The Sign of the Cross was a way that Christians during the first couple of centuries after Jesus recognized each other, sort of like a secret handshake during the persecutions, so when we make the Sign of the Cross, we’re witnessing with our bodies just like the early Christians did. A lot of them died for the cross, and lots of them even died on the cross, so when I make the Sign of the Cross, I’m honoring their memory, too. The early Christians made the sign of the cross on everything. They even crossed their dishes before they ate, and crossed their beds before going to sleep at night!

Since our prayers are centered on the Trinity, we usually begin and end our prayers by making the Sign of the Cross while we say "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." We touch our forehead to remind us to think about God; our heart to remind us to love God, and our shoulders to remind us to work for God’s kingdom.

References:

Tertullian (Second Century) – In all our coming in and going out, in putting of our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupieth us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Fourth Century) – Let us then not be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the cross our seal, made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in every thing; over the bread we eat and the cups we drink, in our comings and in goings; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are traveling, and when we are at rest.

Q: Why do you pray to dead saints? Doesn’t scripture say "Let the dead pray for their dead?"

A: We don’t pray to dead saints. We pray to live saints! Jesus came to bring eternal life, so when someone who believes in Jesus and lives a good life reaches the end of their earthly life, they don’t really die. They’re transformed and live in heaven for all eternity.

References:

Mark 12:26-27 [Saints are not dead] – Now about the dead rising--have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, `I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!

Hebrews 12:1 [Saints surround us] – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Q: OK, so why do you pray to live saints?

A: To honor them, and to ask them to pray for us. When we pray to the saints, we’re honoring people who lived their lives the way God wanted them to, and we’re asking them to pray for us, just like I might ask you to pray for me if I’m sick or having a hard time. They don’t need our prayers any more if they’re in heaven, but the Bible tells us that they pray constantly, so they can pray for those of us who still need prayers. We call that the Communion of Saints, where those in heaven, on earth, and in purgatory can pray together.

References:

Romans 8:38 [death cannot separate us from God] – For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Revelation 5:8 [prayers of the Saints taken to God] – And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Joshua 5:13-15 [reverence to an angel] – Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
    "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"
The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

CCC 2679 – Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus’ mother into our homes (John 19:27), for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her. The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope.

CCC 2683 – The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom (Heb 12:1), especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, share in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. When they entered into the joy of their Master, they were “put in charge of many things” (Mt 25:21). Their intercession is their most exalted service to God’s plan. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.

Q: Why can’t you just pray directly to God?

A: We can, and we do. All our prayers go to God. But it helps to have friends praying with us, too. We can all pray for each other, but the saints’ lives on earth are over and they don’t need prayers any more, so we ask them to pray for us.

References:

CCC 2564 – Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ. It is the action of God and of man, springing forth from both the Holy Spirit and ourselves, wholly directed to the Father, in union with the human will of the Son of God made man.

CCC 2664 – There is no other way of Christian prayer than Christ. Whether our prayer is communal or personal, vocal or interior, it has access to the Father only if we pray “in the name” of Jesus. The sacred humanity of Jesus is therefore the way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father.

Q: What’s this stuff about purgatory? People who are saved go straight to heaven.

A: Do they? Even St. Paul wasn’t sure he was going to heaven. The Bible tells us that only the perfect can enter the presence of God. I don’t know about you, but I know I’m not perfect! When I die, I might need some more preparation to let go of my sins and turn completely to God. That’s what purgatory is for. It’s where I’ll be purged with God’s love, "washed in the Blood of the Lamb," until I’m perfect enough to enter God’s presence. Purgatory is a happy place because every soul there knows that he or she will someday get to heaven. It’s guaranteed! It’s not like hell, where there’s no hope of redemption at all, or earth where we really don’t know for sure.

References:

2 Maccabees 12:46 [Prayer for the dead] – Thus he [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.

Matthew 5:21-26 [Hell is permanent, but some sins forgiven after death] – "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
    “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

Matthew 12:31-32 [Sins forgiven after death] – Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 [Purified as by fire] – According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire (itself) will test the quality of each one's work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.

