Common Questions about Catholic Beliefs & Practices
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An Overview of Catholic Beliefs and Practices
This section is intended to merely offer an overview of those areas of Catholic Belief and Practice where people often have questions. In this limited amount of space however, it is impossible to cover everything. Please also refer to the Catholic Library in the right column of our main parish page or to KofC Catholic Information Service, Catholic Pages or the Catholic Answers link in the left column of the main page for more information.
Of course, for an official and more comprehensive and in depth review of Catholic beliefs and practice, go to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This Catechism is “a full, complete exposition of Catholic doctrine, enabling everyone to know what the Church professes, celebrates, lives, and prays in her daily life.” (Pope John Paul II)
What is the “Core” message of Christianity?
The “core†message of Christianity is a message of redemption, of salvation, of love and of hope. It is the message of the person of Jesus Christ, who walked this earth 2000 years ago. To know and understand the Christian faith one must know Jesus. Knowing Jesus, however is more than just knowing “about” him. A Christian is a follower of Christ. This means giving one’s whole life to Jesus and following him in every area of your life.
The Christian message is called the “gospel” of Jesus Christ. “Gospel” literally means “good news.” The good news of Christianity is that when we decide to give our lives to Jesus, to follow after him and live our lives modeled after his example, not only are we promised eternal life in heaven after we die, but Jesus actually provides us with his grace (supernatural help) to help us to change and transform our lives so that we can live the way we were meant to live – in loving communion with our God and our fellow man. In order to better understand the Christian message, we need to know more about who Jesus is, what he has done for us and how he has called us to follow after him.
Christians believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of long awaited prophecies of the Jewish religion. Central to this believe is the claim that Jesus was both God and man, and that he was, and is still today, the Savior of the world. Christians believe that accepting or rejecting Jesus, and his message of love and redemption, can affect our eternal destiny. These are bold claims. Are they true? What could it mean for our lives if they are?
Historical evidence supports the idea that Jesus is in fact a real historical person. It also supports the fact that he claimed to be not only a man, but God as well. It is hard to ignore someone who claims to be God – the same God who created the universe! This is the type of claim which prompts a response. People today who claim to be God, are usually labeled as being insane. The people of Jesus’ time responded to Jesus’ claim to be God by hanging him on a cross to die as a criminal!
If in fact Jesus made this claim, logic would suggest only three possibilities:
- Liar: If he was not God, and he knew it, this would make him a liar.
- Lunatic: If he was not God, but he thought he was, then he was crazy.
- Lord: If Jesus was God as he claimed, then his rightful place is as our Lord.
This simple logic compels us to make a decision to either accept or reject the person of Jesus Christ and his gospel (message of good news). Once one understands the bold claims made by Jesus, it is difficult to maintain that Jesus was merely a good person or a good prophet; but not what he claimed to be. Jesus claimed to be both God and man. He claimed to be the savior of the world. Either what he claimed is true or it isn’t. If we believe that his claims are true, then we would be foolish not to follow him!
One of the evidences for the validity of the message of Jesus Christ is that he did something no one has ever done before or since. He rose from the dead! Never before in the history of mankind have there been such signs and wonders are were done by Jesus Christ in a public manner for all to see. The blind, deaf and lame were healed and the dead raised to life!
The gospel message (or “good news”), which Jesus Christ gave to his followers, is also referred to as the “deposit of faith.†For if this message came from Jesus, who was God, and is so important that it can affect our eternal destiny, it must be safeguarded for future generations. This is why it is called the “deposit of faith.”
But how did Jesus give this message to his followers and how has it been handed down to us 2000 years later? What he did in fact, was to commission his closest followers (called Apostles) to spread this message to all mankind. He gave them his divine authority and power and established them as the leaders of his church. He gave them a divine promise to be with them and to protect his church. They acted in his name in leading his church and they worked miracles just as he had.
In order to fufill the command of Christ to carefully preserve his message and spread it to everyone, the Apostles established other men in the authority of Christ (which had been given to them) to lead his church. These were called bishops and are the successors of the Apostles.
