A relationship with Christ

[Nickkname]

A relationship with Christ is key to being a Christian and I think most would agree on that.
What if that relationship leads you away from the CC? I’ve been doing alot of bible reading lately and taken focus off of particular types of religion (I use Catholicism here because I was born and raised Catholic and that’s all I know). From reading the Bible, the message of salvation seems simple and not as impossible as the CC portrays it to be. I feel like the CC makes it seem like no one is ever going to get to heaven because nothing is ever good enough, you know?
Does anyone else feel this way or am I talking to the wrong crowd?

The Church teaches that love is the means of salvation, because God, who is love, is the Salvation of believers. And that’s what the Bible teaches as well, so I see nothing wrong with how the Church teaches about salvation.

 

[alexisviking]

Ok, let me try and say it this way:
Do you feel like you have a personal relationship with Christ like you do with a close friend or family member?

I totally relate to what you say. A personal relationship with Christ like with a close friend or a family member. I can say yes to this question. And I believe, it is what jesus expects from us, to be with him through prayer and talk to him, tell him about ourselves, about others, praying with him as if with a friend, and all that in a respectful yet so simple way. I must say I have never felt so close to him since I have applied this approach. But I did not learn it from the protestants, no I learnt to build this relationship by applying the recommendations of Teresa of Avila, Saint Augustin or Maurice Zundel. I learnt it from catholic saints.

Your next question is:
If so, do you feel like the CC enriches that relationship? Do you read the bible alot on your own?

Yes it does enrich my relationship to him. The catholic saints are those who taught me to have this direct relationship with him. And I can also tell you, that since I pray in this way I feel so much closer to the eucharist and so much more involved in the mass. The eucharist is not a piece of bread between you and jesus. While in having a direct relationship with god spiritually thourgh my daily prayers I also have a physical relationship by eating his body and drinking his blood every sunday. I can tell that the one strengthen the other. Because after all. just like we are made of a soul and body a relationship with HIM is not only spiritual it is also physical. It is our entire human condition that is involved in this relationship, body and soul, prayer and eucharist.

Yes, I read the bible every day, I use it to nurture my discussion with Jesus and it greatly helps. I cannot stop wondering every night I have this simple exhange of love with Jesus how it is possible that god can be so present in our hearts. What a wonder, and yet it is so real. And it explains so many things.

Peace, and thanks for your very good questions.

 

[valient_Lucy]

Nobody is ever “good enough” to get to heaven. When we go to confession, God doesn’t forgive us because we deserve to be forgiven, He forgives us because He is the “Father of mercies,” as the priest says at absolution.

Remember that. Hold onto that.

 

[valient_Lucy]

Nobody is ever “good enough” to get to heaven. When we go to confession, God doesn’t forgive us because we deserve to be forgiven, He forgives us because He is the “Father of mercies,” as the priest says at absolution.

Remember that. Hold onto that.

I point that out because your original post makes no mention of grace. Where does God’s grace fit into your understanding of salvation?

I’m not saying we can do whatever we want and go to heaven. We must obey God, and His commandments. That is true. But we cannot go to heaven without God’s grace. That is also true.

 

[SIA]

A relationship with Christ is key to being a Christian and I think most would agree on that.
What if that relationship leads you away from the CC? I’ve been doing alot of bible reading lately and taken focus off of particular types of religion (I use Catholicism here because I was born and raised Catholic and that’s all I know). From reading the Bible, the message of salvation seems simple and not as impossible as the CC portrays it to be. I feel like the CC makes it seem like no one is ever going to get to heaven because nothing is ever good enough, you know?
Does anyone else feel this way or am I talking to the wrong crowd?

I felt exactly this way when I was Catholic. I grew up thinking that I could never be good enough to be saved. I turned Anglican a few years ago and found out that I was right. I am not good enough to be saved. But I learned that Christ’s sacrifice was good enough for me. I finally learned how all need is Christ, not the RCC.

 

[peary]

I felt exactly this way when I was Catholic. I grew up thinking that I could never be good enough to be saved. I turned Anglican a few years ago and found out that I was right. I am not good enough to be saved. But I learned that Christ’s sacrifice was good enough for me. I finally learned how all need is Christ, not the RCC.

