Explain What It Means To Be A Catholic Essay

The main question asked is “What are the beliefs about God and the human condition that hold together and shape the worldwide Catholic Church?”; . Four main topics are defined in this chapter, them being The Bible and its authority, The tripersonal God, Human beings: created, sinful and redeemed, and Christ as fulfilment. Gerald O’Collins first explains when Catholics express their faith in God, the God they are talking about is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All three identify as the father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit. It is also described how Christians including Catholics maintained monotheism that they inherited from Jewish monotheism, and distinguished between Father and Son and the Holy Spirit. The next subject covers how man and woman are created, sin and major Reformers. It states that “God created man and woman in the divine image and likeness”, as well as humans may not “take one step towards the justice of God sight”; , but must be “awakened and assisted by divine grace”. The last subject in the chapter is about the fulfillment of having Christ in a person’s life. This chapter by far have been the most engrossing and has the most information on Catholicism itself, giving you an insight into the

The Catholic Church is the oldest major religion in the Western world. Littered with peace, love, and humility, along with violence, turmoil, and controversy this institution has seen, heard, led, and had influence over the majority of everything and everybody that there was in the last two millennia. This has included ordinary people, Kings, Queens, Generals, Nobleman, Royalty, and everything in between, and has endured since the beginning of the modern era, Anno Domini. They great spiritual and monetary machine created a powerful reign over the entire world’s Catholics, and remains so to this day. For the purpose of background for my visit to a Catholic Church, being Presbyterian, I did historical research before I visited. I

Having very traditional beliefs, the Catholic Church uses numerous different terms and practices that are not familiar with non-Catholics. Inside of the Discourse community, Catholics have set terms that are used widely to discuss different matters. For instances, the term “priest” is used to describe what others would typically call a “pastor.” In addition to the terms used, there are also rituals that are based on their traditional beliefs. The most drastic of them would be the Eucharist. This tradition is referred to by Catholics as “Holy Communion” and is referred to by protestants as “The Lord’s Supper.” Meg Kane described the differences by saying, “Catholics actually believe that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ. It has much more meaning behind it than other communion services.” (Kane). Drastically differing from other religions, Catholics believe that their priest was granted the ability by God to turn the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Attending my Catholic school is a gift as well as a privilege and I have gratitude for the opportunity. Because I see my school as a gift, I have academic goals and put 100% effort into them. An academic goal that I have is to work hard for superior grades while continuing to become proficient with educational skills such as writing, reading, oral and written communication, science, and mathematics. Additionally, I plan to continue to get to know myself and to learn about possible careers that might interest me. A career that I am currently interested in involves the fields of dentistry and surgery. Plus at my school, we learn about personal responsibility and personal initiative in our morals and behaviors. Another goal is that I want to

While the Church is not truly the source of teachings and the like, it is an assembly or group journeying together to heaven. The Church is me, it is you, it is a collection every Catholic. All of us are members of the Church. The Church is taught authentically and authoritatively on faith and morality, whether it is personal morality and social morality. Also, the Church exercises its authority through many avenues, such as encyclicals, church laws, and Canon Law. In Canon Law, the Church creates dictates for good order in the society of the Church. "...this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith." (CCC 86) The only reason the Church is able to teach on these things is through the Magisterium, which has the gifts of indefectibility and infallibility, which prevent it from teaching incorrectly due to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and that it will forever be a beacon of guidance for all the members of the

Well I grew up in a Catholic family with a grandmother who was very spiritual, and even had her own room with hundreds of saints, and she would pray to them for different requests. I never really understood church or many of the Bible stories. The church services were so discipline to me, and felt like a punishment because of the standing and kneeling all through out the service. I moved away with my mother and siblings and we ended up staying at this homeless shelter that was ran by a non denominational church, so part of our agreement to stay was to attend this church. I found this church to be open to anyone and everyone, and during our time their I got baptized. I enjoyed this church. From that time I never really considered myself Catholic, because I could never

As time constantly presses forward and the earth continues to revolve, the world will never stop progressing and adapting to better suit the needs of mankind. The evolution of religion has greatly enhanced the quality of life for humanity by providing individuals with a strong belief system that is now the foundation of many peoples’ core values. One universal religion that has undergone extensive amounts of reform is Christianity. In particular, the Catholic church is well-known for the development of their famous ecumenical council meetings that help determine the future of the church. Numerous Councils have been conducted throughout the course of history, but none more significant than the most recent, the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II. The Catholic church was operating as if it was still the medieval period and desperately needed to be modernized. As a result, every Roman Catholic Church official was gathered to meet and devise a plan for how to introduce the church to the modern world. Consequently, the following will reveal the Second Vatican Council and the ramifications of the agenda, history and theology evolution, significant texts, and new developments.