The the followers of Christ became know as Christians and after a short period of time this church began to be referred to as the “catholic” (which means “universal”) Church. All Christians belonged to what has now became known as the Catholic Church.
Catholics believe that the Catholic Church, which has an unbroken line of succession back to the first Apostles of Christ, most fully represents and preserves not only this “deposit of faith†(the teachings of Christ), but also the authority of Christ which he passed on to his Apostles. The Catholic Church also believes however, that all Christians who follow the teachings of Christ and who have been baptized according to the command of Christ, are part of this same Church in a mystical way even if they do not consider themselves to be Catholic. We refer to non Catholic Christians thus as our “separated brothers and sisters.â€
Jesus established his Church when he gave his authority to his Apostles and instructed them to pass on his Gospel message of good news (the deposit of faith) to all mankind. After a few centuries however, the leaders of this Church decided that some of the early writings of the followers of Christ should be collected and given special reverence as a sure standard of this deposit of faith. They could only presume to do this because they were the successors of the Apostles and had thus been given the authority to act in the name and authority of Christ. We call this collection of writings the New Testament of the Bible.
For a brief look at this “core†message of Christianity (the faith of those who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ), click on Answers to Life’s Hard Questions. For a brief explanation of the Catholic Church, click on Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth. For a more comprehensive explanation of Christian beliefs in an organized format, refer to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. To read the inspired Word of God which remains the solid norm for all Christians, turn to the Holy Bible. To read the story of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible, read the Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.
How to Deal with Life’s Difficult Questions
Irregardless of our religious beliefs or the degree of our faith, when faced with difficulties and disappointments in life, we can find ourselves asking questions like:
What is wrong with this world?!
What does God want from me anyway?!
Life can be hard at times. For an encouraging answer of hope, in the light of the basic Gospel message of the Christian faith, click on “Answers to Hard Questions” below.
Answers to Life’s Hard Questions
Responding to Jesus’ Invitation
(Picture taken from interior of our church.)
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.” (Revelations 3:20)
No matter what our situation, Jesus wants to come into our hearts in a deeper way. He wants to share with us his love and forgiveness. He wants to heal us and make us whole – to give us new hope.
Let us respond to Jesus who knows our every need, who loves us, and who knocks at the door of our heart.
(Please take a moment to quiet your mind and heart and to pray this prayer.)
Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for loving me.
Please come now and make me whole.
I haven’t always lived as I should.
I’ve offended You and hurt others, and I am truly sorry for this.
Forgive me Jesus of all my sins.
my Savior, my Lord and my God.
I give my whole life now to you.
I will no longer run from your love,
and I promise to cooperate with the grace of Your Spirit,
so as to live each day in faith, hope & love.
Thank You Father for sending Your Son Jesus,
so that I might return to You,
and live in Your love forever!
What does it Mean to Know and Follow Jesus?
(Picture is from interior of church)
Many people today consider themselves to be Christian, or “A Good Catholic,” even though they have never committed their whole lives to Christ. By this they mean that they believe in God, are basically good people, are considerate of others and would never intentionally hurt anyone. They may even go to Church every Sunday and generally try to live by what they consider to be “Christian Principles.” They have perhaps committed parts of their lives to following Christ, but have never come to the point of giving their whole lives to Christ. Christ has a place in their lives, perhaps an important place; but not the central place.
Our Pope however speaks of a “total adherence to Jesus Christ” where we commit our “whole lives to Jesus” as the initial phase of conversion to the Christian Life. He admits that for many Catholics today, this “initial evangelization has often not taken place”. Pope John Paul II explains that:
“A certain number of children baptized in infancy come for catechesis in the parish without receiving any other initiation into the faith and still without any explicit personal attachment to Jesus Christ; they only have the capacity to believe placed within them by baptism and the presence of the Holy Spirit; and opposition is quickly created by the prejudices of their non-Christian family background or of the positivist spirit of their education.
