Tina
How wonderful that you have a question about heaven!
And what deep thinking about food! In heaven, people won't have to work, so I doubt there will be a McDonalds there. Who would make the food?
Will there be McDonalds' food available just because we want it? Like without someone having to make it? I don't know that either.
What I do know is that we will be able to eat in heaven. Jesus tells us that in the book of Revelation. He says says that to the ones who win the prize of heaven he will "give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the garden of God." Rev 2:7b. That fruit could be french fries and Big Macs, if God wills it!
However, I actually think God, who gives us the best of everything, will provide us with something even better than that! Whatever He gives us will be better than anything we enjoy now and better than we can even imagine. That's something I know for sure!
Friday, February 19, 2016
When I die, will I become an angel? - Tina
Tina,
The quick answer to your question is, NO. People don't become an angels when they die. People who go to heaven become Saints, not angels. Why? Because Angels aren't human people. They too were created by God, but as totally spiritual beings.
Humans were created as both spiritual beings AND also physical beings. We have a physical body. Angels do not. We know that we will have new bodies in heaven, perfect, resurrected bodies. We know that because Paul tells us that in his letter to the Philippians: Phil 3:21 "He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body ..." He also tells us that in 1 Cor 15:40 "There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies ..." and when the trumpet sounds announcing the end of earthtime, "we shall be changed." 1 Cor 15:52b
Angels will always be fully spiritual beings because that is the nature which God gave them when He created them.
The quick answer to your question is, NO. People don't become an angels when they die. People who go to heaven become Saints, not angels. Why? Because Angels aren't human people. They too were created by God, but as totally spiritual beings.
Humans were created as both spiritual beings AND also physical beings. We have a physical body. Angels do not. We know that we will have new bodies in heaven, perfect, resurrected bodies. We know that because Paul tells us that in his letter to the Philippians: Phil 3:21 "He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body ..." He also tells us that in 1 Cor 15:40 "There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies ..." and when the trumpet sounds announcing the end of earthtime, "we shall be changed." 1 Cor 15:52b
Angels will always be fully spiritual beings because that is the nature which God gave them when He created them.
What do people mean when they say that relativism is killing our consciences? - R.L.
R.L.
Relativism is the idea that there is no absolute truth. It says that one idea is as good as another. We hear it like this, "Oh, that might be good for you, but I believe something else." or "Well,
if that's good for you, fine." It says I can have one idea and you can have your own and we can both be right. But this is not what God says! Jesus, the 2nd person of God tells us: "I am the way and the TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " John 14:6 In other words, God is Truth. We also know God is unchanging. And, because God is Truth and God is unchanging, we can also be sure that Truth is unchanging and hence we can know that there is an ABSOLUTE truth.
If you want to look at this from another front, you can take this idea of relativism to the extreme and see how it can be shown as a falsity... Take Adolf Hitler. Can we say he was a moral person because he followed what was good for himself? Absolutely not!
So, when people say that relativism is killing our consciences, they are saying that people who believe that there could be one truth for one person and another truth for another person, then they are being bent to the ideas of the world and not of God.
Hope this helps.
Relativism is the idea that there is no absolute truth. It says that one idea is as good as another. We hear it like this, "Oh, that might be good for you, but I believe something else." or "Well,
if that's good for you, fine." It says I can have one idea and you can have your own and we can both be right. But this is not what God says! Jesus, the 2nd person of God tells us: "I am the way and the TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " John 14:6 In other words, God is Truth. We also know God is unchanging. And, because God is Truth and God is unchanging, we can also be sure that Truth is unchanging and hence we can know that there is an ABSOLUTE truth.
So, when people say that relativism is killing our consciences, they are saying that people who believe that there could be one truth for one person and another truth for another person, then they are being bent to the ideas of the world and not of God.
Hope this helps.
Monday, February 8, 2016
How do we know Jesus wasn't speaking in a parable or something when He said, "This is my body"? - Matt & Jason
Do you realize that more hundreds of scholars have tried to pull that statement apart and tell us that it means one thing or another? So, your question about how we know we can be sure that Jesus meant it literally is an excellent one! Although many others don't understand what Jesus was saying, the Catholic Church is very positive about the statement being literal and meaning exactly what Jesus says.
