Am I a Catholic?

[Anonymous_1]

Ok…this is going to be long…

I was raised in the Catholic church and was baptized and confirmed…

I went to church basically every sunday, but because it was an obligation. my parents made me. It was boring, monotonous, i ended up daydreaming, and checking out girls.

Anyway i always believed in God, its kind of hard to deny the existence of God. I just you know didnt know Him…So i am a sinner, and i got caught up in some very bad stuff. Drugs and stuff…

Well heh, apparently whoever sins is a slave to sin, and i was definetly addicted to ALOT Of things…all these things promised me everything but delivered nothing…

But last december i went to rehab after some very bad things happened… After some serious thinking, i realized i had a problem. I saw that i had done some very bad things and hurt alot of people. And i guess God put it on my heart to pray. I didnt know how to pray. I knew the our father and hail mary and all that. I hit my knees and i dont remember my exact words. But i asked God for help. Wow! Ok, ever since that day in rehab i am NOT the same person. EVEYRTHING has changed. Born again is the perfect phrase. I dont even recognize myself sometimes. Today i can say like God is real and I have a relationship with Him. In fact He is like the center of my life.Haha. Powerful stuff. Anyway, there are things the Catholic Church teaches that dont sit right in my heart, and ive prayed and prayed and prayed about some of these things, and i still think some of it is goofy. Catholics say they are the one Church. but i have also met brothers and sisters that were Protestants.And i mean some real Spirit filled people.Anyway i still goto Catholic church, i like this one “Spirit” mass on sunday nights…its like contemporary worship and stuff…awesome! But i dont know where t o go from here. I dont really goto confession, i do confess my sins and struggles with fellow brothers, and i bring them to the Lord…I dont think the Pope is the “visible Christ” here on earth as the churhc teaches…i also dont believe that the Pope is infallible… I dont pray to Mary or to Saints…Alot of stuff like that.

Maybe some other people have been through this same thing and can share their conclusion.

Yours in Christ
~Matt

 

[Anonymous_1]

By the way im not a big fan of tradition. If you can explain some things fromt he Bible as to whyu the Catholic church does some of these things that would be great.

 

[WBB]

You are Catholic, but you need to study your faith more to understand it better. A lot of people seem to be of the opinion that after you are confirmed you don’t need to study the faith anymore. Rubbish! I say that after confirmation is the best time to delve into the intricacies of the Catholic faith which can only be fully understood as an adult.

Good luck to you!

 

[cazayoux]

Howdy !!

I went through quite a few questions myself.

These three little books were the start of my study …

“Why do Catholics do that?”
“Where is THAT in the Bible?”
“Why is THAT in Tradition?” ← Very good intro explains Tradition and shows proof of it in the bible

These three little books were a great start for me.

Cheers!!

(remember … sensationalism is the enemy of truth)

michel

 

[puzzleannie]

congratulations, you experienced conversion, as all Catholics are called to continuing conversion, because we all, whether or not we admit it, fall away from the faith and devotion we had from baptism and confirmation. “born again” is a terminology that would be used be an Evangelical Christian to describe that experience. A Catholic might use terms like conversion experience, dark night of the senses, turning away from sin, purification and enlightenment. But we all would be talking about the same process of spiritual growth and acceptance of Jesus and promise to follow Him.

 

[tkdnick]

I have been in a similar situation…CONGRATULATIONS!!! It is TRULY AMAZING when that “thing” hits (guess the proper term is the Holy Spirit). I spent many years with the same questions you had.

Why do I need to pray to a priest? I can pray straight to God!
Why should I pray to Mary? I can pray straight to God!

I guess it took me about 7 years, and some pushing by the Holy Spirit through some friends of mine who are not Catholic to REALLY start looking at Catholic teaching. That almost exactly a year ago. I would suggest, like a previous poster, the books by Patrick Madrid. I have not read them, but have heard awesome things about them. I would also recommend any of Scott Hahn’s books. I would start with Rome Sweet Home. I would also suggest getting the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I read it cover to cover (though most people say I am crazy). I think it took me 4 months, but was worth it!!!

