Praying to Mary or any other Saint is not disobedient to Jesus. The Saints do not **replace** Jesus, they enhance our efforts to be true to Jesus and assist us in discerning what is God's Will for us. As I mentioned many times before, I am not obligated as a Catholic to pray to the Saints but I am encouraged to take advantage of their offers of assistance. They know God better than I do so why would I ignore such a powerful offer to get closer to God?

As for historical evidence that Peter was in Rome, there is precious little historical evidence for a lot of things. That doesn't mean that they didn't happen. There were no big new agencies back then so much of what happened was not recorded.

If we are so obviously wrong, can you please show me the error of my ways? What is it that I am missing in my comprehension of Jesus that causes me and all Catholics to turn to Saints, etc ( we don't pray to Allah)? You have made a number of damning statemnets over the last while about the Catholic Church, but I don't think I have seen anything substantive. Anyone can bad mouth something. What I am interested in is where I am wrong so I can fix it.

Don't you find your answers rather restrictive? I believe that God wants **everyone** to join Him in Heaven. No, we are not all going to make it - many are called, few are chosen. Otherwise, how can you explain the fact that *many* are called but *few* are chosen. If it is the elect that are called, shouldn't they *all* be chosen?

#4 When was this arranged?

Of course people are free to interpret that Bible themselves. I don't know why I would *want* to ignore such a knowledgable resource as Priests and the Pope, but I can. There is one caveate, though: If my interpretation is at odds with the Church's, I may have to find another Church. But, that is true with most religions.

Jesus said "48 But he said in reply to the one who told him, "Who
is my mother? Who are my brothers?"
49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother."" (Matt 12:48-50). Again, we have an action verb here: does. Jesus never says that we can rest on our laurels and still get into Heaven. He says that we must perform Works and He gives us a few examples of those Works.

How do you get all that from those Passags? Jesus said "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.". He said nothing about the elect or the Church or Brethern of the Lord or Justification by Faith or anything else. He said what He said - if you have done any of those things for the least of us, you have done it to Him. Done, John, *done*. There are things that we must do as Christians in order to be welcomed into Heaven. Many times in Sacred Scriptures we are told to help one another. If Salvation is by Faith alone, why would we be told to do that?

These are not my words. They are the words of our Lord and Saviour. If He says that we need Works, then we need Works. It is not my place to ask Him why, it is just to do His Will.

The confusion, as far as I can see, is in the definition of "works". It is true that works alone - regardless of how you define it - will not earn you entry into Heaven. You must have Faith as well. But you cannot ignore the fact that there are a number of places in the Bible (Tim 2, Matt 25, etc) that specifically state that you need Works to accompany your Faith. Not Works of the Law of Moses, but Works of the Law of Jesus. Jesus says "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31. These are the Works of the Law of Jesus.

I reread that article arguing that Catholics are not Christians. Rubbish. I could just as easily declare that *I* am Christian and anyone who does not believe what I believe isn't. That would be just as valid as that article. There's simply too much wishy-washy stuff there to be considered a valid argument.

For 1600 years, the Catholic Church was the very definition of Christianity and you now expect me to accept someone else's definition? The Catholic Church is the most Christian organization on the face of the earth.

We are **all** called to be Saints. Most of us fall short. As the Vicar of Christ, it is one of the Pope's roles to prayerfully act on the promptings to declare certian people Saints.

If you wish to refer to a miracle as "Superstition and RC magic????" go ahead. That doesn't change the fact that Jesus said "Take. This is my body". The Catholic Church changed nothing.

Regardless, I went back through Galatians to refresh my memory and found that it does not contradict the position I have been arguing. In Galatians, Paul, a Jew, is talking to Peter, Barnabas and the rest, all Jews, about the necessity for Gentiles to abide by the Law of Moses. Every time the word "Works" is used, it is used with the phrase "of the law". So, in Galatians, Paul is contrasting the old Covenant with the new one. The old one is based upon the Law and the new one on Faith. Paul argues that if you have Faith, you do not have to abide by or perform any works of the law. The Works the Catholic Church says are necessary are Works of the Heart, not of the Law. We are no longer bound by that Law - Jesus freed us.

John - On the one hand, you say that a person cannot be saved without Faith - and provide many Scriptural references to back up that position - then you say that Faith has nothing to do with Salvation. I believe that God did, in fact, choose all of us to be saved. But, because we have free will (see Adam and Eve), we do have the final say in our Salvation in that we can accept or reject God's offer.