A poll for cradle Catholics

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Catholic4aReasn

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How many of you cradle Catholics, who are NOW faithfully practicing Catholics, used to be Cafeteria Catholics?

I was!! It took my brother leaving the Church, becoming “born again” and calling me often to tell me how wrong the Church was about everything to light a fire under me to actually look into what the Church really teaches about things. The Lord certainly used my brother to draw me to Himself and for that I will be forever thankful!

In Christ,
Nancy 🙂
 
I strayed from the Church for awhile before realizing I was headed in the wrong direction.
 
This is probably going to sound weird but when I was outside the Church living a lifestyle that was definitly NOT in communion with Rome I never ONCE described myself as an ‘ex-Catholic’. It was almost as if I could not completely leave because when all was said and done, I have always known where the Truth lived. I am so grateful that Jesus kept me alive and relatively safe long enough to come home.
 
Misled by the wink wink of hard questions asked of Priest and not hearing any teaching from the pulpit, until I discovered by myself the Church of my youth had not disappeared. Boy did I feel betrayed. :mad:

The downward spiral after VII took me with it.
 
I answered that I used to be a cafeteria Catholic. I guess you could say that I was raised Catholic because I received the sacraments, but I was never really taught the faith- either by my parents (who should be the primary educators) or by my CCD classes. So, it is hard to say that I was a cafeteria Catholic because I think of that term being used for people who know the teachings of the Church but refuse to accept them. I never really knew the true teachings of the Church until the last several years of learning it myself. The big thing for me was contraception. I knew the Church did not like it but I never knew it was a mortal sin until I read about it in a book. Then it took me a while to understand the teaching behind it. I have to thank a nondenomination Protestant for my “conversion”. A neighbor started a bible study at which I was the only Catholic. Participating in the study caused my grow in my Catholic faith for which I am ever so grateful!!!
 
Starting in college I was swayed by many of my protestant friends’ arguments. Although I continued attending mass regularly, I started questioning a lot of the dogma and doctrine. I wish I had been taught apologetics in high school as this would have helped tremendously. I left cafeteria catholicism behind within the past year. I was on a parenting website and others were attacking the Catholic church. It was an Orthodox christian (not Catholic)who helped defend the Church and it really got me interested. Someone posted a link to Catholic Answers and I suddenly saw all the strong arguments against the “protestant” beliefs I’d been having since college… It’s good to be back.
 
I’m in the same boat as esr. I was raised Catholic, but was not taught the faith, so I really didn’t realize any of the implications of what I was doing, mortal sin, etc. It was only after my husband started converting that I started learning what it was all about. If I am fortunate enough to have children, I will ensure that I teach them their faith because I beleive it’s the parents’ responsibility (primarily).
 
After a period of time where I strayed, I finally “came home” and Home is where I want to be.
~ Kathy ~
 
I had parents that were every bit as Catholic as the Pope. 🙂

I can remember being in about 4th grade and asking my mom how we could be sure of what was right and what was wrong…already I had noticed that there was discord amongst the ranks. She said that it was really very easy. What ever the Pope taught was the right thing because Jesus had promised that He would never let the Pope teach anything wrong. I was much relieved to find out that is was so nice and easy.
My father was the logical, reasoning one, and taught my not just the faith but why we believe what we believe.

Haven’t strayed since, by the Grace of God and my Grandmothers gazilion billion rosaries. (No kidding, my grandmother lived with us and though she never said a word about getting home on time from dates, she never went to bed until I got home, and often prayed the Rosary until I came to say goodnight. :gopray: )
 
I was pretty much agnostic when I was going through high school. I always believed that there was a Creator, but I never believed he cared about us. When I was in high school, I attended a Methodist service with my friends most of the time simply because I didn’t have to go to confession there and because they didn’t really care about what you did outside the Church (luckily I never took their ‘communion’, I guess something just kept telling me that it was only present in the Catholic Church). Man, am I glad I’m back where I belong.
 
Have always had an intense loyalty to the Pope which has grown to deep affection, probably due to the witness of how my Mother and Grandma suffered for speaking out to defend the Pope and the teachings of the Catholic Church. Mom wrote many articles over the years that were published in the Homiletic and Pastoral Review.

Dad and Grampa were more of the quietly obedient types, reminding me of St. Joseph. No fanfare, just humble church-goers. That provided a strong witness as well.

Guess I identify more with the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal son, well aware that the elder brother was by no means perfect and had his issues as well.

~~ the phoenix
 
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Subrosa:
Uh, what’s a “Cafeteria Catholic”?
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You pick and choose what to believe. Most cafeteria Catholics want a side order of contraception:rolleyes:

As for the original post, I used to think I didn’t need confession and I figured I would use contraception. I give thanks to our Lady for leading me back to the confessional and magnifying the Truth of the Lord for me. 🙂
 
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Genesis315:
You pick and choose what to believe. Most cafeteria Catholics want a side order of contraception
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That’s where I was. But through a series of events, the wife and I gave that “last little thing” over to God. Once we got off the pill and started used NFP again, the blessings really seemed to flow and they’ve been flowing ever since.

It was giving our fertility over to God that seemed to turn our spiritual life (lives) around in our family.
 
Well I’m still quite young, so theres never been a chance for me to be a heretic.
 
I never had been a cafeteria Catholic, lucky I guess. My parents have raised me well not to pick and choose what I like about the Church, just take everything the Church teaches.
 
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Genesis315:
You pick and choose what to believe. Most cafeteria Catholics want a side order of contraception:rolleyes:
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This is exactly where I did my picking and choosing and I regret it. Fortunately, the light of grace turned me around on this. Once we fully embrace our faith without qualification and open our hearts and minds to the truth, the light begins to flood into our souls. I praise God that he showed me the way.

As a cafeteria catholic I was never fully open to the Holy Spirit and placed more trust in my own judgment than that of the Church which is the body of Christ. This is an area of pride that to which I was blind, and it weakened my faith and trust in God. Once aware of this, I began to see the many other areas of my life where pride was in the way of my relationship with the Lord. I suspect that pride and willfulness will continue to be a struggle and hindrance in my Christian walk.
 
I never was educated about my faith to actively pick and choose. I often wonder if all of the information was laid out for me and I wasn’t listening or was it just a “given” that I would understand and absorb? I remember distinctly asking my dad about the Homily in Mass and he told me that Mass should be “revered” (sp?) not discussed. End of discussion, I never asked again. I wish I would have pushed the issue, but when my dad spoke I listened. I have always been curious about the scholarly faithful in these forums - I feel like sometimes I have been left behind and now have to play catch up. Well, at least I am trying and these forums do help.
 
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