The Saturday night party was the place to be. Anyone who is anyone was there. John’s curfew is midnight and its 12:05. Mark had been doing quite a lot of drinking and he was John’s ride home. John questioned whether or not he wanted to get in the car with Mark, but thought about how mad his parents were going to be. He was already five minutes late. Saying to himself “Just this one time,” he decided to get in the car. John never made it home that night. Mark had rolled the car off the bridge one mile away from his house. John lost his life all because he was afraid of getting grounded. There are many situations similar to John’s, and in a lot of them, no one survives. Because of all the death and tragedy as a result of driving under the

Confirmation in the Catholic Church Confirmation is a Catholic sacrament of mature Christian commitment and a deepening of baptismal gifts. Like Baptism and Eucharist, it is a Sacrament of Initiation for Catholics and a Sacrament of faith in God's fidelity to us Confirmation is the moment when two things are confirmed. The candidate confirms his/her faith in Christ and takes full responsibility for that faith and for membership of the community of faith, which we call the "church". God, through the Bishop, confirms God's claim on the candidate's life.

The roles of people in the church were redefined, as the Pope established himself clearly as a man of action, and not unreachable ‘God like’ figure. He did not submit to his power and instead worked together and worked for the people to make worshipping Christ more meaningful. The sacraments were developed to involve the congregation and improve the expression of Christian beliefs as the church was modernized and clericalism was removed.

Ever since I was little, I have felt that Catholic education has been the best fit for me. Catholic education is important to me because I am able to practice my faith and get an individualized education that will help prepare me for college and for real life. At school, praying and worshiping with my friends has always been natural to me, as we feel more like a family than just classmates. With a faith filled, family based education that teaches me not only academic lessons, but life lessons, I know I will be adequately prepared to give back, especially give back to the Giver of all life.

The most important part of growing up involves the lasting impacts your environment has made in shaping who you are. It also helps define what kind of person you will grow up to be one day. Each person’s social environment has an impact on the way they perceive themselves. Yet someone environment contributes tremendously in who they are. Growing up in a hard-working Catholic family, excluding the fact that we’ve moved around a little bit, my environment has helped me become stronger and more independent. Yet, I have learned that people, most of the time, not only get influenced by their environment, but they also become one with that environment. After consistently going to church on Sundays, I have developed important Christian values that have structured my identity now. I have also learned that life isn’t always good to you, but only you

The meaning of the word Catholic is universal. The church is catholic in two senses. The first is that Christ is present in her so she possesses the fullness of Christ and has received from him the fullness of the means of salvation. The second is Christ sent her on a mission to gather all people into the people of God. The church feels connected to all people because all are made in the image and likeness of God. Despite this, the perfect union with God and all people will not take place till the end of time. Churches are completely and fully Catholic when they are in communion with the Church of Rome, meaning they recognize the Pope’s authority as the visible foundation for the unity of all members of the church and church leaders. The Seven Sacraments are also a huge part of what makes the church Catholic as they touch the totality of a persons life and Catholic journey from Baptism in the beginning as a sacrament of initiation to Annointing of the Sick at the

Catholics are a Christian sect and believe in one God. Like other Christians, they believe that Jesus is God's Son which goes hand-in-hand with the belief in the Holy Trinity. God the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit

Catholics go through a cycle of events in their spiritual lives known as the seven sacraments. Although all Catholics can not partake in each sacrament, the majority receive the Holy Eucharist and are baptized as children. The sacraments are the rites of passage in the Catholic faith. Some of the sacraments require proper preparation and knowledge of the one’s faith. The seven sacraments include Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick, and the Holy Orders. Faith ties the people of God together. We are united through our belief in faith. I see the sacraments as the acceptance of faith in God and of our faith. With all the diversity that exists among God’s people,