The NT was for all people in the world. I apologise to Uriel re: I agree that it is not required of an apostle to be a priest. My prob with Uriel is his inability to recognise that Infallibility was forced on the Pope and Council in 1870 by French Communist Revolution.
This type of thinking is expected from the ilk of Classicom but .....

My prob with Uriel is his inability to recognise that Infallibility was forced on the Pope and Council in 1870 by French Communist Revolution.

SO, according to you, The Holy Spirit was not able to resist the French???


I think that the Pope, or any man of God, would rather have died than do what you claim they did!!

I know this thread is pretty old, but I feel compelled to add a comment, as this is an issue I also struggled with for many years.

Though the Gospel's only explicit reference to the institution of the Eucharist as a Sacrament is contained in Luke's, "Do this in remembrance of me", I think most Catholics will agree that the Transubstantiation and the Sacrament of the Eucharist are Dogmas without which you do not have Catholicism.

Now, I'm not the type to go around bludgeoning people with "Nyah, nyah, you're a Protestant!"  As a very great sinner, I am apt to side with the "None is good except God alone" section.

Therefore, I would put it to you in the way that speaks best to me:
 
Would you forego the grace of receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist?  (If the answer is yes, then I suppose you need read no further...)  Would you argue that Matrimony is merely a convention, an agreement between two people?

We know that great importance has always been laid on the expiation of sin, carrying over from the h0Ɩ0cαųsts of the Jєωιѕн religion to the outrage expressed by the Pharisees when Jesus proclaims the palsied man's sins forgiven, ending in Jesus' telling the man to rise up and walk.  How interesting that Jesus places the man's need for forgiveness above his need for physical healing! (Perhaps because he knew that in a way, they are one and the same...)

So then, for the sake of argument, let's say that it is true that you may pray to Our Lord and ask him to forgive your sins.  This is really not so far different from praying the Spiritual Communion rather than receiving Our Lord, is it?  Surely we have the right to pray as we wish, though we do so with the understanding that, "we know not how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedeth for us with inexpressible groanings..."

However, just as the preference exists for actual reception of the Sacrament of the Eucharist--for reasons that should be abundantly obvious--just so, the preference for receiving the graces inherent in the Sacrament of Penance are greatly to be desired and sought after!

It may seem silly and specious to "have to" confess your sins, but keep in mind that when we have these sorts of feelings about the benefits of our faith, that it is one of the favorite tricks of the devil to make us dismiss avenues of incredible grace as mere frippery.

I have found that a very good way of opening myself to God's will in these things is to put aside my own beliefs and to willingly submit to the direction of the Church with humility and obedience.  Once I have done so for some time, it begins to become clear when something is truly right, even if you can't understand why.  Grace speaks for itself.

I will pray for you in this matter.

God Bless.