(Kevin) “I was a Roman Catholic for 43 years. I attended
a catholic grade school,and high school.
I knew God sent his Son, to die on the cross for my sins.
At some point, I began to have "questions".. about church(catholic )
doctrine. I had even gone to a priest,
and questioned him about my concerns. My responses were "unsatisfactory
",,,as far as I was concerned. I also talking to several other
..."clergy",, from other denominations...etc.,,but I began to have
even more concerns, and at this point, my concerns about the Catholic Church became
DOUBTS. Keep in mind, that up until now...(40ish years)...I had never been
INSIDE ANOTHER CHURCH.
After doing months of studying and research, and talking
to pastors from several church's the one question I kept asking myself was, "do
you believe the Bible is Gods word"? As I thought back over my youth and
my day's of, ccd, first holy communion, catechism ..etc. I began to realize
that there were so MANY THINGS the Catholic Church is just...WRONG about.
(Cristoiglesia) Thank you for writing to me about your
situation but you are not the first one to have doubts about your faith as a
result of investigating Protestants departure from the truth of the Church. Protestantism
can be extremely confusing as the example of their more than 30,000 different
denominations testifies. Each schismatic sect has some amount of truth with
much error and as a result that destroys the unity prayed for and desired by Christ.
Jesus prayed that we all be one in His Church as He and the Father are one. I
was a Protestant for 50 years and realized that the lack of unity among the
Protestants was an example of their departure from being obedient to Christ.
Jesus warns of the seduction of the world saying that there will come a time
when some will seek out false teachers that satisfy their itching ears. Church
shopping and believing that any man can found a Church with more veracity than
Christ is the result of man’s pride in his own intellect and his own ability to
personally, outside of the Church established by Christ, to choose a path
different than the path which Jesus created for us which is the Church. Truly
based on His veracity and not man’s is the narrow path to salvation that the Church
and the Bible teaches. I am sorry to recognize this but you have been filled
with that same pride that encourages you to believe that you have more authority
than the Church to decide whether the Church is wrong. Only Jesus has this
authority and He has said that the gates of hell will not prevail against the
Church and that the Church will endure for all times. We can be assured of its
veracity as it is recorded in the Scriptures that the Church is not only the
sole authority for teaching but is indeed the “pillar and foundation of the
truth”. Neither you nor any other entity on earth can usurp that authority and
the veracity of the truth of teaching from the Church. We can reject it out of
our free will but the truth remains even if it becomes far from us personally.
Sadly, the Bible and the Church also teaches that there will be many full of
this pride that caused them to reject Christ’s Church and its truth who will
hear at judgment “Depart from me, I never knew you”. When you leave the ark of
the Church, you place yourself in great danger from the world which is
seductive in its sin and condemning in its justification of sin. Be careful
when you claim the Church is wrong as it is also a direct attack on Christ and
the veracity of His words to the disciples and recorded in Scriptures. You have
absolutely no authority to make such a claim which is a direct attack on the
ability of Christ to found His Church on a firm foundation that would fulfill
His promises of the Church as testimony to the world and comfort to those of us
who are in Christ.
(Kevin)Here are a few:
“1)Communion (Jesus died on the cross for ALL SINNERS WHO
BELIEVE IN HIM..not just Catholics) Catholics DO NOT HAVE DOMINION..of Jesus
body and BLOOD....!!!!!”
Actually, Kevin, Christ died on the Cross for all
humanity and not just those who believe in Him. Jesus desires that all of
humanity come to the true belief in Him as God and the second person of the
Trinity of the one God. The Holy Spirit never ceases to appeal to the law written
on everyone’s heart to draw them to Him and to his own Church the Catholic
Church. He predestined no one to not have the free will to accept His gift of
salvific grace with the only caveat that they believe truly in Him with all
their heart and their soul. Such belief would naturally draw them to His Church
and to the unity that He desires. I am not exactly sure of what you mean when
you say, “Catholics DO NOT HAVE DOMINION..of Jesus body and BLOOD....!!!!!”,
but certainly Jesus established His sacerdotal priesthood to provide as His
voice and hands with the priest acting in “persona Christi” to confect His
great feast of His “Body, Soul, Blood and Divinity so that He can abide in us
and we in Him for eternity. Jesus said that unless we eat His Body and drink
His Blood then we have no life eternal in us. He did not command us to receive
a symbol but the actual ”Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity” in all of its
realities on earth and in heaven. Without the priesthood there can be no
Eucharist and the Protestant version they call communion is a desecration of
the true Commandment to eat His Body and to drink His Blood and does not
fulfill the Commandment of our Lord. Such is the teaching of our Lord that
Protestants must ignore lest they admit their lack of veracity in their very
existence.