We have a couple of things which allow us to be certain that He really meant what He said about us eating His body. (By the way, we call the miracle which changes the bread to Jesus' true body and the wine into His true blood "Transubstantiation.")
First off, when Jesus taught, he often explained what he meant to the disciples. If people didn't 'get it,' or if they 'got it wrong,' He clarified what he meant. When He spoke about eating His flesh it was scandalous to many of the followers. This idea of "gnawing" or "munching" on someone's flesh and blood was abhorrent to the Jews. When He spoke of it, He didn't clarify. He allowed the people to think it was what it is.
That being known, let's take a look at the conversation in John 6:515-69 ... Jesus says, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews then quarreled among themselves saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" ... Just a little bit later they say, "This ... is hard. Who can accept it?" and many left and returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.
Jesus didn't stop and say, "Wait, I meant that metaphorically! Come back!" Instead, ...
He looked at the remaining disciples and asked them, "Do you also want to leave?" and Simon Peter said, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (from the New American Translation of the Bible)
So, when Jesus said the words about eating His flesh at the Last Supper, they were not new to Jesus' followers. They had already discussed and argued about what Jesus meant. They knew He meant what He was saying. And they believed.
Later, in First Corinthians, "St. Paul said that whoever receives communion unworthily is guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord." (1 Cor 11:27) In that culture, to be 'guilty of another's body and blood' is to be guilty of murdering them. How could Paul say that someone was guilty of killing Jesus because he ate bread that symbolized Him? Paul [too] knew that the Eucharist was not merely a symbol but actually the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus." (Did Jesus have a last Name? and 199 other questions from Catholic Teenagers by Matthew Pinto & Jason Evert, (c) 2005 Ascension Press, west Chester, PA p139)
The Church Fathers strongly affirmed that Christ's body and blood becomes present in the sacrament of Eucharist. The Council of Trent summarizes it too. It is a beautiful mystery of our faith which has been part of our history from the very beginning.
Thanks for the question. I hope this helps.
We have a couple of things which allow us to be certain that He really meant what He said about us eating His body. (By the way, we call the miracle which changes the bread to Jesus' true body and the wine into His true blood "Transubstantiation.")
First off, when Jesus taught, he often explained what he meant to the disciples. If people didn't 'get it,' or if they 'got it wrong,' He clarified what he meant. When He spoke about eating His flesh it was scandalous to many of the followers. This idea of "gnawing" or "munching" on someone's flesh and blood was abhorrent to the Jews. When He spoke of it, He didn't clarify. He allowed the people to think it was what it is.
That being known, let's take a look at the conversation in John 6:515-69 ... Jesus says, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews then quarreled among themselves saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" ... Just a little bit later they say, "This ... is hard. Who can accept it?" and many left and returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.
Jesus didn't stop and say, "Wait, I meant that metaphorically! Come back!" Instead, ...
He looked at the remaining disciples and asked them, "Do you also want to leave?" and Simon Peter said, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (from the New American Translation of the Bible)
So, when Jesus said the words about eating His flesh at the Last Supper, they were not new to Jesus' followers. They had already discussed and argued about what Jesus meant. They knew He meant what He was saying. And they believed.
Later, in First Corinthians, "St. Paul said that whoever receives communion unworthily is guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord." (1 Cor 11:27) In that culture, to be 'guilty of another's body and blood' is to be guilty of murdering them. How could Paul say that someone was guilty of killing Jesus because he ate bread that symbolized Him? Paul [too] knew that the Eucharist was not merely a symbol but actually the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus." (Did Jesus have a last Name? and 199 other questions from Catholic Teenagers by Matthew Pinto & Jason Evert, (c) 2005 Ascension Press, west Chester, PA p139)
The Church Fathers strongly affirmed that Christ's body and blood becomes present in the sacrament of Eucharist. The Council of Trent summarizes it too. It is a beautiful mystery of our faith which has been part of our history from the very beginning.
Thanks for the question. I hope this helps.
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