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Jomar,
Thanks for the questions.
I will give a brief response to some of your questions here, but you can find much more in depth responses to these questions in our database; you can also search by topic by using the left side bar on each page of the knowledge base.
On Purgatory:
Purgatory is real, because God requires the total sanctification of the soul in order to enter Heaven. So, if we have not fully cooperated with the sanctifying grace of God during our Earthly life, He will finish that work before we are admitted to Heaven. Check these Scriptures out: Revelation 21:27 — where no one unclean can enter Heaven, also, 1 Corinthians 3:12-16, where Paul talks about us passing through something like fire as our unholy parts are burned away.
Why are there so many religions before us?
The many religions testifies to man's desire to connect to the transcendent; to something eternal. The Catholic Faith is not undermined by this reality, but rather confirmed in it, because God sent His only Son, Jesus, to answer the questions that man asks about himself. Jesus said in John 14:6,
6 I am the Way, the Truth, and The Life, no one comes to the Father but by me.
. . . and so, since He only founded One Church, which is His Very Body, that Church is His means of bringing His salvation to the world. There is no other source of salvation. No other religion can save anyone, period, because as Acts 4:10-12 reminds us,
12 there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
If someone is saved by God's Mercy, and they are not explicitly Catholic, it is only because the grace that Christ gave to His Church has somehow been applied to their soul. God can paint outside the lines, but all the paint comes from One Brush.
Do animals go to Heaven?
Animals are not made the same way we are (We have intellect and will, they have instinct and a different nature), and while we know what God has planned for us, as we are made in His Image, we don't expect that salvation is meant for animals in the same way. That being said, the promise of God includes a New Heaven and New Earth, and imagery of animals in God's paradise certainly is found in Scripture (think of Revelation 6:2 and Revelation 19:14). C.S. Lewis put it this way,
God told us about us, He didn't tell us about everything else he has planned for other creatures.
We can certainly ask God to bring our special pets into his kingdom, and I personally think He could, if it is part of our happiness, but there is no official teaching on that. So you can hope that our animals will somehow be brought into the kingdom, but keep in mind, they are different in kind not in degree from us, and how that would work, only God knows.
Why do we have Saints and why do we venerate saints?
We venerate saints because they are filled with God's holiness, and are members of His royal family, and thus are worthy of our veneration. Just as we would show respect and honor to a dignitary from a foreign nation, or a king and his princes and princesses, (we recognize God's Kingdom in them in the most complete way), so ultimately that respect is really paid to God for His Handiwork. Remember the parable Jesus told about the vineyard owner, who after all the servants he sent said,
13 I will send my son, surely they will respect him. (Luke 20:9-16).
Sons of a king deserve respect, even if they are sons by adoption. Also, James 5:16 says the prayers of the righteous avail much, so saints have power in their prayer. And they do see (witness) what is going on here on Earth by God's grace (cf. Hebrews 12:1).
Why do we have a Holy Trinity?
The Trinity is a lengthy answer, for it is not explicitly in Scripture, but implicitly in Scripture.
For now, learn Matthew 28:16-20 and memorize the whole paragraph (The Great Commission), the formula for the Trinity is there as that is the name by which we baptize:
Father, Son, and of the Holy Spirit
[Also search our database for more.]
Why do we give flowers to sacred statues?
Flowers to statues is really flowers to the person to whom they represent. It is a gesture of love and devotion.
- Have you ever given flowers to your mother on Mother's Day?
The Blessed Virgin Mary probably has had more flowers brought to her than any other person on the planet, and for good reason. The Lord said (cf. Luke 1:42, 48) she would be blessed among women, and He gave her to us as our mother when He gave her from the Cross to the disciple whom he loved (that's you and me) and "from that hour he took her into his home" (John 19:26-27). So, saints are alive in Christ, not dead. While we can't see them, they can see us, and they can appropriate the gesture of love we give them, which is exactly how God wants us to treat our family members, both here and beyond: with love and respect.
Why do seminarians study more on logic, philosophy, and theology rather than the Bible?
A fundamental difference between Catholics and Protestants is the role of Tradition and that plays out in the role of educating our seminarians.
Protestants are very reliant on Scripture, for the services they hold are largely Bible sermons, with other prayers as an adjunct.
Catholics have a much richer history of tradition and liturgy which has shaped worship and theology over 2,000 plus years. There is a lot more ground to cover for Catholic seminarians and lot more has been contributed by the Church which has already sorted out a lot of mess over the last two millennium.
Protestants, who hold to sola scriptura do not have the benefit of that vast wealth of orthodoxy as defined by the Church, and the rich tradition of philosophy which has served well to sort out the false ideas that have challenged Christianity over the ages. The faith has endured because the Spirit has safeguarded it, and men of rigorous intellectual acumen have fended off the attacks of the heretics through both Scripture and reason.
We need priests capable of wielding both.
Peace,
Bob Kirby
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