell, period. There are no stops between.
It never ceases to amaze how many have been fooled by the beast into believing false religions such as catholicism. There are going to be some very sad folks on judgement day.
Modern Catholic teaching regards Protestants as errant on specific points of doctrine but as Christians nonetheless and due good will from Catholics as fellow believers in Christ. As a Catholic, I have known many Protestants of admirable faith and virtue and have attended Protestant services that fully manifested the spirit of Christianity. On the whole, I think it unlikely that Christ would endorse his followers being hostile and condemnatory toward each other based on reasonably disputable points of doctrine.
Why am I?
Because in the passage where Jesus looks at Peter and says “Upon this Rock I will build My Church”, I believe that he was personally, directly commissioning the Catholic Church to spread His word throughout the world.
Granted we have failed miserably in that mission many times, largely due to our corrupt, arrogant leadership. And I cannot blame Protestants from walking away at the times that they did. When Martin Luther ripped into the Church for selling indulgences, he was morally, unequivocally right.
But I always felt that the Catholic Church was an idea that was worth staying and fighting for, given the personal commission given to Peter by Christ.
Though now, I have to admit, the Pope’s love letter to Communism has me seriously rethinking that.
Is this why the majority of Catholics vote pro-abortion?
In spiritual and theological terms, the Catholic Mass is a re-enactment of the Last Supper — which I trust also appears in your Protestant Bible, no matter the denomination. Similarly, the details of Catholic doctrine and teachings are grounded in specific passages of scripture. That Protestants interpret such passages differently does not make Catholics or Protestants into pagans.
Modern Catholic teaching regards Protestants as errant on specific points of doctrine but as Christians nonetheless and due good will from Catholics as fellow believers in Christ. As a Catholic, I have known many Protestants of admirable faith and virtue and have attended Protestant services that fully manifested the spirit of Christianity. On the whole, I think it unlikely that Christ would endorse his followers being hostile and condemnatory toward each other based on reasonably disputable points of doctrine.
I totally agree.
Thank you.
Yes it does appear there. But in context. This was a once a year Passover meal to commemorate the freeing of the Hebrews from bondage through Gods mighty miracles. To do this in remembrance of Me would correctly be practised once a year and recounting Gods miracles in releasing us from the bondage of sin through the Blood of Jesus Christ. To do this sacred testament more often conflicts with the example and makes it common and profanes it. That's just one more reason why I'm not Catholic.
And no mention of Jesus?
A mystery or a symbol to some, but the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord in the host is clear.
"Our Lord" is quite commonly used instead of "Jesus" and "G_d" through the bible and in many ecumenicals and treatises. But you knew that, and were simply trying to pick a fight.
Sorry, Don, your explanation is weak. Jesus is singular, not “The Eucharist”.
Just as scripture teaches should be done.
1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
Do you pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit and submit to Him or do you "submit will and intellect" to the magisterium as demanded by the Catholic Catechism?
“What an incredibly sad discourse on paganism. Not one of the points she mentioned is taught in scripture.”
Th author wrote:
6. Suffering. Suffering is inevitable in our lives because of man’s free will.
CynicalBear, are you honestly saying suffering is not “taught in scripture”?
“Jesus is singular, not “The Eucharist”.”
When exactly did He become Jesus?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.