Protestant who kind of gets it.

Here is a protestant who actually gets it.

She's not 100% there yet, but if we can just educate her a little further, I can see hope for a conversion because she is almost there.

But she still has many things wrong.

For example: she does not believe in the Catholic stance on birth control because she plans to be on birth control.

For what reason? medical, the desire to not have children in marriage, or the desire to have sex outside of a Godly union so it does not lead to children.

It is not the Catholic faith that is clear on promiscuity, it's the bible. If you plan on fulfilling sexual desires before marriage and using birth control to prevent pregnancy, then you are going against the BIBLE... not the Catholic faith.

For evidence, look no further than in New Testament... letters from Apostle Paul. (Although you can find it in many other places in various ways in both the old and new testaments.)

In the letters from St Paul to the Corinthians, he states: "For "the two" it says, "will become one flesh". But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know your body is a temple of the holy spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body."

He goes on to say, "Because of cases of immorality, every man should have his own wife and every woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his duty toward his wife, and likewise a wife toward her husband."

he continues: "To the unmarried and to the widows I say: It is a good thing for them to remain as they are (IE abstinent), as I do, but if they can not exercise self-control, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to be on fire."

In other words, sex outside of marriage is a mortal sin, and if you can not resist the urge to have sex, then you should get married since it is better to fulfill your urges with your spouse, than to commit a sinful act that can lead you to fall from grace.

Many religions including Catholicism, for this reason, look at premarital sex the same way as adultery. If you are not married and have sex with someone who is not your spouse, then you are committing adultery on your future spouse, because you are depriving them of your fidelity for your own selfish gratification.

Paul mentions sexual immorality many times in his letters. (Hebrews, Thessalonians, Colossians, etc) That is how important he found the matter of abstinence, fidelity and the holy union of a man and woman becoming one.

Not to mention, birth control is not infallible. Many children have been born to those who thought they were protected. Either by human error or some mishap with the birth control, they welcomed a child into a situation that is outside of the family structure God intended. It is also not infallible when it comes to protecting against sexually transmitted diseases. Many who have used birth control were surprised to find they still ended up with an STD. Again, either from human error or something faulty with the "protection" itself. Birth control is not infallible. It is still a risk, even if that risk is lessened. And it leads us to feel free to indulge in sinful behavior because we feel 'safe'.

Now, there are those who have used birth control for health reasons. One is a treatment of diseases such as adenomyosis and endometriosis, Something that has nothing to do with sex. These are diseases that can lead to cancer, iron deficiencies, anemia... It has nothing to do with keeping yourself from fulfilling God's plan of joining together with your spouse as one flesh and being fruitful and multiplying. So the church does not teach that you can not use birth control for health purposes.

But if you are using birth control to stop yourself from having a child with your husband, or to not get pregnant so you can have sex without the benefit of marriage, then you are going against the BIBLE, not Catholic teachings.

Sex and what God intended for it, is in the bible. However you want to spin it, is between you and God. The Catholic church merely follows biblical teaching on the subject.

Birth control to stop yourself from having a child so you can enjoy sex without risk is about self gratification, and thus our mind is on our own pleasures and not God.

There are other things she said that didn't make sense. Maybe I misunderstood her, or she misspoke or, I'm not sure, but she still has a lot of research to do.

While I don't agree with everything she said as she still seems to have a few misconceptions about what's Catholic vs what's biblical... I give her much credit for doing her research with an open heart and open mind.

God Bless this girl. I will pray for her and her continued growth as a child of God. I hope if she ever finds her way to this blog, she'll find more truths about the Catholic faith. One day we'll tackle the somewhat complicated Papal theory.

Amen.

The Rite of Confession

One favorite thing for non Catholics (and some Catholics) to attack, is the need for confession. After all, "We should go straight to God himself for only he can forgive sins"


Right?

That is not how Jesus saw it.

On the first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed onto them and said to them "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20:20-23)

Reread that last line. Jesus did not say, "Tell them to go unto God and confess their sins." He told them, Whose sins YOU forgive will be forgiven.

Obviously, God is the ultimate decider on the fate of our souls, but Jesus constantly calls upon his followers (The apostles, his disciples, and in turn... us) to forgive. It is even in the Lord's prayer. It does not say, "Forgive us our trespasses and we pray you forgive those who trespass against us." Jesus taught us to say, as WE forgive those who trespass against us. He calls on US to forgive. We are all imbued with the power to forgive through the Holy Spirit.

Forgive us our trespasses as WE FORGIVE those who trespass against us. - The Lord's Prayer

Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, FORGIVE HIM. (Luke 17:3)

"Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20:20-23)

Jesus never once preached that Forgiveness was out of our hands, he preached that we must be forgiving to those truly repentant.

So where does it say we need to go to a priest rather than directly to God?

Of course you can go directly to God. In fact, all the priest does is remind us of God's love and mercy and that if we're truly repentant we are forgiven... then he reminds us of what Jesus told the adulteress he saved from stoning. "Go and sin no more." then the priest will give penance to do to reflect on our sins, on God's forgiveness, and how we can make changes in our lives to be better.

Confession is not a get out of jail free card. You can't sin, go to confession and say "sorry", then go back to sinning knowing you'll just say sorry again the following week. Confession is about being repentant. You must be repentant and want to change your sinful ways. you must want to be a better person. We're weak, and confession gives us the chance to talk our sins out with someone who serves God, like the disciples, hear ideas on where we've gone wrong and how to fix it, and hear that God can forgive us if we are truly sorry. But it does not work if you're just there to ease your guilt.

But again you ask, why not just go straight to God? Why humiliate yourself to a priest and tell him your faults?

We should feel humiliated for our transgressions, and we need to humble ourselves to show we are truly sorry. 

In the Letter of James Chapter 5 verse 16... he says "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another." It is about humbling ourselves and showing true humility and sorrow for the acts which hurt God. God already knows our sins. So to show humility and humbleness, we confess to a priest, who is a disciple of Jesus, who has dedicated all that he is, his life and soul to God.

We humble ourselves to this follower of Christ, and he, in the authority Jesus gave, offers forgiveness if he truly believes we are repentant... and as Jesus said... if he forgives our sins... then we are forgiven.

There is nothing wrong with praying directly to God, but there is something sacred in the rite of confession. We humble ourselves, the priest, who has studied the bible and theology and interpretations of Christ's words from the top apologists of our time and times past, will explain to us the ways we can get back onto the path of the righteous, we are given penance we must do to further heal the wounds the sin caused on our soul... and we are given a chance to start anew. There is nothing more powerful than to hear the words, "You are forgiven, go and sin no more".

Confession is biblical, we are all called to forgive, and confession to a priest is just. It is in keeping with the bible.

If he repents... forgive him.

Those whose sins you forgive, are forgiven them.

Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another.

Forgive us our sins, as WE FORGIVE those who trespass against us.