It all started way back early in November when I talked to this non-Catholic friend of mine. We talked about certain Christian beliefs and some realities in life. I was absolutely embarrassed that time because she was completely over me as she made most of the talking- not because I was shy. She handed me this booklet with some Christian stuffs there, and began talking –or lecturing I should say. For about 20-30 minutes, she talked, talked, and talked some more and I could do nothing but nod and pretended as if I understood everything she said. I was so amazed when she even prayed right in front of me. She also made me recite a prayer. Then she said, “Do you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” Then I immediately said, “Of course I do,” as if I had other words to say. I was puzzled what she meant when she asked me that. I didn’t bother to ask. Never did I encounter a person with this kind of attitude towards faith. She wasn’t even intimidated speaking at me though it was our first time to chat- amazing!

Then I asked her to talk about their religion. It was my first time to speak to a non-Catholic. Then she talked. It was only then that I learned that they have certain beliefs that contradict ours (Catholics). After all why would you call it “non-Catholic” for nothing? Anyway, I couldn’t in any way prove her wrong nor argue with her because I don’t know what to say. But that does not mean that I was confused of the truth or what. It’s just that I found it difficult to explain it to her. Being confused and having difficulty is totally different. I never did see this coming. Then suddenly, I began to realize the importance of reading the scriptures, of reading the Bible. From then, I read books pertaining Catholicism and Christianity. The more I read, the more I felt that I know nothing. Then I made it a point that the next time we talk again, I would be able to say something and explain to her the Catholic Faith. And I will do most of the talking.

Then the next day I’ve read this book entitled, “Rome Sweet Home.” It was awesome, probably the best! It was a story about a Protestant couple’s conversion towards Catholicism. I tell you, the moment you start reading this book, you wouldn’t even dare to stop. It presented a lot of common misunderstood beliefs of the Catholic Church- Mary being the Mother of God, intercession of the saints, statues and other sacred images, Catholics belief in Purgatory, and other misunderstood doctrines. It did answer all my questions. I also read some other Catholic books as well, as I was very determined to seek for further explanations. I didn’t know that my encounter with her would change my life. It was fun, (I wish I would be able to talk to her again) though we had different views regarding some Christian doctrines.

“Mary is not the Mother of God. She is the Mother of Jesus!” she said. This heartbreaking statement of her made me sad, as if the whole world abandoned me. But isn’t Jesus God? If Mary is the Mother of Jesus then therefore she must also be the Mother of God, simple logic! It’s as if disproving one of the central Christian truths- the Holy Trinity, God being the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Though these three natures of Christ function distinctly, they all have equal power, majesty, and divinity. Mary being the Mother of God simply tells us that Jesus is really God!

Protestants oppose the treatment that Catholics give to Mary- as if she is being “worshiped”. Hey, Catholics do not worship Mary because God alone, and only God, is to be worshiped. Instead, we venerate her. We give her full honor and respect for her immediate response of accepting God’s will- to be the Mother of God. Mary symbolizes true discipleship and with that she deserves to be honored. Catholics believe the so-called “Hierarchy of Truths”. The truth about Mary, being the Mother of God, is not of equal importance as the central Christian truths- the Holy Trinity, divinity of Christ, redemption. Mary is not even the source of Jesus’ divinity. God used Mary as an instrument for His plan of salvation, to bear Jesus, the Son of Man that will redeem mankind! One common mistake of some Catholics is treating Mary equal to God. Marian truths aren’t even in the top ten Christian truths. For example in the New Testament, in all of the letters attributed to Paul, Mary is mentioned only once, and not even by name (Gal 4:4). However, truths about Mary should also be treated significantly. It shouldn’t be treated lightly. Mary plays an important role in God’s plan of salvation. And in fact, the fourth commandment tells us to honor our father and mother. And to tell you, there is no man out there who loves Mary more than her Son, Jesus Christ Himself! As Christians, we should imitate the way Jesus Christ honors Our Mother Mary.

Mary also deserves to be honored because she was conceived without original sin. She was completely sinless. She was assumed, through the grace of God, into Heaven before and up to her last day on earth. A Protestant would argue, “If she was sinless, does that mean she never needed Christ for redemption?” The answer is no. Mary was redeemed by Jesus Christ even before she was conceived. That’s why she was freed from the stain of sin. But this Immaculate Conception is more of a statement to Jesus than to Mary. This proves that Jesus Christ is so holy that God Himself even prepared a Mother for Him who was freed from sin and is pure holy.

One way of honoring Mary is by praying the Holy Rosary, which is regarded by some Protestant denominations as a useless repetitive prayer. “Doesn’t God hear our prayers that we need to repeat it over and over again?” a Protestant would argue. How foolish! We take this example. We always say “I love you Mommy” or “I love you Daddy” a number of times. And never did we hear them say “Stop saying that. We know you love us.” It’s a more remarkable feeling whenever your son or daughter says “I love you, I love you” in repetition than hearing them say it only once, right? That’s how a repetitive prayer goes. “Hail Mary full of grace…” is just the same as saying “I love you Mary, Mother of God!” Same goes to other repetitive prayers.

