Our Lady of Clearwater - Misconceptions about Catholics

Catholic Misconceptions

Here I've compiled a list of various misconceptions, misunderstandings, and lies that are widely spread by non-Catholics.

This is simply not true that Catholics worship Mary. The fact is we don't worship anybody but God and God alone. Mary is our role model and our guide, and being perfectly humble, she desires no worship herself, but only to bring us to her Divine Son, and she's all about doing God's will. We give Honor and Venerate the Blessed Virgin as the greatest Saint, but that doesn't mean we worship her. Venerate does not equal Worship, it simply means to Honor, just like we honor our father and mother — but that doesn't mean we worship them. The Japanese bow to each as a sign of respect, so too we bow before her to honor her. When the Japanese bow to each other, does that mean they're worshiping each other? Of course not. Regardless the Blessed Virgin has a unique role as the Mother of God and Christians have honored her with this title for the past 2000 years. Which this is Biblical as spoken by Elizabeth: "Who am I, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" And Elizabeth spoke these words under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and when the Holy Spirit speaks through someone, the words are eternally true! But let's look at some other facts about Our Lady, most of which come straight from the Bible:

Mary is the Mother of God, as mentioned above.
God himself chose Mary as the vessel through which he entered the World. Even today, with these Messages from Our Lord, Christ chose to send these Messages through the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Clearwater. Just as Christ honors his Mother, so too he wants us to honor her — as God himself honors her.
The Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation honored Mary: "Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee." If the Angel spoke these words and honored Mary, how can it not be true? Angels are incapable of lying and speak words that are eternally true. If the Angel honored Mary, so should we.
Jesus Christ performed his first miracle at Mary's request, at the Wedding of Cana. It shows her intercessory power, and when the Blessed Virgin approaches Our Savior with a request, he can't deny her. God can't break his own Commandments and he honors his Father and Mother and grants their requests. And when Christ referred to the Blessed Virgin as "Woman" he was referring to her as the Woman in Genesis that would crush the Serpent's head, and the Woman spoken of in Revelation Chapter 12. Christ was not being disrespectful to his Mother, otherwise he would be breaking his own Commandment!
At the Greeting of Mary to Elizabeth, John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb, leaped for joy at the Greeting of Mary: "And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit...For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy." - Luke 1:41-44
When Christ was suffering in excruciating pain on the Cross, he gave the Blessed Virgin as a spiritual mother to all of us. Again, he addressed her as "Woman" to emphasize her as the Woman from Genesis/Revelation, and then as "Mother." "Woman, behold thy son; Son, behold thy Mother." They Apostles didn't write down things they didn't think were important.
Christ frequently speaks of how he is the Bridegroom of our souls. When we meet our significant other's parents, aren't we respectful to them and honor them? They gave our significant other Life. If my significant other was disrespectful to my Mother, I would want nothing to do with them! And Christ loves his Mother with a deep love that we as humans can't even begin to understand. And many Protestants speak badly and blaspheme the Blessed Virgin as if they're doing Christ a favor, and speak as if Christ is the sovereign King of Heaven, which he technically is, but Christ doesn't rule as a dictator/tyrant and considers the Saints' opinions before making decisions. Didn't God listen to Abraham before judging Sodom and Gomorrah? Of course he did.
Kingdoms, whether in ancient Israel or in Heaven, have hierarchies. And in ancient Israel, the Queen of the Kingdom was the King's mother. Christ didn't change that. And just like in ancient Israel, subjects would address the King with the title "Lord", the Queen was honored with title: "Lady." This is why we address the Blessed Virgin with the title "Our Lady."
Mary, being "Full of Grace" means that she was sinless. We can't receive Grace until we have our sins forgiven I.e. God dwelling within us. But she was in a perpetual state of Grace and since she was free from sin: "The Lord was with her."
And lastly, Catholics don't view the Blessed Virgin and Christ as equal, or the Blessed Virgin as greater than Christ. While Our Blessed Mother is the greatest of all Saints, she is still a created creature, while Jesus Christ is God.

Again, this is simply not true. We don't worship Statues themselves but are simply representations that remind of us our Role models and Holy people. Just like people keep pictures of their family in their home, so too we keep pictures of those we love in our Churches. And if the Command of "No Graven Images" were to be taken 100% literally, no images of any kind would be allowed. Images are fine, as long as they are not worshipped. And if Statues were not allowed, why did God command Statues of Angels to be built on the Ark of the Covenant? The Jews didn't worship those Statues of Angels; Statues are fine as long as they are not worshipped directly. And with the Golden Calf with the giving of the 10 Commandments, the Israelites were worshipping the Golden Calf directly and they were punished. This is a far cry form Catholic Statues which are simply representations and are never worshipped or prayed to directly. As matter of fact, Catholics take a stricter view of Idols than many Protestant Christians: Idols are *anything* we put as more important than God: "I am the Lord thy God and you shall have no other Gods before me." And Idols can be celebrities, money, material goods, or statues. But Statues aren't idolatrous in themselves. And nowhere in the Bible, are the Commandments numbered: There's actually 14 Commandments but various religions group them together differently.

