No investigation into Jesus, the bible, religion, theology and spirituality is complete without looking at what the Catholic Church has been teaching for 2,000 years. On this blog you will find the best most simple answers to your Catholic questions as well as information on how you can live a more Christ centered life.
Is the law of attraction compatible with Catholic teaching?
Catholic Answers speaker and former New Age teacher Sharon Lee Giganti explains why the "Law of Attraction" can be dangerous, and how it is completely incompatible with the Catholic faith.
Former New Thought "insider", Sharon Lee Giganti is committed to exposing the hidden dangers of the New Thought Movement and its' widely spreading philosophies. After suspecting that her New Age influence and teaching might have unwittingly played a part in such horrific tragedies as murder and suicide, Sharon finally realized how life threatening their occult methods could be, and returned to the Catholic Church.
Now a certified Catholic Catechist and postulant of The Holy Family Institute, Sharon's eye-witness testimony reveals the hazardous aspects of recent New Thought block-busters such as, "The Secret", "A Course in Miracles" and Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth"— and, in doing so, actually reinforces the saving Truths of our Catholic Faith.
A Eucharist Bible Study Guide made with you in mind :)
Here is an easy biblical study on the Eucharist "the breaking of the bread" the sacrifice of the Mass. And Christ's Real Presents in The Holy Eucharist. Please take your prayerful time looking up and reading the verses in context, one at a time.
Let's get to it!
The Eucharist in Scripture John 6:35-71 - The Eucharist is promised. Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:17 - The institution of the Eucharist. 1 Corinthians 10:16 - The Eucharist is a participation of Christ's body and blood. 1 Corinthians 11:23-29 - Receiving this bread and wine unworthily, means being guilty of doing harm to Christ. Ask yourself; how can we receive a symbol unworthily? How can we be guilty of anything if all we are receiving is just a symbol of Jesus and not actually Jesus Himself? Exodus 12:8, 46 - Pascal lamb had to be eaten. John 1:29 - Jesus called "lamb of God". 1 Corinthians 5:7 - Jesus called the "pascal lamb" who has been sacrificed. John 4:31-34, Matthew 16:5-12 - In these verses we see Jesus speaking symbolically about food. We can compare these verses to the verses where he his speaking about his body and blood as food. We can clearly see that He is speaking quite literally about His Body and Blood being True food indeed. As Christians the source and summit of our faith is this bread of immortality, it is Christ who feeds us and wants to dwell in us. 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:4 - Explains what "the flesh" means in (John 6:63.) Christ, knowing what it meant to his Jewish followers to ask them to eat blood, would not have asked them to eat his flesh and blood symbolically, he was serious about this teaching. He knew what he risked upon reveal of this "hard saying" (John 6:60) He knew the Jews would take offense at it, as they did in (John 6:52.) Yet after this he only intensified his language causing a great schism among his followers, many no longer followed him after this (John 6:66.) John 6:67-68 - Jesus says to the twelve, "Do you want to go away as well"? Simon Peter answered him saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know, that you are the Holy one of God." Peter and the twelve didn't understand how Christ was going to give us his flesh and blood for food. But they believed his words with faith and trusted that he knew what he was doing. Notice that Judas did not have the integrity to leave like the other followers, but after the teaching of the Eucharist he set out to betray Jesus, and Christ new this (John 6:70-71.) Will we be like the disbelievers who walked away because the teaching was too difficult for them, or like Judas who betrayed Him, or are we gonna be like Peter and the twelve who believed? If Jesus were merely speaking symbolically, he could easily have called the other disciples back and explained that he wasn’t speaking literally. He did not! He allowed the schism and lost many followers over it. Christ used water, spittle, bread, wine, his own body and blood to minister to those who needed him. Everything Christ did was spiritual as well as physical. Since Jesus is God, if he said that the bread and wine becomes his body and blood, then those who acknowledge his divinity should have no difficulty believing it like the Twelve. The Eucharist is certainly no more extraordinary than his Incarnation or anything else he did! On the road to Emmaus after they found the tomb empty. In (Luke 24:13-25) the two men Cleopas and another one were met by Jesus. They experienced with Christ the liturgy of the word (his preaching on the scriptures) and then the "breaking of the bread." We are told in Luke they did not recognize him until the "breaking of the bread." (Luke 24:35) Will we recognized Christ in the breaking of the bread? The sacrifice of the mass is not a new sacrifice. The Church does not kill Christ again. Christ died once, he offered his body for our sins once and for all on the cross. (Hebrews 10:10-12) Therefore when we participate in the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist we are taken back to that same once and for all sacrifice of Christ on the cross. We are transported to Calvary and partake of his crucified flesh that he offered up as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, in the new Passover under the New Covenant.
