A Woman Tells of Leaving the Catholic Church -- and Coming Back

[mdgspencer]

When I heard the older priest talking about motherhood as “the highest calling for a woman,” I took offense. The Church’s doctrine toward women insulted me as someone who believed women could and should be involved in the world… I was sure the way to make change was to leave the institution and create something “new.”
And so I stopped attending Mass, believing I was better off pursuing a personal relationship with God

see franciscanmedia.org/a-prodigal-daughter-returns/

 

[SAVINGRACE]

Thank you for posting this. I think the key here is that she didn’t ask the elderly priest what he meant. Many misunderstandings occur because people don’t ask what others mean or for them to clarify their statement.

We assume we understand and in this case she quit instead of inquiring. I’m not blaming her in any way, it’s just an observation. If that was me as young independent university educated woman, I probably would have reacted the same initially but I would have no problem with approaching the Priest and asking him to clarify.

 

[esieffe]

Great article. Reminds me a little bit of my story. I sure know all about the dark night of the soul, but really, it was more like the dark decades of the soul. There were some good times, but mostly it was pretty awful. Truckloads of mortal sin precludes much in the way of enjoying life, like it is meant to be enjoyed.

For those Catholics who stay the course, and wonder what it might have been like going crazy… doing the grass on the other side of the fence, as one who did, it wasn’t worth it. People who say…“I have no regrets…” I don’t get those people. I have a whole Rolodex of regrets. But don’t feel bad for me, feel bad for those deathbed confessions. They missed an entire life of potential happiness, the kind that only comes with the sacraments.

And of course I think we all can agree that the ones who we can all feel the worst for are the ones who never come to the church at all. The deathbed lot at least have a chance at an afterlife, the ones whose ship never came in all, well their chances are even worse in most cases.

I think the one advantage that I had, was that I was, as my best friend put it I was “a seeker.” I did the new age thing, the Buddhist thing, the Tao thing, but of course it was the Catholic thing that pulled me out of the water, just like the guy on Matrix, who got pulled out of the body discard pool. That is about how drastic it was. God clearly knew me more than I knew about myself, as the priests sometime say during absolution.

Being Catholic can be hard, as this story said, but in a very real way, life as I had lived was not anything I would call easy. In a very real sense, this is the easier way. It isn’t all roses though, living all that time as a slave to my senses has left the stain of sin, which is the source of most temptation, but as it is said God gives us the graces we need to pass these daily tests. If we could not do it, I mean REALLY not do it, God would not ask it of us according to Montfort and others.

I am really bad at closing out these soliloquies, so I don’t have any more personal “pearls” to share. I am just so very grateful to have finally come back to the Christian harbor, and as is fitting for my last stop, back to the source of all of it. The Catholic Church.

 

[adamhovey1988]

Great article. Reminds me a little bit of my story. I sure know all about the dark night of the soul, but really, it was more like the dark decades of the soul. There were some good times, but mostly it was pretty awful. Truckloads of mortal sin precludes much in the way of enjoying life, like it is meant to be enjoyed.

For those Catholics who stay the course, and wonder what it might have been like going crazy… doing the grass on the other side of the fence, as one who did, it wasn’t worth it. People who say…“I have no regrets…” I don’t get those people. I have a whole Rolodex of regrets. But don’t feel bad for me, feel bad for those deathbed confessions. They missed an entire life of potential happiness, the kind that only comes with the sacraments.

And of course I think we all can agree that the ones who we can all feel the worst for are the ones who never come to the church at all. The deathbed lot at least have a chance at an afterlife, the ones whose ship never came in all, well their chances are even worse in most cases.

I think the one advantage that I had, was that I was, as my best friend put it I was “a seeker.” I did the new age thing, the Buddhist thing, the Tao thing, but of course it was the Catholic thing that pulled me out of the water, just like the guy on Matrix, who got pulled out of the body discard pool. That is about how drastic it was. God clearly knew me more than I knew about myself, as the priests sometime say during absolution.

Being Catholic can be hard, as this story said, but in a very real way, life as I had lived was not anything I would call easy. In a very real sense, this is the easier way. It isn’t all roses though, living all that time as a slave to my senses has left the stain of sin, which is the source of most temptation, but as it is said God gives us the graces we need to pass these daily tests. If we could not do it, I mean REALLY not do it, God would not ask it of us according to Montfort and others.

I am really bad at closing out these soliloquies, so I don’t have any more personal “pearls” to share. I am just so very grateful to have finally come back to the Christian harbor, and as is fitting for my last stop, back to the source of all of it. The Catholic Church.

I’m just glad that I can do things like to confession and recieve communion. I was not raised in a church-going household, but I am a creature of habit, and I, with the grace of God will NEVER leave the Church