Read the first part of this article here.

My experience with devout Catholics is that they’re very sincere, sometimes even more-so than religious believers and others from different religions. My father was one, and the whole family followed in his footsteps.

But, when disgrace knocked on our door, all that devotion and religious sincerity failed to keep evil from us and from helping us deal with it, so we went in search of different help. My older brother invited me to a church of “believers” (that’s what we would refer to all the people from other churches,) a month later he was so enthusiastic that I went with him for the first time.

The impact was immediate. Instead of religiosity and the incomprehensible rituals I was used to, I found people who seemed genuine about their work, they were trustworthy and had a shine on their face that I’d never seen before. An hour and a couple of minutes were enough to leave me renewed, lighter, and full of assurance that things would get better. I had never felt that at mass.

Moreover, what really opened my mind was how they encouraged us to read and understand the Bible. We had the Bible at home, like all good Catholics. It was on the mantle, open to Psalms 91, to bring good “vibes.” Obviously, it wasn’t working.

To us Catholics, the Bible was more of a sacred object meant to be treated like the 2 foot saint on the wall of my Dad’s business: you look at it, respect it, hope it brings you good luck, but you don’t understand how it all works very well. A Catholic person is not motivated to read the Bible. When we went to mass, the liturgy was ready for everyone on a piece of paper; it was filled with prayers and repetitions that were read aloud, though somehow I would never synchronize.

At the time, I didn’t know that most of our beliefs as Catholics totally disagreed with the Bible. Here are some:

1. Mary was only a virgin until Jesus was born, afterwards she had other biological children: Mark 6:3
2. To make carved images in veneration of the saints or of Jesus himself breaks the two first of the Ten Commandments: Exodus 20: 2-5
3. Jesus is the only Way to reach the Father, saints can’t get you to Him nor Mary. John 14:6.
4. Jesus is the only one who can answer prayers, saints can’t: John 14:6
5. Jesus prohibits people to call someone father (pope) in a religious way: Matthew 23:9
6. A Bishop SHOULD be married, contrary to what the Catholic Church practices: 1 Timothy 3:2
7. The Vatican say’s that Peter was the first pope, “rock of the church,” but he identified himself as a simple church elder, as other disciples: 1 Peter 5:1
8. The Vatican say’s that the pope is “infallible” when speaking about spiritual matters, but Peter himself was rebuked before various people for having acted incorrectly. Galatians 2:14
9. The Vatican prohibited its faithful’s to read from the Bible, being that Jesus ordered that the Bible be examined: John 5:39
10. Salvation of one’s soul is by faith and shows up in works but it’s not simply by works: Ephesians 2: 8,9
11. In the Bible, everyone drinks from the cup at the Lord’s table (eucharist,) but only the priest can do that at mass. Matthew 26: 26,27
12. In order to baptize one should first believe, this disqualifies babies: Mark 16:16
13. After death comes judgment not purgatory. That’s why there’s no point to pray for the dead. Hebrews 9:27 and Luke 16:20-31

But the list is much too long for this blog. Martin Luther would say so.

You know that feeling when you know you’ve been tricked? Multiply that by a hundred and you’ll have an idea of how I felt. Perhaps you, my Catholic friend, are feeling this way right now, just from reading the above – who’s to know how you’ll feel after you read the verses I noted in your own Bible, even if Catholic.

How could I keep on being deceived? What about my parents, didn’t they know about this? And what about the millions of Catholics who haven’t heard this? How is this possible? What should I do now?

The questions numerous. My anger was great. So much so, that my brother tried to make justice with his own hands – literally.

I’ll give you details in the next post.

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