Good Luck! Welcome Home!
GOD BLESS!!!

 

[rschermer2]

Anonymous_1:

Ok…this is going to be long…

I was raised in the Catholic church and was baptized and confirmed…

I went to church basically every sunday, but because it was an obligation. my parents made me. It was boring, monotonous, i ended up daydreaming, and checking out girls.

Anyway i always believed in God, its kind of hard to deny the existence of God. I just you know didnt know Him…So i am a sinner, and i got caught up in some very bad stuff. Drugs and stuff…

Well heh, apparently whoever sins is a slave to sin, and i was definetly addicted to ALOT Of things…all these things promised me everything but delivered nothing…

But last december i went to rehab after some very bad things happened… After some serious thinking, i realized i had a problem. I saw that i had done some very bad things and hurt alot of people. And i guess God put it on my heart to pray. I didnt know how to pray. I knew the our father and hail mary and all that. I hit my knees and i dont remember my exact words. But i asked God for help. Wow! Ok, ever since that day in rehab i am NOT the same person. EVEYRTHING has changed. Born again is the perfect phrase. I dont even recognize myself sometimes. Today i can say like God is real and I have a relationship with Him. In fact He is like the center of my life.Haha. Powerful stuff. Anyway, there are things the Catholic Church teaches that dont sit right in my heart, and ive prayed and prayed and prayed about some of these things, and i still think some of it is goofy. Catholics say they are the one Church. but i have also met brothers and sisters that were Protestants.And i mean some real Spirit filled people.Anyway i still goto Catholic church, i like this one “Spirit” mass on sunday nights…its like contemporary worship and stuff…awesome! But i dont know where t o go from here. I dont really goto confession, i do confess my sins and struggles with fellow brothers, and i bring them to the Lord…I dont think the Pope is the “visible Christ” here on earth as the churhc teaches…i also dont believe that the Pope is infallible… I dont pray to Mary or to Saints…Alot of stuff like that.

Maybe some other people have been through this same thing and can share their conclusion.

Yours in Christ
~Matt

Hello my friend,

It is great to hear that you had such a great experience. I would say that your questions definitely seem to be coming from an outside influence. Would it be fair to say that in your substance abuse program you happened to meet and talk to a Protestant minister?

I was born and raised Catholic and fulfilled my obligations as I was taught. I then moved away from home and into a Protestant friends home and they asked me honest questions and asked where is this or that in the bible.

I was starting to think that the Catholic church has a lot of non-biblical teachings. I happened to mention it to another protestant friend who was studying theology at the time. I can’t remember what I said to him but I remember following it up with ‘ahh but I guess that’s not really biblical’. Well my protestant friend stopped me in my tracks and said ‘don’t let anyone tell you the Church is not biblical’. Then he suggested I read a book by Peter Kreeft called Fundamental of the Faith.

I bought it, read it and to this day (that was about 8 or so years ago) I have been learning more and more about the TRUE teachings of the Catholic Church as opposed to the misunderstood teachings of the Catholic Church that some protestants seem to think the Church teaches.

I guess what I’m saying is read about the Catholic teachings from well informed Catholics before you believe what you are told what the Catholic Church teaches by not so well informed protestants.

And remember, being born and raised Catholic doesn’t guarentee that someone know in depth what the church actually teaches.

God bless,
RS

 

[motorman]

I can see that many people here have had similar experiences, as have I! DO NOT let your problems with what the Church teaches discourage you form attending! Keep your heart open, ask questions with an open heart and pray from your heart! It will all be revealed to you! I’m guessing, I could be wrong, that I was in much worse shape spiritually speaking. i now believe in Christs church completely.

God Bless

 

[MariaG]

posted by Anonymous_1
Catholics say they are the one Church. but i have also met brothers and sisters that were Protestants.And i mean some real Spirit filled people.