We Catholics agree with this statement but this verse is speaking of God the Father; there is no Mediator between God the Father and Man other than Christ; which Christ said this himself: "No one comes to the Father but by me." And the definition of "Mediator" is someone who resolves conflict between two parties. Who resolves conflict (removes sin) between Man and God the Father? Only Christ alone. And many Protestants often confuse the term "Mediator" with "Intercessor." Like our Blessed Mother the Virgin Mary intercedes for us, not mediates. We simply ask her to pray for us. Like many of us, before we have taken a difficult test or before we went to the hospital for an operation, we asked someone to pray for us. This is intercession.

Jesus Christ is our central to our faith, and we come together every Sunday to worship him. We have Images of him in every one of our Churches, and we read his Gospel every week. To say Catholics aren't Christians, is like saying the iPhone isn't a Smartphone or the Macintosh isn't a GUI Personal Computer — when they were the original ones. Likewise, the Catholic Church is the original Christian Church. The definition of a Christian is someone who professes Christ as God the Son and believes in the Holy Trinity, which Catholics do. To say Catholics aren't Christians, is ridiculous.

There's a popular saying: "There is no salvation outside the Church." I.e. the Catholic Church. And a lot of Protestant denominations take this saying as Catholics believe everybody is doomed to Hell except Catholics. So this statement is both true *and* not true. It's not true in the sense that God can grant Mercy to anyone he wishes and can infuse his Grace into anyone he wishes. And it's not up to us to judge anyone. So the statement is not true in that God can grant Mercy to anyone. But the statement is true in the sense that being a good Catholic, you're going to be doing everything required for Salvation. Which the Catholic Church puts a heavy emphasis on Inward Holiness, and Loving God Loving one another, and eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the true Paschal Lamb, helping out the poor/sick/imprisoned, avoiding sin at all costs, and living a life of Penance and Sacrifice. Remember what Christ said: "Woe to those who laugh now, for they shall weep"? But doesn't God want us to be joyful? Yes he does, but not living lives of Pleasure 100% of the time. And being a good Catholic, you're going to be sacrificing and doing penance. "He who does not carry his Cross is not worthy of me." So he who is not willing to suffer, is not worthy of Christ. But see how being a good Catholic, one is doing everything that Christ said is required for Salvation. But that doesn't mean everyone else is going to Hell. If a person is doing God's will to the best of their knowledge/ability, they have a high probability of making it into Heaven: "Not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the Will of my Father in Heaven." He who *does*, I.e. Actions, not just those who simply believe.

The Catholic Church is the single largest non-governmental charitable organization in the world. The Catholic Church runs over 5000 hospitals around the world, and thousands of additional homeless shelters, schools, and universities. Regardless, the Catholic Church is full of priceless architecture and paintings that are invaluable and are non-liquid. We can't just sell St. Peter's Basilica for instance. And the value from these buildings and architecture is valuable to the Catholic community that benefits everybody in the community. Mass is modeled after Heavenly worship, and having beautiful buildings and architecture reminds us of the beauty of Heaven.

Purgatory is Biblical, but they won't be found in Protestant Bibles because Martin Luther and the fathers of the Protestant Reformation, removed those Books from the Bible where Purgatory are mentioned. For the first 1500 years of Christianity, every Christian was Catholic (or Orthodox), and Purgatory was and is widely accepted. Martin Luther didn't agree with those Books so he removed them from the Bible. And the Catholic Church is the Church that decided which Books went into the Bible in 382 A.D. at the Council of Rome. So if you accept the Bible as the inerrant Word of God (which Christ himself is the Word of God), you have accept the Authority of the Catholic Church. Martin Luther denounced the Catholic Church's Authority of which Books went into the Bible, while giving himself the same Authority. If you look at what the early Church fathers wrote down, they're asking for intercessionary prayers from Mary/Saints, and wrote about Purgatory.

Divination the seeking of forbidden knowledge, and is not the same as praying to the Saints in Heaven. We're not seeking any forbidden knowledge by simply praying. Just like people ask others to pray for them, we ask the Saints to pray for us. Regardless we're all aware of John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Did you catch that? "Eternal Life." So Christians who did the Will of the Father are still alive. And if we look at Matthew 17:1-3:

"And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Eli'jah, talking with him."

