Hi! I have some questions. (Jesus Christ, priests, reject, Earth)

[dawny0826]

Hi! I hope you don't mind. I have some questions that I'd really like to ask about Catholicism.

Repentance

I was curious, when repenting...is it a requirement to confess your sins before a Priest? Is it okay to pray to Jesus and ask for forgiveness?

Prayer

Do you have to pray via an intercessor, the Holy Mother, the Saints? Can you pray on your own, to God in the name of Jesus Christ?

Is an individual free to pray thru any Saint or the Holy Mother or is there an assignment?

Purgatory

FerventGodSeeker gave a quick explanation on purgatory in one of Becky's thread which I thought was awesome:

No, it doesn't teach that. #1, Purgatory is not Hell, nor is it Hell's waiting room or any such thing. In fact, Purgatory has nothing to do with eternal condemnation. Only people who are saved actually go to Purgatory, to be cleansed from their remaining sin after death so that they can be totally perfect in the presence of God in heaven.
#2, God judges us on what we know, according to the Catholic Church. If you have been exposed to the truth and you have rejected it openly and willingly, then yes, your future in the Catholic perspective is bleak. However, God has mercy on whom He wills, and God is the judge of our souls; He will save who He chooses to save.

I'm curious though, do Catholics believe that all believers go to Purgatory before Christ's return?

And is Purgatory the "sleep" that is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18?

Salvation

Do Catholics feel peace and confidence in their salvation? If you can, could you summarize how you view salvation is obtained?

And finally, in the Catholic faith...is there no relationship with Christ. Do you feel a connectedness with Christ...do you feel like you grow with/in Him?

GIFTS

I'm curious if you believe that it's possible that the believer can receive Gifts of the Spirit now.

How does the Catholic church view such things as speaking in tongues, faith healing, and such...

Baptism

Do Catholics preform full body Baptisms? When in the life of a Catholic are they Baptized? Through Christening as a Child? Can a Catholic request Baptism in adulthood?

Thanks! I've wanted to ask these questions for a long time to have a better understanding of the Catholic church. I'd rather ask than assume and think the Catholics who grace this forum rock...so...I'm really looking forward to your input.

[dawny0826]

I wanted to give this a bump. Hoping that Victor, Scott and/or FGS will drop in.

Thanks so much.

[Victor]

Originally Posted by dawny0826

I wanted to give this a bump. Hoping that Victor, Scott and/or FGS will drop in.

Thanks so much.

I'm on it. I just saw it.

[Victor]

Yaayyy, Questions…fun fun fun.

Originally Posted by Dawny

Hi! I hope you don't mind. I have some questions that I'd really like to ask about Catholicism.

Repentance

I was curious, when repenting...is it a requirement to confess your sins before a Priest? Is it okay to pray to Jesus and ask for forgiveness?

Only if it is a mortal sin. All sins are essentially confessed to God; for nothing escapes Him. But it is the mortal ones that God wants us to take to Him via a human agent (priests). There is strong biblical examples for this and I can note them if you wish, but I’ll try to keep this short and give you links instead.

What is mortal and venial sin: (start on 1857)
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c1a8.htm

Scriptural evidence for Confession:
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/confession.html

Further explanation on Confession:
http://www.staycatholic.com/confession.htm

Originally Posted by Dawny

Prayer

Do you have to pray via an intercessor, the Holy Mother, the Saints? Can you pray on your own, to God in the name of Jesus Christ?

Is an individual free to pray thru any Saint or the Holy Mother or is there an assignment?

You are free to ask for intercession to any Saint. Without a doubt the Holy Mother is the most encouraged and prayed to Saint in the Catholic Church for good reason. I will provide some links for you. All prayers are essentially for Christ our Savior and you do not have to go through a Saint.

Saints Holy Siblings (this one is kind of long by I high recommend you print it out and read it):
http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/sts.html

Praying to Saints:
http://www.staycatholic.com/praying_to_saints.htm

Originally Posted by Dawny

Purgatory

FerventGodSeeker gave a quick explanation on purgatory in one of Becky's thread which I thought was awesome:

No, it doesn't teach that. #1, Purgatory is not Hell, nor is it Hell's waiting room or any such thing. In fact, Purgatory has nothing to do with eternal condemnation. Only people who are saved actually go to Purgatory, to be cleansed from their remaining sin after death so that they can be totally perfect in the presence of God in heaven.
#2, God judges us on what we know, according to the Catholic Church. If you have been exposed to the truth and you have rejected it openly and willingly, then yes, your future in the Catholic perspective is bleak. However, God has mercy on whom He wills, and God is the judge of our souls; He will save who He chooses to save.

I'm curious though, do Catholics believe that all believers go to Purgatory before Christ's return?

You can skip purgatory. That would mean you managed to rid yourself of all attachments and have cleansed yourself (with the Grace of God) down here on earth. Although possible, it’s more then likely only been done by a handful of people.

Originally Posted by Dawny

And is Purgatory the "sleep" that is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18?

It more then likely is. The New Testament often refers to death as sleep (Matthew 27:52; John 11:11; 1 Cor 15:6; 1 Thes 4:13-15).

[Victor]

Dawny, I'm on my way out. I'll asnwer the rest of the questions tommorow. Let me know if my answers were clear or if you need more clarificaiton.

Peace be with you,
~Victor

[dawny0826]

Thanks, Victor. I really appreciate your responses and am printing the information from the links that you've provided.

I have a hunch that I may have further questions.

[kimber1]

i can answer a couple

salvation: a Catholic won't say he is 'saved'. we don't view it as a one time process but rather a life long journey to get to that goal. you'll frequently hear "i was saved, i am being saved, i will be saved" as more as to what we believe.

baptism: is mainly done as christening as a baby but like converts, if they have not been baptized before even if adults can be baptized. i recall reading that full imersion used to be done within the Catholic Church but it fell away due to lack of room in the Church, and also it was harder for the infirm wanting to get baptized to actually get into a big baptismal, risk of getting sick (somehting like that; it's been awhile since i read that) but in fact there are some church's nowadays that still have the big baptismal for immersion.

[James the Persian]

Originally Posted by kimber1

i can answer a couple

salvation: a Catholic won't say he is 'saved'. we don't view it as a one time process but rather a life long journey to get to that goal. you'll frequently hear "i was saved, i am being saved, i will be saved" as more as to what we believe.

baptism: is mainly done as christening as a baby but like converts, if they have not been baptized before even if adults can be baptized. i recall reading that full imersion used to be done within the Catholic Church but it fell away due to lack of room in the Church, and also it was harder for the infirm wanting to get baptized to actually get into a big baptismal, risk of getting sick (somehting like that; it's been awhile since i read that) but in fact there are some church's nowadays that still have the big baptismal for immersion.

I know I'm not RC, but hopefully my input is still welcome here. Some of your churches do still practice baptism by triple immersion. The eastern rite ones, as we do, still insist on this except in extremis (in actual fact, in the vast majority of their practices, though not theology, they agree with us). Of course, the vast majority of baptisms for both Greek Catholics (Uniates, Byzantine Catholics, whatever you want to call them) and for us are done as infants so whilst we do have larger fonts than you'd find in a western church, they aren't massive (about the size of a barrel). Adult converts, when baptised, are usually baptised in whatever is large enough - paddling pools and the like being common - but this is not really much of an issue except in the diaspora. Old fashioned purpose built baptistries are rare.

James