As Catholics, we need to gain some perspective of where we are coming from and a more clear comprehension of our beliefs.
Below are Five Fundamental belief every Catholic Should Know:
– We believe in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist
We strongly believe that Jesus is physically present in the bread and wine we partake in every Mass. I believe this one fact describes so much about the Catholic faith that is misunderstood by non-Catholics. This is why we have to go to mass every week, this is why our churches are ornate and our vessels are made of precious metals, This is why we cannot be satisfied in any other church — we cannot leave Jesus behind. This belief in the physical presence of Jesus started with the first Christians.
– We believe in Heaven
We strongly believe that we have discovered the path that gives us the most aid in going to heaven through the sacraments Jesus left behind (communion, marriage, reconciliation/confession, confirmation, and so on) but we also don’t think the doors are only open to us. Is God that will decide.
– We believe in the power of the Pope and the Church of Rome
This is because that is what early Christians believed in. We are following the instances of what the apostles explained to the early Christians. Great article on this topic. I highly suggest doing this research and reading early Christian documents for yourself.
– Confession is not the art of getting rid of all your wrongdoings without repentance just to go back and repeat the same thing again.
I recall watching a movie of a young man that went for confession every week to confess how often he fornicated, only to go back and repeat the same act. That’s not the goal and your sins are not forgiven that way. The idea is to go confess your sins with a contrite heart, receive forgiveness and graces to keep from repeating those sins again from Jesus and to try earnestly not to commit those sins in the future.
– We have a better understanding of the Bible through Mass
If you’re consistent in going to mass daily at least for a period of three years, you would hear readings from nearly every book in the Bible. Is that not wonderful? In fact, Catholicism taught me a main fact about the Bible that makes it so much more engaging: it’s called typology and it implies that the Old Testament foreshadows the events of the New Testament and the New Testament accomplishes the Old. It’s fascinating to see the parallels, such as between Abraham and Jesus, Adam and Jesus, Mary and the Ark of the Covenant, Eve and Mary and so on.
