can someone explain "being catholic" to me ....?

Question

what the major beliefs are,what the confession/rosaries/virgin mary things are - i have always wondered what it is to be catholic,but we don't have any where i live,just curious.

thank you =)

disciple - hehe - i live in a very small town in NC,everyone here is strictly southern babtist - and we have 1 or 2 of those weird churches where they speak in tongue etc - i was raised southern babtist,but now i am .. i guess confused.i take things i like from several religions and kind of made my own. i don't practice any certain religion - i always heard catholics are "wrong and going to hell" but i always thought it seemed a cool religion from movies etc....i was just curious as to what it is exactly. xoxo

Answer 1

A summary of Catholic beliefs is contained in the Nicene Creed (from the year 325):

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us and our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

For a complete description of what Catholics believe, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/index.htm

+ Reconciliation and Confession +

The Catholic Church believes that "Only God forgives sin."

When a penitent person asks God for forgiveness, his (or her) sins are immediately forgiven.

Catholics also believe that when someone sins they not only hurt their relationship with God, they also injure the entire church, the body of Christ.

Jesus said, "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19)

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,"Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (Luke 20:22-23)

Oral confessing of sins is recommended over and over in both the Old and New Testaments:
+ James 5:16
+ Acts 19:18
+ Matthew 3:5-6
+ Mark 1:5
+ 1 Timothy 6:12
+ 1 John 1:9
+ Numbers 5:6-7
+ Nehemiah 9:2
+ Sirach 4:26

The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation with a priest ordained in the name of Jesus Christ not only reconciles the sinner to God but with the entire church, including you and me.

Remember all sacraments are encounters with God. This sacrament is a healing encounter between God and the penitent.

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2chpt2.htm

+ Mary and the other Saints +

Catholics share the belief in the Communion of Saints with many other Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and Methodist Churches.

The Communion of Saints is the belief where all saints are intimately related in the Body of Christ, a family. When you die and go to heaven, you do not leave this family.

Everyone in heaven or on their way to heaven are saints, you, me, my deceased grandmother, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II.

As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends living here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother living in heaven to pray for you.

Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.

Asking others to pray for you whether your loved ones on Earth or your loved ones in heaven is always optional.

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p5.htm#946

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Catholicism is more than a Christian denomination or a Church, it is a Way of Life. When someone speaks of "being Catholic", they are, or should be, referring to how a Catholic (should) live their life.

You see, it's easy for anyone to say, "I'm Catholic", right? But what good is this claim when the person making it isn't living a Catholic lifestyle? Rather than merely telling someone one is a Catholic, it's better to show them by living a Catholic lifestyle.

Among some of the things this lifestyle includes are the three things you mentioned in your question.

Confession - also known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Whenever a Catholic sins - especially when the sin is mortal - the Catholic must receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation from the Church. The sinner confesses the sin to a clergyman, and God forgives the sinner through the prayers and blessings of the priest who heard the Confession.

Rosaries - A Rosary is a sacramental. There are many different sacraments in the Church. The Rosary is just one, probably the most well-known and used. Assuming you've seen a Rosary, and without going into great detail, the Rosary is a tool that helps those who use it to pray the Gospel.

Virgin Mary - Mary is the mother of God incarnate - Jesus. In so being the mother of the King of Heaven, she is the Queen of Heaven. As such, she is the most influential of all intercessors. Catholics offer intercessory prayers to her in the hopes that she will then take those petitions to the King Jesus.
To clarify on Queen of Heaven thing: Most people in the Western world think of the king's wife as being the queen. This is because this is how royalty functioned in Europe. Royalty in the Middle east, during Biblical times, was a little different. It was not the king's wife who was queen but the king's mother. This Truth is echoed in the Book of Kings in how it illustrates Bathsheba. She was the wife of King David. However, this fact gave her no social status whatsoever. It was not until Bathsheba's son Solomon became king did Bathsheba become a powerful and influential intercessor for son and king Solomon.

Answer 3

“always thought it seemed a cool religion from movies”

LOL! Thanks!

Well, Catholics are Christians, despite what our non-Catholic brothers say. Look up the Apostle’s Creed. That is a statement that shows what we believe.

Confession is a sacrament. A sacrament is an outward sign of grace, like baptism. There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, the Eucharist, Marriage, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick. These were given to us by Jesus Christ. Now, before the other guys start saying sacraments are evil, just ask them if they believe in baptism and marriage. If so, they believe in sacraments because baptism and marriage ARE sacraments. The difference is the non-Catholics only have 2 and we have 7.

Back to the point: Confession is a sacrament where we receive healing and forgiveness of our sins. Jesus gave authority to forgive sins to the apostles, who gave that same authority to the bishops afterwards, all through the years to the present day. We call this Apostolic Authority, because it originated with the Apostles, who first received it from Christ. That’s why we can confess to a priest and receive forgiveness because he has the authority to do so. Keep in mind, the authority is not in the man, but comes from Jesus, and goes THROUGH the man, so to speak.

