Bringing you the "Good News" of Jesus Christ and His Church While PROMOTING CATHOLIC Apologetic Support groups loyal to the Holy Father and Church's magisterium
Home About
AskACatholic.com
What's New? Resources The Church Family Life Mass and
Adoration
Ask A Catholic
Knowledge base
AskACatholic Disclaimer
Search the
AskACatholic Database
Donate and
Support our work
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
New Questions
Cool Catholic Videos
About Saints
Disciplines and Practices for distinct Church seasons
Purgatory and Indulgences
About the Holy Mass
About Mary
Searching and Confused
back
Contemplating becoming a Catholic or Coming home
Homosexual and Gender Issues
Life, Dating, and Family
No Salvation Outside the Church
Sacred Scripture
non-Catholic Cults
Justification and Salvation
The Pope and Papacy
The Sacraments
Relationships and Marriage situations
Specific people, organizations and events
Doctrine and Teachings
Specific Practices
Church Internals
Church History


Dana Lyons wrote:

Hi, guys —

I have a number of questions. I was born Catholic but really don't know everything I should.

I read the Bible all the time however I don't currently attend a Catholic parish and I've really wondered about these questions.

  • Why does the Church believe in sacraments?
  • Why do you make the Sign of the Cross after prayers?
  • Why do Catholics say prayers in repetition like the Hail Mary, Glory Be and the Rosary?
  • Why do Catholics pray to and worship Mary and saints?
  • Why do you have to confess to a priest?
  • What does Confirmation mean?
  • Who says that kids should be making their First Holy Communion when they are 7 to 8 years old?
  • Where in the Bible does it say kids should be making their Confirmation when they are 7 to 8 years old?
  • How come Sunday Church services don't use the Bible more?
    There are a lot of man-made traditions in it.
  • Why does the Church have so many man-made rules?
  • What is the difference between:
    • Protestant
    • Jewish
    • Catholic
    • Methodist
    • Born again Christians, and
    • Jehovah Witnesses?
  • What does it mean to be saved?
  • How do you get to Heaven according to Catholic teachings?

Thank you in advance for all your help.

God Bless,

Dana

  { Can you answer some questions on the sacraments, praying, different faiths, and getting saved? }

Mike replied:

Hi, Dana —

You said:

  • Why does the Church believe in sacraments?

The Church believes in sacraments because history tells us they were all instituted by Christ before He ascended into Heaven. Most of the early Christians who lived from 100 A.D. to 850 A.D. attest to this and have written about this.

I would suggest you check out a book called: Faith of the Early Fathers; a little pricey, but worth every penny!!

You said:

  • Why do you make the Sign of the Cross after prayers?

Making the Sign of the Cross either before (and/or) after prayer reminds us of our Baptism in Christ and is a way of saying:

"Jesus, we offer up this prayer to you!" or
"We are addressing this prayer to you or one of your holy friends."

You said:

  • Why do Catholics say prayers in repetition like the Hail Mary, Glory Be and the Rosary?

First we must understand what they are: meditations.

When Catholics recite the twelve prayers that form a decade of the Rosary, they meditate on the mystery associated with that decade. If they merely recite the prayers, whether vocally or silently, they're missing the essence of the Rosary.

It isn't just a recitation of prayers, but a meditation on the lives of Jesus, Our Lord and His parents, Joseph, His foster father, and Mary, His mother. Critics, not knowing about the meditation part, imagine the Rosary must be boring, uselessly, repetitious, and meaningless, and their criticism carries weight if you reduce the Rosary to a formula.

Christ forbade meaningless repetition (Matthew 6:7), but the Bible itself prescribes some prayers that involve repetition. Look at Psalm 136, which is a litany (a prayer with a recurring refrain) meant to be sung in the Jewish Temple. In Psalm 136 the refrain is His mercy endures forever. Sometimes in Psalm 136 the refrain starts before a sentence is finished, meaning it is far more repetitious than the Rosary, though this prayer was written directly under the inspiration of God.

It is the meditation on the mysteries that make praying the Rosary meritorious.

The Joyful Mysteries are:

The Luminous Mysteries are:

The Sorrowful Mysteries are:

The Glorious Mysteries are:

  **  Note: Mary's Assumption and Coronation are implied in Revelation Chapter 12 and in other Biblical references. Both events are part of the (Oral) Tradition of the Church which has been passed down through the centuries to this day.