(Kevin) “2)Praying to statues (aka idols) is FORBIDDEN by
the 10 commandments.”
(Cristoiglesia) Certainly praying to idols and
worshipping idols which are false gods is forbidden in the Decalogue. The Bible
gives us the example of this as the golden calf that the Israelites made for
themselves as a god and worshipped. They actually believed that the “golden
calf “ was their God. Such worship is forbidden by God and the Church as one
would expect. Here is the official teaching from the Catechism of the Church
condemning such practices which you should know as a former Catholic Christian:
III. "YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME"
2110 The first commandment forbids honoring gods other
than the one Lord who has revealed himself to his people. It proscribes
superstition and irreligion. Superstition in some sense represents a perverse
excess of religion; irreligion is the vice contrary by defect to the virtue of
religion.
Superstition
2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling
and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we
offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical
to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy
of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart
from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into
superstition.41
Idolatry
2112 The first commandment condemns polytheism. It requires
man neither to believe in, nor to venerate, other divinities than the one true
God. Scripture constantly recalls this rejection of "idols, [of] silver
and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes,
but do not see." These empty idols make their worshippers empty:
"Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them."42
God, however, is the "living God"43 who gives life and intervenes in
history.
2113 Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It
remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is
not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in
place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power,
pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, "You cannot
serve God and mammon."44 Many martyrs died for not adoring "the
Beast"45 refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the
unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God.46
2114 Human life finds its unity in the adoration of the
one God. The commandment to worship the Lord alone integrates man and saves him
from an endless disintegration. Idolatry is a perversion of man's innate
religious sense. An idolater is someone who "transfers his indestructible
notion of God to anything other than God."47
The thing is that we Catholics actually agree with
Protestants that idolatry is condemned. However, what Catholics realize and
Protestants fail to understand, perhaps because of their hatred for anything
Catholic, is that God does not prohibit religious images when used properly. An
example is the following:
(Exo 25:1 DRB) And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
(Exo 25:18 DRB) Thou shalt make also two cherubims of
beaten gold, on the two sides of the oracle.
(Exo 25:19 DRB) Let one cherub be on the one side, and
the other on the other.
(Exo 25:20 DRB) Let them cover both sides of the
propitiatory, spreading their wings, and covering the oracle, and let them look
one towards the other, their faces being turned towards the propitiatory
wherewith the ark is to to be covered.
(Exo 26:1 DRB) And thou shalt make the tabernacle in this
manner: Thou shalt make ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and violet and
purple, and scarlet twice dyed, diversified with embroidery.
Here God is saying that religious images are pleasing.
God speaks of how Aaron’s vestments should be adorned:
(Exo 28:33 DRB) And beneath at the feet of the same
tunic, round about, thou shalt make as it were pomegranates, of violet, and
purple, and scarlet twice dyed, with little bells set between:
(Exo 28:34 DRB) So that there shall be a golden bell and
a pomegranate, and again another golden bell and a pomegranate.
God tells Moses to make a graven image of a snake to cure
snakebites and when the people started worshipping it the king destroyed it:
(Num 21:8 DRB) And the Lord said to him: Make a brazen
serpent, and set it up for a sign: whosoever being struck shall look on it,
shall live.
(Num 21:9 DRB) Moses therefore made a brazen serpent, and
set it up for a sign: which when they that were bitten looked upon, they were
healed.
(2Ki 18:4 DRB) He destroyed the high places, and broke
the statues in pieces, and cut down the groves, and broke the brazen serpent,
which Moses had made: for till that time the children of Israel burnt incense
to it: and he called its name Nohestan.
Notice what god said concerning the temple:
(1Ki 6:12 DRB) As for this house, which thou art
building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep
all my commandments, walking in them, I will fulfil my word to thee, which I
spoke to David thy father.
(1Ki 6:13 DRB) And I will dwell in the midst of the
children of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel.
(1Ki 6:14 DRB) So Solomon built the house, and finished
it.