Hi Matt,
Yes, Catholics do say we are the one True Church of Christ. However, we also say that Protestants, who through no fault of their own (ie it was the fault of the “reformers”) do not know the fullness of the truth are our separated brethren. In other words, the Catholic Church teaches that Christians can be found outside of the Catholic Church. Look deeper into the teachings of the Catholic Church, and have the source be practicing Catholics, not those who used to be or like you, never really knew Christ while in the Church.

May God Bless and guide you always,
Your sister in Christ,
Maria

 

[Exporter]

Hello Old Buddy. Hey, you wrote this. “:.Anyway i still goto Catholic church, i like this one “Spirit” mass on sunday nights…its like contemporary worship and stuff…awesome! But i dont know where t o go from here. I dont really goto confession, i do confess my sins and struggles with fellow brothers, and i bring them to the Lord…I dont think the Pope is the “visible Christ” here on earth as the churhc teaches…i also dont believe that the Pope is infallible… I dont pray to Mary or to Saints…Alot of stuff like that.”

Guess what? The Catholic Church NEVER did teach that the Pope was the “visible Christ”. It never did teach that! The Pope is a man, a successor to the first Bishop of Rome, Peter. It was Jesus who chose Peter on which to build His Church. Jesus said He ( Jesus) would build the Church - He did’t say Peter would build it! Jesus told Peter that he (Jesus) would never forsake the Church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. And that has been true!

You see Jesus knew Peter was a man. Jesus left the Keys to the Kingdom of God with Peter. Jesus did not make Peter a God! The Pope is Christ’s representative on earth. The Church says the Pope is the Vicar of Christ on earth. Sorta’ like being a envoy or a diplomat to earth. The Pope is not a “Visible Christ”.

When the Pope meets with the Bishops of the world and they are deciding a question only about Faith or Morals is the decision INFALLIBLE. They are not infallible about the choice of which automobile they will ride in, about what color to use for a pillow or at which date they will travel. But they are infallible only in the area of Faith or Morals.

 

[Katholikos]

The Catholic Church was nearly 400 years old before the New Testament and the Bible as we know them existed. The Church didn’t come out of the Bible; the Bible came out of the Church. The Bible is a collection of different writings, written by different people at different times, for different audiences and purposes. The Church was God’s agent in writing the NT, collecting and canonizing it, and putting it together with the Old Testament and naming the entire collection “the Bible.”

Jesus didn’t leave us a Bible; He left us a Church. So you’re a lucky guy to have been born into this Church. All you need to do is learn to know it and what it teaches. You can’t love what you don’t know.

I hope one day you’ll realize that the Mass is the only really important thing in life. A miracle occurs at every Mass – God becomes present and offers Himself to us as our spiritual food. It’s not boring – if you understand what’s happening, it’s the most exciting event in the world.

Welcome. Stick around. Need a friend? You’ve got lots of them here. We’d love to help you.

JMJ Jay

 

[lewlo]

Wow! I’ve had many of your same experiences! Only I didn’t stick it out in rehab. I got my first Vit. B shot and I was out the door because I felt I couldn’t miss work. I should have stayed.

But, I have turned circles around myself changing. I was a Cradle Catholic who didn’t have a clue about my faith. Different Protestants had said things that I didn’t know how to answer about the Church. So when I began to search out God, I searched high and low. I studied with Jehovah’s witnesses, attended the Church of the Nazarene, went to Baptist services and went on a Baptist retreat. (I know, I know ) It was at this retreat, alone and crying in the woods, that God seemed to whisper this word to me: “stay.” It was about many things in my life. My marriage, the Church, my course to Him.

And now, after studying and listening to Catholic radio, I am no longer embarrassed about the Catholic faith. I see that the answers are all there. It’s just going to take time for me to learn them all.

Hahn’s Rome Sweet Home is a great book and any videotapes you could get by Father Coropi (sp?) are inspiring. Tim Staples cassettes All Generations Shall Call me Blessed are really good. Catholic radio is such a big help. Maybe you can get this in your area?

Good luck and God bless you!