The Rosary is a meditative prayer about the Gospels. There are four mysteries – Joyful, Glorious, Sorrowful, and Luminous – that take us through the life of Jesus, helping us to pray on it and hopefully conform our hearts to His.

The Virgin Mary is the Mother of God. We honor her because she was the first Christian, and the one woman chosen by God in all of human history to be the mother of Jesus. We pray to her for intercession (to pray for us), because she is our mother, our family. We do not worship her in any way. That would be wrong. We only worship God.

Hope this helps. God bless.

Answer 4

Being Catholic means belonging to the Church that is under the leadership of the Bishop of Rome (aka the Pope).

We have seven sacraments, which are intimate moments of union with God that are marked by external rituals. Confession is one of the sacraments. In confession, we confess our sins to a priest, who forgives them in God's name. Jesus gave this power to His apostles on the first Easter Sunday (John 20: 19-23).

Another sacrament is the Eucharist, which is truly the Body and Blood of Christ, although under the forms of bread and wine. He gives us His Body and Blood so that we can be united with Him. ("Holy Communion" is another term for the Eucharist. "Communion" means "union with". We enter into union with Christ in this sacrament. See John, Chapter 6.) Jesus gave the apostles the power to do what He had done (changing bread and wine into His Body and Blood) at the Last Supper. See Luke 22: 19-23.

We honor the Virgin Mary, who was chosen from among all women in all times to be the mother of the Redeemer. We use the rosary to help us in our prayer. We do not equate Mary with God. Along with Mary, we honor the saints - those men and women who lived the Catholic faith to a heroic degree.

We do not pray to statues or false idols. We do read the Bible.

I'm attaching links to a couple of websites that do a good job of explaining the Catholic faith. There are others, but these will get you started. Anytime you want to find out what the Catholic Church teaches in a given matter, consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can buy a copy for yourself, or consult the third link below.

God bless you!

Answer 5

I'm not Catholic, but I have friends that are Catholic and
pretty much what DAUGHTER said was true. They also have relic's that are supposed to be Holy. That religion was one of the only christian religions in early Christendom until Martin Luther separated from the Roman Catholic Church thus came the Protestants. Note the base word PROTEST because that is exactly what Martin Luther did.........lol...........HOPE I HELPED
Oh, the Lutheran Church is the closest thing to being Catholic alot of things are the same, as they are different.
I as a Protestant as far as I see it, why pray to a Saint or the Virgin Mother when I can go straight to the source?
LOL........Have a GOOD ONE!!

Answer 6

If you don't have any catholics where you live...JUMP FOR JOY!!!!

The truth is found in Scripture. The catholic church doesn't want you to read the bible. Look up the Ten Commandments in a King James bible, and then look at the "catholic Ten Commandments". Do a Google search. They have changed the Scriptures to allow for their IDOLS. Also, Mary (Miriam) was just a woman...a very blessed woman, but not to be worshipped. There is ONE GOD and one mediator between god and man...the MAN Yeshua the Messiah!

Answer 7

Martin Luther King was named after a catholic priest named Martin Luther, who tried to get the Vatican to return to the origins of Christianity, but they wouldn't change.

Luther ended up having to quit the catholic church over MAN MADE CHANGES like praying to Mary, selling forgiveness for money (even in advance of future sins planned), and obeying the (so-called "infallible") pope, etc.

Luther started the Christian Reform, famous in history as the "Reformation". He protested scandalous excesses of Rome, by putting a list of catholic UN-biblical lies on the door of his own Roman Catholic church.

He started a back-to-our-roots movement toward "fundamentalism", known as the Protestant (PROTESTant) church.

The more you study the catholic faith, the more you'll be attracted to protestant churches.

Answer 8

you know I've always wondered myself. I'm not Catholic so the religion comes weird to me.
From what I've seen is that Catholic parents are very into the religion but the children often rebel.

Answer 9

Catholicism is a delusion made up by man to try to exert control over the Christian religion. Stay away from it. It's not the true Christian religion.

Answer 10

They are Christians. THey believe Jesus is the son of God and rose three days later to save human from sin
Confession is symbolic of Jesus. You to God through a holy man. Plus, it makes you feel better. Many churches don't stand strictly by confession anymore. You used to have to do it before you could take communion
Rosaries are a tool for prayer. It's a way to focus and concentrate. I still have two of mine and I'm Pagan. :) They are pretty and remind me a peacefulness.
The Virgin Mary was the woman who gave birth to Jesus. They see her a holy vessal and pray to her to intercede to God for them. She gave birth to the guys son, you think that would get her some sort of brownie points.
Nothing is as pretty as a mass. If you ever get a chance to go to one, you should.