Originally Posted by Jer4916
do you believe salvation is by works, or grace? ...do you pray to saints? do you talk to your preist who wont get married to a woman for advice? do you ask your preist to forgive your sins? do you pray to mary?..do you have idols of angels and images of christ and mary in your churchs? ... most catholics do all of thee above, and all are violations of the bible...and thats the tip
Actually none of the above. My prayers go straight to God and nobody else. I don't worship Saints. Asking for intercession is not worshiping a Saint, it is asking for prayers. It is no different than asking your friends to pray for you. All of the recitations end with, "Pray for us," the Hail Mary ends with, "Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death." This is not worship, it is a request. I don't know a single Catholic that worships Saints, or places all of their faith in them. I've never met a Priest that told me to do so.
I don't ask a Priest to forgive me for my sins either. You ask for a blessing, not forgiveness. Confession to me, is a way to seek support for the burden of sin. The Priest is there to listen, encourage, assist, and guide.
I appreciate the sacrafice that Priests make in order to lead a parish. That Priest understands that God, his Church, and his Parishoners come before everything else. I don't know how our Priest could have time to administer communion to the sick, perform weddings, funerals, Mass 3 times a day, lead Bible study, run the Church Administration, and still manage to have a functional family. The Church is his family and I very much admire that devotion.
Having a statue of Christ is not, in my opinion, idolotry. We don't kneal down and sing songs of praise to a statue. A crucifix is a reminder of Christ's sacrafice for us, not an idol. Having a statue of Mary in a Church is a sign of gratitude for the gift she gave us. I see nothing wrong with that. Nobody is calling her God.
I really don't want to start an argument on this subject, but please know that many many Catholics believe in the same God you do, believe that Christ died for their sins, read the same exact scriptures word for word, and will be your next door neighbor in Heaven someday. :yes: