Faith (Do I.........?)

Questions to ask yourself:

Do I make an honest effort to grow in the virtue of faith by daily mental prayer on the mysteries of the faith, as revealed in the life of Jesus Christ?

Do I make at least a short act of faith everyday?

Do I pray daily for an increase in faith?

Do I ever tempt God by relying on my own strength to cope with the trials in my life?

Do I unnecessarily read or listen to those who oppose or belittle what I know are truths of my Catholic Faith?

What have I done today to externally profess my faith?

Have I allowed human respect to keep me from giving expression to my faith?

Do I defend my faith, prudently and charitably, when someone says something contrary to what I know is to be believed?

Have I helped someone overcome a difficulty against the faith?

from Catholic Prayer Book

Making The Sign Of The Cross

I have noticed that some people make the sign of the cross twice and/or end it by kissing their fingers or thumb. I’ve even seen people who cross from right to left at the part of “Holy Ghost”. Well I’ve always been a little curious as to why so I did a little digging, and this is what I came up with. Oh, please feel free to add comments or corrections if necessary.

I actually didn’t find much about making the sign of the cross twice, except on Orthodox websites. When venerating icons (statues/pictures) the sign of the cross is made twice, then kiss the icon (never on the face) and make the sign again. I also found something that states that the sign is made twice while entering the Church to give reverence.

Ending the sign of the cross by kissing your thumb is primarily an Italian or Hispanic practice. At the end of the sign of the cross a kiss is given to the thumb nail, as if a kiss was given to the nails on the cross. Nothing I found mentioned fingers.

No information was found on crossing from right to left so if anyone knows about it please share it for all to see.

None of the information I found came from any official documents, but from surfing the web and reading other peoples comments, so please don’t hesitate to correct or add any useful information.

Why?

Just recently, someone asked the question "why do bad things happen to innocent people?". I decided to do some exploring on the web for the best answer to the question. Now, this may not be "the best" answer, but I liked it enough to share.

Please click here.

And please, let me know what you think!

A Question For You!!!

Christ:

"I am the living bread that has come down from Heaven. If anyone eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is mu flesh for the life of the world."

"Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you... For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed... He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides in me, and I in him..."

My question is this:

Can you help me to explain the TRUE PRESENCE of Christ like you're speaking to an 8 year old? And how do you argue the point with someone who believes that Christ was speaking symbolically and not literally?

Please help me answer this question!

I'm hoping that someone can help me to give the best answer to the this question. And in the most simple way possible.

Why do Catholics confess their sins to priests? What makes them think that priests can absolve them of the guilt of their sins? Why don't they confess their sins directly to God as Protestants do?

How did this get started?

How did the story of Storks delivering babies to their parents start? I'm trying to find out but I'm not having much luck. Please help!

Here are a couple little facts about Storks!

*There are about 100,000 White Storks in Poland, so no wonder it's their national bird. Equally unsurprisingly, when the cold winter arrives in Eastern Europe, the storks fly down to Africa for an extended winter holiday.

*When storks' eggs hatch, the young are called goslings rather than chicks.

I'd really like to hear more facts if anyone has any.

What happened to Letter's?

Why don't people write letters to each other anymore? I love receiving letters in the mail--now that hasn't happened since high school, but I always enjoyed them. Letters make people smile and light up! Letters are a great way to stay in touch, especially since schedules often conflict and talking on the phone isn't always the convenient option. Even with emails, you lose the personal connection. We should all write a letter to someone once a week. Someone who can use a smile! :)

Do Catholics read the Bible???

Why do Protestant's believe that Catholics don't read the Bible, and that they're "encouraged" not to??? I know the Bible was chained down, but doesn't it make sense that something so valued and treasured would need to be. It's not like they had the option of xeroxing hundreds of copies to pass around. In order for the Bible to be accessible to everyone, it needed to be kept in such a way that no one could steel it.


A writing from Pope Leo XIII:

Let all...understand how deeply the sacred books should be esteemed, and with what eagerness and reverence they should approach this great arsenal of heavenly arms...

As St. Jerome says, "To be ignorant of the Scripture is not to know Christ."... "A man who is well grounded in the testimonies of the Scripture is the bulwark of the Church."

So, other than the claim that the Church kept the Bible under lock and key so that no one may read it, how did they come up with that?