So we can see that although Elijah hadn't died yet, Moses clearly had, but he was still alive. Not only that, but in the Bible we're commanded to pray for one another, as mentioned in Colossians 4:3-4:

"and pray for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear, as I ought to speak."

And Christ also commanded we love our enemies, and "pray for those who persecute you." And praying for the intercession of those in Heaven is something Christians/Catholics have done for the past 2000 years. Now check out Mark 12:24-27:

"Jesus said to them, "Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong."

So you can see our God is not a God of the dead, but a God of the Living. And if we look at Revelation 5:8:

"When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."

And Revelation 8:3:

"Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne."

So you can see Prayers of the Saints is indeed Biblical. Examples of Divination would be Ouija boards, Tarot cards, or hallucinogenic drugs which can open doorways to demons becoming attached to us and/or our environment.

Upside down Crosses are actually Crosses of St. Peter; reminding us of how the first Church leader was executed — being crucified on a Cross upside down. Regardless Christ himself prophesied that just like how the High Priests accused Christ of belonging to the devil, so too would the World say his Church belongs to the devil in Matthew 10:24:

"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master; it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Be-el'zebul, how much more will they malign those of his household."

So saying the Catholic Church is Satanic, is actually fulfilling Christ's prophecy, that the World would call his Church, Satanic. This is how we can identify Christ's true Church, it's the one that the World says is Satanic. And Christ prophesied that if the World hates him, so too would the World hate his followers. And Catholics/Catholic Church is the most hated Church in the world today — helping to fulfill yet another prophecy. And people who are full of hate, do not belong to Christ, because Christ loved his enemies. I.e. Christ loved those who hated him and he didn't hate anybody. While many Protestant pastors (but not all) are full of hate towards the Catholic Church. It shows they are the Wolves in Sheep's Clothing that Christ warned us about, as they don't have inward holiness nor purity of heart. While myself being a Cradle Catholic, I've never seen a Catholic Priest badmouth anybody or show hatred towards anybody: "You shall know them by their fruits." Is your Church leader spreading fruits of hatred, or is he spreading fruits of love?

Protestants are correct that Christ said in Matthew 23:9-10:

And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ.

The issue with this is if we take this verse literally, we can't even call our own biological Father, Father. Which would be breaking the Commandment of 'Honor thy father and Mother.' It's clear Christ was saying "Call no man God the Father for you have one God the Father in Heaven." And call no man "Christ" for there is only one Christ. This follows the same logic as the Protestant commandment "No Graven Images", because if that commandment were to be taken literally, no Images of any kind whatsoever would be allowed. Images are fine, as long as they are not worshipped. And in the Bible the early Church fathers/Apostles called their superior, "Father." This tradition goes back 2000 years, and St. Paul calls himself "father" many times in the Bible, as we see in 1 Corinthians 4:15:

For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

Us Catholics agree with Protestants that Grace is a free gift that is not earned. But even a free gift such as Halloween candy, we still have to go and get it. Or if we get a coupon for a free sandwich, we still have to go and get it. But Protestants take it to one extreme (saved by faith alone), and then accuse Catholics of the opposite extreme (saved by works, but this is a lie/misconception, Catholics don't believe that), when Salvation is actually right in the middle. Salvation is not given for free, nor is it earned, but it's a gift for Obedient children. And it's gift for people who keep the Commandments, carry their crosses, keep clean thoughts, love God and love one another, do the will of God the Father, and do good works of love (helping the poor/sick/imprisoned); so good works of love is just a part of being Obedient. So Salvation is not given for free, but neither is it earned, but is an Inheritance. The person who receives their inheritance did nothing to earn the inheritance, but neither is it given for free: A parent is free and completely in their right to pull the inheritance to a bad and disobedient child. Matter of fact with the story of Christ and the young rich man, the young man asks Christ what he must *do* to *inherit* eternal life in Mark 10:17-22:

"As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions."

The Gospel of Matthew 19:16-22 contains the same event, but clarifies Christ said "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." And Christ was perfect, so he did not have any possessions, but we should all strive for holiness and perfection.

