Hi, Barry —

You said:

• Is there anyway to lose your salvation besides sinning?
  

No, but because we are human we will always be prone toward sin and temptation.

As St. Paul states, there is an ongoing battle with the world and within our bodies. The key is prayer and perseverance. Going to Confession on a regular basis in this culture is very important.

Those who are not Catholic are obliged to follow their conscience as best they can and not deny a call from the Holy Spirit if they see the fullness of Christianity in the Catholic Church; the only Church Jesus founded on St. Peter.

Those who know the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus as necessary for salvation yet refuse to enter cannot be saved.

You said:

• Is salvation by faith alone, or faith plus works?
  

Neither. It's: faith plus works (based solely on pure grace).

If you leave that last part out: (based solely on pure grace), non-Catholics will get the misperception that Catholic Christians earn their salvation apart from Christ. This is not true;
every one's salvation is based purely on the grace of Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Lord and Savior.
Any work or merit we do, is our merit because we are "In Christ" and we choose to do it, but we could never do it apart from the grace of Christ. With all due respect to our Separated Brethren, they will never understand the Catholic view of justification and salvation until they understand the Catholic view on the Eucharist.

You said:

• How has your wisdom and understanding about the Eucharist grown over the years?
  

It's grown mainly by the Adoration Hours I go to; I do two during the week and receive some good reflections on life.

For me personally, there is an awe that the Lord would want to reside in a broken body like mine and yet, I know if I strive to:

• live a strong daily prayer life
  
• live the sacramental life of the Church, and
  
• follow His calling in my life
  

I'm doing His will.

I also can make sense of the:

• miraculous new technologies that are being invented in today's hi-tech world, and
  
• miraculous reports of recovery after major accidents.
  

When a Eucharistic people are involved in these events, it all makes sense:

Our Blessed Lord is really present in the world today because people are In Christ physically, after the reception of the Eucharist, and manifest that eucharistic presence in their every day job. St. Paul tells us, it is no longer I, but Christ working in me. (Galatians 2:20)

For this reason, the more people in the United States that:

• become Catholic
• receive the Blessed Sacrament worthily and
• practice their faith faithfully

the more potential the United States of America will have.

I hope this answers your questions.

Mike

Hi, Barry —

You said:

• What makes a mountain holy?
  
• How many holy mountains are there?
  
• Where are the holy mountains located?

There is no official definition of a holy mountain. The faith doesn't really concern itself with holy mountains. However, one can look to Scripture and see what Scripture calls a holy mountain.

For example, Mt. Zion in Jerusalem is the best example (Psalm 87), or Mt. Sinai/Horeb (location not precisely known, but somewhere in the Middle East, near Egypt).

One might generally identify any mountain where something of religious significance took place, such as Mt. Tabor in Israel where the Transfiguration of Christ happened or Mt. Carmel
(in northern Israel) where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal.

Other than that, I can't personally think of any so-called holy mountains unless you count mountains after the biblical era where apparitions or other significant events took place. Those would just be holy in the colloquial sense, not officially recognized as such.

No mountain is officially recognized as holy by the Catholic Church.

Eric