CHRIST ONCE DEAD AND NOW ALIVE IN GLORY FOREVER!!!
Yes, yes...another page still
U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N
cath·o·lic
Pronunciation: 'kath-lik
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French catholique,
from Late
Latin catholicus, from Greek katholikos universal, general,
from
katholou
in general, from kata by + holos whole
Cath·o·lic
Pronunciation: 'kath-lik
Function: noun
Date: 15th century
1 : a person who belongs to the universal Christian church
2 : a member of a Catholic church; especially : ROMAN CATHOLIC
Hello again! Well, as I said on my info page, I am a Christian, and
a practicing Roman Catholic. I am a "cradle Catholic", as the term
goes, meaning I was born and raised in the Catholic faith. I attended
mostly
Catholic schools through 8th grade, though the bulk of my religious
education came from my parents, and especially my mom, a wise and
knowledgeable woman if ever
there was one! She has guided me through all the important moments
in my faith journey from childhood to adulthood.
So why did I decide to put a Catholic section on my Web page? The first,
and most important reason is, my faith is an integral part of my
life...it helps define who I am as a person. Here in Texas, in the
"Bible Belt", it is not uncommon to have people ask you in the street, or
in stores, or in the course of a conversation, "Do you know Jesus?" My
answer to that is always, "Yes ma'am (or sir), I've known Him my whole
life." Although I haven't always been as conscious of His presence
in my
life as I am today, I have always known Him, thanks in large part to my
upbringing. Another reason for the Catholic section has to do
with the fact that I used to date someone who
was a Fundamentalist, a so-called "Biblical Christian". While this person
played a large role in encouraging me
to go back to church on a weekly basis after I had spent a few years away,
we had more disagreements about religion than fruitful discussions!
These disagreements spurred me on to find out more about my Catholic
faith in particular, so I could do a better job of defending it! The
crux of our arguments had to do with our denominations' differing views of
the Bible, and
whether or not
Roman Catholics are really "Biblical Christians." The
"simple" answer to that question is, absolutely! As
Catholics however, we don't believe in the practice known as
sola scriptura or "Scripture alone". My Catholic faith rests on
the twin pillars of Scripture (the Bible) and the Church's sacred
Traditions. In fact, St. Paul wrote in his second letter to the
Thessalonians, "So then bretheren, stand firm and hold to the
traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by
letter." (2 Thessalonians 2:15) My faith is not a mere "book religion",
but a unique and living relationship between God and all of us who follow
His Son, Jesus Christ.
As such, Catholicism includes a lot of aspects that Protestants and people
of other religions, or even no religion, have questions about. Among
these are the Church's stance on the issue of teaching authority and the
Papacy, salvation, the Mass and the Holy Eucharist, devotions to Mary and
the saints, and our beliefs about human origins and destiny. I only WISH
I could go into all those subjects here, but I think I would probably
scare a lot of people away! What I will try to do instead is provide
links where people can find out more about these subjects and get
questions answered. The most comprehensive guide is the Catechism of
the Catholic Church, although I admit, it's a little rough on
beginners!
Some other inspirational Catholic
sites...
The New American
Bible
Awaken to Prayer:
How to Pray as a Catholic
Catholic
Resources on the Net
Prayers
for College Students
The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vatican: The Holy See
Of course, I welcome all emails, comments, questions, and discussions! I
can ALWAYS use another e-pal. All I ask is for no hostility, and no
spam-mail.
Let's go BACK.