<p>Sure. Goodbye.</p>
<p>BalconyBoy…I think Baylor is a very patient person, but everyone has their limit and probably got annoying in repeating the previous clear statements he posted trying to explain your concerns.
Re-read his postings, if you did not understand. However, I have the feeling in reading some of your answers that you understood what he said, probably you are not being sarcastically, but you still posting your disagreements in repetitive questions and with certain sarcasm…</p>
<p>You are concern about praying to dead friends or family members: It is beautiful experience if you concentrate. You can pray for them and you can ask them to pray for you. Indeed God is the main source. When you are thinking in those that you loved and they already departed from this Earth, it is a wonderful feeling not only to pray for them as a matter of love or to ask them to intercede for you.</p>
<p>Here is the process, again:</p>
<p>1) Pray to God (one can do so by addressing prayers to God, the Father, the Son, and/or the Holy Spirit)</p>
<p>2) Ask others who are alive to pray to God for us</p>
<p>3) Ask those in Heaven to pray to God for us, because the belief is that those in Heaven are capable of worshiping God through prayer, although prayer is not necessarily worship</p>
<p>In other words, because those in Heaven are capable of prayer, we ask them to pray for us to God, just as we ask those on Earth to pray to God for us;
Pray for and to those that you think there are in Heaven…
A terrible example, but it could help you (even though I think you understand but you just disagree]: When you are looking for a job you could go to the Boss, Human Resources, or you can ask a friend to help you. Which one of these is the best to ask for a job? Is it bad to ask to someone that is a great worker in a company and close to the management to give you a push and intervene for you? Some people will say that’s bad others will say why not?
A bad example, but if you cannot understand the clear words from Baylor before he got upset for repeating the same in different manners, maybe I hope that example will be easier to understand.
Read the process again and again; If you don’t like it then pray to God…that’s the maximum.</p>
<p>Sorry. I see no reason or purpose to pray to anyone but God. Praying to someone in heaven to pray to God for me doesn’t make sense. I have the same issue with confessing my sins to a Priest instead of directly to God.</p>
<p>Well, then the Catholic religion is not for you, but it is right for many others. Let it go.</p>
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<p>It seems to me these are things added by the Catholic church on top of the Bible.</p>
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<p>Yes. It’s that simple. Stop. It’s over. There’s nothing left to discuss.</p>
<p>Why would the Catholic church add something like this on top of Biblical teaching?</p>
<p>Because it believes it has the authority to do so. Duh. You’re like a child, except at least with the child I can hope I may get through. I’m sorry, but you’re just an idiot or a very effective ■■■■■.</p>
<p>You are sola scriptura. Nowhere in the Bible does it say the Bible is the sole authority.</p>
<p>So you take that on faith. Sort of like how Catholics take the Church on faith.</p>
<p>Now stop being annoying and go do your own research.</p>
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<p>Yes, I can understand this part…however to do an examination of conscience every night of what you do every day, when you pray to God, is healthy and it will help you to keep in track. That’s an option…God bless you.</p>
<p>Just because the church can doesn’t mean it should.</p>
<p>Regarding confession - But to take communion you must go to confession. To me this means going to the church and confessing my sins to a Priest. Why does this need to be done?</p>
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<p>Well, the Church thinks it should. So it did. And that’s that.</p>
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<p>NO! ONE. DOES. NOT. NECESSARILY. NEED. TO. GO. TO. CONFESSION. BEFORE. COMMUNION. I. ALREADY. TOLD. YOU. THIS. I. TOLD. YOU. IT. WAS. FALLACIOUS. WHY. DO. YOU. NOT. READ. MY. POSTS?</p>
<p>Helloooooooo? Is anybody home, or is your skull completely empty and incapable of taking in new information? Why don’t you follow my advice, i.e., read through the conversation and look the answers up? It’s all there.</p>
<p>The Holy See/Saint Siege/Heilige Stuhl/Sancta Sedes – vatican.va</p>
<p>Search for “reconciliation” or “confession.” Go to Wikipedia and do the same thing. Read one of the many encyclicals and Papal letters. Google “Catechism of the Catholic Church” and then search for “reconciliation” or “confession.” I am not your research aid.</p>
<p>Baelor, if I were you, I would give up. Balconyboy went to Catholic schools, so he should know most of this stuff. I do and I am not even Catholic (although married to one).</p>
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<p>Clearly, he is proof of the problems facing Catholic schools today.</p>
<p>Yeah I do know this stuff.</p>
<p>Baelor,</p>
<p>You claim confession to a Priest isn’t required to receive communion yet</p>
<p>"The Church sets out specific guidelines regarding how we should prepare ourselves to receive the Lords body and blood in Communion. To receive Communion worthily, you must be in a state of grace, have made a good confession since your last mortal sin, believe in transubstantiation, observe the Eucharistic fast, and, finally, not be under an ecclesiastical censure such as excommunication.</p>
<p>First, you must be in a state of grace. “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Cor. 11:2728). This is an absolute requirement which can never be dispensed. To receive the Eucharist without sanctifying grace in your soul profanes the Eucharist in the most grievous manner.</p>
<p>A mortal sin is any sin whose matter is grave and which has been committed willfully and with knowledge of its seriousness. Grave matter includes, but is not limited to, murder, receiving or participating in an abortion, homosexual acts, having sexual intercourse outside of marriage or in an invalid marriage, and deliberately engaging in impure thoughts (Matt. 5:2829). Scripture contains lists of mortal sins (for example, 1 Cor. 6:910 and Gal. 5:1921). For further information on what constitutes a mortal sin, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church.</p>