Solomon’s temple was adorned with graven images and
statues:
(1Ki 7:25 DRB) And it stood upon twelve oxen, of which
three looked towards the north, and three towards the west, and three towards
the south, and three towards the east: and the sea was above upon them, and
their hinder parts were all hid within.
(1Ki 7:36 DRB) He engraved also in those plates, which
were of brass, and in the corners, cherubims, and lions, and palm trees, in
likeness of a man standing, so that they seemed not to be engraven, but added
round about.
The Scriptures tell us that Solomon’s wisdom came from
God:
(1Ki 3:1 DRB) And the kingdom was established in the hand
of Solomon, and he made affinity with Pharao, the king of Egypt: for he took
his daughter, and brought her into the city of David: until he had made an end
of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem
round about.
(1Ki 3:2 DRB) But yet the people sacrificed in the high
places: for there was no temple built to the name of the Lord until that day.
(1Ki 3:3 DRB) And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the
precepts of David, his father; only he sacrificed in the high places, and burnt
incense.
(1Ki 3:4 DRB) He went therefore to Gabaon, to sacrifice
there: for that was the great high place: a thousand victims for holocausts,
did Solomon offer upon that altar, in Gabaon.
(1Ki 3:5 DRB) And the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream
by night, saying: Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee.
(1Ki 3:6 DRB) And Solomon said: Thou hast shewed great
mercy to thy servant David, my father, even as he walked before thee in truth,
and justice, and an upright heart with thee: and thou hast kept thy great mercy
for him, and hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
(1Ki 3:7 DRB) And now, O Lord God, thou hast made thy
servant king instead of David, my father: and I am but a child, and know not
how to go out and come in;
(1Ki 3:8 DRB) And thy servant is in the midst of the
people which thou hast chosen, an immense people, which cannot be numbered nor
counted for multitude.
(1Ki 3:9 DRB) Give therefore to thy servant an
understanding heart, to judge thy people, and discern between good and evil.
For who shall be able to judge this people, thy people, which is so numerous?
(1Ki 3:10 DRB) And the word was pleasing to the Lord,
that Solomon had asked such a thing.
(1Ki 3:11 DRB) And the Lord said to Solomon: Because thou
hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life nor riches, nor
the lives of thy enemies, but hast asked for thyself wisdom to discern
jndgment;
(1Ki 3:12 DRB) Behold I have done for thee according to
thy words, and have given thee a wise and understanding heart, in so much that
there hath been no one like thee before thee, nor shall arise after thee.
(1Ki 3:13 DRB) Yea, and the things also which thou didst
not ask, I have given thee; to wit, riches and glory: so that no one hath been
like thee among the kings in all days heretofore.
(1Ki 3:14 DRB) And if thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep
my precepts and my commandments, as thy father walked, I will lengthen thy
days.
(1Ki 3:15 DRB) And Solomon awaked, and perceived that it
was a dream: and when he was come to Jerusalem, he stood before the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, and offered holocausts, and sacrificed victims of peace
offerings, and made a great feast for all his servants.
(1Ki 3:16 DRB) Then there came two women that were
harlots, to the king, and stood before him.
(1Ki 3:17 DRB) And one of them said: I beseech thee, my
lord, I and this woman dwelt in one house, and I was delivered of a child with
her in the chamber.
(1Ki 3:18 DRB) And the third day after I was delivered,
she also was delivered; and we were together, and no other person with us in
the house; only we two.
(1Ki 3:19 DRB) And this woman's child died in the night:
for in her sleep she overlaid him.
(1Ki 3:20 DRB) And rising in the dead time of the night,
she took my child from my side, while I, thy handmaid, was asleep, and laid it
in her bosom: and laid her dead child in my bosom.
(1Ki 3:21 DRB) And when I arose in the morning, to give
my child suck, behold it was dead: but considering him more diligently, when it
was clear day, I found that it was not mine which I bore.
(1Ki 3:22 DRB) And the other woman answered: It is not so
as thou sayst, but thy child is dead, and mine is alive. On the contrary, she
said; Thou liest: for my child liveth, and thy child is dead. And in this
manner they strove before the king.
(1Ki 3:23 DRB) Then said the king: The one saith, My
child is alive, and thy child is dead. And the other answereth: Nay; but thy
child is dead, and mine liveth.
(1Ki 3:24 DRB) The king therefore said: Bring me a sword.
And when they had brought a sword before the king,
(1Ki 3:25 DRB) Divide, said he, the living child in two,
and give half to the one and half to the other.