Up to the 16th century virtually all Christians believed that the bread and wine truly becomes the body and blood of Christ. That’s a long time. The largest and oldest Christian Church still does as do the Orthodox churches. So there has to be something credible about it.
- The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch." (CCC 1324)
“The Eucharist is not a thing. It is not a dead object. It is Christ and He is fully alive. Receiving Him with this awareness, we become more fully alive, so that we can say with St. Paul, ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.’ “ —Vinny Flynn From Joanne :)
You may also want to see my John 6 commentary of the New World Translation bible. Which nicely explains the real presence using the NWT the bible of the Jehovah's Witnesses. This article is geared toward the NWT, but can also apply to your KJV or any other translation just read John 6 in your bible along with my article.
Learn more about the Jewish roots of the Eucharist by my favorite professors, Dr. Scott Hahn and Dr. Brant Pitre. Also click this link for Jimmy Akin answering the question "Do Catholic re-sacrifice Christ?" Which is a common misconception many people have.
You may have heard somewhere that Catholics worship statues, or images, disobeying Gods Word in scripture. I am here to tell you that those who believe such nonsense typically believe that the bible is the only rule of faith and they usually adhere to a bible alone style of Christianity.
So...
Let's take a look at what the bible really teaches about graven images, and statues.
'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;" Exodus 20:4-5 KJV
For those who may not know a graven image is a carved idol, or representation of a god used as an object of worship. A graven image is not just any image, or statue used in a church. Only an image, or statue intended to be in the likeness of a god, that one is worshiping.
In Ex:20 we are told not to make images in order to worship them. In other words "graven images." This isn't a forbidding of images, but of the WORSHIP OF IMAGES! Operative word here is "graven," an image of a god that people are going to worship. God would never condemn a practice and then practice it himself just five chapters later. The only logical explanation is that God is NOT CONDEMNING ALL IMAGES, AND IMAGE MAKING, OR GOD IS GUILTY OF IT HIMSELF!
We know this because God actually commands the making of images to be placed on the Ark of the covenant. Was God sinning? No, he had the images made not for worship, but for decorations, and commemoration of heavenly truths.
"And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubim on the two ends thereof." Ex 25:18-19 KJV
And God told Moses to make an image of a serpent that when people looked upon it they live, or will be healed! This was an image of a snake that gave life to people, by the power of God! But, it was God's power and not any power of the image itself.
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." Numbers 21:8-9 KJV
In 1 Kings 6 and 7, God had Solomon make a temple, that contained images of cherubim, trees, flowers, bronze oxen, lions, and pomegranates. The key here is that, they are not "graven images" but images of earthy or heavenly things.
Obviously it is the worship of images, resembling a false god, and not the images themselves that God has a problem with! In those times people would make an image of a god and actually worship the image. They believed that the god resided in the image! They also believed that the image of a god had a power of it's own.
CATHOLICS DO NOT WORSHIP IMAGES! Catholics DO NOT believe that images have any power of their own, and the Church certainly doesn't teach that an image is worthy of worship. Even an image of Christ is just an image. But, WE WORSHIP ONLY GOD/JESUS. The images of Christ, as in statues that you may see in a Catholic Church is NOT CHRIST HIMSELF, AND HAS NO POWER OF ITS OWN! The church teaches that Jesus alone as God is worthy of worship and not a statue!
God may choose to work through an image, like he did with the bronze or "fiery serpent" Moses made to heal the people who looked upon it. But, it is always and always will be God power and not the image that is performing the miracle. In the Church we call that a sacramental. A sacramental object is an object that reminds us of the power of God in our life. God often works through objects and we see that often in scripture.
See, 2 Kings 13:20-21 (contact with Elisha's bones restored life)
Acts 5:15-16 (cures performed through Peter's shadow)
Acts 19:11-12 (cures through face cloths that touched Paul)
, What about an image or statue of Jesus?
If we believe Jesus is God and we make a statue of Him, isn't that a "graven image?" We read in Colossians 1:15 that Jesus is THE IMAGE OF GOD! Jesus, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:" Certainly He is not a false God, and making an image of Jesus would not be a graven image, but we make statues as a reminder of what Jesus did for us. We know Jesus is in heaven, and we worship Him as God alone! We don't make statues to worship them, and we don't make statues of Jesus so we can worship the statue and not Christ as God himself!
Many people ask, "why do I need to go to confession?
"Can't I just ask God to forgive my sins where I’m at?"
"Where in the bible does it say that we have to confess to a priest and our sins are forgiven?"
The Sacrament and "ministry of reconciliation" (2 Cor 5:18), also called confession, is commonly misunderstood. Many people accuse the Catholic Church of teaching that man, and not Christ is doing the forgiving in confession. This understanding comes from a gross misunderstanding of what the Church actually teaches.