And if you look at verses in the Bible that speak against Works and the context they're in, they are speaking against Works of the Jewish Law, like circumcision and not cutting one's hair. And they are speaking of the 613 Jewish laws, most of which Christ abolished (but not all). If you look at Hasidic Jews for example, they have all kinds of rules they have to follow that they think will lead to Salvation; this is what the Apostles were speaking about. If the Apostles are speaking of scripture in the Bible, they're usually talking about the Old Testament as the New Testament didn't even exist yet. But many Protestants also have it backwards: First we receive the Grace then we do Good works of Love automatically (because God is dwelling within us), not we do Works of the law and then receive the Grace. Regardless Works of Love are important, and Christ emphasized that he who does the Will of his Father in Heaven will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven — I.e. He who does, not whether we believe or not. Christ further emphasizes this by saying this in Matthew 25:41:

"Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me."

Christ was condemning those to Hell who had no good works of love, not whether they believed or not. Now check out James 2:14:

"What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But some one will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead."

So the simple act of believing, is doing no more than what the Demons do, as even the Demons believe, and they are condemned. Now check out Revelation 20:12:

"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done."

Again, everyone will be judged "according to their works" and "what they had done". We have to remember that Martin Luther added the word "Alone" when it says we are saved by Faith Alone in the Bible. Regardless Faith is important, but it's simply the first step. If we look at Philippians 2:12:

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;"

The words are literally: "Work out your salvation." Not believe by Faith alone and you shall be saved. And personally I fear God, as we all should, and every Catholic Mass we appeal for God's Mercy. Working out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling is well and alive in the Catholic Church.

The reality is that the Catholic Church has one of the lowest rates of child abuse in the world. Statistically, children have a higher probability of being abused by a Teacher than a Catholic Priest. But yes, the Catholic Church has made mistakes but she has both a human nature and divine nature. And in her human nature, especially among sinful men, they are going to make mistakes. But we don't leave Jesus because of Judas. But the Catholic Church does a tremendous amount of good in the world every day: Feeding the homeless, taking care of the sick, and visiting the imprisoned — but none of those good works are publicized.

This is not true and us Catholics view Tradition and Scripture as complementary to each other — not in opposition to each other. Not only that but we are commanded to hold onto Tradition in the Bible, as stated in 2 Thessalonians 2:15:

"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter."

And 2 Thessalonians 3:6:

"Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us."

And 1 Corinthians 11:2:

"I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you."

So not only are we commanded to hold onto Tradition, but the Bible wasn't even compiled until about the year 400. So how can Sola Scriptura be true if the Bible didn't even exist for the first 400 years of Christianity? And Judaism never embraced Sola Scriptura either, they follow the same rules that the Catholic Church follows: Magisterium, Tradition, and Scripture. Because Catholicism is the continuation and fulfillment of Judaism, it follows the same rules. Anything that people view as weird in Catholicism, like Incense, comes from Judaism — the Catholic Church didn't just make all this stuff up. Now check out John 21:25:

"But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."

So this is why we *need* Tradition as it was physically impossible to write everything down. And Christ briefly spoke out against tradition, but he was speaking of tradition that violated the commandments, but that doesn't mean all Tradition is bad. And if the Christian/Catholic Church was corrupt for the first 1500 years (for the first 1500 years all Christians were Catholic), why would God guide the Church into corruption for so long? It shows a lack of Faith in Christ and his inability to sustain his Church. And if Martin Luther could remove books from the Bible that didn't fit his beliefs, what's stopping anybody else from doing the same? And nowhere in the Bible does it state that we should only listen to the Bible — Quite ironic for a doctrine that calls itself "Sola Scriptura."

The Catholic Church runs thousands of schools and universities around the world and has a long tradition of intellectualism. There's far too many Catholic scientists to mention here, but to quote Bishop Robert Barron:

"Do you know about Fr. Giovanni Battista Riccioli, a seventeenth-century Jesuit astronomer and the first person to measure the rate of acceleration of a free-falling body? Do you know about Fr. George Searle, a Paulist priest of the early twentieth century who discovered six galaxies? Do you know about Fr. Benedetto Castelli, a Benedictine monk and scientist of the sixteenth century, who was a very good friend and supporter of Galileo? Do you know about Fr. Francesco Grimaldi, a Jesuit priest who discovered the diffraction of light? Do you know about Fr. George Coyne, a contemporary Jesuit priest and astrophysicist, who for many years ran the Vatican Observatory outside of Tucson, Arizona? Perhaps you know about Fr. Gregor Mendel, the Augustinian monk who virtually invented modern genetics; and about Fr. Teilhard de Chardin, a twentieth century Jesuit priest who wrote extensively on paleontology; and about Fr. Georges Lemaitre, the formulator of the Big Bang theory of cosmic origins."