1 Peter 3:6-7 [We may need purification] – In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Rev 21:27 [Only the perfect can enter God’s presence] – ... but nothing unclean will enter it, nor any (one) who does abominable things or tells lies. Only those will enter whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

CCC 1030 – All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

Q: Won’t Catholics go to hell for praying to idols?

A: Do you have a picture in your purse, maybe of your of your boyfriend or girlfriend, your spouse, your kids, your mom and dad? Do you love that picture? Of course not! But the picture helps you to focus, to remember what they look like, to remember why they’re special. Well, statues of the saints do that for us. They help us to focus our thoughts and our prayers, and they remind us of the good lives the saints lived, to help us to follow their example.
    There’s another reason, too. We don’t only pray with our hearts and our minds and our voices, but we pray with our talents, too. A singer prays in song, a writer prays in words, and an artist prays in art. When I look at a statue or a picture, or listen to music while I pray, I’m joining in with the prayer of that artist or musician. His prayer is inspiring my prayer, so we’re really praying together, and Jesus said whenever two or more gather in His name, he’s there, too.

Q: Didn’t God command us not to make statues?

A: No. In fact, God commanded Moses to make golden angels to put on the Ark of the Covenant, and Solomon had statues of angels and oxen all over his temple. God commanded us not to worship statues, and there’s a big difference between worshiping an idol, and praying before a picture or a statue that we know just represents and reminds us of a person who really lived a saintly life.

References:

CCC 2129 – The divine injunction [against the worship of idols] included the prohibition of every representation of God by the hand of man. Deuteronomy explains: “Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure” (Deut 4:15-16).

CCC 2130 – Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim.

CCC 2132 – The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, “the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype” (St. Basil) and “whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it” (Council of Nicaea II). The honor paid to sacred images is a respectful veneration, not the adoration due to God alone.

Num 21:4-9 [God commands making a bronze serpent] – Then the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses, "Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover." Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered.

John 3:14-15 [Serpent represented Jesus] – And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

Exodus 25:10-22 [Statues on the Ark of the Covenant] – "You shall make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. Plate it inside and outside with pure gold, and put a molding of gold around the top of it. Cast four gold rings and fasten them on the four supports of the ark, two rings on one side and two on the opposite side. Then make poles of acacia wood and plate them with gold. These poles you are to put through the rings on the sides of the ark, for carrying it; they must remain in the rings of the ark and never be withdrawn. In the ark you are to put the commandments which I will give you. You shall then make a propitiatory of pure gold, two cubits and a half long, and one and a half cubits wide. Make two cherubim of beaten gold for the two ends of the propitiatory, fastening them so that one cherub springs direct from each end. The cherubim shall have their wings spread out above, covering the propitiatory with them; they shall be turned toward each other, but with their faces looking toward the propitiatory. This propitiatory you shall then place on top of the ark. In the ark itself you are to put the commandments which I will give you. There I will meet you and there, from above the propitiatory, between the two cherubim on the ark of the commandments, I will tell you all the commands that I wish you to give the Israelites.