For more of the Biblical passages to meditate on when praying the Rosary go here:

  • Holy Scriptures in the Rosary.
    A Biblical Basis for Meditating On Jesus Christ in the Rosary Mysteries with Old Testament Prophesies and Types and New Testament Gospel Witness From Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, The Acts of the Apostles, and Revelation.

You said:

  • Why do Catholics pray to and worship Mary and saints?

We Don't Worship Mary Or The Saints!

We pray to Mary and to the saints. We honor those, God honors.

Your possible reply:

But why can't I pray straight to Jesus?

You can!

I do, all the time!! but . . .

We see prayer as a family affair because that's the way the Bible sees it.

Also, praying for each other is biblical. See:

You said:

  • Why do you have to confess to a priest?

Because the Bible tells us in John 20:19-23. Jesus is speaking to his very first priests:

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 22 And when He had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

(John 20:19-23)

In confessing to a priest, I'm obeying Jesus! This is the way Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The priest is Jesus for the parish and (any priest of any parish) is prohibited from mentioning anything said in any Confession he hears under the pain of being excommunicated from the Church. We refer to this as the Seal of Confession.

The Early Church Christians wrote a lot about this.

You said:

  • What does Confirmation mean?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

Article 2: The Sacrament of Confirmation.
.
.
1285 Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the sacraments of Christian initiation, whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. (cf. Roman Ritual, Rite of Confirmation (Ordo Confirmarionis), Introduction 1) For by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed. (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 11; cf. Ordo Confirmarionis, Introduction 2)

You said:

  • Who says that kids should be making their First Holy Communion when they are 7 to 8 years old?
  • Where in the Bible does it say kids should be making their Confirmation when they are 7 to 8 years old?
  • Why does the Church have so many man-made rules?

First, the Church was founded by Christ before he went to Heaven. Jesus, gave the authority of His (Christ's Church) to St. Peter and his successors to govern his Church and protect it from incorrect/wrong teachings. See Matthew 16:13-19 and 1 Timothy 3:15.

So when the Church makes a decision on faith or morals or even on matters of discipline, it is a decision made by Christ.

  • Example: Why do people go to Church on Sunday?

The Bible says the Lord's Day is Saturday. The reason: Christ rose from the dead on Sunday; and the Church, using the wisdom of Christ, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.

I find it semi-humorous that Protestants protest the Teachings of the Catholic Church, yet obey Her moral discipline to change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. No where in the Bible is it taught to worship the Lord on Sunday.

The same is true for your question, Who says that kids should be making their First Holy Communion when they are 7 to 8 years old?

Because Christ (through the Church) has decided that the age of reason for a person is age seven. As you may know, Catholics believe Jesus is really present in the Eucharist: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity! It would be incorrect for the Church to decide that some boys/girls should receive Our Blessed Lord when they don't understand what it is they are receiving; they would then be receiving Our Lord with no reverence or understanding.

You said:

  • How come Sunday Church services don't use the Bible more? There are a lot of
    man-made traditions in it.


  • I don't understand?

The liturgy of the Mass is 96 percent made up of Bible verses.

The first part of the Church ceremony, or Holy Mass, is listening to the Word of God, the Bible.

The second portion of the Mass is the Eucharistic prayer which is almost all biblical.

  • Why do we have the Eucharistic Prayer?

Because Jesus, on the night before His death, said: Do this in remembrance of Me.

Once again, Catholics are just obeying Jesus. We are Biblical Christians.

You said:

  • What is the difference between Protestant, Jewish, Catholic, Methodist, Born again Christians, and Jehovah Witnesses?

This web posting may help:

You said:

  • What does it mean to be saved?
  • How do you get to Heaven according to Catholic teachings?

Here are some tracts from our colleagues at Catholic Answers that should help answer your questions.

I hope this helps,

Your brother in prayer, your brother in Christ,

Mike Humphrey

Please report any and all typos or grammatical errors.
Suggestions for this web page and the web site can be sent to Mike Humphrey
© 2012 Panoramic Sites
The Early Church Fathers Church Fathers on the Primacy of Peter. The Early Church Fathers on the Catholic Church and the term Catholic. The Early Church Fathers on the importance of the Roman Catholic Church centered in Rome.