Please Save My Soul!

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In my ever quest to find spiritual enlightenment and truth I have had the opportunity, however good or bad does not matter, to meet a variety of individuals who are more than happy to convert me to their religion, even if I’m not interested. Of these individuals it’s the non-Catholics Christians and Pagans doing most of the pleading to save my apparently damned soul. The argument most often heard from non-Catholic Christians is that Catholics are virtually Pagans so are going to hell. From Pagans I hear, “You’re already pretty close to Pagan being a Catholic, you might as well be Pagan and not fight your true calling.” Obviously there are quite a few people that are getting their doctrines and belief structures very mixed up. That is the reasoning behind this section. It is to explain exactly what I, as a Catholic, believe; what I as a human believe; and the interesting confrontations I have had with others.

Me the Catholic:
These are my personal statements of belief.

I believe in God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity
I believe that God created all physical and non-physical existence.
I believe God sent his only son to be born, crucified, and resurrected on the third day.
I believe Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.
I believe Jesus Christ died for our sins as the ultimate sacrifice to God.
I believe in Holy Communion, that it is practiced at the request of Jesus Christ, Himself, and that the bread & wine are miraculously transformed into the body and blood of Christ.
I believe in the Saints and Angels and ask for their help, wisdom, and guidance. I do not worship them.
I believe in the intercession of Mary on my behalf, and believe that she should be revered as the Mother of Christ, but not worshiped.
I believe in Heaven as a reward for the righteous, Hell as a punishment for the wicked, and Purgatory as a realm of purification before Heaven for those not ready for Heaven, but do not deserve Hell.
I believe in the Bible as the inspired Word of God.
I believe in the receiving of the Holy Sacraments; Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction (Anointing of the Sick), Holy Orders, and Matrimony.

Me the Human:
These are my personal statements of belief.

I believe that a person does not have to be Catholic to get into Heaven.
I believe that my chosen religion is not right for everyone, and each of us must find our own religious and/or spiritual paths.
I believe in the existence of magic but only as a transfer of energy from one form to another (and do not practice it).
I believe that some people have been given divine gifts from God sometimes referred to as a sixth sense.
I believe salvation is not obtained by words alone, that faith includes works and generally living your life well.
I believe a reverence of nature is important because God created all of nature and so is in all of nature.

Please Save My Soul (Christian Helping):

At Work

A couple of years back I worked with an individual who claimed to be a non-denominational Christian and born-again. He loved to bring his religion into work with screensavers, desktops, and even the Bible itself. He would sing Gospel songs while he did his work, and talk about nothing but Christ. He also felt the need to witness at work and to save me, more than anyone, because I was a confused Catholic who had been blinded by the Church of whom and what Jesus really was. We got into arguments on quite a few occasions, but one in particular stands out. One day he asked me what I believed in. I told him I believed in one God and that Jesus was His son and sent to Earth, born of the Virgin Mary, and died for our sins. That Jesus was my salvation and savior. My co-worker then told me that the devil believed the exact same thing. I then told him that statement applied to him too.

I also had a co-worker, whom I became friends with, who was Agnostic. He once asked me why I was Catholic. I told him I would rather spend my life worshipping the God I believed to exist and find out at the end there’s no such thing, then spend my entire life not believing and then find out in the end He really did. He said that was the most honest answer he had ever heard.

I once worked for an individual who was an ex-Catholic, now a Baptist. We would get into tiffs about what was said in the Bible quite regularly. Apparently other Christians think Catholics don’t read the Bible. Then one day he told me he felt bad for his family because they were not saved because they were Catholic and he knew he wouldn’t see them in Heaven when they died. I told him that they felt the same way about him. He didn’t say much after that.

On the Street

An Evangelist once asked me on the street if I knew where I was going when I died. I said no, and that she didn’t know where she was going either unless she claimed to be God. She kind of took pause to this and then noticed the drunken bunch I was with. She then asked me what did I think Jesus would think of the people with whom I was keeping company. I then told her that He would probably think of them the same way He did about the prostitutes and tax collectors He hung out with. She walked away.

I once spent Mardi Gras day on Bourbon St in New Orleans (a mistake I will never make again). As I made my way down the street I saw a small group of individuals holding signs saying “Jesus Saves” & “You are all sinners” & things like that. They were chanting something, but then the chanting stopped as a female on one of the balconies started performing oral sex on a male in front of everyone. Soon there was a roar of hooping & hollering from the crowd, and as I looked at the righteous individuals damning the rest of us to hell, I noticed how enthralled and pleased they were with the spectacle before us. I just rolled my eyes and walked away.

Please Save My Soul (Pagan Helping):

I have a friend that is Pagan and insists she would never try to convert anyone. Every time the subject of my religious beliefs comes up though, it goes something like this. “Why don’t you just be a Pagan? You’re Pagan already, you just don’t know it. You’re more Pagan then most Pagans I know.” I just tell her maybe her true calling is a Catholic.

I also hear from Pagans on a regular basis “How can you be Catholic? The Catholic Church use to burn witches at the stake.” My reply is “Pagans uses to feed Christians to the lions.”

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According to most religions, if you don't follow that religion you are going to hell or something of the like. I guess we're all just going to each other's hell.