To SNOW:

That is such b.s. - I am not defending the church, but how do you know that the church isn't helping 40 other families in the same or worse position that this mother was/is in?

My question is, What was she doing/not doing to put herself in that kind of a situation? My mother would have done anything she could to make sure we were all clothed, fed and had a place to sleep every night. Those things don't just happen overnight.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree then Spidercmb...because I read that same verse regarding Peter and received something completely different from it.

I was just trying to be helpful in giving you a different perspective w/ books. I myself have not spent an exorbitant amount of study in my education on religion- particularly in apologetics. However, When I was going through adult conversion,because Catholicism it was not something I was brought up to believe, I read a lot and surrounded myself with people I found to be knowledgeable about the faith. The rest is semantics...one thing is for sure, Catholics are just as much in-tune to having a personal relationship with JC as any other Christian sect.

sorry...here is the book:

What Catholics Really Believe-Setting the Record Straight: 52 Answers to Common Misconceptions About the Catholic Faith
By Karl Keating

and another one
Why Do Catholics Do That? by Kevin Orlin Johnson

but my favorite is...
The Catholic Response
by Peter M. J. Stravinskas

You can go on Amazon and grab these books which are well priced. Good Luck!

if you are really confused about why Catholics do things in their traditions, you may want to read the book, I highly reccommend it. As a Catholic, I read it when I wanted to know more about my traditions of the Church and found it to be very helpful.

Just as a side note...who founded your church? I only write this to point out that no matter what any other Christian sect may postulate, the Catholic Church is the only church with direct liniage to Jesus Christ- that is why the Pope said what he said. It's only what many other Christian churches have been preaching against all other religions since they began.