And this is just a few of many many Catholic Scientists. And as far as Galileo is concerned, the issue was Galileo was passing off his theory of Heliocentrism as fact when it wasn't proven yet. The Catholic Church said : "Hey can you stop teaching this as fact because we're not sure if it's true yet." Which Galileo didn't do. And many Scientists of Galileo's day also rejected his theory of Heliocentrism. Regardless, the Catholic Church is not anti-science as everyone claims.

This is not true that we deify our leadership nor the Pope. The Pope is sinful just like every human, and Papal Infallibility means the Pope can't be in error *only* when teaching a new doctrine of the Church. While it's true the word "Papacy" is not the Bible, neither is the word "Bible" or the word "Trinity." Regardless Jesus Christ himself told St. Peter that he would be the foundation of Christ's Church — the only Church founded by God himself. As stated in Matthew 16:18-19:

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Which the "Rock" refers to both a solid foundation and an unchanging/immovable object — both clearly point to the Catholic Church, as the Church's teachings haven't changed in 2000 years. And there's an unbroken line of Apostolic succession going from the current Pope, all the way to back to St. Peter. St. Peters laid his hands (ordained) St. Linus as second Pope and then St. Anacletus as the third, St. Clement I as the fourth, St. Evaristus as the fifth, St. Alexander the sixth, etc. Many Protestant Christians claim that Christ referred to St. Peter as a "little rock" (the Greek word "Petra") to denigrate the Catholic Church. But the problem with this interpretation is that Christ and the Apostles didn't speak Greek, they spoke Aramaic, which there's only one word for Rock in Aramaic: "Kephas." And it's clear from Acts 1-10 that Christ appointed St. Peter as leader of the Apostles and his Church.

In St. Ignatius of Antoich's Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, in the year 110 A.D., he demanded that Christians do nothing without the Bishop, which us Catholics follow to this day:

"See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid."

Now if we look at 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, we can see St. Paul requested that all Christians be United as One Church, as the Body of Christ is One and Undivided:

"Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power."

Contrary to popular belief, Confession is indeed biblical, and Christ gave his Apostles the power forgive sins. And Confession is the regular way Christ instituted the forgiveness of sins, although God can forgive sins anyway wants, it's the exception and not the rule — Confession is the rule. This is proven in John 20:21-23:

"Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.""

Christ gave the Apostles the power to forgive sins and cast out demons, a power that has been passed down via Laying of Hands (Ordination) via Apostolic succession. And personally I've witnessed both the Priest's power to forgive sins, and I've seen a Priest cast out a Demon. But anyway the next verse not only shows that we need to Confess our sins, but the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective (hence why we ask the Saints to pray for us), in James 5:16:

"Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects."

Matthew 3:6:

"Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River."

1 John 1:9:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

There are many many many verses regarding Confession in the Old Testament, showing Confession goes back thousands of years before Christ, and is one of the Jewish teachings that Christ didn't abolish:

Proverbs 28:13:

"Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

Psalms 32:5:

"Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD." And you forgave the guilt of my sin."

Leviticus 5:5:

"when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned."

Numbers 5:7:

"and must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged."

Daniel 9:20:

"While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill"

Psalms 38:18:

"I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin."

So you can see Confession is indeed Biblical. And on a personal note, before my first Confession, I was suffering from Sleep Paralysis; seeing all kinds of demons every night. And I was suffering from PTSD from the Poltergeist (See Reality of Demons, above). And Confession cured them both. And before my first Confession, I couldn't even pray without all kinds of blasphemous thoughts entering my head. After my first Confession, all those Blasphemous thoughts immediately stopped. I had probably 1000 Demons attached to me and didn't even realize it! And I received the Gift of Sanctifying Grace, which I've never felt so much peace in my life — It was a Supernatural/Divine Peace. Christ referred to this Divine Peace in John 14:27:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

Christ makes it very clear in John 6:55:

"for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink."

Christ makes it clear that his flesh and blood is to be literally eaten — not just a symbol. And in the Old Testament, the Paschal Sacrifice was not complete until the Lamb was eaten. Not only that, but we can see that when Christ said this, many of his disciples turned their back on him, in John 6:60:

"When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?""

So just like 2000 years ago, many people have trouble accepting this teaching today, now if we look at John 6:66:

"After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him."

And many of his disciples that previously followed him rejected him, just like many people reject the Catholic Church today, who upholds this difficult teaching. Now if we look at what St. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29:

"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself."

If the Bread and Wine were just a Symbol, why would drinking and eating it unworthily bring judgment upon oneself? Because the Bread and Wine are not just a symbol, but the actual Blood and Flesh of our Lord. And John 6:48-51:

"I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Messages from Jesus Christ

Catholic Misconceptions