The Pope (Bishop of Rome) is the leader of over 1.2 Billion Catholics worldwide. He unites and Shepard’s the Universal Church. The Holy Father as the Vicar of Christ leads and guides Jesus’ Church until Our Lord’s Second Coming. Unfortunately Non-Catholic Christians disagree with the office of the Pope or the Papacy. Often the Catholic Church is accused of inventing the idea of The Pope. The Papacy is no invention, Jesus Christ actually made the Apostle Peter the chief Apostle and the earthly leader of the Church; this event is recorded in the Holy Scriptures. Read more
Author: geonyayyad
I’ve heard that Catholics worship Mary, it’s this true?
No, this is not true. Catholics honor (or venerate) the Blessed Mother; they do not worship her. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (the official teaching of the Church) teaches that worship (or adoration) is meant for God alone. Catholics as well as the Orthodox and some older Protestant groups venerate Mary and the Saints. Mary is venerated because she is full of God’s own life and love, his Grace (Luke 1:28). Mary, by her own free will said yes to God’s will and brought the Savior of humanity, Jesus Christ, into the World. Mary is great because God made her great, she reflects the light of Christ and her soul magnifies the Lord (Luke 1:46). This is why since the earliest days of Christianity, Mary has been venerated and loved by Christians. Read more
Statues of Mary and the Saints? Isn’t this idolatry?
“You Shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is the water under the earth; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God….” (Ex 20:3-5).
Many Protestant Christians will accuse Catholic Christians of making idols and quote the above text. What they fail to do is understand the above text in its context. Throughout the history of God’s people, there is always a tendency to fall away from the worship of the One, True God and adopt the pagan practice of worshipping false idols. In modern times those idols are: money, sex, status, etc. When the Jews were under the bondage of the Egyptians there was a temptation to worship the animal like gods of the Egyptians. Many of the Egyptian gods were made in the images of jackals, birds and other animals. In the above text God is making an direct condemnation of this practice when he says do not make a graven image of anything in heaven, the earth, under the earth and in the water. Read more
Why pray to Mary and the Saints when I can go straight to Jesus?
When a person is baptized they become part of the mystical body of Christ. A Christian is connected spiritually to other Christians through their baptism. Since Christianity is a communal faith we are suppose to help each other out spiritually as well as physically. The Bible actually tells Christians to pray for one another in James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects” Praying for one another is powerful and the prayers of a righteous person are very powerful. What human, other then the God-Man Jesus, is more righteous then Mary? She is full of grace (Luke 1:28) and blessed among women (Luke 1:42). Mary is our mother; Jesus extended her motherhood to all humanity when he was on the cross (John 19:26-27). What good mother isn’t concerned with her children? Mary loves her children and prayers for her children. Read more
Where is the Hail Mary in the Bible?
The Hail Mary is broken up into two parts: 1. Who Mary is. 2. Our prayer to Mary. The first half of the Hail Mary (rows 1-5) is contained in Luke 1. The second half (rows 5-6) come from Luke 1, James 5 and various other Biblical texts. Below the Hail Mary is examined line by line: Read more
The Bible says that Mary had other children. Why does the Catholic Church teach that she only had Jesus and no other children?
Matthew 13: 55-56 states “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? And are not all his sisters with us?” Reading this through 21st century American glasses would imply that Jesus did have brothers and sisters. To really understand what this meant you would have to put on your 1st century Jewish glasses. Jesus didn’t speak English or Spanish or Italian; Jesus spoke Aramaic and in Aramaic there is no word for cousins. The word for brother and sister was also used when referring to cousins. This would explain the above passage and several other passages in the Gospels referring to Jesus’ brothers and sisters.
Holy Communion (The Eucharist/Lord’s Supper)
First I would like to go through the Gospel of John Chapter 6, the bread of life discourse. In John 6:4 right before Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves, John states that the Jewish Passover was near, so we know around what religious festival this was taking place. After Jesus fed the 5,000 men (plus women and children), in John 6:30-33 the disciples ask Jesus what miraculous sign will he perform and they make a literal reference to when Moses fed their ancestors with the manna (the bread that fell from heaven). In Jn 6:32-35 Jesus says that his father gives true bread from heaven; the Jews ask Jesus to give them this bread and Jesus responds saying that he is the bread of life and that it is not Moses who gives them the bread but his father in heaven. Read more
Should we refer to God as Father or Mother?
Faith in God as the “Father” is known in many religions of the world. In Israel, God is called “Father” inasmuch as he is the Creator of the universe. Even more, God is Father because of the covenant and the gift of law to Israel, “his first-born son”. God is also called the Father of the king of Israel. In a very special way, he is “the Father of poor”, of the orphaned and the widowed, who are embraced by his loving care. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “by calling God “Father, the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children”. God’s parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood that emphasizes God’s intimacy between Creator and creature. However, this experience also teaches us that human parents are fallible and can therefore disfigure the face of the fatherhood and motherhood. While people tend to make distinctions between the sexes, God transcends such distinction. In other words, he is neither man nor woman: he is God. Read more
Statement Of Bishop DiMarzio Regarding Passage Of Same-Sex Marriage Legislation
Today, Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature have deconstructed the single most important institution in human history. Republicans and Democrats alike succumbed to powerful political elites and have passed legislation that will undermine our families and as a consequence, our society.