“Again, many… who have been baptized and been given a systematic catechesis and the sacraments still remain hesitant for a long time about committing their whole lives to Jesus Christ, even though they do not actually try to avoid religious instruction… [A]dults are not safe from temptations to doubt or to abandon their faith, especially as a result of their unbelieving surroundings.” -Catechesi Tradendae, On Catechesis in Our Time, Pope John Paul II, par. 19
Are you still perhaps on the “Threshold of Faith”
Our Pope explains that: “being a Christian means saying “yes” to Jesus Christ“. “[T]his “yes” has two levels: it consists in surrendering to the word of God and relying on it, but it also means, at a later stage, endeavoring to know better and better the profound meaning of this word.” (Ibid, par. 20)
Being a follower of Jesus Christ means:
1) “(accepting) by faith the person of Jesus Christ as the one Lord and… (giving) him complete adherence by sincere conversion of heart” (Ibid)
2) “(endeavoring) to know better this Jesus to whom one has entrusted himself: (and) to know his “mystery” (Ibid)
The problem is that many of us have never explicitly taken this first step! We want to follow Jesus without giving ourselves completely to him! We want to call him Lord of the Universe, but not Lord of every area of our lives. In order to experience the true fruit of Christian life, we must commit and entrust our entire life to Christ. We must surrender to the Word of God!
If we find that our faith has no great meaning in our lives, then perhaps we should examine if we have committed our whole life to Christ. This is the beginning or the “threshold” of faith. When Catholics renew their baptismal vows at the Easter Vigil, it is meant to be a heartfelt renewal of this total commitment to Christ. It is however, easy to fall away from this commitment.
If you have fallen away from your commitment to Christ, or if perhaps you have never really committed your whole life to Christ in the way that the Pope describes, why not take a moment right now to respond to Jesus with your whole heart? Tell him that you love him and place him first in you life. You will not be disappointed!
If you are Catholic, the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a wonderful way to celebrate a renewed commitment to Christ and to experience healing and grace for your soul!
Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth: A brief overview of the Roman Catholic Church.
(Picture taken from interior of church.)
What the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church say about Baptism:
How Can I become Catholic?
(What is RCIA?)
RCIA stands for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It is the normal means today by which one can become Catholic.
- Those never baptized as Christians.
- Non-Catholics, baptized in another Christian tradition, who wish to become Catholic.
- Baptized Catholics who have not received further Catholic training, nor made their first Holy Communion.
Here is a general article on RCIA and How to Become Catholic
For information about what one needs to do to become Catholic in our parish (or to complete an interupted Catholic upbringing) read:
What are Sacraments?
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
“…All the sacraments are sacred links uniting the faithful with one another and binding them to Jesus Christ…” Paragraph 950
“The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.” Paragraph 1131
Learn more about the Sacraments by clicking on one of these links:
A Brief Explanation of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church
What the Bible says about the 7 Sacraments
Quotes From the Early Fathers of the Church on the Sacraments
A sacramental could be something as simple as blessing yourself with holy water, making the sign of the cross before grace or praying with a blessed rosary. Through the use of sacramentals we unite our lives more fully to the prayer of the Church. They serve as a means to consecrate the ordinary experiences of our lives to God.
Sacramentals are different than Sacraments but relate to the Sacraments:
“Holy Mother Church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy.” Catechism of the Catholic Church par. 1667
For more about Sacramentals and Blessed Objects (including how to dispose of blessed objects), click on the article below:
“…[T]he reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For ‘by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.’” From the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1285
In the case of those coming into Full Communion with the Catholic Church, the sacrament is celebrated at the time of Reception.
In the case of children, the age for reception of the Sacrament is determined by the local bishop.
Catholics are required to be confirmed before their marriage.
Jesus told his Apostles “…you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Sama’ria and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
- What is the “Baptism in the Holy Spirit”?
If we receive the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and are “sealed” with the Holy Spirit in Confirmation (which completes our baptism), what do Charismatics and Pentecostals mean when they speak of being “Baptized in the Holy Spirit”?
The following is an explanation of this experience and how it relates to the grace we receive in the sacraments:
What is the Baptism in the H.S.?