1 Kings 14-38 [Statues and adornments in Solomon’s Temple] – When Solomon finished building the temple, its walls were lined from floor to ceiling beams with cedar paneling, and its floor was laid with fir planking. At the rear of the temple a space of twenty cubits was set off by cedar partitions from the floor to the rafters, enclosing the sanctuary, the holy of holies. The nave, or part of the temple in front of the sanctuary, was forty cubits long. The cedar in the interior of the temple was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers; all was of cedar, and no stone was to be seen. In the innermost part of the temple was located the sanctuary to house the ark of the LORD'S covenant, twenty cubits long, twenty wide, and twenty high.
    Solomon overlaid the interior of the temple with pure gold. He made in front of the sanctuary a cedar altar, overlaid it with gold, and looped it with golden chains. The entire temple was overlaid with gold so that it was completely covered with it; the whole altar before the sanctuary was also overlaid with gold. In the sanctuary were two cherubim, each ten cubits high, made of olive wood. Each wing of a cherub measured five cubits so that the space from wing tip to wing tip of each was ten cubits. The cherubim were identical in size and shape, and each was exactly ten cubits high.
    The cherubim were placed in the inmost part of the temple, with their wings spread wide, so that one wing of each cherub touched a side wall while the other wing, pointing toward the middle of the room, touched the corresponding wing of the second cherub. The cherubim, too, were overlaid with gold.
The walls on all sides of both the inner and the outer rooms had carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The floor of both the inner and the outer rooms was overlaid with gold. At the entrance of the sanctuary, doors of olive wood were made; the doorframes had beveled posts. The two doors were of olive wood, with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The doors were overlaid with gold, which was also molded to the cherubim and the palm trees. The same was done at the entrance to the nave, where the doorposts of olive wood were rectangular. The two doors were of fir wood; each door was banded by a metal strap, front and back, and had carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, over which gold was evenly applied. The inner court was walled off by means of three courses of hewn stones and one course of cedar beams.
    The foundations of the LORD'S temple were laid in the month of Ziv in the fourth year, and it was completed in all particulars, exactly according to plan, in the month of Bul, the eighth month, in the eleventh year. Thus it took Solomon seven years to build it.

1 Kings 7:24-25 [Solomon’s Temple] – Under the brim, gourds encircled it, ten to the cubit all the way around; the gourds were in two rows and were cast in one mold with the sea. This rested on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east, with their haunches all toward the center, where the sea was set upon them.

St. Thomas Aquinas (quoted in CCC 2132) – Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is.

Q: You can make all the excuses you want, but Catholics aren’t really Christians because you don’t read the Bible.

A: But we do! In fact, at every Sunday Mass we hear four scripture readings: one from the Old Testament or the Acts of the Apostles; one from the Epistles; a Psalm, and a Gospel passage. The cycle of readings runs for three years, and if you go to Mass every day for three years you’d hear pretty much the whole Bible. Plus, we have scripture study at our church for teens and adults, and a lot of Catholics read the Bible every day.

References:

CCC 102 – Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely.

CCC 103 – For this reason, the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord’s Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God’s Word and Christ’s Body.

CCC 133 – The Church “forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful . . . to learn ‘the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ.’ by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. ‘Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ’” (St. Jerome).

Q: Well, you don’t follow Scripture. Catholics do all sorts of things that aren’t in the Bible, like baptizing babies.

A: You’re right. It isn’t in the Bible. But the Bible doesn’t tell us not to baptize babies, either. God told the Jews to circumcise male babies to bring them into the faith. Jesus said to bring the children, even infants, to him so he could touch them. Peter baptized Cornelius and his household, and that probably included babies. But since we’re not sure, we look at what we call Sacred Tradition. That means we look at what the people who knew Jesus and the apostles did, and their writings tell us that they baptized babies, so we do, too.

References:

Genesis 17:12 [Infants circumcised] – Throughout the ages, every male among you, when he is eight days old, shall be circumcised, including houseborn slaves and those acquired with money from any foreigner who is not of your blood.

Luke 18:15-16 [Jesus touched the infants] – People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them, and when the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. Jesus, however, called the children to himself and said, "Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Colossians 2:11 [Baptism replaces circumcision] – In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ.
 

Q: What about when you have Communion? Isn’t yours different from ours? Don’t you think it’s special?

A: We believe that the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus, but that is in the bible. Jesus said he is the bread of life, and that we have to eat his body and drink his blood. The actual word used in the Gospel means "chew." When we receive what we call the Eucharist, we actually take the body and blood of Jesus into our own bodies. At Passover, the Jews had to eat the flesh of the lamb to complete the sacrifice. When we receive the Eucharist, we complete the sacrifice of the cross by eating the flesh of the Lamb of God.

References:

John 6:48-51 [Jesus is the Bread of Life] – I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

Q: But that’s not what Jesus meant!

