study the mystics. Thomas Aquinas wrote great philosophy and theology but when he had is mystical awakening he said all that the had written was so much straw.
I don’t think you are being as fare and as supportive as you think SwizzleStick. You say that ACTS has had a negative effect on you, but you have never been to an ACTS retreat. Instead you see ACTS through your husband’s experience. What many do not understand is that to go to an ACTS retreat is like walking side by side with our Lord for 3 days. You can not walk side by side with him for three days and not be affected in a profound way. It is not possible to experience Christ in this way and come home and ignore him or his body (which is the church). The reason many people that have not attended the retreat misunderstand it is because they want to understand what the people did during the retreat, the never ask what the Holy Spirit did during the retreat. This is the part everyone misses. When we come back from our retreat most of us feel a profound sense on conversion, this is not an emotional reaction (all thought the effects can be very emotional!) but rather a real spiritual conversion. It is the kind conversion that only the Holy Spirit itself can bring about. The reluctance to go on a retreat that could bring you closer to your husband and closer to God is far from being supportive. I suspect that after your husband came home from his retreat there was probably very few thing he would have not done for you, perhaps even lay his life down for you. The question I give you is this: Are you and your husband one flesh or not? Would you lay your life down for him?
Wrong, it can destroy a marriage. I agree with Swizzlestick, this is not for me, and I want no part of it. The way our marriage is going now, I expect to be fully separated or divorced by the end of the year. I do not care what my wife believes in (after all this is America), but I will not tolerate the one sided secretive acts of this group. I am expected to thell her where I am going, who I will be seeing and what I am going to be doing. I would expect the same from her. Now with the ACT cronies hounding me, I fell it is time to get on with my life, with or without her. In my opinion, this is what happens when you are forced to deal with religion when you are a child till it becomes part of your life. You are taught not to question the book. Nobody should be forced into anything till you are old enough to understand what you are getting into. This is why the middle east is in such turmoil. The hate is passed down from generation to the next, same as for Catholics or other religions.
We are both cradle Catholics who take our vows seriously, so our marriage is and will remain intact. Though ACTS did create some tough issues, separation of any kind was never a consideration or option for us. Yes, it did hurt and bewilder me that hubby went away for a weekend with a bunch of strangers and then came home with such strong loyalty to them and a bit of a wall around himself regarding me and our family. Yes, it did make things quite bumpy for awhile and ACTS does cause issues still. But, ACTS is not a threat to our marriage. Again, please read my other posts in this thread.
I have to agree that ACTS has great potential for harm in a marriage, based on what I know about it.
I apologize Mr Agnostic, I should have addressed that directly to Swizzlestick. That was not meant for you, I would have never invited you to attend an ACTS retreat. You see, without faith the ACTS retreat is useless. These retreats are for people that are seeking to be closer to Christ and to his Bride. They are not meant for people that disagree with or misunderstand the teachings of the Church and hang around Catholic forums dispensing there sarcasm and taking shots at anything everyone else says in support of their faith. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to run you off; In fact I am glad you are here. I do not hold against you your lack of faith because faith is not man made, it is a gift from God. And if you don’t have it, then you don’t have it. However, now that I have come into contact with you, brace yourself; because you will now become the target of many prayers. My prayer will be that you receive the grace needed to have faith. I know, I know… You probably think that prayer is a waist of time. That is OK you see, for my payers to bear fruit it does not matter what you believe, all that is required is that I believe.Wrong, it can destroy a marriage. I agree with Swizzlestick, this is not for me, and I want no part of it. The way our marriage is going now, I expect to be fully separated or divorced by the end of the year. I do not care what my wife believes in (after all this is America), but I will not tolerate the one sided secretive acts of this group. I am expected to thell her where I am going, who I will be seeing and what I am going to be doing. I would expect the same from her. Now with the ACT cronies hounding me, I fell it is time to get on with my life, with or without her. In my opinion, this is what happens when you are forced to deal with religion when you are a child till it becomes part of your life. You are taught not to question the book. Nobody should be forced into anything till you are old enough to understand what you are getting into. This is why the middle east is in such turmoil. The hate is passed down from generation to the next, same as for Catholics or other religions.
OK Swizzlestick, let me just say this. I hate chat rooms and forums like these because they are so time consuming and people usually start arguing in circles and I just don’t have that kind of time. I am married, have 5 kids, work a full time job, go to daily mass, fallow daily the Liturgy of the Hours, attend ACTS meetings, and when I do have time I like to spend time helping the homeless and praying in front of Planned Parenthood. In addition I am on team for the next Men’s ACTS retreat coming in September. My point is that my time is scarce. Having said that, I came to this forum (and your post) by accident. I was looking for ideas for building a web site (for our ACTS community) when I entered ‘ACTS’ in a search engine and the next thing I knew I was reading your post. For whatever reason God has put you in front of me and has tugged at my heart, I am not one to turn away when God calls. So this is what I am going to do. I will print and read everyone of your posts in a meticulous way and I will get back to you.
Hi Mark. If no one else has done so, let me welcome you to CA.
Yep, that’s the way it has been around here lately with hubby on team. I say that partly in jest, but it is also a bit true to an extent.Thank you and bless you, Mark0720. I very much appreciate your prayers and efforts and since I seem to be in a bad place today, I particularly need and appreciate them. Thank you.
Best of luck to you too, MrAgnostic. I’m sorry to hear that the aggravation and headaches are not worth it. I do hope you reconsider and continue to try to work with your wife to save your marriage. Maybe your trip to Madrid will give you a chance to reflect and reconsider and perhaps come to a resolution that satisfies both you and your wife without ending your marriage.Best of luck to you with your endeavors Swizzlestick. For me the aggravation and headaches are not worth it. I am closing on a beach front condo next month, and you are welcome to use use it if it is open when you need it. What is really funny, I am going to Madrid for a month to visit some friends there. Also they are catholic by birth, they consider the church a mafia. You have these hugh churches with very few people in them.
Maybe one day John Lennons dream will come true.
As I’ve said before, perhaps ACTS needs to make some simple changes to their format, just tweak it a bit, in regard to how it is handled with married retreatants. That won’t help hubby and me, but maybe that will help future ACTS retreatants who are married to spouses who won’t attend the retreat for whatever reason.