Confession: Also called The Sacrament of Reconciliation or Pennance.
(photo of stained glass window in our church)
2) Returning to Confession
How (and why) to Return to Confession
3) An Examination of Conscience and “How to go to Confession” Guide
A Confession Guide for Adults
A Confession Guide for Children
4)What are Indulgences?
Indulgences, Treasures of the Catholic Church
Annointing of the Sick
The Sacrament of The Anointing of the Sick, formerly called Extreme Unction, is celebrated by a priest whenever a person is seriously ill.
Great care and concern should be taken to see that those of the faithful whose health is seriously impaired by sickness or old age receive this sacrament.
A person need not be in immediate danger of death to receive this Sacrament. Whenever a sick person feels that he/she needs this Sacrament, please contact a priest.
The sacrament may be repeated if the sick person recovers after being anointed and then falls ill or if the illness persists over time or the person’s condition becomes more serious. A sick person may be anointed before surgery whenever a serious illness is the reason for the surgery. Elderly people may be anointed if they become notably weakened even though no serious illness is present.
When should someone receive the Anointing of the Sick?
Can our Suffering be Redemptive?
The Mystery of Redemptive Suffering
How (and why) to Return to The Mass
I’ve been away from the Church… How do I return?
A brief Explanation of the Sacrament of Matrimony
Couple images God’s life and love in marriage
“The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws. . . . God himself is the author of marriage.” The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. ‘The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life.’” Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1603
The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the Church. Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God, is a nuptial mystery; it is so to speak the nuptial bath, which precedes the wedding feast, the Eucharist. Christian marriage in its turn becomes an efficacious sign, the sacrament of the covenant of Christ and the Church. Since it signifies and communicates grace, marriage between baptized persons is a true sacrament of the New Covenant.. The love of the spouses requires, of its very nature, the unity and indissolubility of the spouses’ community of persons, which embraces their entire life: “so they are no longer two, but one flesh. “They “are called to grow continually in their communion through day-to-day fidelity to their marriage promise of total mutual self-giving.”… (Catechism, par.s 1617 & 1644)
The Annulment Process
The first step is normally to consult with one’s parish priest or the person designated by him who is trained to handle annulments. If you are not currently affiliated with a parish, and/or do not know a priest that you feel comfortable approaching, you may feel free to contact our parish (937) 228-8785.
The Catholic Family Life Office for the Dayton Area could also refer you to someone who could help you: (937) 223-4075
What is The Catholic Teaching on Annulment?
Preparing for Fewer Priests
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati: Planning for Fewer Priests
One Bishop’s veiwpoint on the “Crisis in Vocations”
Pope John Paul II’s Address on
The Main Reasons Behind Vocations to the Priesthood
Pope JP II on Vocations Shortage
Why Must Priests be Celibate?
It is important to recognize that there are two very different questions here:
1) Why can’t married men become priests? and,
2) Why can’t existing priests marry?
While the Church has sometimes allowed married men to become priests, it has never allowed priests to marry (and continue practicing their priesthood). Even the Eastern Orthodox churches who allow married priests have never allowed them to marry after they were ordained a priest.
Our current diaconate program allows married men to become permanent deacons. But if they are unmarried or if their spouse dies, they are not permitted to marry after they have been ordained a permanent deacon.
So while the Church might (and on rare occaission does) allow married men to become priests, some say that it is unlikely that the Church would ever allow existing priests to marry and then still continue functioning as a priest (retain their priestly faculties).
In any case, it may help to look at why the Catholic Church has retained the discipline of celibacy for the priesthood.
Here is a link that has more resources which explain why the Church maintains the discipline of celibacy for the priesthood:
The following short article may also offer some insights:
Can Women be Ordained?
1) A reveiw of this topic by Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk
2) A review of Catholic teaching on this topic
3) A short explanation why the Church teaches that women can not be ordained
Why Can’t Women be Priests? by Dale O’Leary
4) An official response from the Vatican and the Pope as to whether or not this teaching is infallible