A: Are you sure? Jesus said we had to eat his flesh and drink his blood. If he didn’t mean it, why did he let some of his followers walk away? Why didn’t he call them back and tell them that they misunderstood his message. The reason is that Jesus really meant what he said, that we have to eat his body and drink his blood to have eternal life.
    Everyone in the early Church knew it. St. Paul said that anyone who didn’t believe that the Eucharist really became the body and blood of Jesus was guilty of sinning against the Body and the Blood of the Lord. All of the early Church Fathers knew exactly what the Eucharist is ... the true Body and Blood of Jesus.

References:

John 6:60-66 [Many of his disciples could not accept this and left] – Then many of his disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

1 Corinthians 11:27-31 – Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. If we discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment;

St. Ignatius of Antioch (a disciple of St. John, first century) – I desire the Bread of God, which is the Flesh of Jesus Christ.
    Those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us do not confess that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, Flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in His goodness, raised up again.

St. Justin Martyr (second century) – For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by Him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nourished, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (fourth century) – That which seems to be bread, is not bread, though it tastes like it, but the Body of Christ, and that which seems to be wine, is not wine, though it too tastes as such, but the Blood of Christ. Draw inner strength by receiving this bread as spiritual food and your soul will rejoice.

Q: Why do you do so many things that aren’t in the Bible?

Mike: Because the Bible tells us that not everything was written down. That’s at the end of John’s Gospel. And St. Paul says to follow the instructions he gave us, both orally and in writing. Even the Gospels were stories told by the elders before anyone wrote them down, so the Bible itself is part of Sacred Tradition.

References:

John 21:26 [Not everything was written] – There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.

2 Timothy 2:2 [Teach what you have heard] – And what you heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will have the ability to teach others as well.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 [Follow oral teachings] – Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.

1 Peter 1:25 [The Word is proclaimed] – This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.

Q: Is it Sacred Tradition that tells you to do everything that guy in Rome says?

A: You mean the Pope? No, nothing tells me I have to do everything he says. If he tells me to kill somebody, I don’t have to do it. The Pope is a sinner just like me, and I don’t have to listen to him if he tells me to do something that’s sinful, or something that’s none of his business. I do have to listen when he talks about faith and morals, because in those areas the Church is protected from making mistakes by the Holy Spirit.

Q: Where did you get that idea?

A: From the Bible. Jesus knew He wouldn’t be on earth much longer in his human form, so he gave Peter the Keys of the kingdom of God on earth. In Jesus' time, cities had walls around them, so the keeper of the keys was the most powerful person in the kingdom besides the king himself. He had the power to decide who could come into the city and who had to stay out. That’s why we say St. Peter stands at the pearly gates of heaven, because he has the keys given to him by Jesus.
    Back then, the keys of a kingdom were held by the Prime Minister, and if the Prime Minister died while the king was away, the other ministers would get together and elect a new Prime Minister. Today, the ministers of the earthly Kingdom of God, the cardinals, get together to elect a new Prime Minister, a new Pope, whenever the old one dies. Jesus also told the apostles he would send his Spirit to guide them and protect them, that the gates of hell would not prevail against them. It’s been that way for two thousand years, and even though we’ve had some pretty rotten popes, none of them has ever made an error in teaching faith and morals.
    Jesus also gave the apostles the power to bind and to loose. In Jesus' time, that meant the power to make a contract that was binding on the whole kingdom. So the Church through the bishops and the Pope has the power to tell us what’s right and wrong in matters of faith and morals. When they say that sex outside of marriage, or abortion, or artificial birth control is a sin, it’s because God gave them the power to make that decision.

References:

Matthew 16:18-19 [Peter made pope] – And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 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."

Acts 4:8-12 [Peter spoke for the apostles] – Then Peter, filled with the holy Spirit, answered them, "Leaders of the people and elders: If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a cripple, namely, by what means he was saved, then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed. He is 'the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.' There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved."

Q: But isn’t that meddling in something that’s none of their business? Doesn’t a woman have a right to choose whether to have a baby?

A: Of course she does. But she has to make that decision before she gets pregnant, not after. Once she has a baby inside her, the choice involves someone else – her baby. And that baby has just as much right to live as she does. Scripture and the early Church Fathers agreed. If she doesn’t want to have a baby, she shouldn’t be having sex when she can get pregnant.