(1Ki 3:26 DRB) But the woman, whose child was alive, said
to the king; (for her bowels were moved upon her child) I beseech thee, my
lord, give her the child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it
be neither mine nor thine; but divide it.
(1Ki 3:27 DRB) The king answered, and said: Give the
living child to this woman, and let it not be killed; for she is the mother
thereof.
(1Ki 3:28 DRB) And all Israel heard the judgment which
the king had judged, and they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God
was in him to do judgment.
God was not displeased by what Solomon had done:
(1Ki 9:3 DRB) And the Lord said to him: I have heard thy
prayer and thy supplication, which thou hast made before me: I have sanctified
this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and my eyes,
and my heart, shall be there always.
The question to those of you who condemn Catholic
practices in regards to images is why with the evidence that images can please
God when they order our minds towards God you condemn them when God is pleased.
After all Christ Himself is called the image (eikon) of the invisible God:
(Col 1:15 DRB) Who is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of every creature:
(Kevin) “3)Confession (when Jesus died on the cross,,the
veil was TORN FROM TOP TO BOTTOM.......REMOVING...THE SEPARATION between HIM
and us) He wants us to have a RELATIONSHIP WITH
HIM...........................not a priest...OR A POPE..!!!!!!!
NO PRIEST..POPE..PASTOR....CAN FORGIVE SINS...ONLY THE
FATHER !!!!!!!
Only JESUS CAN.....(like a priest says),,,absolve you of
your sins.”
(Cristoiglesia) I have already shown you that the
relationship which is God’s will is to have unity and to be obedient to His Church,
the Catholic Church. The priests, bishops and the pope exist for the service to
humanity for Christ. The Church provides God’s grace through His Sacraments so
that we may endure to final salvation and not fall away into condemnation.
Jesus did not teach that we have a personal relationship but a unified
corporeal relationship with His in His Church. That is why He built His Church
in such an enduring way as it would replace the temple and its sacrifices for
the one sacrifice of Christ for the atonement of mankind.
All authority was
given to the apostles from Christ and at least some of that special authority
is recorded in Scripture and is certainly attested to by the ante Nicene
fathers.
There is no doubt that the apostles knew that their
ministry would survive their death as it was needed to be a permanent living
presence until the Parousia.
(Mat 28:20 DRB) Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even to the
consummation of the world.
Knowing their responsibility in preserving the teaching
of Christ they ordained successors giving them the gift of the Spirit with
Episcopal consecration:
(Act 1:8 DRB) But you shall receive the power of the Holy
Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.
(Act 2:4 DRB) And they were all filled with the Holy
Ghost: and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost
gave them to speak.
(Joh 20:22 DRB) When he had said this, he breathed on
them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
(Joh 20:23 DRB) Whose sins you shall forgive, they are
forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
(1Ti 4:14 DRB) Neglect not the grace that is in thee,
which was given thee by prophecy, with imposition of the hands of the
priesthood.
(2Ti 1:6 DRB) For which cause I admonish thee that thou
stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands.
(2Ti 1:7 DRB) For God hath not given us the spirit of
fear: but of power and of love and of sobriety.
There is no doubt that “Apostolic Succession” is a
historical fact. Scriptures, as well show clearly that Christ chose these
apostles and commissioned them to establish and continue his work with his
authority and they ordained successors. It is Apostolic Succession that is the
link connecting the Church to Christ. It is the authority from Christ of the
Episcopacy that brings so many knowledgeable people to return to the Catholic
faith as I am a witness.
We see those who were ordained in apostolic succession
fulfilling their ministry:
(Act 20:28 DRB) Take heed to yourselves and to the whole
flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the Church of
God which he hath purchased with his own blood.
(1Th 1:1 DRB) Paul and Sylvanus and Timothy to the church
of the Thessalonians: in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.
(1Th 1:2 DRB) Grace be to you and peace. We give thanks
to God always for you all: making a remembrance of you in our prayers without
ceasing,
(1Th 1:3 DRB) Being mindful of the work of your faith and
labour and charity: and of the enduring of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ
before God and our Father.
(1Th 1:4 DRB) Knowing, brethren, beloved of God, your
election:
(1Th 1:5 DRB) For our gospel hath not been unto you in
word only, but in power also: and in the Holy Ghost and in much fulness, as you
know what manner of men we have been among you for your sakes.
