got questions about Catholic stuffs?

[uNiCaMaLdiTaLuE]

hey. I'm really wondering why Catholics have to do confessions through the priests when you can ask God for forgiveness in the first place?
tsaka bakit may mga santo pa? haha. curious lang.

[pach]

well okay, first, let me ask you one thing:

do you disagree about confessing to priests and the veneration of saints?

[uNiCaMaLdiTaLuE]

well okay, first, let me ask you one thing:

do you disagree about confessing to priests and the veneration of saints?

I don't.kaya nga 'CURIOUS' eh?.

[pach]

okay, great.

well anyway, eye-opener lang yun.

first, we need to confess to a priest because in confessing to a priest, we confess to Jesus Christ who is a priest himself. (aside from being True God and True Man)

why not directly to Jesus Christ in personal prayer?

because the priest confers the words of absolution that forgives us of our sins, just as Jesus Christ conferred the words of forgiveness to those who confessed to him. dont think na just because we confess to a priest, it means sa pari kami nagkukumpisal. we confess to Christ but through a medium.

kung mental  prayer lang, then the blind man need not go to Jesus Christ in order to be forgiven, diba?


as for the saints --

these are holy men and women who have offered their lives to the Church.

ano naman ang masama kung gawing santo ang isang taong nagpakamatay para sa kanyang faith, hindi naman siya ginagawang diyos, ino-honour lang. 

[Hanzo23]

I have heard a response from a priest regarding confessions. Although a prayer to Jesus is more personal, some confessions require a human touch. Thats where the priest comes in. To actually hear the words being said, "You are forgiven"

[babyjaja27]

how about sa mga rebulto?

isaiah 44 and exodus 20:4

[pach]

how about sa mga rebulto?

isaiah 44 and exodus 20:4

okay, what about it? Or, what has it got to do with Roman Catholicism? Kindly share more details 

[babyjaja27]

yep. curious lang din  kasi ako. haha malinaw kasi sa bible ang mga bagay patungkol sa idols.
isaiah 44:9-20

[pach]

okay.  let me explain this in the simplest way I can.

sis, ano ba ang pagkakaintindi mo or ang turo sayo pagdating sa mga idolo? diba ang idolo ay isang bagay na kung saan mas binibigyan naten ng halaga kesa sa tunay na Diyos?

so, ang concept or konsepto ng idolo, hindi po sya limited sa mga bagay na gawa sa kahoy or sa mga rebulto.

idolatry is made up of two greek words Idolo + Latreia, which means the worship (lateria) of any image or object. (idolo)

going by this definition then,  a person can become idolatrous even if he or she is not worshipping any statue.

and so, the concept of "Idolatry" goes beyond wooden carvings. most importantly, the concept of "Idolatry" finds a deeper meaning in morality.

simply put, maski Born Again ako, or Muslim, or Iglesia pero iba ang sinasamba ko maliban sa iisang Diyos, i can fall into the sin of idolatry even without believing in statues or saints. 

pwede ko maging diyos ang pera, or ang sex, or ang alak. they are not necessarily statues pero pagka itong mga bagay na ito ay nakakasagabal sa pag samba ko sa Iisang Diyos, idolatry na yun.

on the other hand, pagka ang mga istatwa or rebulto or paintings ay nakakatulong para mas mapalapit ako sa Diyos, hindi sya Idolatry, kase the purpose is to make me closer to God.   
---

now, maybe you'll ask "bakit pa may mga istatwa ang mga katoliko, hindi ba wala naman sa bibliya yan"?

sasagutin ko ito:

basically, a statue or any image is a sign, or symbol that points to something other than itself.

noong unang panahon, maraming tao ang hindi pa marunong mag basa o magsulat, especially during the time of the early Church.  but of course, hindi porque hindi marunong mag basa or mag sulat ang tao, eh ibig sabhin wala na syang karapatan para malaman ang Salita ng Diyos

the solution was to paint or to depict in artistic forms certain stories in the bible or Gospel scenes so that those who cannot read or right can still appreciate the message of the Gospel.

so, for example, this painting by Michelangelo

http://www.cs.utah.edu/~bigler/pictures/europe2002/italy/sistine%20chapel.jpg

depicts certain scenes in the book of Genesis to show the fall of Man from the love of God


or this statue by Giancarlo Bernini
http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Reln482/Images482/Bernini-Teresa.jpg

depicts the "ecstasy" of Saint Terese of Avila.

the beauty of these images is that they are primarily "signs" that point to a greater reality, which is the Gospel.


is my explanation fair enough? 

---

by the way, yung mga painting at statue na nakita mo, they are found in the Vatican City, inside the City of Rome.

The Vatican City is a State, and is also at the same time the Head Quarters of the Roman Catholic Church

http://lh4.ggpht.com/fisherwy/R9aQFqLXUgI/AAAAAAAAN2I/2_STgvY3PF8/vatican+city[2]

[babyjaja27]

i understand the concept of idolatry very well, siguro gusto ko lang malaman yung sa rebulto hehe. i respect your beliefs


So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2corinthians4:18

it's only a matter of faith. to believe is to see

tnx po.



 

[pach]

yup. at least that's cleared up na it's not sinful to make images of saints, or of Jesus or of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

unlike Born Again Christians, a lot of Catholic people are illiterate. Ang mga Born Again, nakakapag basa ng Bible pero for hundreds of millions of Catholics, some of them cannot read or write, and so mas malakas ang kapit nila sa mga bagay na nahahawakan or nakikita in order to make them closer to God.

in a sense, ito rin ung reason kung bakit Catholics are a very Sacramental people. Mahilig kami sa mga rosaryo, mahilig kami sa mga punas punas, mahilig kami sa mga processions, mahilig kami maglinis ng mga damit ng mga santo and it's because by doing so, we feel closer to God.

mas totoo ang na-e-experience mo with your senses rather than just with your intellect. That's what makes us Catholic 

so in this case, hindi sinful and mga rebulto, and in fact, it can even aid them to believe that which cannot be seen. diba ang mga Born Again, umiiyak din, tumatalon, sumasayaw, same with Catholics.. we have our way of expressing this deep seated intimacy with the unseen Divine.


you're welcome. Peace be with you.

[ianne_marielle1229]

^ very well said pach. You're very knowledgeable on Catholic faith. Just wanna ask.. are you going to be a priest someday? My father was an ex-seminarian 

[pach]

thanks.

it's part of the job. i'm a seminarian, and i'm here to serve your faith and your joy. 

oh talaga? wow. small world.   ;Dhaha. sabi nga nila, if it isnt meant to be, it really isnt meant to be.

for many are called, but few are frozen.

[ianne_marielle1229]

^ hahaha true enough.. my dad after having the so-called "regency" I dunno if that's the right term, met my mom and fell in love. Isa sya sa mga hindi na bumalik hehe! But when he talks about it before parang nanghihinayang ako because he wanted to be a priest talaga. He's very religious and active sa church. When love strikes talaga you can't do anything about it. 5 na lang daw yta yung nakabalik sa kanila out of 40.

[pach]

yes, regency is the proper term, equivalent to a hiatus.

oh. 5? marami pa yun. 

kami we started 15 sa batch, ngayon 8 nalang. 9 pero umalis ako at lumipat ng seminaryo. so 8 silang natitira dun.

yung iba napatalsik, yung iba nag shift ng course.

ahuh. totoo yan.. kaya napakahirap.

you know sometimes i lament over the fact na sobrang sinful ko yet i still want to pursue? i guess that's every seminarian's struggle.

it's for everybody to see.