References:

Exodus 21:22-24 [Penalty for killing the unborn is death] – When men have a fight and hurt a pregnant woman, so that she [gives birth prematurely], but no further injury [to her child], the guilty one shall be fined as much as the woman's husband demands of him, and he shall pay in the presence of the judges. But if injury [to the child] ensues, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Didache (70 A.D.) [Abortion is murder] – The second commandment of the teaching: You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall not use potions. You shall not procure [an] abortion, nor destroy a newborn child.

Letter of Barnabas (74 A.D.) [Abortion and infanticide are forbidden] – The way of light, then, is as follows. If anyone desires to travel to the appointed place, he must be zealous in his works. The knowledge, therefore, which is given to us for the purpose of walking in this way, is the following. . . . Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born.

Q: You say she has a right to choose whether to get pregnant, but doesn’t the Pope say birth control is a sin?

A: No, the Church says artificial birth control is a sin. There’s a big difference. God created sex as a way for the human race to keep going, to "be fruitful and multiply." When we take the possibility of creating life out of sex, or when we take sex out of marriage and use it for selfish reasons, we’re dishonoring God by misusing the creative power God gave us. The Church says it’s OK to postpone having children, or to control the number of children a family has, by using Natural Family Planning. That’s also why gay sex is always wrong, because children aren’t possible in a gay relationship.

Q: I still don’t know if you’re saved. Are you?

A: St. Paul didn’t even know if he was saved. He said he had run a good race and was confident, but he wasn’t sure. He told us to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. He needed to work on it every day of his life, and I need to do the same thing.
    But that doesn’t mean we earn salvation. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross. We are saved because Jesus died for us, and all we have to do is accept Jesus as our Savior and we’re saved. But faith alone isn’t enough. We have to accept salvation by living our lives the way Jesus wants us to. We’re not saved by our good works; we do good works because we’re saved.
    So to answer your question, we were saved by our baptisms; we are saved because we accept Jesus as our Savior; and we will be saved if we live our lives as Jesus wants us to. We were cleaned of our sins at baptism, and we clean ourselves again every time we go to confession.

References:

Philippians 2:12 [Work out your salvation] – So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

James 2:14-26 [Faith without works is empty] – What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?
So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone might say, "You have faith and I have works." Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
    You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.
    Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?
    Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called "the friend of God." See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
    And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Q: What’s this confession business? Why do you tell your sins to a priest?

A: Because Jesus gave them the power to forgive us. When we’re baptized, we are washed clean. But what happens if we sin after we’re baptized? Sin is something I have to fight every day. It’s not enough to just say that I believe in Jesus, because even the devil believes in Jesus.
    And when I sin, my sin doesn’t just hurt me, but it hurts the whole Church, the Body of Christ, so I need the Church’s forgiveness, too. When I confess my sins, the priest tells me that God forgives me, but he also forgives me on behalf of the Church, and the Bible tells us to confess our sins to one another, which means the Church.

References:

Matthew 9:2-8 [Jesus had authority to forgive sins] – And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven."
At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming."
    Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" --he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to human beings.

John 20:21-23 [Jesus gave his authority to the apostles] – (Jesus) said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 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."

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 [God gave us reconciliation through Jesus] – And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

James 5:16 [Confess your sins to one another] – Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.

Q: What about Mary? What makes her so special?

A: Of all the people who ever lived, there were only two who did exactly what God wanted them to do every moment of their lives, and they were Jesus and his mother, Mary. She risked her whole life to do God’s will. She gave birth to him in a manger, raised him, taught him his faith and his humanity, followed him, and even stood at the foot of his cross and laid him in his tomb. She was the only person who was faithful and true to him his entire life, and then she waited with his followers for his resurrection, and then for his Spirit to come at Pentecost.
    The Gospel of Luke records some of Mary’s words, and every word she said points to God. "Be it done unto me according to His will." "My soul magnifies the Lord." "All generations shall call me blessed." "Do whatever he tells you." Mary’s whole life, the whole purpose of her existence, was to lead us to her son, Jesus. She gave birth to him, she stood at the foot of the cross, and she waited with the apostles for the Holy Spirit. We don’t worship or adore her; that’s reserved only for God. But we do honor her more than any other human because she points us perfectly to Jesus.