(1Th 1:6 DRB) And you became followers of us and of the
Lord: receiving the word in much tribulation, with joy of the Holy Ghost:
(1Th 1:7 DRB) So that you were made a pattern to all that
believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.
1Th 1:8 DRB) For from you was spread abroad the word of
the Lord not only in Macedonia and in Achaia but also in every place: your
faith which is towards God, is gone forth, so that we need not to speak any
thing.
(1Th 1:9 DRB) For they themselves relate of us, what
manner of entering in we had unto you: and how you turned to God from idols to
serve the living and true God.
(1Th 1:10 DRB) And to wait for his Son from heaven (whom
he raised up from the dead), Jesus, who hath delivered us from the wrath to come.
(2Ti 1:6 DRB) For which cause I admonish thee that thou
stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands.
(Tit 1:5 DRB) For this cause I left thee in Crete: that
thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and shouldest ordain
priests in every city, as I also appointed thee:
(Tit 1:6 DRB) If any be without crime, the husband of one
wife. having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly.
(Tit 1:7 DRB) For a bishop must be without crime, as the
steward of God: not proud, not subject to anger, nor given to wine, no striker,
not greedy of filthy lucre:
(Tit 1:8 DRB) But given to hospitality, gentle, sober,
just, holy, continent:
(Tit 1:9 DRB) Embracing that faithful word which is
according to doctrine, that he may be able to exhort in sound doctrine and to
convince the gainsayers.
(1Ti 4:14 DRB) Neglect not the grace that is in thee,
which was given thee by prophecy, with imposition of the hands of the
priesthood.
(2Ti 1:6 DRB) For which cause I admonish thee that thou
stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands.
St. Paul goes on to instruct St. Timothy as to who is a
qualified candidate for ordination:
(1Ti 3:1 DRB) A faithful saying: If a man desire the
office of a bishop, he desireth good work.
(1Ti 3:2 DRB) It behoveth therefore a bishop to be
blameless, the husband of one wife, sober, prudent, of good behaviour, chaste,
given to hospitality, a teacher,
(1Ti 3:3 DRB) Not given to wine, no striker, but modest,
not quarrelsome, not covetous, but
(1Ti 3:4 DRB) One that ruleth well his own house, having
his children in subjection with all chastity.
(1Ti 3:5 DRB) But if a man know not how to rule his own
house, how shall he take care of the church of God?
(1Ti 3:6 DRB) Not a neophyte: lest, being puffed up with
pride, he fall into the judgment of the devil.
(1Ti 3:7 DRB) Moreover, he must have a good testimony of
them who are without: lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
(1Ti 5:22 DRB) Impose not hands lightly upon any man,
neither be partaker of other men's sins. Keep thyself chaste.
We also find in the Scriptures that those in Apostolic
Succession had particular and varied duties:
(1Co 12:27 DRB) Now you are the body of Christ and members
of member.
(1Co 12:28 DRB) And God indeed hath set some in the
church; first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly doctors: after that
miracles: then the graces of healings, helps, governments, kinds of tongues,
interpretations of speeches.
(1Co 12:29 DRB) Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are
all doctors?
(Eph 4:11 DRB) And he gave some apostles, and some
prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors:
(Eph 4:12 DRB) For the perfecting of the saints, for the
word of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
We are further reminded of the foundation of the Church:
(Eph 2:19 DRB) Now therefore you are no more strangers
and foreigners: but you are fellow citizens with the saints and the domestics
of God,
(Eph 2:20 DRB) Built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone:
This is only some of the Scriptures speaking of apostolic
succession and the duties, need and authority of the office.
Christ instituted the sacraments purposefully. The
sacrament called reconciliation or penance is what we call our actions when we
go to confession. Going to confession and confessing to a priest is the
normative way of reconciling oneself back into God's family when we have
committed a mortal sin. It is the biblical way corresponding to Jesus' teaching
as recorded by the apostle John in John 20: 22-23. What we learn from John is the
authority given to the priests is not only to forgive sins but also to retain
sins. Jesus commanded the authority to be used. It is the duty given by Jesus
for the priest to measure the contrition of the penitent and act accordingly.
