Confessions Of An Idol Worshiper

[Katholikos]

[color=red]"I was raised a good portion of my childhood in Mexico, and right across the street from my grandmother's house is a catholic church...and man...I don't think I ever heard Christ mentioned once the number of times I went.[/color]

[color=red]it was ALL the virgen of guadlupe and juan diego and this idol and the other...NEVER CHRIST...ever." Quote from Lumberjack[/color]

[b][i]Idol (Webster)[/i][/b]
[i]1. an image or other material object representing a diety and worshipped as such. 2. (in the Bible) a diety other than God.
[/i]

I confess that one of my favorite things about being a Catholic is that I can freely worship idols. I no longer have to sneak around and worship a hunk of painted plaster, but I can do it openly. It means a lot to me to be able to worship the God who created the universe in some "concrete" way (pun intended). The Incarnation means that God Himself came to earth, and those clever Catholics have captured Him inside chunks of plaster, and I'm lucky enough to have one of them. So He can't get away. He's always right there when I need Him. I spend hours on my knees worshipping and lighting candles and burning incense to my beloved idol.

There's a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe in my bedroom with my prie-dieu (kneeling bench) in front of it, and I can kneel there and worship that piece of cardboard and paint to my heart's content. I know that piece of paper is the saint herself, and don't you try to tell me any different. And Catholics worship saints, don'tchaknow? I know Catholics claim they don't worship idols or saints or the Blessed Virgin, but come on y'all, 'fess up, admit it.

Bye now. I've gotta get back to my idols. A person can never have too many idols or worship them too much.


(Thanks to former Evangelical, Mark Shea, author of [i]By What Authority[/i], for the idea.)



JMJ, Likos

[Brother Adam]

The only true valid problem would lie in the Eucharist. If Christ is not present in the Eucharist, then, and only then, can Protestants claim Catholics idol worshippers.

[dUSt]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='May 21 2004, 04:34 PM'] The only true valid problem would lie in the Eucharist. If Christ is not present in the Eucharist, then, and only then, can Protestants claim Catholics idol worshippers. [/quote]
I don't know about that. For that to be true the Catholic would have to believe that they are worshipping a piece of bread, wouldn't they? The Catholic would have to believe that they were worshipping something other than the One True God.

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Katholikos' date='May 21 2004, 06:11 PM'] [color=red]"I was raised a good portion of my childhood in Mexico, and right across the street from my grandmother's house is a catholic church...and man...I don't think I ever heard Christ mentioned once the number of times I went.[/color]

[color=red]it was ALL the virgen of guadlupe and juan diego and this idol and the other...NEVER CHRIST...ever." Quote from Lumberjack[/color]

[b][i]Idol (Webster)[/i][/b]
[i]1. an image or other material object representing a diety and worshipped as such. 2. (in the Bible) a diety other than God.
[/i]

I confess that one of my favorite things about being a Catholic is that I can freely worship idols. I no longer have to sneak around and worship a hunk of painted plaster, but I can do it openly. It means a lot to me to be able to worship the God who created the universe in some "concrete" way (pun intended). The Incarnation means that God Himself came to earth, and those clever Catholics have captured Him inside chunks of plaster, and I'm lucky enough to have one of them. So He can't get away. He's always right there when I need Him. I spend hours on my knees worshipping and lighting candles and burning incense to my beloved idol.

There's a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe in my bedroom with my prie-dieu (kneeling bench) in front of it, and I can kneel there and worship that piece of cardboard and paint to my heart's content. I know that piece of paper is the saint herself, and don't you try to tell me any different. And Catholics worship saints, don'tchaknow? I know Catholics claim they don't worship idols or saints or the Blessed Virgin, but come on y'all, 'fess up, admit it.

Bye now. I've gotta get back to my idols. A person can never have too many idols or worship them too much.


(Thanks to former Evangelical, Mark Shea, author of [i]By What Authority[/i], for the idea.)



