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Hi, Shawn —
Nice to hear from you again.
You said:
They
are considered Christians in the eyes of God.
- How can this be when they don't have all
the sacraments like we do?
Because they have a valid Baptism although there are other non-Catholic Christian denominations that don't have valid baptisms. If a person is born
into a Protestant faith that practices
a valid baptism, they are just as
much a member of the Body of Christ
as you or I am.
The important issue is in what we
believe.
- We believe in all the Teachings
Our Lord left us before His Ascension
and His Church guides us on moral
issues that never existed during
Jesus' time on earth.
- Our Protestant brethren, whether
they have a valid baptism or not,
only believe in a portion of what
Christ, Our Lord wishes them to
believe. Although they only believe
in a subset of all Christ's Teachings,
there are still some areas of
agreement among us. We should
celebrate the teachings we have
in common but never deny those
that we still disagree on.
You are correct, they don't have
all the sacraments but most of them
have the key one that makes them
part of the Body of Christ: valid Baptism.
If your pastor is denying the differences
in beliefs we have between each Church,
that is a major problem.
A Cardinal once said:
The most
ecumenical thing a Catholic can
do, is be unmistakably Catholic.
This is what all priests should be
affirming; he should be working to
give them good reasons to become
Catholic Christians, not implying
that, Where they are is good
enough. It's not!
Jesus didn't found one Church on
St. Peter and his successors, for
nothing. Protestants, whether they
are aware of it or not, believe in
a man-made
Church, whereas Catholics believe
in a Church that the God-Man, Jesus
Christ founded, the Catholic Church in 33 A.D. Matthew 16:13-19; 1 Timothy 3:15
You said:
I thought they
were heretics.
You can't paint with a broad brush.
Someone who has been brought up:
- not knowing any about the Catholic
faith
- with a biased view of what the
Church believes, or
- in a Protestant denomination
with no knowledge of any other
faith
can't be considered a heretic. Someone
who does not know, what and why they
believe, is in error cannot be considered
a heretic. This is why we, as Catholics,
are called to
evangelize the world about Jesus
and the Church He founded on St.
Peter and His successors.
One who purposely avoids looking
into what the Church teaches and
believes, will be culpable for their
inactions at their Particular Judgment.
One who does know and understand
what the Church believes, yet refuses
to follow, can be considered a heretic.
There are many people in the world
today who have an array of faith
backgrounds, upbringings, and journeys.
Even during Jesus' era, I'm sure
there were practicing Jews, lukewarm
Jews, Jews
In Name Only, and those that never
knew about Judaism, like the pagans.
You, Sean, are called to give good
reasons to everyone to become Catholic.
If you need help, check out these
pages:
Mike
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