However, one must repent and pray sincerely to God as an
act of contrition before one enters the confessional. The priest represents
Jesus by acting in persona Christi and for the entire family of God represented
by the Church militant who is harmed by the sin of another. No sin is private
but all sin affects others. Jesus described this relationship as a vine with
Him as the vine and we as the branches (John 15:5). If one member of the branch
is sick then all
the branches are affected and suffer as a result. Because
of our familial relationship with each other Jesus created a means of
confession so that all those affected in His family are represented by the
priest as is God.
(Kevin) “4)Purgatory (it's either one or the other). We
aren't a "loaf of bread"... We aren't "pre-heating".”
(Cristoiglesia) There are only two eternal destinations
which are heaven of hell and the doctrine of Purgatory which is a purgation or
cleansing that we receive before entering heaven where no sin can exist. There
is a common Protestant misunderstanding of purgatory. At least one protestant
minister, John Wesley, spoke of perfectionism in this life, possible but rare.
He is one of the few to proclaim that one can be sanctified in this life and he
left the Moravian Church over this issue after a rebuke by Count Zinzendorf for
this teaching.
People in purgatory are already justified by receiving
the supernatural eternal life into our souls through Baptism making us a part
of the Body of Christ. Those in purgatory have accepted Christ by faith and
have not rejected Him by unrepentant mortal sin. It is a place where one is
purified by fire (Mal 3:2). Imagine the joy of being in purgatory and knowing
that you are there because you have passed judgment and are assured of being in
the presence of God in heaven. Purgatory is not an eternal destination, there
are only two, heaven or hell.
We should not think of purgatory as some kind of legal
punishment for past sins as it would be under the old law. Those in purgatory
are already new creatures changed by Christ’s grace, they are the adopted
children and part of God’s family in purgatory one receives final discipline
and cleansing preparing one for the perfection of heaven. Catholics believe
that sanctification is a process and is not completed when one comes to belief.
So purgatory is not a suggestion that Christ’s atonement is insufficient but
that we have not yet completed our sanctification through the grace of Christ.
Cleansing or sanctification is a gradual process and we
must endure to the end to be saved.
(Mat 10:22 DRB) And you shall be hated by all men for my
name's sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved.
(Mat 24:13 DRB) But he that shall persevere to the end,
he shall be saved.
(Mar 13:13 DRB) And you shall be hated by all men for my
name's sake. But he that shall endure unto the end, he shall be saved.
Catholic soteriology recognizes that for some of us the
process was not completed at death or that we died with unrepentant sin.
(Heb 9:27 DRB) And as it is appointed unto men once to
die, and after this the judgment:
The judgment is our eternal destiny and for those whose
name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life, heaven is assured. But we know that one
must be free of sin to be in God’s presence.
(1Ti 6:14 DRB) That thou keep the commandment without
spot, blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
It may be that one is not prepared to be in our Lord’s
presence as we may still be with spiritual shortcomings or temporal effects of
forgiven sins on our soul making it necessary for some form of purification to
enter heaven in God’s presence. Since this is a process of purgation it is
called purgatory and it is in keeping with prophecy of the prophet Habakkuk who
said that only that which is holy may enter heaven.
(Hab 1:13 DRB) Thy eyes are too pure to behold evil, and
thou canst not look on iniquity. Why lookest thou upon them that do unjust
things, and holdest thy peace when the wicked devoureth the man that is more
just than himself?
St. Paul also taught of a process of purgation which may
involve suffering on the soul of Christians and in his first letter to the
Corinthian Church he describes the process of purgation after death.
(1Co 3:10 DRB) According to the grace of God that is
given to me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation: and another
buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
(1Co 3:11 DRB) For other foundation no man can lay, but
that which is laid: which is Christ Jesus.
(1Co 3:12 DRB) Now, if any man build upon this
foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble:
(1Co 3:13 DRB) Every man's work shall be manifest. For
the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire. And
the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is.
(1Co 3:14 DRB) If any man's work abide, which he hath
built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
(1Co 3:15 DRB) If any mans work burn, he shall suffer
loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.
St. Paul speaks metaphorically that the results of sin
that remain on one’s soul is like “wood, hay and straw” and are burned away in
the process of final purification to be received in the presence of the Lord.
St. Paul also speaks of one’s works as “gold, silver and precious stones” which
are refined and retained.
This passage reminds me of what Christ said in the
following indicating that some sins may be forgiven after death.
(Mat 12:32 DRB) And whosoever shall speak a word against
the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world, nor in the
world to come.
