A CATECHISM OUTLINING SOME BASIC CATHOLIC DOCTRINES

 

 

If God protected the Blessed Virgin Mary from sin why didn’t he protect us as well?

Because Satan, Adam and Eve were made without sin like Mary was and they sinned. Mary had the free will to sin but never used it. Being conceived without original sin is no guarantee that one will never sin. God protecting us would not guarantee that there will be no sin in fact it would make sin more inexcusable and evil and destructive if it happened.

What does it mean to say that the Blessed Mother is the Co-Mediatrix?

It means that God gives grace because Mary asks for the graces for us.  All grace comes through her intercession.

Prove this doctrine true.

Mary cannot be our mother unless she has this role.   As brothers and sisters of Jesus we must have her for a mother. Jesus gave John Mary as his mother meaning that he could and did give her to the whole Church of which John was a part as mother.

Why do we pray to the saints?

Praying to the saints is an indirect way of praying to God. It is really God who is being prayed to. The saints are members of the body of Christ so to honour them is to honour Christ. We honour God for what he has done for them for nobody is holy by themselves but through the help of God’s grace.

How do you prove that we can pray to the saints?

Because they are kings unto God so they have authority and power to answer prayers from God (Revelation 1:6; 5:10).  An angel gives our prayers to God (Revelation 8:4).  We pray for each other on earth so we can ask the saints to pray for us.

Which saint do we pray to mostly?

The Blessed Virgin Mary because she is the Mother of God and our mother too.

Is Mary Queen of Heaven?

Scripture has it that all the saints are kings to God and she being the greatest is the Queen of Heaven.

 

Did Our Blessed Lord tell the Jews that they had to eat his body and drink his blood?

Yes in John chapter 6. He said his flesh is real food and his blood real drink as well. 

How do you prove from scripture that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ?

From the fact that the pagans were claiming to do similar miracles and there is no evidence in scripture that Jesus meant it metaphorically. He would have had to be clear and make the metaphorical meaning very clear.  He just talks simply and literally.  God can do this miracle.

How do you prove from Tradition that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ?

St Justin Martyr in the second century wrote in that the Christians receive the bread and wine not as bread and wine but as the body and blood of Jesus.

Do we receive the dead Jesus at communion?

We receive the same body as died on the cross but in its glorious and resurrected state. We receive the living Jesus for our nourishment.

Is Tradition a source of divine revelation?

As Christ promised his true Church would be led into all truth and the Scriptures only contain some truth the Tradition of the Church is his voice. Both Scripture and Tradition are the unerring sources of what is to be believed in faith and morals.

How do you distinguish true Tradition from false?

Traditions that are new or contradict previous tradition are false. Infallibility is given to the Church so it can determine without error what is true tradition. The oldest tradition is the true tradition and the word of God.

What does defining a dogma mean?

A dogma is what God commands us to believe. Defining a dogma is making it known that God has revealed it. The gift of infallibility is necessary for seeing if a dogma has been revealed by God. All doctrines in scripture are automatically dogmas. Its interpretation and Tradition can be confusing so we need the Church to tell us what is dogma and what is not.

What is a private revelation?

When a person sees a vision from Heaven or gets messages from there it is a private revelation. An example would be the apparitions of Our Lady at Lourdes in 1858.

Are we bound to believe in such claims?

No. The Church only permits us to believe in them when she approves of them and finds them worthy of belief. We must believe in the Scriptures, in Tradition and in the teaching authority of the Church.

Prove that we are not bound to believe and that no revelation is equal to the scriptures and Tradition?

Because the Church claims the right to change its mind about an apparition being from God but not about Scripture or Tradition. If such revelations are equal to them then there will be chaos and schism for most revelations and miracles are rejected as harmful to the faith.

Should we believe in apparitions and miracles before the Church investigates?

No. We should keep an open mind until the investigation shows if the apparition could have been real and from Heaven. The decree of Paul VI permitting such belief is against divine law.  We should prefer the Mass and spiritual reading to apparitions.  Take care of them and go to the apparition site if you wish - but in that order.

How do you know when any statement by a pope or ecumenical council or by the bishops as a whole is infallible?

When it claims to teach the whole Church on a matter regarding faith or morals, when it claims to be irrevocable and when it invokes apostolic authority.

What about disputed infallible statements?

Statements that could be infallible should be taken as infallible. The pope is the rock the Church is built on and rocks are firm. He is rock because of his infallibility. This warns us that people who ignore possible infallible statements are heretics for if they could be infallible they are infallible.

What is a heretic?

A heretic is a baptised Catholic who refuses to believe all that God has revealed. They oppose God’s Church and they oppose God so they oppose good and commit one of the greatest sins possible for without faith there can be no hope and no true goodness.

 

What is the Catholic doctrine of the death penalty?

Out of obedience to the divine command, the state must put certain criminals to death. Murderers and sodomites and heretics are examples of those who ought to be slain according to the Law God gave to the Jews through Moses.  The man who kills your body is not as bad as the man who kills the life of God in your soul by leading you into heresy. If we murderers with the blessing of God how much more can we kill the sodomites? – the sodomites are certainly far more evil.

Did Our Lord do away with the laws that commanded that such be destroyed?

Nothing in the Old or New Testaments indicates anything other than that these laws are made because these people shouldn’t live and nothing indicates that they are done away.   Even if they were we know from Acts 15 the Church has the right to retain as much Jewish Law as it wishes and has the right to restore these laws.

Why do those who say the death penalty is wrong in itself regardless of who commands it or how much good it does repudiate God?

Because God knows everything and can command things we think are abhorrent for we don't understand his reasons so God can command us to execute certain sinners as he commanded Israel through Moses his prophet.

What do you say to those who say that God has no law but love therefore it is wrong to put even the worst murderers to death?

God cannot make a non-existent world that is real.  He cannot do the impossible.  His laws cannot guarantee perfect happiness for everybody.  Every law hurts people.  Those people deny God his right to legislate. 

What happens to those who die in the state of mortal sin?

They will go to Hell to be tormented and separated from God forever.

Is the number of the saved larger than the number of the damned?

Our Lord was asked how many will be saved and he replied go through the narrow gate for the road to damnation is wide indicating that the saved are smaller in number.

Would God make people to have most of them going to Hell?

They go to Hell because they have defied God.  He didn’t make them for the sake of putting them in Hell.

Is the 1983 Code of Canon Law Binding?

True Catholics have to accept the 1917 Code of Canon Law.

 

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