Hi Michael,

Thanks for writing us and thanks for the question.

Sadly due to some poor catechesis, I think you have some misperceptions so allow me to share the Catholic view.

You said:
Since I left the Catholic Church, I became a born-again Christian, after experiencing huge conviction for a sinful life despite being Catholic.

I'm not sure I understand. Whether you experienced this huge conviction for a sinful life before or after leaving the Church, the Catholic Church is still the one Church Jesus established to forgive your sins. Take a look at some history if you wish:

• When was your church found.

Can you elaborate on your view?

You said:
Sins that I used to have to confess regularly to the priest are no longer a problem.
I now have a fear of God and a hatred for so many things I used to take pleasure in.

Catholics confess to Jesus in the person of the priest. Jesus uses the body and voice of the priest to absolve you of your sins.

• Are you saying when you were a Catholic, you didn't have a fear of God, or hatred for your sins? <This is required for a valid Confession.>
• Have you ever prayed the Catholic prayer called an Act of Contrition? Part of it goes:
  
  "I detest all my sins because I dread the lost of Heaven and the pains of Hell but most of all because I have offended thee my God, who is all good and deserving of all my love."

You said:
I was baptized as an adult.

If you were raised Catholic you were probably baptized as an infant by your parents as this the norm and for good reasons.

Jesus says unless you are baptized you can't be saved. (Mark 16:16) Look at the list of passages that reaffirm infant baptism on my Scripture Passages page at:

https://www.AskACatholic.com/ScripturePassages

Matthew 8:5ff

Servant healed because of Centurion's faith.

Matthew 15:21ff

Daughter healed because of the Canaanite woman's faith.

Matthew 18:14

It is not the will of God that children be damned.

Matthew 19:14

"Let the children come to me."

Mark 10:14

Let the children come, for such is the kingdom of Heaven.

Luke 7:1ff

Just say the word, and let my servant be healed.

Luke 18:15-17

People were bringing even infants to him ... whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it."

John 3:5; Mark 16:16

No one enters Heaven without baptism of water and spirit.

Acts 16:15

Paul and Silas baptize Lydia and her whole household.

Acts 16:30-33

Paul and Silas baptize a prison guard and his whole family.

Acts 18:8

Crispus, his family, and other Corinthians are baptized.

Romans 5:18-19

All are born with Adam's sin and need baptism.

1 Corinthians 1:16

"I baptized the household of Stephanas."

Colossians 2:11-12

Baptism has replaced circumcision.

See also:

Mark 10:13-16, Luke 18:15, Acts 2:39, 1 Corinthians 15:22

St. Hippolytus of Rome (c. 215 A.D.)

"Baptize first the children; and if they can speak for themselves, let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them." (The Apostolic Tradition 21)

Origen (post 244 A.D.)

"The Church received from the Apostles the tradition of giving baptism also to infants." (Commentary on Romans 5, 9)

St. Cyprian of Carthage (252 A.D.)

This council [Council of Carthage] condemned the opinion that infants must wait until the eighth day after birth to be baptized, as was the case with circumcision. (Letter 64 (59), 2)

Interested in what other Christians in the Early Church thought, taught, and died for?

Check out what they said on this topic.

All Catholics trust Christ alone for their salvation but it was Jesus' choice that his followers, like you and me, partake in his work of salvation because they, through the Eucharist, are In Christ.

Yes, a Protestant is In Christ due to their valid Trinitarian baptism but they lack a fuller participation of being are In Christ because they lack the Eucharist. Protestant ministers have invalid Holy Orders and no approved authority to preach the gospel correctly. You have left the only Church on the face of the earth that has what Christ left for you: the sacraments, and especially the Eucharist. And before you say Christ's didn't establish the sacraments, check out my web site on the Early Church Fathers:

• The Early Church Fathers (the very first Christians) on the Sacraments

When one leaves the Church for a smaller non-Catholic Christian denomination, Yes:

• you may feel more challenged, especially with the Scriptures
• you may feel like your denomination has more works of love and charity that help others

but that doesn't mean it is the True Church.

Although being more challenged studying the Scriptures and being involved in more works of love and charity are very good, you should not join a church primary for these reasons.

You should join a church because you believe it is a truth-telling Church when it comes to issues of faith and morals. Faith and morals have there basis in the Truth: Jesus: the Way, the Truth, and the Light!

You said:
I've realized that nothing I do, no good works can ever make up for even the smallest sin, its all because of Christ I am saved.

Yes, it is all because of Christ that we are saved, but we have to choose to be saved. He never forces His Will on us. You have left the only Church Jesus established on St. Peter and his successors for our salvation for a man-made church.