Purgatory is also related to the parable of the
unforgiving servant which is as follows…
(Mat 18:32 DRB) Then his lord called him: and said to
him: Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest
me:
(Mat 18:33 DRB) Shouldst not thou then have had
compassion also on thy fellow servant, even as I had compassion on thee?
(Mat 18:34 DRB) And his lord being angry, delivered him
to the torturers until he paid all the debt.
After telling the parable Christ emphasizes His message
lest it be misunderstood with this warning……..
(Mat 18:35 DRB) So also shall my heavenly Father do to
you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.
Christ was warning us of the danger of a hard heart or
anger making us unwilling to forgive others. We should acknowledge that these
are the signs and example of a defective soul in need of purgation so that he
that is imperfect may be in the presence of God and dwell in glory. (See CCC 1030-1032)
(Kevin) 5) How is it that the Catholic Church
"decides",,,what IS and ISN'T a sin ?????????
(Cristoiglesia) It is based on the teaching of Christ,
the Church and the Bible of which all three are in perfect accordance without
contradiction. The commission of the Church is to be the authority on matters
of faith and practice for all Christians. The Church exercises its teaching authority
given by Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit from to the Church by God
in the person of Jesus. What is bound on earth by the Church is bound in heaven
according to Christ’s teaching in the granting of this authority to the Church.
(Kevin) “6) Who gives the POPE...the
"authority",,,to determine..what IS....OR ISN'T a MIRACLE???”
Well the Pope does not act alone but in accordance with
the whole Church. But the Pope has no authority not given by Jesus.
Certainly in Matthew 16 Jesus is referring to the
prophecy of Isaiah in Isaiah 22 and in doing so He is fulfilling the prophetic
imagery prophesied by the prophet Isaiah. The prime minister referred to by
Isaiah is a type for the appointment of St. Peter to be the leader, steward and
authority over His family or household. It further emphasizes by Christ’s
actions in His appointment that He, Jesus, having received the throne of David
by virtue of His Father is asserting His claim to the throne of David and as
the rightful successor as king of all of Judah and Israel. He fulfills this by
asserting the legal precedent necessary to fulfill prophecy and appoints St.
Peter as the steward over His kingdom. He is claiming by this action what He
came to do which was to establish a new and enduring Covenant with His Kingdom.
But was this Kingdom fully established at this time or was it just a stepping
stone to the establishing of His Kingdom in His appointment of St. Peter in
Matthew 16? Certainly, the time had not yet come for the Prime Minister, St.
Peter, to exercise the power of the keys for Christ had not yet revealed His
glory or made claim to His kingdom with the establishment of the New Covenant.
This would not happen until Calvary where Jesus would from the cross drink of
the cup of consummation from the hyssop branch and then utter the words, “it is
finished” after which He gave up His Spirit and His glory was revealed. He
would finish His redemptive work three days later when He raised from the dead.
Only then was all prophecy fulfilled and the law satisfied. St. Peter was now
endowed with the Authority of Christ to be the royal steward over Christ’s
kingdom. So great was this authority that He had the authority to bind or loose
on earth as well as in heaven and became the spiritual father of Christ’s
family. The keys represent the supremacy of the power bestowed on St. Peter and
he is fastened on a peg and carries the weight of maintaining the King’s
(Christ’s) house. So great are the parallels between Eliakim and St. Peter that
it is implausible to deny that Eliakim is a type for St. Peter. The new kingdom
is not a kingdom of land and of a people but it is the establishment of a
spiritual kingdom of God and not of men. Keeping with the typology the office
of Eliakim was an enduring office and so too is the office that St. Peter to
which he has been appointed. Only the prime minister holds the keys of supreme
authority and not only the first among equals but the special and singular
authority among the disciples and visible head of the Church.
Let us look directly at the parallels between Isaiah 22
and Matthew 16.
The prime minister in David’s household had successors:
Isa 22:15, 1 Kings 4:6, & 18:3, 2 Kings 10:5, 15:5,
18:18
We see the full authority given to the prime minister:
Isa 22:22, Mat 16:19, Rev 3:7
Further teaching of the authority of the prime minister:
Mat 24:45, Luk 12:42, Gen 41:40, Gen 43:19
(Kevin) “Perhaps you can "enlighten" me?”
Sincerely yours
Kevin
(Cristoiglesia) I pray that I have and I look forward to
helping you further. God bless!
In Christ
Fr. Joseph