<p>Out of habit and out of fear of what those around them will think if they do not receive Communion, some Catholics, in a state of mortal sin, choose to go forward and offend God rather than stay in the pew while others receive the Eucharist. The Churchs ancient teaching on this particular matter is expressed in the Didache, an early Christian document written around A.D. 70, which states: “Whosoever is holy [i.e., in a state of sanctifying grace], let him approach. Whosoever is not, let him repent” (Didache 10).</p>
<p>Second, you must have been to confession since your last mortal sin. The Didache witnesses to this practice of the early Church. “But first make confession of your faults, so that your sacrifice may be a pure one” (Didache 14).</p>
<p>The 1983 Code of Canon Law indicates that the same requirement applies today. “A person who is conscious of a grave sin is not to . . . receive the body of the Lord without prior sacramental confession unless a grave reason is present and there is no opportunity of confessing; in this case the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible” (CIC 916).</p>
<p>The requirement for sacramental confession can be dispensed if four conditions are fulfilled: (1) there must be a grave reason to receive Communion (for example, danger of death), (2) it must be physically or morally impossible to go to confession first, (3) the person must already be in a state of grace through perfect contrition, and (4) he must resolve to go to confession as soon as possible."</p>
<p>This is from catholic.com. So who is correct, you or them?</p>
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<p>No you don’t. Let me just dismantle this claim methodically and then come to the conclusion that you have no idea about how Catholicism works.</p>
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<p>Correct. All of this is correct. </p>
<p>For the record, transubstantiation is the consecration of the bread into the Body of Christ and the wine into the Blood of Christ, and the Eucharistic fast is one hour prior to the reception of Communion (a long time ago it was longer).</p>
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<p>Correct. What can take one out of a state of grace? Let’s consider the CCC:</p>
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<p>In other words, those who are in mortal sin are NOT in a state of grace. The first two requirements for the reception of communion are therefore very similar in some respects.</p>
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<p>Did you see the Catechism of the Catholic Church? Obviously not, otherwise you would know that not all sins are mortal sins, and therefore one can be in a state of grace without having gone to confession directly or even a while before the reception of Communion. As a direct consequence, one need not have gone to confession in order to receive communion, if by that statement you imply any closer time gap than a year (Catholics must go to confession once a year). The exception is if a mortal sin is committed. Sins that are not mortal are considered venial, and although are harmful to God and the soul, do not carry the same weight of mortal sin and therefore do not completely remove the state of grace, as mortal sins do.</p>
<p>Continuing on,</p>
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<p>1) is obvious. 2) and 4) clearly refer only to mortal sins, as venial sins are nowhere relevant in the aforementioned article (i.e., the requirement for sacramental confession is only relevant for mortal sins, which had been previously established).</p>
<p>So, as an answer to your question, both I and the website are right, because we are both saying the exact same thing.</p>
<p>Don’t step into the ring if you aren’t ready to handle the heavyweights. In this case, it would be 2,000 years of Church history and teaching that you are trying to bring down by yourself. Save yourself the trouble and give up now, especially given your obvious ignorance of Catholic beliefs.</p>
<p>Mortal sin, venial sin. I know the difference. Where is the Biblical basis for this? Where is the Biblical basis for confessing my sins to a priest and not God directly? Where is the Biblical basis for transubstantiation? Where is the Biblical basis for fasting before communion and why has it been shortened from 12 hours to 1 hour?</p>
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<p>Okay. Then we are left with two possibilities:</p>
<p>1) You are lying and/or are simply incorrect when you say that you knew the difference in the past, the strong implication of your post
2) You cannot read my posts or the actual Catholic teaching, making you completely unqualified to discuss the issue at all</p>
<p>Your pick.</p>
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<p>Look it up. I’m not doing your research for you, nor am I going to dignify a loaded question with any answer other than one like this. The Church does not deal solely in “Biblical bases.” In other words, your trying to accuse an organization that does not adhere to a particular protocol of…not adhering to that protocol. “Duh,” say they. “We’re open about that fact. If you have a problem, either understand why we believe that fundamental assumption,” or, I would add, go somewhere else.</p>
<p>I am not lying. I did look it up. It’s not there. I can understand how communion is served and how the Sunday service is structured and how the offering is taken and other things like that not being Biblically based, but when it comes to transubstantiation and confession and requiring a fast before communion, that should be Biblically based. And you never answered my question as to why the fasting period was shortened.</p>
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<p>Then either you are legitimately wrong about having known the difference, or you did not read and understand my posts and Catholic teaching. There are literally no other options other than ■■■■■■■■.</p>
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<p>Nor does it need to be for Catholics. End of story.</p>
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<p>I understand what you believe. You at least somewhat understand what I believe. I will not answer your question because you are perfectly capable of looking it up yourself. Again, I am not interested in laying out the entirety of Catholic theology at your whim.</p>
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<p>Now that is scary. </p>
<p>For transubstantiation to take place, EVERY priest would be performing a miracle multiple times a day. </p>
<p>Confession to a person who can’t forgive your sins is well pointless.</p>
<p>Fasting has been reduced from 12 hours to 1 hour to make communion more available to more people. While this is nice, it isn’t Biblical.</p>
<p>Adding requirements on top of Biblical standards serves men, not our Lord.</p>