The "What you always wanted to ask a priest but were afraid to" thread

[yourmaryness]

What do you have to do to become a priest?

 

[Anti Existance]

How many good deeds do you do on a daily basis, what was the greatest deed you did for God, and where are you going to with your life?

 

[Father Rick]

Guys....

I apologize that I don't get into this thread as often as I should. I really don't mean to seem like I'm ignoring ya'll.

I'll get it caught up again...

 

[Father Rick]

Have you ever struggled with jealousy? If so, how did you handle it?

I have a little bit. Personally, jealousy just isn't something I've had to deal with that much. Don't know why-- other than the fact that we're all tempted in different ways and I guess that's just not one of my ways so much.

 

[Father Rick]

This may sound like a silly question but.....Does a priest do confession? Does he go before another priest?

Not a silly question at all.

And the answer is yes... and yes...

Even the pope goes to confession.

Confession is one of those areas that is greatly misunderstood by many Protestants. Most mistakenly think that in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (the real name) that someone is confessing their sins to the priest. In fact, one is confessing to God in the presence of a priest. The priest is there, as a representative of Christ, ( the technical term is "in persona Christi") to pronounce absolution-- not of his own power, but rather pronouncing the forgiveness that comes from Christ. As scripture says, "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" and again "confess your sins one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed".

 

[Father Rick]

What is the difference between an episcopalian priest and a catholic priest?

The two are actually very similar.

In fact, if you ask most Anglicans/Episcopalians (the Episcopal Church is the official branch of the Anglican Communion in the United States) they would tell you that they ARE Catholic, just not Roman Catholic.

The Anglican Church separated from the RCC at about the same time as the Protestant Reformation. However, unlike the Protestants, Anglicans maintained the 7 sacraments of the Church,etc.

The RCC denies the validity of Anglican apostolic succession en masse, saying that the AC's broke it when they changed the wording in the Edwardian missal-- and thereby denies the validity of Anglican sacraments. Anglicans, however, insist that there is no break in succession and their sacraments are still fully valid. To complicate this, the RCC recognizes the validity of Old Catholic apostolic succession, and the OC's are in full communion with the AC's-- and have co-consecrated bishops with the AC for many years... so that any give AC bishop/priest very well may have OC lines of apostolic succession. Therefore, even though the RCC rejects AC lines of succession en masse, the lines of a specific priests succession would have to be examined to determine if the RC recognizes the validity of that individual priest.

Sound complicated? It can get confusing.

Add to this mix the Eastern Orthodox and several others who have also maintained apostolic succession and the result is that about 80% of the world's Christians belong to some form of "catholic" church-- defined as one that has maintained apostolic succession and the 7 sacraments of the church.

 

[Father Rick]

What do you have to do to become a priest?

The answer varies a bit depending on what jurisdiction one is part of.

The basics are 1) education and 2) spiritual formation.

Most priests will have at least a Master's of Divinity as far as education goes. If not an M.Div. specifically, they will have had a number of years of seminary of some kind.

As to spiritual formation, again that varies depending on the jurisdiction-- but one will have had enough discipleship/mentorship to learn the "hands on" of ministry that he needs-- as well as the spiritual disciplines (prayer,etc.) needed to maintain one's own spiritual life while serving in that ministry capacity.

Once one has completed study/training, then one will be ordained... normally first as a deacon for at least a year, then as a priest.

 

[Father Rick]

How many good deeds do you do on a daily basis, what was the greatest deed you did for God, and where are you going to with your life?

As to good deeds on a daily basis, I really don't keep track at all. I just do my best to serve God and to serve those around me. Each day is completely different. There are some days when I can't say I necessarily did any "good deeds"-- I may have just gone and played golf with some friends. There are other days, when I spend the entire day helping someone in need. It just depends.

As to the greatest deed I did for God-- again, I have no idea. To me, it's just about trying to be obedient to Him- not about some big thing you do. Many times it's the little things that make a difference in someone's life-- so what I may think is a big thing and what God may think is a big thing could be totally different.

As to where I'm going in my life-- that's a really good question. At the moment, I'm in eastern Tennessee and hope to build a prayer/retreat center here in this area (I recently moved up here from Florida, where I was for the past 20 years). Long term, my goal is to train/develop other clergy so they can go out to many different countries spreading the gospel.

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

Just want to say it bes goodly seeing you made Chaplain here again, Fr. Rick.

Godspeed.

 

[Father Rick]

Just want to say it bes goodly seeing you made Chaplain here again, Fr. Rick.

Godspeed.

Thanks!

 

[none the wiser]

Hi This thread was linked for someone else, but I have something I have wanted to ask for awhile.

It seems the requirements to be a Catholic are harder on new converts, but that may be a misinterpretation...how much can one disagree with as far as the church goes and still be Catholic? As in, could a new convert disagree with the birth control being forbidden, agree with everything else, and still convert to Catholicism and take communion?

 

[Catholic Wife]

No, but a friend did give me a CD that had techno/trance and opera blended together. It was surprisingly good.

Can you tell me the name of the CD? It sounds really interesting.