References:

Luke 1:26-38 [Mary is the handmaid of the Lord] – In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
    But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"
    And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God."
    Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:39-55 [All generations will call her blessed] – During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
    And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

John 2:3-5 [Do whatever he tells you] – When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." (And) Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you."

John 19:25-27 [Mary at the foot of the cross] – Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

Acts 1:13-14 [Mary was present in the Upper Room] – When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

The following questions were submitted by those who attended our workshops at Youth Rally 2004 for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux:

Q: I always thought that everything in the bible already happened.  Everything.  Why do some people think Revelations did not happen yet? I thought everything happened already. Is this true?

A: The Bible is a faith library, so it contains several types of writing. It contains history (Exodus, Kings, Maccabees, the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles), poetry and songs (Psalms, Song of Solomon, Wisdom), stories (Genesis, Job, Jonah), instruction (Deuteronomy, Leviticus, the Epistles), prophecy (Isaiah and the other Prophets), and what's called apocalyptic literature (Daniel, Revelations)
    Scholars generally believe Revelation was written by John (the apostle and Gospel writer, not the Baptist) as a way of helping the early Christians to keep their faith during Roman persecutions.  It does not literally predict what will happen at the end of time, and in fact the whole idea of a "rapture" is not found in the Bible at all.
    Jesus dud tell us some things about the Last Days. For example, he told us that even he did not know the day or the hour that the world would end. He also told us that the current generation (those living who heard him speak 2000 years ago) would not pass away when all these events would come to pass. Jesus couldn't have been wrong, so the Gospel writers must have misunderstood.
    Jesus also told us that many "false prophets" would speak in his name, and there have indeed been lots of "prophets of doom" in every generation. Some have been discredited when they turned out to be wrong. Others have made their predictions come true by convincing their followers to commit suicide (Jim Jones) or by causing their deaths (David Korseh). Still others say we misunderstood their meaning, or they misread the signs, and they just announce another date and keep collecting money from their followers.
    The Catholic Church says that the end of time will come at some time in the future, but we have no idea when or how.  We do know, however, that the end of time will come to each one of us at the end of our earthly lives.  Regardless of when or how it comes, we need to be prepared all the time!

Q: If a person does not believe in going to reconciliation, but believes that he or she is truly sorry for his/her sins and feels as though they are forgiven, is that like denying parts of the Catholic Church?

A: Yes. The Sacraments of the Church are part of the essential doctrine of the Church. Those who do not accept the Sacraments are not truly Catholic. At best, they are what are called "cafeteria Catholics: who pick and choose what they want to believe. There are teachings of the Church that we can decide do not apply to us in particular situations after careful study and full consideration. The teachings on the sacraments are not among them. We must accept all seven sacraments to be truly Catholic.
    Can you imagine saying you're Catholic but not accepting baptism, or Eucharist? No, belief in the Sacraments (all seven of them) are essential to our faith.

Q: I understand Purgatory, but where is that in the Bible? Or if it is not in the Bible, how did that idea come about?

A: Purgatory is in the Bible, but not by that name. Jews who lived in Jesus' day believed that purification continues after death. This is clearly taught in the book of Maccabees. Jesus also said some sins could not be forgiven in the next world, implying that some sins could, and that was consistent with Jewish belief. St. Paul tells us that we will be purified "as by fire." Revelations tells us that only the perfect can enter the presence of the Most High (God), so if there is no place for our purification after death, it will be an awfully lonely place! Thank God for Purgatory -- it's our second chance! (For references, see the section on Purgatory above.)

Q: What happened to Mary?  Did she die?

