On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics, a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.
Why do Catholics have to do good works to get to heaven while Protestants seem to know they’re going to heaven just based on faith?
This one’s mainly a matter of semantics—but shines a light on a very deep misunderstanding.
As Catholics, we believe we are saved by virtue of our baptism. But we also believe that our journey doesn’t end there. We do the
service God asks of us—providing comfort and assistance to those in physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual need—to live out the promises that were made for us at baptism (if we were infants) and that we affirmed at confirmation.
It’s a misconception that Catholics think they have to “earn” their way into heaven by spending X number of hours at a homeless shelter, contributing Y number of dollars to a food pantry, spending Z number of hours on pastoral council or some other parish committee.
Submit your own questions to returning@melanierigney.com; they may be addressed in a future post. Thanks, and God bless.