JMJ, Likos [/quote]
That was an amazing thread

[phatcatholic]

lumberjack..............my invitation still stands if you would like a private debate on the saints, statues, and relics.

just let me know bro,
phatcatholic

[TheMissionary]

I was reading that quote from lumberjack and it struck me wasn't he listening to the prayers of the Mass and to the Gospel, because Jesus is Mentioned a lot there, all the time in fact. Hmmmm Just a thought

[mulls]

"I confess to God and Lumberjack"



what about a priest?

[Livin_the_MASS]

God does His work through the priest. So I choose the priest because that is where your sins are forgiven (absolved).

The priest acts in the "Person of Christ" meaning Christ is using the priest to do His work.

LJ can't do that. Just telling God your sorry doesn't do it either. God gave us the Sacraments to be close to us, to become one with us to make it personal.

Pax
Jason

[Katholikos]

[quote name='mulls' date='May 21 2004, 07:42 PM']"I confess to God and Lumberjack"



what about a priest?[/quote]


For anyone guilty of real sins, needing absolution, the normative way Christ arranged for his followers to receive forgiveness is through the Sacrament of Penance (John 20:19-23). However, that does not limit God's forgiveness. God can forgive apart from the Sacrament, if the penitent is sincere, asks for forgiveness, and if He should so choose. But the sure and certain way -- the promised way -- is through Confession (Penance) when Christ speaks through His priest and says, "I absolve you. . ."

"If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Highly recommended:

[i]Lord, Have Mercy, The Healing Power of Confession,[/i] by Scott Hahn, Ph.D.
(2003)

[i]Swear to God, The Promise and Power of the Sacraments[/i], by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (2004) - just released May 18.

As you may know, Dr. Hahn was formerly a Presbyterian bible scholar, theologian, and pastor.

JMJ Likos

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='dUSt' date='May 21 2004, 05:53 PM'] I don't know about that. For that to be true the Catholic would have to believe that they are worshipping a piece of bread, wouldn't they? The Catholic would have to believe that they were worshipping something other than the One True God. [/quote]
If Christ was not present in the Eucharist you would be worshipping "nothing". Because Christ isn't there. So you'd be trying to worship God where he is not. And venerating a piece of bread would be silly.

[Livin_the_MASS]

[quote][b]Likos says:[/b]
Thanks to former Evangelical, Mark Shea,[/quote]

I got a book by him called [b]"Making Senses Out of Scripture. . . Reading the Bible as the First Christans Did."[/b] By: Mark P. Shea

Awesome book, I won't talk about it here though it would get to far off subject.

God Bless
Jason

[the lumberjack]

awesome thread?

pretty sarcastic and mean if you ask me.

but hey, whatever.

I can dish it, and I can take it.

quack quack pal, freakin quack.

[KennC]

[quote]And venerating a piece of bread would be silly.[/quote]
"This is my body", ... says the Lord as practical joker.

Peace of Christ, Ken

[PedroX]

Lumberjack,

C'mom was referring to the thread that was on Mark Shea's blog. It was a venting thread where Catholics were sarcastic about all the misperceptions Protestants have about us. Don't take it personally, it wasn't meant to be.

peace...

[P3chrmd]

I get so sick and tired when some protestants just KNOW...I mean they don't think they know...they really KNOW! that we catholics worship statues and art! OH PLEASE GIVE ME A BREAK! Sure we are very big on art and statues becasue they remind us of Christ and the life that we should be living! I suppose on those terms we could also say that protestants worship music...raising their hands during the songs...getting on their knees! Well...what would they say to that if i made such a claim...OH NO WE DON'T THATS CRAZY TALK! Well we catholics say the same thing when you claim that we worship statues...NEWS FLASH: Statues and Music are both ART...one is just abstract and the other is concrete! NO WORSHIP TO ANY ARTWORK! So protestants get off of your high horse!

In Christ through Mary,
Brandon V.