S
sea_krait
Guest
Hello everyone, thank you all so much for contributing to this community. I’ve learned a lot from reading many posts, which also always brings me tremendous peace. This will be my first and probably my most pressing post, and it’ll probably be lengthy and heavy. I’ll try to be quite honest.
Okay, from the start: I’ve always considered myself a Christian, but I’ve never been baptized, not even as a Protestant. Within the last year in particular, I’ve grown a much greater passion for Christ, had many philosophical discussions with non-believers, and researched many things pertaining to Christianity – lately Catholicism (which of course is a Christian sect! I can’t stand it when people imply that it isn’t
), where I believe God has led me predominantly through statistical miracles. I started praying regularly and trying to strictly behave in accordance with the Church once I opened my eyes – something the old, lukewarm me never bothered to do – and this coupled with guidance from the Bible has moved me in miraculous ways – ways, and I’m sure the rest of you can relate to this, I can hardly describe.
So that’s the rundown, I guess.
Okay, here comes the problem(s) which gnaw at my soul and make me quite distressed regularly. My parents, I’m certain, don’t believe in the same theology, which seldom is an issue on the surface because it’s never discussed. One of them is Christian and privately practices Christianity, but doesn’t attend church, and seems to have a philosophy that the family is and will be fine; everyone else in the family is agnostic/atheistic (which, of course, comes with its share of haughtiness and ignorance with which I have to secretly bear). So, anyway, I’d love to attend RCIA, but I don’t have a means to travel anywhere by myself, and all my friends and acquaintances are either Protestants or atheists (one of my friends says he’s Catholic, although he had to ask me whether Protestants or Catholics had a Pope, so yeah
), and even if I could realistically make it to RCIA, by doing so I could very well disrupt my parents’ marriage to the point where they see fit to divorce (and so, I’ve been told by my one Christian parent to keep my faith under wraps; this plays into what I’m thinking: the 5th Commandment). Should I aim for an emergency baptism like in Catechism 1256-58? If not right away, I planned on definitely going to RCIA in several years when I earn my own home/vehicle and live alone.
My greatest worry for myself (aside from worrying about my family’s salvation) is that I could die before I am baptized in the true Church, and that, not being baptized, I’ll go to Hell. Although I’ve read of a case where Jesus said to an unbaptized yet repentant man that He would meet him in Heaven, and I also read of the “baptized by either water, blood, or desire” idea (I don’t even know if this is true teaching
). I’d simply love to make it to Purgatory. I think I’m developing a bad case of scruples. It’s probably a very subjective question, so don’t answer if you think it’s inappropriate to answer, but do you think under the circumstances described, particularly if I’m endeavoring to grow in Christ, that I’ll make it? What do you think I should do?
Thank you, friends
Okay, from the start: I’ve always considered myself a Christian, but I’ve never been baptized, not even as a Protestant. Within the last year in particular, I’ve grown a much greater passion for Christ, had many philosophical discussions with non-believers, and researched many things pertaining to Christianity – lately Catholicism (which of course is a Christian sect! I can’t stand it when people imply that it isn’t
), where I believe God has led me predominantly through statistical miracles. I started praying regularly and trying to strictly behave in accordance with the Church once I opened my eyes – something the old, lukewarm me never bothered to do – and this coupled with guidance from the Bible has moved me in miraculous ways – ways, and I’m sure the rest of you can relate to this, I can hardly describe.So that’s the rundown, I guess.
Okay, here comes the problem(s) which gnaw at my soul and make me quite distressed regularly. My parents, I’m certain, don’t believe in the same theology, which seldom is an issue on the surface because it’s never discussed. One of them is Christian and privately practices Christianity, but doesn’t attend church, and seems to have a philosophy that the family is and will be fine; everyone else in the family is agnostic/atheistic (which, of course, comes with its share of haughtiness and ignorance with which I have to secretly bear). So, anyway, I’d love to attend RCIA, but I don’t have a means to travel anywhere by myself, and all my friends and acquaintances are either Protestants or atheists (one of my friends says he’s Catholic, although he had to ask me whether Protestants or Catholics had a Pope, so yeah
), and even if I could realistically make it to RCIA, by doing so I could very well disrupt my parents’ marriage to the point where they see fit to divorce (and so, I’ve been told by my one Christian parent to keep my faith under wraps; this plays into what I’m thinking: the 5th Commandment). Should I aim for an emergency baptism like in Catechism 1256-58? If not right away, I planned on definitely going to RCIA in several years when I earn my own home/vehicle and live alone.My greatest worry for myself (aside from worrying about my family’s salvation) is that I could die before I am baptized in the true Church, and that, not being baptized, I’ll go to Hell. Although I’ve read of a case where Jesus said to an unbaptized yet repentant man that He would meet him in Heaven, and I also read of the “baptized by either water, blood, or desire” idea (I don’t even know if this is true teaching
). I’d simply love to make it to Purgatory. I think I’m developing a bad case of scruples. It’s probably a very subjective question, so don’t answer if you think it’s inappropriate to answer, but do you think under the circumstances described, particularly if I’m endeavoring to grow in Christ, that I’ll make it? What do you think I should do?Thank you, friends