You can see that in meme's like the one posted in this article.
I am sure you have seen it or others like it on social media from some of your friends. I want to show you that the image in question is MISREPRESENTED as something the Church teaches, when she does not!
It seeks to relay the erroneous message that Catholics teach or believe that the Pope, Priests, and Bishops ALONE have the power to forgive sin, or APART FROM CHRIST. Those who promote stuff like this have no idea what the Church, the Bible and in turn Jesus actually teaches us.
They want us to think that Catholics believe that the Pope has his own power and that we worship him. Nothing is further from the truth! I will be quoting from this image in order to offer you an explanation of it.
So, allow me to clear some things up!
Let's get to it!
Contrary to what people who make claims like this want us to believe, the Pope (who is the Bishop of Rome), priests, and other bishops, DO NOT FORGIVE OUR SINS OF THEIR OWN POWER!
THE CHURCH IN NO WAY TEACHES THAT THESE MEN HAVE THEIR OWN POWER TO FORGIVE SIN!
Never has and never will!
ONLY GOD HAS THE POWER TO FORGIVE SIN! The Pope is NOT God, or even a god, any one who says that, IS WRONG! The only power that exists in the Church is THE POWER OF CHRIST, WHO IS GOD! Do not ever let anyone tell you any different.
The fact that, "this man" the Pope alone, CANNOT forgive our sins is something we all can agree on. What these men actually do, is act as a channel for the forgive that Jesus himself offers to us by His power.
Why? Because Jesus set it up that way. We must believe and worship Jesus on His terms, and not our own. If He established it, then it must be very important and we have a duty as His followers to take part in it.
Jesus is not physically here with us. He is is heaven but before he ascended, He appointed men, the apostles to carry out His mission and ministry here on earth. Jesus never told us to confess our sins to Him alone but through faithful appointed men (2 Tim 2:1-2) whom He gave authority (Jn 20:21-23) to do so. More on that in a moment.
If you've made it this far, thank you!
Please keep reading...
Maybe you don't believe me and still think that Catholics are taught to worship the pope, or think that a man can actually forgive me my sins without the Power and Will of Christ behind him. If you're a Christian and have a problem with what I just wrote here about Christ using his power to forgive me my sins through another human being than perhaps you need to go back to your bible. Because God has always used men and women to carry out his plans here on earth. Confession is no different as you will see if you are carefully and prayerfully reading this article.
Proof that The Church actually teaches what I am saying she does.
For proof of what the Church actually teaches we look to The Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catechism is a book we can reference for a clear teaching on what The Church teaches to the faithful and what she has always taught. References included for your further study. keep in mind that this is official Catholic Church teachings, long held for 2,000 years.
The point is to show you that meme's like the one shown on this page is based on assumptions about Catholic teaching that are just wrong. People who make these images and believe what they say, have no clue what the Church teaches, nor have they ever even read the catechism.
VI. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation,
1441 Only God forgives sins.39 Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven."40 Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name.41
39 Cf. Mk 2:7. 40 Mk 2:5,10; Lk 7:48. 41 Cf. Jn 20:21-23. This right here could conclude my response to the image and others like it. If you are reading this and or are my friend. I really hope that you take the time to really understand what The Catholic Church teaches and what faithful Catholics actually believe before you share or believe this kind of garbage. As shown in the image provided.
Why can't I just go to Jesus?
Yes, we absolutely can and should ask Jesus directly in prayer to forgive our sins, daily!
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8)
I personally love to use The Lord's prayer that He gave us (Matt 6:9-13) I find that the Lord's prayer contains everything we should be asking God for, and most importantly offering to him. Another one of my favorite Catholic Christian prayers to recite is The Fatima prayer.
"Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy Mercy." I like to say prayers for myself and family. Especially for unbelievers and for those who don't ask Jesus for forgiveness themselves.
It's also a beautiful thing to have the consolation and assurance of the sacrament of confession, that Jesus instituted. Through this sacrament we can know with certainty that we are in fact forgiven when we hear those beautiful words of absolution spoken by the priest in Persona Christi!
Only Jesus has the power, and authority to forgive sins! All of us Christians agree with this truth. There should never be a debate on that truth. Our Lord Jesus Christ through His sacrament allows the priest to act in Persona Christi. This means in The Person of Christ, because IT IS CHRIST and NOT THE PRIEST who forgives us our sins!
That is what we can conclude through scripture, and that is official Church teaching as well folks. If you continue to read this I will provide you with the scripture.
Jesus gave the authority to the Apostles to forgive sins in His name and power.
