Ask a Catholic

[kat8585]

I was wondering............

why is it so difficult for some to accept the perpetual virginity of Mary? A careful reading of Luke 1: 30-35 clearly indicates that Mary had no intention of having relations with a man.

Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Luk 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Note a few things:

1. The angel is using the future tense when he tells Mary she will conceive. Why would that bring forth a question if she intended to sleep with Joseph?

2. Mary's response indicates that she is puzzled about how this will come about since she will not have relations.

3. Mary conceives by the Holy Spirit; would it be holy for her to then conceive in that same womb by someone else?

Peace,

Fiosh

Doesn't anyone want to take a shot at this????

Lady C did, on page 2, post #13.

[Fiosh]

I was wondering............

why is it so difficult for some to accept the perpetual virginity of Mary? A careful reading of Luke 1: 30-35 clearly indicates that Mary had no intention of having relations with a man.

Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Luk 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Note a few things:

1. The angel is using the future tense when he tells Mary she will conceive. Why would that bring forth a question if she intended to sleep with Joseph?

2. Mary's response indicates that she is puzzled about how this will come about since she will not have relations.

3. Mary conceives by the Holy Spirit; would it be holy for her to then conceive in that same womb by someone else?

Peace,

Fiosh

Doesn't anyone want to take a shot at this????

Lady C did, on page 2, post #13.

Well, Lady C sure did say alot. But she did not address this particular issue.

Peace,

Fiosh

[kat8585]

How could the Catholic church presume to have the authority to change the very word of God, by changing the Sabbath from the 7th day to the first? The Catholic Mirror, for the whole month of Sept. 1893, boldly proclaims that from Genesis to Revelation, the 7th day Sabbath is upheld with no change. It even chastises Protestants who observe Sunday. Yet The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine - 1946, says that Saturday is the Sabbath, and when asked why we observe Sunday, says "the Catholic church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday."

You have been misinformed, sister kat---probably by anti-Catholic tracts or websites. Have you actually read the Catholic Mirror article?

Catholics keep holy the "Lord's day"(Sunday), as the Church has been doing since the beginning.

The Sabbath recalls creation---"therefore God blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" Ex 20:11. Then, Jesus rose from the dead on the "first day of the week"(Matt 28:1), ushering in the new creation. Early Christians began to worship on "the Lord's day", or Sunday. The Catholic Church did not invent the practice, it simply follows the precedent set in the New Testament and the early Church.

Peace,

Fiosh

Yes, I've read the entire Catholic Mirror article. I have it here in font of me. Sept. 2, 9, 16. and 23. Are you denying that these, and the quote from the Catechism, are true Catholic statements?

You are also, saying that the Catholic dhurch follows tradition as well as the Bible if you are saying that "Catholics keep holy the Lord's day, Sunday, as the church has been doing since the beginning." Sunday keeping came gradually. In fact, both days were kept for several centuries in early Christian history.

Why is Sunday "the Lord's day"? Where in Scripture does it say that the first day is the Lord's day, and that we should keep it for that reason?

[Oblix]

I pray to God, Jesus, and the Holy spirit as one. This is my way of communicating with Jesus. Now you say that you ask Mary to pray for you, you request Mary to have Jesus bless you. You defend this as saying it's just as asking a priest or a rabbi to pray for you. Here is where i've got a problem:

How do you communicate with the dead?

The only definition for prayer that i can find is "expressing yourself to a deity" or "communicating with God" and such forth. Now if you are communicating to the dead through prayer, are you saying that Mary is a deity/God? How do the dead hear you? This sounds a little bit like witchcraft to me...

Now you may say, well Mary is alive in Christ. That dosn't excuse the matter that Mary is physically dead, and hopefully we can agree that Mary is not a God, and not a "ghost" or "wandering spirit".

On the other hand, if you do not communicate to Mary by prayer, maybe you just talk to yourself, or shout to thin air?

(sorry if i strayed into sarcasm a bit there, just trying to add emphasis)

Hi Oblix,

Thanks for your questions.

You are absolutely right...Mary is NOT a diety/God.

Just like you, I pray to the one, true God in Three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I also ask family and friends to pray for me; and I often pray for others, including those here at WB.

I believe that when I die I will see God face to face---I will be in the Presence of Jesus. I believe the same of Mary, the mother of Jesus. So I have no problem asking her to pray for me. Nothing spooky about it.

As C.S. Lewis once said: "You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body".

Peace,

Fiosh

I'm sorry if i wasn't clear, thanks for trying to answer my question.

How do you ask Mary to pray for you without praying to her? Write notes? Just think it and she'll hear you? Talk and she'll hear you?

Thanks

I talk to her just like I talk to you.

you talk to her in person and or over the internet? you realize she is physically dead right? I am physically alive, there is a difference. So are you saying you just talk out loud and she will hear you? Does she hear everything you say?

