Freaky Chik Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 Hey friends! I was just wondering, what is Eucharistic or whatever? I would like to know. But realise I don't want to be "preached" at or tried to be "converted"... because I already know who I am in God, and I'm grounded in my faith. I'm just interested to learn more about the Catholic church, just so I can try and gain an understanding. :D Could you also please not write a huge long essay post... with lots of flowery language and impossible-for-me-to-read-comprehension... cos generally I just skim over those.. I find it hard to take in otherwise. Thanks heaps! bbaaaiii
Chrysologus Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 Eucharistic means "of or relating to the Eucharist." The Eucharist is the Lord's Supper, when we participate in the sacrifice of Christ through the manifestation of his Precious Body and Blood in the humble elements of consecrated bread and wine. It is the most important sacrament of the Christian faith because it is literally and truly Jesus Christ: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. God bless you.
Freaky Chik Posted August 22, 2003 Author Posted August 22, 2003 OKay thanks for that! There were some other names you all throw off, that I don't understand either... umm... drats, I forget what they were.... but I'll get back to you ;)
Freaky Chik Posted August 22, 2003 Author Posted August 22, 2003 Oh yes, could you please explain to me whaat purgatory is? Again, not any large slabs of difficult for me to read writing! Thanks Oh, and could you show me some Bible references???
morostheos Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 That's great that you want to learn more about Catholicism, we'll definitely try not to preach to ya! It's always good to figure out what other people believe so then you can understand where they're coming from better. OK Purgatory is a process of purification that souls go through after they die before they are in full communion with God in heaven. The idea is like this: when we die, if we are going to heaven, that means we will be in full communion with God. In order to be in full communion with God, our souls need to be completely sinless, because God is sinless. When we die, we aren't sinless, so we need to go through a purification process before we can be in full communion with God. Purgatory is considered to be a part of heaven, but it is usually described as painful and difficult, because it is when we finally let go of all of our sinful natures. Here are some scripture passages that are used to support the belief in purgatory, but keep in mind that scripture is not the only source of beliefs for the Catholic church. We rely on scripture AND holy Tradition. Matt. 5:48 - Jesus says, "be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect." We are only made perfect through purification, and in Catholic teaching, this purification, if not completed on earth, is continued in a state we call purgatory. Matt. 12:32 - Jesus clearly provides that there is forgiveness after death. Forgiveness is not necessary in heaven, and there is no forgiveness in hell. This proves that there is another state after death, and the Church for more than 2,000 years has called this state purgatory. 1 Cor. 15:29-30 - Paul mentions people being baptized on behalf of the dead, to atone for their sins. These people cannot be in heaven because they are still with sin, but they also cannot be in hell because their sins can no longer be atoned for. They are in purgatory. I have more if you'd like to see them, but I didn't want to overwhelm you! Peace in Christ, Claire
Freaky Chik Posted August 22, 2003 Author Posted August 22, 2003 okay thanks for that it! What about those who aren't Christians? Who do not believe in God ect... do they go into purgatory?
morostheos Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 Well, if they are going to heaven, then yes, they would go to purgatory too. Are you asking if the Catholic church believes non-Christians go to heaven?
Dave Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 Well, we don't claim to know who goes where after they die. However, if someone who's not a Christian or who doesn't believe in God dies in the state of grace, then perhaps they might have to spend time in purgatory before going to heaven. It's probably rare for those who go to heaven not to have to spend at least a little bit of time in purgatory. BTW, as I said, we believe that non-Christians and those who don't believe in God CAN have a shot at heaven. The question is, do they remain non-Christians or atheists out of invincible ignorance? In other words, is it their own fault they don't know about Our Lord or not?
Freaky Chik Posted August 22, 2003 Author Posted August 22, 2003 No I wasn't asking if non-christians go to heaven....what I mean is... What if you're going to hell? Do they go into purgatory? Or straight to hell? Does your church believe in a hell? Oh, and does purgatory finish at Jesus's 2nd coming?? Like... is everyone left in purgatory until Jesus's 2nd coming... or what... yeh, did that make sense what I was asking? :blink:
Freaky Chik Posted August 22, 2003 Author Posted August 22, 2003 Oh yeh, also, what do u mean by non-christians can have a 'shot' at going into heaven? When they die they get a second chance? What do you mean... Questioningly yours,
Dave Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 All those in purgatory are eventually going to be in heaven. No exceptions. Those who go to hell go straight there. Yes, we do believe in hell, and you're absolutely correct -- purgatory will cease to exist when Jesus comes again. When I said that non-Christians can have a shot at going to heaven, what I meant was that it's possible for them to enter heaven as well. I wasn't referring to any kind of second chance. If a non-Christian, through no fault of their own, doesn't know about Jesus Christ, they can still go to heaven. Note that I said "can." As to whether or not they WILL go to heaven, that's up to God to decide. We can't possibly know that.