It sounds as if you had very poor catechetical training in the Catholic Faith, and that is regrettable. Peter even says in one of his letters that “Baptism saves you.” It is true that Christ’s sacrifice is all we needed to be reconciled with God but we must work out our salvation with “fear and trembling”, as Paul says. Unfortunately, once you reject the historical reality that the Catholic Church IS the Church instituted by Christ through His apostles to spread the Good News of salvation to the world, then you are in a quandary as to reject His greatest gift to us: the Eucharist, because, in fact, that is what has happened.

 

[SIA]

It sounds as if you had very poor catechetical training in the Catholic Faith, and that is regrettable. Peter even says in one of his letters that “Baptism saves you.” It is true that Christ’s sacrifice is all we needed to be reconciled with God but we must work out our salvation with “fear and trembling”, as Paul says. Unfortunately, once you reject the historical reality that the Catholic Church IS the Church instituted by Christ through His apostles to spread the Good News of salvation to the world, then you are in a quandary as to reject His greatest gift to us: the Eucharist, because, in fact, that is what has happened.

So you are telling me that in rejecting that the RCC is the one and only Church instituted by Christ, I am therefore rejecting the Eucharist?? If in fact that is what you are saying then I must sharply disagree with you.

 

[Rocky]

It seems to me that Jesus set the rules when He said:

Love God with your whole heart, mind, and soul
Love your neighbor as yourself
Be perfect as God is perfect

Then He gave us the Church with the Sacraments that confer His grace so that we can receive His mercy and follow Him. Thanks be to God!

 

[peary]

So you are telling me that in rejecting that the RCC is the one and only Church instituted by Christ, I am therefore rejecting the Eucharist?? If in fact that is what you are saying then I must sharply disagree with you.

Part of the modern-day deception is based on DesCarte’s axiom “I think; therefore, I am”. In other words, if I think it to be true, then it is. If I believe other non-ecclesial Christian bodies have the true Eucharist, then it must be so! That is what you apparently alluding to. You cannot reject the Church without rejection of the Eucharist. You can disagree all you want. You will not find the full Eucharist in any other Church except the Catholic Church (and I also include the Orthodox churches in this).

 

[Ronald_E]

A relationship with Christ is key to being a Christian and I think most would agree on that.
What if that relationship leads you away from the CC?

I hope I am not intruding here. My story in returning to the Catholic faith after 40 years away has been told in other threads. However, it was through God’s Grace that I returned to believe in Christ and it was Christ who led me back to His Church that He gave us. What previously had been empty rituals at Mass now have become a beautiful gift of receiving Our Lord in Communion. There was no other place I could receive Him like this.

I’ve been doing alot of bible reading lately and taken focus off of particular types of religion (I use Catholicism here because I was born and raised Catholic and that’s all I know). From reading the Bible, the message of salvation seems simple and not as impossible as the CC portrays it to be.

When I began to read the bible I began to see the Catholic Church in the Bible. I began to see how women are honored through the honor that the Catholic faith gives to Mary that no protestant faith understands. I began to understand that salvation is not the most important thing to me because it seems selfish of me to desire that. I began to realize that to love as Christ loves us is what He wants. In order to do that I also needed to learn humility which led me to make a 40 year confession, which was frightening at first and then the greatest blessing I could have received. It freed me of all of my shame that separated me from Jesus and His Church. When He breathed on His apostles before He ascended into heaven and told them who sins they forgive they are forgiven, I now know He really was giving them His power to do this. Reading the bible brought me home.

I feel like the CC makes it seem like no one is ever going to get to heaven because nothing is ever good enough, you know?
Does anyone else feel this way or am I talking to the wrong crowd?

It is not the CC that makes us feel like we are not good enough. I do not see rules in the Church like I saw before. I see Christ in the Church and what I thought were rules I see as directions to Him given to us in His Love. If we do not feel His Love in the CC then we must explore our relationships with those who have taught us about Catholicism. I say this because I discovered that it was those who taught me about our faith that gave me the impression that our faith was just about rules.
They did not teach me with love in their hearts and that is what influenced me to leave when I was 18. At age 58 I returned because Jesus revealed His Love in the Catholic faith that I had never been able to see before.
This is why I am home now. I hope this helps.