Religion - a respectful discussion, for those interested

This reminds me of Trump calling Cruz "Lying Ted" over and over until he "brands him" Lying Ted and thereby "makes it true" in the minds of many. Or Trump branding Rubio "Little Marco". Trump's credo: when you're a liar, the way to make it seem like you're telling the truth is to find the guy who IS telling the truth and brand him a liar before he can call you out on the same...I'm the victim of the same kind of childish name calling here in this thread sometimes. (of course if a presidential candidate can act like that in the year 2016 in the U.S., why should I be surprised when that kind of thing pops up here?) George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are turning over in the graves! Of course, they understood at that time that separation of church and state means prohibiting the establishment of a national religion, but allowing and encouraging the free expression of religion by all groups publicly, not trying to eliminate religion from public life. I wonder if they would have predicted the degradation of our society's values and educational system that would have resulted? Sadly, despite all our modern technology, we have become a nation of dummies. We've discarded the wisdom of the past, and now the end result is Donald Trump ... smh.

But back to the topic at hand: I'm not making up stuff, I'm not picking and choosing doctrines or principles to fit my own selfish purposes or preferences. Instead, I have done my homework, found the religion that represents the fullness of truth, the most up to date and authentic, based on revelation, history, etc, and post about that. You know, the Catholic Church, authentic and true for 2000+ years, with about 2 billion followers worldwide, in every country, culture, and race. Truly the Universal Church. That's not an opinion, it's verifiable fact. (at least if one is willing to research and study the facts with an open mind) ...but instead, it seems in this country today we prefer the latest Trump sound bite. again smh.

 

During the year, especially in the time between major Church seasons (Christmas, Easter), what we call “ordinary time”, it is easy to drift away from our Faith, little by little; to let the secular culture in which we live carry us a little farther from God than we would like. We know that when we are closest to God; when we are doing a good job of staying close to our Faith in prayer, spiritual reading, fasting (not just from food but from worldly attachments of all kinds), etc., we are happiest and most at peace. In short, when we avoid sin, we feel better! Not only are we doing what God wants and helping to pave the way for our salvation in the next life, but we are greatly enhancing our lives in the here and now. We increase our level of happiness, inner peace, and joy in this life. That’s what I love most about the Catholic Church: it contains so many useful tools to aid us in our spirituality, to help us stay close to God (and return when we find ourselves slipping away), and to radically renew ourselves from the inside out. In particular, the Sacraments that we have: the Eucharist at Mass and Reconciliation (Penance/Confession), the ones we use most often in our daily lives, that keep us close to God spiritually and help us return when we begin to go astray. And again, it’s not just to help us get to Heaven in the next life, but to increase our happiness, inner peace, and joy in this life. What many people don’t realize is that the Catholic Church is all about freedom, empowerment, and self-efficacy, when properly understood and practiced. Freedom from slavery to sin, freedom from worldly attachments of all kinds, and the resulting empowerment to live our lives the way we really want to, the way God intended for us as individuals; we all have unique gifts, talents, personalities, etc, and sin keeps us from maximizing our human potential in this regard.

The Catholic Christian understanding of the Eucharist is taken directly from Scripture, from what Jesus said to his disciples. He told them “this IS my body,” “this IS my blood”; the apostles said in reply “this is a hard saying, how are we to follow it?” [to paraphrase from memory]
If the Eucharist was simply a memorial of the Passion, or a symbolic gesture, what would be so hard about that? The Apostles understood that when Jesus said “This IS my body”, he meant it; He didn’t say it was a symbol or a remembrance…and that’s why the Apostles initially had such a hard time understanding and accepting it. Just like many people today have a hard time understanding how what appears to be just bread and wine can be transformed into the Real Presence of Christ. The way I think of it, the way it makes sense to me is that a Supernatural phenomenon occurs when an ordained Priest consecrates the bread and wine at Mass. More than just spiritual, somehow the bread and wine takes up the essence of Christ Jesus Himself. It becomes spiritual food for us. We receive a tremendous spiritual benefit when we consume it during Mass. Just as the Passion of Christ atoned for our sins on a grand scale (the sins of all of humanity, paving the way for our salvation), the Eucharist is the continuation of that sacrifice each week for us, to atone for our weekly sins** and to give us the Spiritual grace to overcome them and avoid them going forward. And since we have a tendency to sin from the original fall of human nature, we need a weekly “spiritual car wash, or shower” to cleanse ourselves, “wash up” and prepare for a fresh new week; hopefully, over time, we overcome the habits and addictions that enslave us to self-destructive sin and reduce these negative effects of sin as much as possible (we will never completely abolish sin in this life, but we can get close and stay close and become the best version of ourselves). The continual work of self-improvement that helps us to live the best lives we can, share our gifts and talents with others along the way, until we reach the great celebration of Heaven in the next life.


**I think I need to clarify a couple things. Technically speaking, the Eucharist at Mass does not "atone" for our weekly sins; it is spiritual food to strengthen our resolve, and ability, to do a better job of avoiding sin in the week ahead (and being closer to God, and each other, in a positive sense as well). It strengthens us for charity towards our neighbor and to avoid negative influences that may come our way. It is a continuation of Christ's sacrifice of the cross down through the ages, giving us the spiritual grace of renewal that He made possible in that great event of history. Technically speaking, though, we are only forgiven of our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (at least any mortal sins we may have committed; the more serious ones committed with full consent of the will). The little venial sins we commit on a regular basis don't require the formal Sacrament of Confession; for these "little" sins, we can receive forgiveness through prayer, participation in Mass, and receiving the Eucharist. The reason is this: mortal sins separate us from God in a profound way; we are no longer in communion with God and His Church (other people) when that happens, and must be Reconciled to both through the Sacrament Jesus instituted. Mortal sins are serious sins involving a grave matter, and committed with full consent of the will (we freely chose to do it, knowing it is wrong). Venial sins, on the other hand, are less serious, minor transgressions and/or ones we are not completely free in choosing, don't fully realize are wrong, etc. It sounds complicated, and my description might not be the best (consult the Catechism!), but it's really not too complicated; basically, the bigger sins, more serious things you may have done, should be confessed to a Priest for formal absolution and reconciliation. But some people don't receive the Eucharist at Mass when all they have done are little things, venial sins, and that's a shame...they are missing out on the weekly graces of the Eucharist. It is, however, a good idea to go to Confession more frequently, even for the little things; it's like a spiritual "car wash"; like a car getting dirty and rusty if it is neglected, your soul can get "dirty" if not "cleansed" once in awhile by this great gift we have in the Catholic Church! It makes you feel great, like a new person, with the slate wiped clean so to speak, and inspired to try and do better going forward.