What I realize is that we are spirit and will never die but live forever in Christ. So, yeah, I just talk out loud or in my heart, and she hears me. ( No, I don't normally use the Internet to talk to Mary. I meant "you" in the general sense)

So do you believe you can communicate to George Washington (assuming he believes in Jesus) just by talking out loud? The only way i can communicate to Jesus is by praying, I cannot communicate to the dead. You know my friend thinks he can communicate to the dead by putting some stones and candles on the ground. I call him a lunatic pagan.

[Oblix]

I was wondering............

why is it so difficult for some to accept the perpetual virginity of Mary? A careful reading of Luke 1: 30-35 clearly indicates that Mary had no intention of having relations with a man.

Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Luk 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Note a few things:

1. The angel is using the future tense when he tells Mary she will conceive. Why would that bring forth a question if she intended to sleep with Joseph?

2. Mary's response indicates that she is puzzled about how this will come about since she will not have relations.

3. Mary conceives by the Holy Spirit; would it be holy for her to then conceive in that same womb by someone else?

Peace,

Fiosh

Doesn't anyone want to take a shot at this????

Okay, let's take this step by step:

1. The angel is using the future tense when he tells Mary she will conceive. Why would that bring forth a question if she intended to sleep with Joseph?

It's sort of like if i was to tell you that "Thou shalt kill your sister" Even if you were planning on some time in the future to buy a rifle for hunting, you would still have doubt believing this statement. One might even question it.

2. Mary's response indicates that she is puzzled about how this will come about since she will not have relations.

Completely skewed, she is puzzled about this because she has not had relations, note the present tense of "seeing I know not a man?" She does not say "seeing i will not know a man"

It is perfectly feasible that she would question the angel telling her she will have a baby knowing herself that she has not had sex.

3. Mary conceives by the Holy Spirit; would it be holy for her to then conceive in that same womb by someone else?

First of all, i would not see how it is unholy as long as the two are married, but second of all NOBODY (excluding Jesus) is perfect, not even her.

So yeah i would argue over this all night long, however i believe Jesus will transform your mind when you are ready. If after everybody debating all this with you and trying to help you out, you still cannot see it, well we have planted the seeds, Jesus will harvest.

[Guest liarsandmartyrs]

3. Excommunication. Actually, this is a Biblical teaching. The Bible clearly states that if a brother is living in sin, we should confront him. If he won't listen, the Church should deal with him. If he won't listen to the Church, we should not allow him to worship with us.

Mat 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear [thee, then] take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell [it] unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

In truth, the RCC rarely excommunicates a member. It should probably be done more often.

Peace,

Fiosh

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you,

QUOTE(Matthitjah @ Dec 25 2006, 11:15 AM)

Grace to you,

QUOTE

through the sacrament of penance not only are sins forgiven, but graces are obtained.

So Grace is something that can be attained or merited by ones own efforts?

Peace,

Dave

Greetings Dave,

Grace, by definition, is unmerited. Grace is made available thru the Sacrament of Reconciliation, instituted by Jesus. The gift is offered. We must choose to accept it by receiving the Sacrament.

Peace to you,

Fiosh

Good answer sister, however this is not what the Poster was saying at all.

He is saying, and now you are joining him, in saying that the Sacraments of the Catholic Church Save.

Please give me Scripture pointing to this. Not Doctrine, Scripture.

He is saying that through penance, Grace is Obtained.

Yet my Bible says that Jesus Christ's Sacrifice was once and for all satisfying to God. He has obtained Grace for me, I need only accept it.

Peace,

Dave

[Smalcald]

I have a couple questions if you would be so kind to answer ...

how come, if I'm not a Catholic, I cannot participate in communion?

I went to a Catholic service, midnight mass for Easter with my wife's side of the family (we are both Christian). It came time for communion and we were told not to participate. The reasons were:

1 - we were not Catholic

2 - we have not been to the coffesion booth.

This didn't make much sense to me because I'm sure of my relationship with Christ.

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Second question.

How come Catholics pary to deceised catholics or saints? I've been told the reason is:

1 - they're not actually dead since we are 'alive in Christ'

But the bible teaches that we 'sleep' in our graves. Please explain.

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Third.

Purgatory.

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Fourth.

Penance.

Lol, I hope I didn't flood you with too much my friend! lol.

Thanks for helping.

God bless!

High live4eternity, you would not be invited to join in our communion either, and we are not a Catholic Congregation. The reason though is the same, and that is that total agreement and belief about communion and what is actually happening must be present to join as one complete Body in Unity during communion as is called for in scripture. Not that you are not saved nor are not Christian. But Catholics and some Protestant groups such as my congregation believe that in communion you receive the blood of Christ and the Body of Christ, His physical presence is actually there among the elements, this is a very literal reading of scripture. If you believed that you would seek to become a Catholic or in my case seek to join our Lutheran Synod. The bible says that we are not to partake of the Body and Blood in an unworthy manner or in a manner where we are not prepared. To be prepared you must agree with what is going on during communion, you must understand it, if you have an intrinsically different understanding of communion; you should not partake of it with those who do not have the same understanding. This is actually quite serious, scripture says that you may become physically ill by taking communion in an unworthy manner, it is serious business for us, and as well it should be.