Freaky Chik Posted August 22, 2003 Author Posted August 22, 2003 (edited) Thanks everyone! I'm learning alot here. :D I remember reading about people praying for their rellies who are in purgatory.... what would their prayers do for them? Like, why pray for them? And so forth... Edited August 22, 2003 by Freaky Chik
morostheos Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 If you're going to hell, then no, you wouldn't go to purgatory. Purgatory is part of heaven. Also, you wouldn't need to be purified of your sinful nature before going to hell. Yes, Catholicism believes in a hell, that's pretty much the same as most other Christian denominations. Well, I couldn't really tell you if purgatory "finishes" at Jesus' second coming or not. I suppose that would depend on if there are sould that are still in a purification process or not. As soon as a soul is free from sin, they enter into full communion with God (I guess you could call that heaven "proper", since purgatory is part of heaven as well). Also, not everyone goes to purgatory before going to heaven, just most people. That gets kinda complicated though, so if you want to know more about that, you can ask. With the non-Christians getting a "shot" at heaven, as dave said, it depends on if they've had a chance to accept the Lord and rejected it or just didn't know any better. It's a tricky subject to decide where that line is. Of course, as Catholics, we also don't believe that we are ever in a position to be able to judge the soul of another, so it's more of a "well I suppose I'll find out for sure once I get there" kind of thing. There's more to it, but I'd have to look it up to explain it correctly.
Freaky Chik Posted August 22, 2003 Author Posted August 22, 2003 Ummm yeh okay, I know I have alot of questions here.... so just bare with me! I was also wondering... what is the deal with Confessing to priests? To be honest, all I really know about it is from the movies when people go into that little box and confess to their priest... I would like to understand what is the 'process', why you do it, why to the 'priest', what's the importance of it, what if you do not confess, ect ect... sorry for being a pain B)
Paladin D Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 Hell is too hot for my taste. I hate summer weather.
benedict_x Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 Thanks everyone! I'm learning alot here. :D I remember reading about people praying for their rellies who are in purgatory.... what would their prayers do for them? Like, why pray for them? And so forth... There is the Bible’s approval of prayers for the dead: "In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the dead to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin" (2 Macc. 12:43–45). Protestants had to cut the books of the Maccabees out of their Bibles in order to avoid accepting the doctrine of purgatory and praying for the dead. Just in case you're wondering. A well know prayer for the dead goes something like this: "Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let the perpetual light shine on them May they rest in peace. Amen."
benedict_x Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 (edited) Ummm yeh okay, I know I have alot of questions here.... so just bare with me! I was also wondering... what is the deal with Confessing to priests? To be honest, all I really know about it is from the movies when people go into that little box and confess to their priest... I would like to understand what is the 'process', why you do it, why to the 'priest', what's the importance of it, what if you do not confess, ect ect... sorry for being a pain B) I would guess you'd understand that baptisim wipes away all previous sins. For sins committed after baptism, a different sacrament is needed. It has been called penance, confession, and reconciliation, each word emphasizing one of its aspects. During his life, Christ forgave sins, as in the case of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11) and the woman who anointed his feet (Luke 7:48). He exercised this power in his human capacity as the Messiah or Son of man, telling us, "the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (Matt. 8:6), which is why the Gospel writer himself explains that God "had given such authority to men" (Matt. 9:8). God had sent Jesus to forgive sins, but after his resurrection Jesus told the apostles, "‘As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’" (John 20:21–23). (This is one of only two times we are told that God breathed on man, the other being in Genesis 2:7, when he made man a living soul. It emphasizes how important the establishment of the sacrament of penance was.) Why do we do it? Beacsue we gotta be forgiven for the serious sins we commited. Why to the priests? Because only they have the power to forgive sins given to them by the church through the sacrament of Holy Orders. They carry the same dispostion as the originial Apostles did. Why is it important? Pratically: It absolves us from the sins which would send us to the nasty place. Psycologically: The guilt of the sin does not weigh us down as we are free from it. We start anew and try again. Dun worry, we love answering your questions :) Edited August 22, 2003 by benedict_x
Cure of Ars Posted August 22, 2003 Posted August 22, 2003 (edited) I was just wondering, what is Eucharistic or whatever? Eucharist literally means thanksgiving. It is a term for holy communion. Here is what Justin the Martyr, born about 100 A.D. said about it. Listen, as he teaches the early Christians on the Eucharist: "We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it.... For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by Him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of the incarnated Jesus" (Justin Martyr; First Apology 66:1-20; A.D. 148) Edited August 22, 2003 by Cure of Ars
VeraMaria Posted August 23, 2003 Posted August 23, 2003 You might want to check out this site for Catholic teens to learn about the Eucharist.... Lifeteen's Eucharist page Peace, and God Bless... :rolleyes:
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