• If the Catholic Church were just another phony church do you seriously think it would still be in existence over 1,980 years later?

I've heard other people say that one of the marks that manifests that the Roman Catholic Church is divinely protected is the way it runs its finances.

Other companies would have been out of business a long time ago!

You said:
No more rules about not doing this, or not doing that. Just a desire to serve God with my whole life. It's so simple.

Ignoring sin and temptation from that bastard the devil is not simple. What you are probably doing is rationalizing your sin, as not being sin.

This is called Moral Relativism because it bases What is sin on what the individual themselves calls sin, not on what Jesus' Church calls sin.

You said:

• Why don't more people see this?

They do! I know this with certainty due to the success of my Free Catechism of the Catholic Church program.

I used to run a free program that sent Catechisms to seeking Protestants and non-Christians but no longer have the financial or operational means to do this anymore. Nevertheless, if you wish to go deeper, consider buying a cheap copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to learn everything we believe as Catholics.

The word Catholic means according to the totality (of faith); meaning we don't pick and choose what Our Blessed Lord told us we must believe.

Read the origin of the word Catholic from my home page.

What is simple is:

1. living a sacramental life
   • Going to Confession at least monthly and
   • renewing your covenant every Sunday and on Holy Days
2. learning the teachings of the Church, if you don't know them, and
3. carving out 15-20 minutes a day for a prayer life!

1, 2, 3. How isn't this simple?

Rules?:

• Have you ever heard of the Ten Commandments?
  
• Do Jesus' words mean anything to you when He says:
  
  "16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me." (Luke 10:16)
  
  or
  
  "I will be with you always, even to the end of time." (End of Matthew's Gospel) ?
  
  
• Don't you believe Jesus is True God and, at the same time, True Man — one substance with the Father, The One that can neither deceive nor be deceived?
  

You said:
I'm always open to listening to others points of view.

That's a good and healthy attitude to have.

Mike

Hi, Michael —

Let me first start out by validating your experience.

I had a similar one. As a Catholic, I didn't understand grace or mercy. It all seemed like a bunch of rules. Then an Evangelical shared the Gospel (albeit incomplete as he understood it) and something clicked. I understood with my head and my heart. My understanding of God changed.
I no longer thought of Him as the guy trying to find a excuse to keep me out of Heaven rather
I understood that all He wanted to do was love and forgive me. As a result, I was overwhelmed by the love, grace, and mercy and, yes, I began to not struggle so much with sin. When I sinned I was quicker to repent and so on. Like you, I began to detest sin.

I went so far as becoming a Pentecostal Minister. Finally, after further study, I started looking into what the Church actually believed and taught and I came home. I remember being angry when I found out what the Church really taught because no one ever bothered to explain it properly and, like you, I was not evangelized.

What you experienced was a very real and genuine conversion. Obviously, while you were in the Church you didn't understand the Gospel and you probably weren't evangelized. This isn't so much about being catechized or taught properly. No one along the line introduced you to the Lord. Knowing something in your head doesn't necessarily mean you've embraced it with your heart. Now Mike may also be right in that you weren't probably catechized either but catechesis without evangelization is meaningless.

My mistake was leaving the Church after my Born Again experience as you would call it. As I said, it was a conversion. Your experience was real. The theology however is flawed. Sacraments are objective realities. When we go to Confession with the right intention, we are objectively forgiven regardless of how we may feel. Faith, after all, is not an emotion. We walk by faith not by feelings.

I'm not going to get bogged down in the specific theology at this point. I'll gladly walk you through all of it, if your really interested in a dialogue and want to really learn what you left, but the point is when we repent and receive sacramental absolution in Confession, the grace of the sacrament makes up what is lacking in our sorrow for our sin.

• How does that work?

Well it's based on the faith of the Church which the Body of Christ. After all, we are saved and forgiven by grace. Without grace all your personal faith means nothing. Grace precedes faith,
it brings about faith and good works so if you're looking for the emotional sensation, response or feeling of being forgiven, that's not always going to happen.

I think it's wonderful that you've had this conversion. It's a gift from the Holy Spirit. Now the question is: Do you really want to grow in your faith?

Being Born Again is not a static event; it's dynamic. It's not just a one time event. Experiences fade along with feelings. I'm not saying you'll stop walking with the Lord but it changes and it matures. In some ways it gets easier and in other ways it gets tougher.

So I wish you the best. Know that if you ever want to talk about this, I'll be available. Just keep walking with the Lord and seek the truth. Don't trust me. Trust Him and do your research.

John

Dear Michael,

I was going to challenge John on one of his statements but on further reflection it all makes sense.

He said:
Catechesis without evangelization is meaningless.

