Question of the day: If god loves us so much why does he go through all these games and shenanigans? Why did he send his son to jump through hoops and die?

Question: If god loves us so much why does he go through all these games and shenanigans? Why did he send his son to jump through hoops and die?

Answer: The Fall of Man unwittingly transferred dominion over the whole earth from Adam to Satan, with mankind ending up hopelessly and perpetually enslaved to Satan, sin and death.

So, mere forgiveness would have changed nothing.
The only hope for mankind
was divine intervention of a very particular type,
something only God was capable of accomplishing, for us.

Once redeemed from perpetual slavery to Satan, sin and death by Jesus Christ, it would be supremely foolish and wasteful for man to be voluntarily compromised by sin, once again. That’s why God holds us to high standards, yet mercifully forgives, so long as we remain faithful (to him) and are truly repentant.

God typically accomplishes this for us by means of his grace and through our full, faithful and consistent participation in all the work, worship, sacraments and devotions of his Holy Catholic Church.

Asked and answered on Yahoo!Answers. Edited for clarity and content.

Question of the day: Do you have to attend Christian meetings to be a Christian?

Question: Do you have to attend Christian meetings to be a Christian?

Answer: Christians have an obligation to publicly worship God, together; something which is typically done on Sundays.

Catholic Christians take that to a much higher level, worshiping God in spirit and in truth, body, blood, soul and divinity, every hour of every day, every day of every year, in virtually every nation on earth.

So, yes.

Asked and answered today on Yahoo!Answers. Edited for clarity and content. 

A question about the Holy Eucharist

Question: To any normal person, this sounds very much like the script of a gruesome horror film. The whole idea of “eating Jesus’ body” and “drinking his blood” is grotesque in the extreme. What do you believers have to say about this?

Answer: The Jews were required to eat the flesh of the Passover Lamb, ever since God liberated them from slavery, in Egypt.

Christians have been required to eat the risen and glorified flesh and blood of Jesus Christ – the true, Lamb of God – ever since he liberated all of mankind from perpetual slavery to Satan, sin and death by his atoning sacrifice on the cross, at Calvary and his subsequent, glorious resurrection from the dead.

This is an essential part of a uniquely powerful Eucharistic Celebration/Commemoration (known as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass) where we Christians joyfully, thankfully and powerfully receive the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ (known as “The Real Presence”) under the more palatable and aesthetically pleasing auspices of ordinary bread and wine.

To put it even more simply:
This is merely one more extraordinary and awesome example
of God’s total self-giving for our salvation.

For those in the know, who possess at least a modicum of true faith, this is historically and traditionally consistent, logical, rational and supernaturally nourishing.

For others, it remains a total mystery and a scandal.

Asked and answered today on Yahoo!Answers. Edited for clarity and content.

A technical question about the Bible, ransom and redemption, in Jesus Christ

Question: Does the bible describe the purchase of righteousness as a purchase like money?

Answer: Not exactly. The Bible describes the salvific act of Jesus Christ as that of a Kinsman Redeemer purchasing his enslaved relatives/family members from bondage: Not by paying a ransom to the slave holder, who illicitly obtained control over the slave(s) through malice and larceny (and hence, deserves nothing) but by selflessly offering himself as a propitiatory sacrifice to a just and righteous God, in order obtain justice for all and righteousness, for many.

As answered today on Yahoo!Answers (edited for clarity and content)

Today’s question: What you do not like about the Catholics?

Question: What you do not like about the Catholics?

Answer: Catholics are the spoiled, rich kids of the Christian faith, on whom God has always lavished his inestimable love, sanctifying grace, awesome power and tender mercies.

God provides Catholics with a wide array of extraordinarily effective, spiritual “tools” with which Catholics might act to secure their eternal salvation, in Jesus Christ.

Jesus also never fails to appear on every altar, in every Catholic Church, all around the world, every hour of every day, every day of every year, at Holy Mass, so that Catholics might (through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, while giving great honor and glory to God the Father) faithfully renew the divine promise of Jesus’ one time, once for all, perfect and atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.

It’s just not fair! Not fair, I tell you!

Asked and answered today on Yahoo!Answers. (Slightly edited for clarity and content.)

Today’s question: So when the mythical Jesus guy …

Question: So when the mythical Jesus guy was on Earth in the story, did he scare the Roman Empire enough to crush it or did the Roman Empire crush him?

Answer: Shortly after Jesus Christ rose again from the dead, he founded a universal Church, for the purpose of our salvation. Jesus promised that the Gates of Hell (which is the Power of Death) would never prevail against his Church and that it (the Church) would last, until the end of time.

By about the 4th century, the Church had successfully converted the entire Roman Empire to Christ. When the Roman Empire eventually declined and fell, the Church went on to rebuild all of modern western civilization, in the image of Heaven.

The Church (known today as Roman Catholic) constitutes the longest reigning, continuous government on Earth and has managed to continue to honor its divine mandate in spite of the many generations of corrupt people who have worked to subvert it, control it, overthrow it, and plunder its great treasures for themselves.

It’s really no wonder, since that “mythical Jesus guy” you asked about is still alive, is still the head of his universal Church and is still God, Almighty.

Asked and answered today on Yahoo!Answers, Society and Culture, Religion and Spirituality 

A moment of grace: A universal affirmation of faith.

Responding to a rather complicated, multi-point,
on-line question about my Catholic faith,
a rather simple, all encompassing answer came to mind.
I share it with you, here:

God answers my prayers. God provides for all my needs.
God speaks to me when I need to hear from him.
God blesses me beyond measure.
God gives me hope.
For my part, I do my best to know, love and serve God,
every way I can, and to give him the thanks,
praise and worship that he is due.