Fr. Thomas Dowd’s Unofficial Catholic Flowchart
Inquirer (Curious) Question: 4 Basic Questions
Student Morality, Sacraments, Prayer
Election Creed, Our Father
Illumination Gifts (Action)
Candidacy Saints + History
Initiated Bible Study + Spirituality
4 Basic Questions
1) Who is God?
2) If God is good, why is there evil?
3) If is there evil, where is God?
4) How do we join with God?
Who is God?
Imagine going to an art museum and within one of the galleries hung a magnificent painting that caught your eye more than the others. Consider that the only way for that picture to be there was that someone had to have created the view before you.
Looking at the painting, what would have been the artist’s motive in crafting the colors and design into this particular way? How about going through an art book for an explanation behind the painter’s thought process and analysis?
Finally, you were so overwhelmed by the picture that you decided to exclaim to the stranger next beside you on what the artist’s motive was. Fate intervened and the “stranger” is actually the artist. So you invite the artist to your local coffee/tea shop and discuss the work.
Cheat Sheet / Decoder
ArtWorld*
Art BookBible#
ArtistGod
*Note: The thing around you.
#Note: From prophets who were close to God
Conclusions
There is a God => Only One => (^_^)
-Trinity => Father, Son, Holy Spirit
-God is Love
Lover (The Father), Beloved (The Son), Love (The Holy Spirit) are all connected together, sort of like an MP3 player.
The Trinity
(in MP3 form)
Q: Let’s say I have a friend who is in with the system, i.e. plugged in and listening to the music, and this friend so happens to fall asleep during mass. Is that good, bad or something?
A: It is possible that the underlying noise can put us to slumber.
Q: How do we get plugged in?
A: Self-motivation.
Q: How do you get unplugged?
A: Because of yourself.
Q: How do you plug yourself back in?
A: Reconciliation aka the Second Baptism
End Lecture I
Q&A
Q: What is heaven like? Would I still need to eat? Would I still have a body? Would I even need to pray although God is right there?
A: In terms of the body, we temporarily do not have bodies until the resurrection comes around. By that time, Jesus will return, the universe will the kingdom of heaven and by that point, we will have bodies with unlimited potential, i.e. seeing the rings of Saturn or dancing inside a black hole. Consider the body that Jesus had after the resurrection. Did he eat after he died? Yeah, he had some fish. Did he have to eat? Not at all.
On another note, heaven is a state of being. An example would be the feeling of being with a significant other, only that moment would be a fraction of what heaven is.
Another way to explain heaven would be to look at the early Christians. In the early days, captured Christians would have their bodies tarred and burnt to not only have light at night but as a warning on joining Christian groups. Spies infiltrated those sects and so one way to save the group was by having God parents vouch for the new members. Thus, the God parents were putting their lives on the line for the new guys. These groups slowly expanded and gather more rejects. It increased in size to the point that a significant portion of the community was part of the love. However, the idea remains:
Quote I:
“We are a community of loving rejects, we promise nothing better.”
Love conquest all. This is only a taste of heaving just by joining the group.
Q: Does hell exist?
Quote II:
“The Vatican doesn’t need to invent new sins; we do a pretty good job of that on our own.”
Being in Heaven after death, you will be together with people and sharing love. On the other hand, Hell after death, there will either be constant loneliness or the constant force of being loved but not being able to accept that love because of the hatred that occurs.
There are three factors in having mortal sin.
1) The sin is serious.
2) You choose to partake in the sin.
3) You knew the sin was wrong.
With free will, there is always a chance to say sorry. By not saying sorry, the mortal sin lasts. Remember, not entering heaven is by choice.
Q: How about purgatory?
A: Purgatory is a part of heaven. See yourself in a waiting room where you need to take an exam. Pass the exam, you can make it to the next level. The next level just so happens to be heaven. No pressure.
Q: How do you pass the exam?
A: Here is another analogy. Think about hockey tryouts in the fall. You spend all summer practicing, at which point, when you get to try-outs, the coach knows what you have done. He’ll tell you to join the team, Team Heaven. Now, think about not practicing but showing up for try-outs. The coach will probably tell you that you need to get into shape and so he’ll but you on the practice squad, nicknamed purgatory, until you are ready for Team Heaven. Then there is the case where you don’t practice and ignore the fact that there are try-outs. Well, that is certainly a choice.
Q: If the people in hell don’t know any other choice, then why would they have been able to reject heaven?
A: Think about two islands. Referring back to the music analogy, one of those islands is in tune with God and the other is out of tune? Which one would you choose?
Now let’s say that the island with God decides to send boats to the islands with the bad ones. I’m sure, without a doubt, that those goodwill boats will be sunk by the islanders from the out of tune island. It is in their nature to be alone, to hate others to the extent that it is against the nature of things, with the idea that nature is telling us to communicate and live with others. So they are, in fact, rejecting the nature of communication.
Furthermore, the comparison of loss is there. Think about being in love and then all of a sudden, losing it. Then you see a friend who had what you have. You are certainly happy for your friend but you feel a loss as well.
The best answer to the question... why say no to God when we know better? It is a mystery.
Q: Any suggestions on format for the future?
A: Ask other people you know who have questions about Catholicism to bring those questions through you so that there can be some answers, even if they do not attend.
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