Expert: Fr. Timothy Johnson - 7/6/2007

Question
Dear Fr. Timothy,


                  Someone from non catholic tradition said this it was a female Rev: God does not mandate for women to wear heacoverings. God's order is that the husband is the head of the wife as God is the head of Christ - and there is no in equality here or inferiority. God and Christ are equal and united, just as the husband and the wife are one. This is not a passage that teaches that the woman is inferior to man or that she should be submissive to every man. It is teaching God's order and spiritual headship in the marriage relationship. In the Corinthian culture, a woman who covered her head during worship or when she was in public displayed her submission to authority.

Even though our husband is the "head" of the wife , spiritually, our one true head is Christ and we are His body.

Be careful about following Jewish traditions. We are not to participate in those, as they start to pull us back under the law and the Bible warns us about that. If we wander back under the law, they we get the curse as well. Christ came to redeem us from that curse...

Is she right or wrong? Fr. Tim I want to learn about my faith and some of the non catholics make fun of us calling us Idolaters,that we worship saints and Mary the virgin. I am so confused and hurt by there comments. What to do?  I had many come to me asking me this and saying this to me? Are Roman Catholics Christians? They ask me.

And the others who havent ask the questions and there reply was: They are if they have trusted in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins.  However, if they believe that the are saved by God's grace and their works, then they are not saved -- even if they believe their works are done by God's grace -- since they then deny the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice. I was upset and mad they even said that we are not christian that we are a cult! A CULT!

Being a Christian does not mean being a member of the Roman Catholic Church.  It means being a member of the body of Christ which is accomplished by faith and trust in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sins.  It means that you do not add your works to His work.  Sincerity doesn't forgive sins.  Membership in a church doesn't forgive sins.  Doing works of penance doesn't forgive sins.  Praying to Mary doesn't forgive sins.  Forgiveness is received in the faithful trust and acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.  You must trust Jesus, God in flesh, for the forgiveness of sins, not a man made ritual and certainly not the catholic saints.  Even though Roman Catholic Church affirms the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and His physical resurrection, it greatly errs in its doctrine of salvation by adding works to salvation.

The official Roman Catholic doctrine of salvation is that the grace of God is infused into a baby at baptism -- making him/her justified before God.1  This justification can be lost through sin and must be regained by repeated participation in the many sacraments found in the Roman Catholic Church.  These sacraments increase the measure of grace in the person by which he or she is enabled to do good works which are in turn rewarded with the joy of heaven:

             "We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will.  In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere 'to the end' and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ," (Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 1821).

"Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification," "If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema."

By all means others have said this to me whom are non catholics:If thee Roman Catholic believes in the official Roman Catholic teaching on salvation, then he is not a Christian since the official RCC position is contrary to scripture.  Therefore, as a whole, Roman Catholics need to be evangelized.  They need to hear the true Gospel.  They need to hear that they are not made right before God by being in a church, or by being baptized, but by receiving Christ! I was bewildered by this answer! They also said,It is only true faith about {Jesus}  that results in true works (James 2), not the other way around.  Roman Catholics, like anyone else, need to trust in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins and not the Catholic sacraments, not the words of the priest, not the pope, not Mary, not the saints, not penance, not indulgences, not the rosary, etc. I am shocked with this what do you think Fr. Timothy?  And non catholics say this:But, are they truly Christians in spite of official RCC theology and in spite of the ritualistic offerings of this ancient church which has had too many hands meddling in it through the centuries, gradually moving it away from orthodoxy and into apostasy.  Yes apostasy.  The Roman Catholic Church is no longer representing true Christianity. They think we are MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT. CATHOLIC OR JEWISH? And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls.THE TWO BABYLONS: Spiritual Babylon and the Catholic Church. Book: The Two Babylons · Parallels between the Roman Catholic Church and Mithraism!

What I think is Catholics should definitely not be doormats, but we must do God’s holy will. God told us to teach his word and we must the pharasiees hated Jesus that is because they were Judaism! Jesus yes was a jew above all Jesus started the catholic church whether others do not like it or not its true!Anti catholicism is like attacking us and they treat the story if it is spraypaint hate crimes!
Oh puleeze. This is very sad to say that many non catholics and non christians are attacking us! What for what did we do wrong?

And also I want to state too all non catholics Fr. Tim: If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk of the Catholic Church, in the year 1517. If you belong to the Church of England, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to re-marry. If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox in Scotland in the year 1560. If you are a Congregationalist, your religion was originated by Robert Brown in Holland in 1582. If you are Protestant Episcopalian, your religion was an offshoot of the Church of England, founded by Samuel Senbury in the American colonies in the 17th century. If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1606. If you are of the Dutch Reformed Church, you recognize Michelis Jones as founder because he originated your religion in New York in 1628. If you are a Methodist, your religion was founded by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1774. If you are a Mormon (Latter Day Saints), Joseph Smith started your religion in Palmyra, New York, in 1829. If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865. If you are Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year in which your religion was born and to Mary Baker Eddy as its founder.

If you belong to one of the religious organizations known as "Church of the Nazarene, Pentecostal Gospel," "Holiness Church," or "Jehovah's Witnesses," your religion is one of the hundreds of new sects founded by men within the past hundred years. If you are Roman Catholic, your church shared the same rich apostolic and doctrinal heritage as the Orthodox Church for the first thousand years of its history, since during the first millennium they were one and the same Church. If you are Orthodox Christian, your religion was founded in the year 33 by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It has not changed since that time. Our church is now almost 2,000 years old. And it is for this reason, that Orthodoxy, the Church of the Apostles and the Fathers is considered the true "one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church." This is the greatest legacy that we can pass on to the young people of the new millennium.  What should I do should I stay as Roman catholic or go into Orthodoxy? I am very traditional to my faith I think my faith is more of a roman catholic mix with Orthodox faith put together. Does Orthodox christians well women and girls wear viels in there tradition should I switch to orthodox catholicism? I still be catholic I just want to be orthodox is it the right church truely founded by Jesus him self.I am very devoted to my faith but when I see no women dressed nicely or in normal clothing it is sad to say that they have to dress appropriately. Like no pants in church and jeans but skirts and viels. See my faith is Orthodox! So what should I do I want to go to the true religion and be in the true presence with God. So what should I do?  

Answer
Hi, Jacqueline:

Wow!  That was a LOT of comment in your paragraphs among the questions.  I guess that your basic question is: "Ought you to remain in the Roman Catholic Church, or ought you to join the Eastern Orthodox?"
This boils down to the question of what has divided the Orthodox from the Roman Catholics over the centuries: how the Primacy of Authority of the Pope is either accepted or rejected.
So, since you are asking me, a Roman Catholic Priest, I would advise you to stay with "St. Peter's Successor in the Roman Catholic Church."
Your duty is to set a good example.  Preach the Gospel, not by what you say, but by what you do.  Wear modest clothing: a dress or skirt, neck covered, chapel veil, long-sleeves, etc.  You are doing the right thing.  Just lead by example.
+ God bless you!

Fr. Timothy Johnson