A: We know that at the end of her life, she was taken body and soul into heaven. Eastern Catholics believe that Mary "fell asleep." On the day we Roman Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Assumption (August 15th), Eastern Catholics celebrate the "Dormition of Mary." Dormition means "falling asleep" and comes from the same root word as dormitory.
    The Catechism of the Catholic Church only says that Mary was taken body and soul into heaven "at the end of her earthly life."
    So the actual answer to your question, "Did she die?" is "We don't know."

Q: Is there reference in the Bible to Jesus' body being tormented -- beat to the degree with broken flesh as portrayed in the current movie, "The Passion of the Christ"?

Q: Why don't most Catholics believe in the same things as Jews if Jesus was a Jew?

A: Actually, you would be amazed at how much of the Jewish faith is present in the Catholic Church!
    Have you ever played a game where you change one item and see what would be different? For example, how different would the world be today if the automobile had not been invented, or if the Germans had won World War II, or of electricity hadn't been harnessed?
    The Jews today still wait for their Messiah. We are the Jews who believe that the Messiah has already come. Our differences conform to that one change.
    Some Jews still follow the Law of Moses. We (Christians in general, and particularly Catholics) believe that the Law of Moses was superceded by Jesus' Law of Love (Love God, Love your neighbor) and his proclamation that the Kingdom of God is at hand. This is the "Good News" that Jesus preached, and our faith has evolved from that point for two thousand years.
    We still do many of the things the Jews do. Our churches are built on the floor plan of the Temple of Solomon. Our Sunday Mass is based on the Jewish Temple service. We offer sacrifice to God as the Jews did in the Temple. Our sacrifice is Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We fast and abstain, give alms (money in the collection basket and contributions to charity), pray for our ancestors, and help the poor and widowed. We purify ourselves before prayer  when we dip our fingers into the holy water font and make the sign of the cross when we enter church, and when our priest washes his fingers at the offertory.
    We do not follow most Jewish dietary laws, and neither do most Jews today. Those laws made sense 3000 years ago; they don't make as much sense today.
    They bring infants into their faith through circumcision; we do it through baptism. They recognize adulthood with a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, we use Confirmation. They pray for their dead, and so do we. They pray to their dead, and so do we. They believe in purification after death, and so do we. They eat the flesh of the lamb at Passover, we eat the flesh of the Lamb of God at Eucharist, which celebrates the Passover  or Paschal Feast of Easter,. They are saved by the blood of the lamb on their doorposts at Passover, we are saved by the Blood of the Lamb spilled on the cross on Good Friday, which brings us to our Passover feast at Easter.  Our Holy Father and Bishops wear a yarmulke or skull cap (we call it by its Italian name, a zucchetto) and all our bishops, priests and deacons wear a prayer shawl (stole) under their toga (chasuble). We even give our bishops a prayer shawl made of lamb's wool, called a pallium, as a symbol of their authority. We kneel when we pray, chant psalms and recite prayers, and raise our hands and beat our breasts just like the Jews. Until the 1960's, we kept our women out of the sanctuary and made them cover their heads, and even today only men can offer the sacrifice or give the sermon.
    We're a lot more alike than you might think!

Q: Do Jewish people go to hell since they killed Jesus, God's Son?

A: You hit the jackpot! You get three answers for the price of one!

First, "the Jews" did not kill Jesus. A few Jewish leaders condemned him to death, and a few Roman soldiers carried out his execution on the cross. The whole of the Jewish people were no more responsible than the whole of the German people were responsible for  the Holocaust. Besides, most of the Jewish people had never even heard of Jesus at the time of his death.

Second, Jesus forgave his killers from the cross (John 23:34). We know that Jesus had the power to forgive sins, so even if the Jews were responsible for Jesus' death, they were forgiven.

Third, it was Mel Gibson's hand holding the nail that was driven into Jesus' hand in The Passion of the Christ. Gibson said he wanted everyone to know that by his sins, Gibson nailed Jesus to the cross. So did I. With every sin I commit, I (figuratively) drive that nail a little deeper into Jesus' flesh. Jesus died for you and me. Gibson shows Jesus crawling to get on the cross so he could be put to death -- he willingly gave his life for you and for me. We killed him, but we too were forgiven from the cross -- thank God! Praise God!