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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Catholicism	Tim	Friday, January 2, 2009
Question: Dear Bro. Ignatius Mary, The Catholic faith confuses me a little. I've read some of your letters on this forum and to me it comes across that the only way to be a good Christian is to do things like go to Mass, say your Hail Marys, etc. Also, your calling on help from sources other than God(St. Michael, the Virgin Mary) seems to make Catholicism polytheistic. Why do Catholics feel that they are not worthy enough to talk directly to God? This is how I feel; can you clarify some things for me? Tim
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Tim: The Catholic faith worships God alone and no one else. God is One in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The basic faith you have as a Lutheran came from the Catholic Church. In fact, without the Catholic Church you would not have a Bible and would not even know about Jesus. As St. Augustine said: "I would not believe the Gospel itself, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so." Catholics talk to God directly all the time. The Mass is filled with prayers and petitions to Father in Jesus name. The Mass is one big prayer to God. In fact, there are more prayers to God in the Mass than there are in any Protestant worship service. Catholic also believe, because the Bible and the Apostolic Tradition teaches it, that we are a family. Thus, the communion of the Saints (of our family) is part of our belief. That family (body of Christ) consists of all Christians here on earth, all those in purgatory, and all those in heaven. The body of Christ does not have parts that are paralyzed. The Body is whole. Thus, God allows us to pray to the saints to ask for assistance in our petitions to God. This is called intercessory prayer. The Bible commands us to pray for each other. We ask each other for prayers and for assistance in our spiritual lives. Well, those in heaven are part of our family too and we can ask them to pray for us and to assist us. God is pleased when He sees his children helping each other. "Prayer" by the way, means "to ask; to petition". If I ask you to pass the salt at dinner, I have just prayed to you. This communion of the Saint has been taught since the beginning. This article quotes many of the Church Fathers on this matter. Also see the article, Praying to the Saints. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Catholicism

Tim

Friday, January 2, 2009

Question:

Dear Bro. Ignatius Mary,

The Catholic faith confuses me a little. I've read some of your letters on this forum and to me it comes across that the only way to be a good Christian is to do things like go to Mass, say your Hail Marys, etc. Also, your calling on help from sources other than God(St. Michael, the Virgin Mary) seems to make Catholicism polytheistic. Why do Catholics feel that they are not worthy enough to talk directly to God?

This is how I feel; can you clarify some things for me?

Tim

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Tim:

The Catholic faith worships God alone and no one else. God is One in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The basic faith you have as a Lutheran came from the Catholic Church. In fact, without the Catholic Church you would not have a Bible and would not even know about Jesus. As St. Augustine said: "I would not believe the Gospel itself, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so."

Catholics talk to God directly all the time. The Mass is filled with prayers and petitions to Father in Jesus name. The Mass is one big prayer to God. In fact, there are more prayers to God in the Mass than there are in any Protestant worship service.

Catholic also believe, because the Bible and the Apostolic Tradition teaches it, that we are a family. Thus, the communion of the Saints (of our family) is part of our belief. That family (body of Christ) consists of all Christians here on earth, all those in purgatory, and all those in heaven. The body of Christ does not have parts that are paralyzed. The Body is whole. Thus, God allows us to pray to the saints to ask for assistance in our petitions to God. This is called intercessory prayer. The Bible commands us to pray for each other. We ask each other for prayers and for assistance in our spiritual lives. Well, those in heaven are part of our family too and we can ask them to pray for us and to assist us. God is pleased when He sees his children helping each other.

"Prayer" by the way, means "to ask; to petition". If I ask you to pass the salt at dinner, I have just prayed to you.

This communion of the Saint has been taught since the beginning. This article quotes many of the Church Fathers on this matter.

Also see the article, Praying to the Saints.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.