* "Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man." (Matt 9-2-8 NIV)
Notice in Matt 9, it was the man's friends who brought the paralytic to Jesus, and Jesus forgives the man's sins. The priest as our friend simply brings us to Christ directly through the sacrament, just as these men brought their friend to Jesus. Also notice that the crowed was "filled with awe and they praised God, who had given such authority to man." Simply put, Jesus forgives sins, but He can, and will use men to accomplish his task as well.
* "And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:22-23 NIV)
This was after the resurrection when the Apostles were in the upper room. Jesus came to them and breathed on them, and using His Word, gave them the authority, and power of the Holy Spirit to forgive sins. Interesting here is that Jesus says, "If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
He doesn't say "receive the holy spirit and then tell everyone to just pray to me and then I will forgive their sins." NO! He breaths on them and speaks The Word over them, "Receive the Holy Spirit, If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
It doesn't get much clearer than that!
The apostle Paul explains "the ministry of reconciliation" that Christ gave to us.
* "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."
(2 Corinthians 5:17-20 NIV)
The Sacrament of confession back in New Testament times was called, "the ministry of reconciliation" as indicated here by St. Paul. Even today the Sacrament is known as, Reconciliation. The ministry of reconciliation is carried out by The Church from Jesus, to Apostles like Paul, on to the post apostolic fathers and even down still to this day.
* "Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:13-16 NIV)
Here we see that prayers over a sick person forgives their sins. This is also a proof text for the Sacrament of The Anointing of the sick, which is still practiced in the Church today.
It was Jesus who gave the Apostles His authority to forgive sins, and make things happen for those in the Church.
* “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Matthew 18:18
Jesus speaking to the apostles about sin in the Church and gives the apostles the authority to bind and lose. This means to make things happen basically. He tells them "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven" By Christ's power and Word these men can make decisions for the Christian community as a whole aka The Church, even to forgive sin in His name.
Remember? John 20:22-23 which I already quoted for you.
If you are doubting that this Matthew verse is about sin then let me include the first part for your convince. In the Gospels here Jesus tells us exactly how to deal with our sin. If you are a Christian and you ever doubted how the body of believers should deal with sin, here it is.
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector."
"Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Matthew 18:15-18 NIV
Compare this Matthew verse with the John 20 one I already mentioned above.
Also in scripture those who were baptized by men (the Apostles) were also confessing their sins. We may ask to whom were they "confessing" their sins? The answer is men, the Apostles the same ones doing the baptizing Jesus told them to d, Matthew 28:19.
"People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." Matt 3:5-6 NIV
Like I said yes we should confess our sins to Jesus in prayer but he left us the ministry of reconciliation as well. It has been past down from our Lord to the Apostles and to us now through the priesthood. Jesus promised that He would not leave us as orphans, John 14:18.
Paul The Apostle says in to Timothy that what was handed down to Paul the Apostle would be handed down to other faithful men who can tech it also.
"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others." 2 Timothy 2:1-2 NIV
It is clear that the teachings and practices that Christ taught and instituted with the Apostles was meant to be past down to faithful men. But it is the Holy Spirit and not man who have the power to make all of this happen.
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:25-26 NIV
Lets read this last verse in context because it is so beautiful and I love it.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
John 20:15-26 NIV
In conclusion
I know there is a lot of scripture here but it is necessary, it is The Word of God! Clearly Jesus intended for his ministry to continue on to the present day. Clearly he used and I believe intended to use men and women to carry out his mission to the world long past His ascending into heaven.
The work Jesus accomplished here on earth is meant to last forever! The Church Christ established through the Apostles didn't just suddenly disappear. It has stood the test of time by the power of The Holy Spirit just as our Lord said it would. It has lasted despite how much Satan has tried/tries to discredit, and destroy it.
Jesus said, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." Matthew 16:18 NIV
Is Jesus the fool or the wise man in His parable? This is a question that serious Christians need to ask themselves. The entire world and everything exists, exists because Jesus made it happen with His Word! If Jesus builds it, it will last! If He says it, it will be so.
I included a little bit about Apostolic Succession here but I am going to leave that topic for another post. I wanted to center this article around answering the claims that non Christians make about confession. No, the pope or a priest cannot forgive us our sins on his own.
A man or women for that matter have no power of their own. And not just any man can act in Persona Christi and forgive sins. He has to have Christ behind him and he needs to be validly ordained into the Apostolic succession that comes directly from Christ Himself.
These well intending Christians don't understand how the sacrament of confession works or what the Church really teaches about it. I hope this article has helped you understand it better. My prayer is that you will not only accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, but also recognize Him in the breaking of the Bread.
by Joane Utke
For more information about the biblical teachings of The Church or to hear this explained further watch the videos.
The Biblical Basis for Confession
Why do Catholics confess their sins to a priest?
Thank you for taking the time to read this!
As always feel free to go to the Welcome and ask any specific questions you like.
Please pay attention to the links on this page for further research.