I would initially say Catechesis without evangelization is unthinkable.

As one who strives to be a logical person, if one knows something to be true (via catechesis), how can one not follow through and spread the Good News (via evangelization)?

I will answer my own question by saying:

• due to laziness, and
  
• being raised with a lack of importance on the significance of spreading the Catholic Gospel of Jesus Christ.
  

As a cradle Catholic, that's my two cents.

Mike

Mike,

Knowing about someone is different then knowing someone.

Evangelization is introducing someone to the person of Jesus Christ. It's not teaching them doctrine; that is catechesis.

John

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the reply.

Please remember to "Reply All" so everyone on the team, including John, can get your reply. Also let me strongly recommend searching our knowledge base. You can find a lot of answers to questions we have already answered.

You said:
I had actually posted the same question on Catholic On-line and it got removed on the basis of "contempt for Catholicism"!

Forget Catholic On-line. They have previously had a poor rating (cautious) from Catholic Culture.

You said:

• Can anyone really know exactly what happened in the early years?
  

Lets face it, we weren't there to see it.

Sure we can!

• Why do you think we have ecclesial or Church history?

Sure, we weren't there but what did Our Blessed Lord tell Thomas after His Glorious Resurrection:

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 20:28-29

You said:

1. Jesus never told us to pray to his mother or made any reference to this.

I agree; Jesus also never told us to get all our teaching out of the Bible. In fact, He neither ordered anyone to write any book of the Bible nor did He, Himself, write any of the books of the Bible, but back to your present point.

Mary is so important in the life of all Christians, both to Catholics and non-Catholics. Why?

Because without her Yes, Jesus would have never have become True Man, in His Divine Plan with the Father to save mankind.

The only reason you can even say the word Jesus, is because Mary said Yes, to the angel Gabriel.

As Catholic Christians we honor those God honors. We don't worship Mary! Because Jesus honored Mary, we follow suit and honor her and ask for her aid. But you may reply:

• Why not just ask Jesus alone? <We can!>

But in asking Jesus' mother, we are honoring Mary. We can do this with every saint because, like Mary, all saints are In Christ and cannot do anything apart from Christ Himself. Those who have been baptized are also In Christ, but those who regular partake in the Blessed Sacrament have a fuller participation in the work of Christ, for Christ. There isn't a family fight in Heaven over who gets to answer the prayer.

The Catholic Church is both:

• a me and Jesus Church, and
• a family affair among Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and other saintly brothers and sisters in Heaven.
  

Check out these answers too:

• If the Bible teaches you are nothing until the Rapture, why do Catholics pray to Mary anyway?
  

You said:

2. Mary said herself that she needed a Savior.
3. She isn't mentioned in the book of Revelation as I can see it.

She is called the Mother of God which I don't like because God doesn't have a mother.

• Why do Catholics pray to the Blessed Mother?
• Who is the woman of Revelation 12 and who is the Bible describing in Revelation 17?
• What does the Catholic Church teach about Mary, the mother of Jesus?

You said:
The other issue I had was Purgatory. I always thought that it was inevitable I would wind up down there, but the way I see it now is, I would have to spend eternity there in order to make up for the sin to a perfect God.

These postings should clarify things:

• So why would I ask God to forgive, as I forgive, when the best I can do is forgive imperfectly?
• Can you tell me right now, whether my mother is in Heaven or in Purgatory?

In one of my replies I said:

You can think of Purgatory as a suburb of Heaven. Those being purified in Purgatory have been saved by Jesus, but their souls have not been totally purified. I call Purgatory the Holy Hospital of Heaven.

• Why?
  

Because when we sin, it's like cutting our hand with a knife. We can be forgiven of the sin but in order to restore the hand, the doctor or nurse will have to use a disinfectant to ensure no bacteria enters and, as you know, alcohol on a cut is painful.

It hurts, but it's necessary for total purity (like Heaven) and recovery of our hand. (representing our souls) A similar purifying process is applied to our souls after we die.

That said, we should always keep our immediate family members, who have passed away, in our prayers and remember that they are not really gone! In all likelihood, they are close to us spiritually and praying for us all the time.

Purgatory is not a second chance, or third place. At Jesus' Second Coming, Purgatory will go away.

I hope this helps,

Again, search our database for more.

RE: the YouTube videos you sent me. I have only one question for you:

Who laid hands on:

• Nate Pfeil?
  
• Steve Lawson? and
  
• Bob DeWaay?
  
  
• How do you, as a Christian, know that all of these people are not the false sheep that
  St. Paul warned us to stay away from in Romans 16:17 or Jesus warned about in
  Matthew 7:15?

Mike