Protestants would contest Catholics’ religious use of statues and other sacred images. “…idols…” she said. These images are used in religious contexts and are only visual representations in order for us to remember the one being depicted and to commemorate certain important people and events. In the Old Testament, during a plague, God even instructed Moses to construct a statue of serpent that whoever gets bitten and looks at the statue would recover (Numbers 21:4-9). We do keep photographs of our family or friends in our wallets right? In this case, we love the person/s illustrated in the picture and not the picture itself! The same is true when Catholics pray and meditate in front of statues and when we keep sacred images. In short, God forbids the worship of images but not the making of images!

She’s a Born Again Christian by the way. I remember I asked her why they call it Born Again, I forgot what she said. I’ll probably ask her again the next time we talk. Scott Hahn, one of the coauthors of Rome Sweet Home was asked by a friend of his, “Have you been born again?” “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” Then Scott replied, “Yes, indeed I have. But that’s not why I’m born again. I’m born again because of what Christ did through the Holy Spirit when I was baptized.” I wish I said this to her before. Scott says that accepting Christ as our personal Lord and Savior is a great thing to do. But that does not mean of being “born again.” In the New Testament, Jesus did not mean of ‘Accepting Him as our personal Lord and Savior’ when he spoke to Nicodemus, the Pharisee. “Amen, amen I say to you, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again of Water and Spirit (Jn 3:5).” Surely in this statement, Jesus meant the sacrament of baptism. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved (Mk 16:16).” I just hope you understood what I’m trying to say here. Did you?

“…only heaven and earth…” she said. What about the third stage- Purgatory? Catholics believe that the existence of Purgatory reveals God’s everlasting mercy for those who sought to live his life with God and died with some extent of sin. No man can enter the gates of Heaven even with the slightest stain of sin. For God is ultimately holy, no “man” can enter His Kingdom because man in its sense is a sinner. However Purgatory is not a second chance for those who betrayed Him, for those who are not willing to repent, for those who lived their lives recklessly without knowing God and without living by His words. God therefore is a “consuming fire” (Heb 12:29) that burns away sins to bring us closer to Him. Sin does not exist in Heaven that is why we who are repentant sinners would be purified along with pain and suffering. Nonetheless, in terms of suffering, Purgatory is no different from Hell. It’s just that in Purgatory, one is purified on his way to God but in Hell, one is eternally separated from God and will suffer and die forever in burning sulfur.

Take a peek at James 2:14-26, about Faith and Works- very awe-inspiring! “Man is justified not only by Faith, but also of good works.” Let me quote everything so I wouldn’t miss a single point. “Indeed someone might say, ‘You have faith and I have works’. Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you with my works.” Faith actually does nothing in practice. It’s as if one is hoping to be promoted at work without doing anything good or anything in progress. One’s works reflect one’s faith, just as Abraham manifested his great faith in God when he offered his first [and only] son Isaac to the altar. See what good works can do? “Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in Heaven” (Mt 7:21). How, indeed, can you show your faith without works, right? Faith and Works always come hand in hand. Faith with no work is dead- absolutely dead!

“…we can confess our sins directly to God…” she said. First of all, God gave Peter and later to the rest of the apostles the authority to forgive sins. “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven” (Mt 16:18-19). In John’s gospel, Jesus appeared to the apostles in Easter and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn 20:22-23). Indeed asking forgiveness directly to God is a great thing to do, but Jesus has a special reason. He wants to retain the “incarnation” principle and relate to mankind. He wants the apostles to continue His’ ministry during His stay on earth. When God uses priests, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to forgive sins, we experience God’s mercy through that person. And that is how Christ’s human nature is manifested through the sacrament of reconciliation.

Protestants most of the time embarrass Catholics. They have the Bible with them and spend time reading the scriptures. They have time to spread and share what they believe in. And with the case of some (or maybe most) Catholics, some are found asleep, staying idle, and doing nothing, for they believe that they have the truth and can defend their faith easily from interrogation. I advise Catholics to read the Bible, and reflect with the scriptures so that one would know what he believes and why he believes in it- so that one would be able to explain the Catholic faith to non-believers. How can one teach somebody to play the guitar without a guitar? However, being Catholics does not grant one salvation. It’s never a free ticket to Heaven. What is a Catholic like if he just stays in the corner and does nothing? For once Jesus Christ said, “Strive to enter by the narrow door for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Lk 13:24). Jesus clearly states that only few- very few will be saved! Most of the Christians lack understanding. Because of this, Satan takes advantage and divides us Christians into different denominations, confuses us, and invites us to fight each other. I pray for the unity of the Christians- for we believe and worship one Father, one Savior, and one Spirit. God fathers us into one Church. But now we are divided, separated- hitting each other. Our Father would be very sad if His children are not in good terms.

My encounter with this friend of mine was one of the best things that ever happened to my life. Never did I expect this would happen. It triggered me to go deep into my Catholic faith. There are still so many other misunderstood beliefs of the Catholic Church but allow me to present only these, for I still could not fully explain the other truths. May God send forth the power of the Holy Spirit to guide me as I rediscover my Catholic faith; for once it was lost and now found! God bless us all!