Catholics have a view that to receive communion you should be in a state of grace, meaning that you should have gone to confession and asked forgiveness for your sins prior to taking communion, for them that is what being prepared means.

So don't take it as a diss, I doubt you agree with what is going on during a Catholic Mass and communion, and thus for your own good just in general it is a bad idea to take part in things we don't agree with, particularly when it comes to spiritual things.

Fiosh is that about right?

Thanks for your reply... I just think it's rediculious...

Don't you know that what we do in our lives at home is no different that what we do in the church 'building'? If you believe that the elements become the actual blood and flesh of Jesus, you're allowed to believe what ever you want. But your interpretation of that scripture isn't the final. What is the bread of life? It's Jesus. How do we participate in communion? It's by eating of the bread and drinking of the blood. Remember when Jesus said that He is the bread of heaven, that whoever believes in Him will never hunger? It's all about faith and who you take part in faith with. I can agreeably dissagree with you on the interpretation of communion, but I cannot agree that just because you have your interpretation, excludes me from communion in the same vacinity that you're worshiping in... it's a matter of the heart.

But why would you want to take part in a serious sacred act that you don't believe in? You see we can't play at this, if you don't believe that Christ's Body is present, that is fine, but you should not pretend that you do believe that. For you to take communion at a Catholic mass is like lying to God and doing it at Church!. You see when you voluntarily take communion with any congregation, you are standing up public ally and saying, this is what I believe, I am in UNITY with this group, this is part of what communion is. So if you are in total unity with Catholics, then indeed you should not be denied, but if you are not and you are comfortable with what you believe you should not desire to take part in this Sacrament with Catholics. We believe the elements become the actual Body of Christ because this is what scripture says, very directly. Scripture also says that those who receive the elements without discerning the Body are in danger. I think believing whatever you want is actually something that whatever you think about Catholics is not something that they do.

I believe in the Real Presence of Christ in communion, and I still would not and do not take communion at Catholic Churches. Not that I would be stopped, but because I am not in unity with their belief's. For example would you take communion with Mormons (I don't know if they even have communion), and say well it is just about the heart so I can do what I want and not worry about it?

[forrestkc]

I think that is a once saved always saved point of view. Isn't it the teachings of the Catholic Church that one must be continually repentant. Otherwise, one is saved by grace, but one can at anypoint turn away from God.

It is my understanding that the Sacraments even in the Catholic Church are not what save you. Instead, they are ways that which Christians recieve the grace of God. However, even Catholics teach that one can be saved even if they are never baptized or take communion.

It is my understanding that to Catholics (just like Orthodox Christians, Anglicans, and Lutherans), Sacraments are defined as "Outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace."

I am sure their are lots of Catholics on here, so correct me if I am wrong with this.

[Guest Biblicist]

Good Evening,

A thought just occurred to me.

There is a tend going on here. Only certain verses are taken literally. Verses such as John 20:22-23 and the like. Christ says, "I give you the power to forgive sins" and that is taken as literally Priests can forgive sins. I suppose that the current day priests are considered apostles? I am uncertain as to their lineage from the NT apostles to today. OR how they have any more authority to forgive than I do.

The body and blood of Christ verses you cite to support that are always taken literally. Christ says, "this is my body, this is my blood" and you take it completely literally. Matthew 26:26-28 etc.

Yet, when someone gives you verses about other issues, such as Mary's virginity and verses on idolatry, you say it was figurative?

Mary's other children. Mark 3:31-35; Mark 6:3-4; John 7:5 Each of these verses speaks of Christ's Mother, brothers and even sisters. How is that not taken literally?

Graven image, which by the way, is defined as an idol, or fetish, used in worship. I am certain that there are idols used in worship in churches. Bowing to an idol seems to be worship to me. Giving flowers to an idol is an act of worship. [i only speak of practices I have seen Catholic relatives use] Yet Gods word clearly states that idol worship is a sin. Literally. There were no idols in the Temple of the Lord.

Does not our Lord's word also say it is wrong to add to or take away from His word? Let Scripture interpret Scripture, not any man made books.

And, as always, take scripture from context, not out of context. Matthew 18:18 is directly related to a person who sins against YOU, personally. Matthew 18:15-20 "If a brother sins against you". That is not a reference to going to the church to confess sins. In fact, Matthew 18:12-14 says if a shepherd [pastor] has one lost sheep he will leave the rest to go find that one lost one. In both of these examples Christ tells of someone going to the fallen to correct them, not the other way around.

In His Mighty Grip,

Bib