Any not-so-dedicated Catholics around?

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I went to a Baptist church growing up. They schooled me on how to reject other religions. Catholicism and Mormonism were on the top of their hit list. I always thought that young Catholics should know how to defend the common attacks on the Catholic Church. My grandfather believed that all Catholics were going to hell. I would never debate him on this because he was stuck in his ways.

Some Catholics were dragged to church and went threw the motions of being Catholic, but never really found Jesus. Protestants also fell into the same situation.

Now, to answer the original question: I can respect all the teachings of the Catholic Church. It is organized and well backed by the Bible and logical teachings. I am dedicated to being a Christian first. I follow the “What would Jesus do”. Remember, Jesus sacrificed and so must we all. I do my best to follow the Catholic faith. The Catholic Church has high standards. If we truly want to sacrifice, the Catholic Church has the answer.
 
Eddy said:
It really depends how you define ‘devout’ and ‘dedicated’. I’ve found this forum to be a scarey place in many ways, and I do feel I’ve been judged fairly frequently. And at times I’ve reacted badly to that (which is generally an indicator that I need to take a few days off).

I think, by the standards of many posters here, I would not be regarded as ‘devout’ or ‘dedicated’ - I have issues with several church teachings, and my experience of pastoral work means I’m very reluctant to condemn people or positions without trying to understand them. I am totally against abortion. But I see the pain in the 14 year old who’s been raped by a family member. I know enough about world cultures to know that that child giving birth may well result in her being murdered (honour killings are all too appalling a reality in our world). I understand problems with contraception, but wonder if it isn’t condemning married women in Africa, whose husbands have been unfaithful, to a terminal illness, through no fault of their own. And I find it impossible to get hot under the collar about a tambourine or guitar in Mass. When I first came here I was contemplating rejoining the Catholic Church. I’m now back, but I’m not sure my return is one many Catholics on this board would welcome! Fortunately I have lots of ‘real time’ Catholics who are delighted 😃 .

However, I attend daily mass when I can. I pray frequently. I make an annual retreat. I volunteer for faith groups, and I do a lot of pastoral volunteer work. My full time work is decided and defined by the principles of my faith. Am I dedicated? Yes. Totally. But as I’ve said before, I’m dedicated first to Jesus. Everything else is secondary.
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Eddy, you eloquently wrote the words that I could not say. Thank you.

I have found myself sitting with a priest discussing some of the issues brought up in CAF. For the past six months or so it has been a hard struggle because I do not compare to some of the posters on this site. In my eyes, they see straight ahead, neither left nor right. My eyes tend to travel and my mind tends to ask questions … not just with religion but with all areas of life. It’s who I am.

It’s taken me awhile but I have started to become more comfortable in my Catholic shoes again. They aren’t the style that some on this forum would wear but, hey, they’re mine.
 
I am a divorced and remarried Catholic therefore excommunicated. I do not agree with all the teachings of the church and I know the church is not always correct. An Example the church believed the Earth was the center of the universe and we know now that is not true. There are other examples but that is because religions are dearrived from man and not perfect. Only God is perfect. I was looking for another religion that would accept me so I could worship and pray to God again. I never did stop praying or believing in Jesus but I did stop going to Mass because I was excommunicated. Finally it came to me you can go to Mass and pray you just can’t go to communion. I believe in Fatima and pray the rosary and I believe at Mass the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray to God best through the Catholic faith and even though I am excummicated I can still believe and pray as I know how.
 
believers said:
You probably won’t catch many (actually millions) of them on a site like this. This place is for the eager RCIA types. The cradles don’t care and don’t know enough to be bothered.
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You just found one…
 
believers said:
I used to live in New Orleans where many many many people are Catholic. They have internet and this site would definitely be last on their list to visit.
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Okay, but even if no Catholics of New Orleans was interested in aplogetics at all, (which I know it is not true since I have a good friend who moved there who may not participate in internet apologetics but does so up close in person:thumbsup: ), that is still a few bit shy of the 1 billion number you were trying to use.

Again, not every Catholic has the internet, and more important, not everyone is called to internet aplogetics.

God Bless,
Maria
 
MaryD7 said:
It’s taken me awhile but I have started to become more comfortable in my Catholic shoes again. They aren’t the style that some on this forum would wear but, hey, they’re mine.
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Glad you’re feeling more comfortable in your shoes again :). I think if you’re a thinker by nature, then God made you that way, and frankly, it would be going against him if you didn’t learn to be true to who he created you to be.
 
Re: Any not-so-dedicated Catholics around?
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It depends on who you ask concerning me.

If you asked me, I would say yes, since I don’t agree that Contraception is a sin. But in the same token I don’t participate in contraception either.

If you asked my wife who is a cradle catholic, then the answer would be yes as well. She recently called me a “Cafeteria Catholic” because I don’t believe in limbo. She and other cradles i know believe it is an official doctrine. Is my wife representative of most U.S. catholics?
 
JoeyWarren said:
If you asked my wife who is a cradle catholic, then the answer would be yes as well. She recently called me a “Cafeteria Catholic” because I don’t believe in limbo. She and other cradles i know believe it is an official doctrine. Is my wife representative of most U.S. catholics?
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Limbo never was an official doctrine. I don’t believe in it either. Neither does my pastor.
 
lak611 said:
Limbo never was an official doctrine. I don’t believe in it either. Neither does my pastor.
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You know that and I know that. But there are a lot of cradle catholics that don’t know that.
 
lak611 said:
:eek:
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Exactly but it more like :bigyikes: . And that is one of the discrepancies that Protestants have with us Catholics.

I’ve said this before, but I will a tad bit harsh this time so that the point is driven home. When Pope John Paul II died, a woman was shown on CNN saying “My Savior has just died” Any run of the mill Protestant would say "Yep, that just proves that Catholics worship the Pope"

We lost a lot of credibility with Protestants the moment that was shown. When we have cradle catholics out there that think the Pope is a Savior then we have a severe problem.

Now is where it get’s harsh. **Latin based cultures are the ones that tend to believe in such stupidities. The woman that was on CNN was Italian. For an Italian to say the Pope is her Savior shows a distinct problem of POOR CATECHISM of the masses. Rome must first clean up it’s own country of stupidity. Then it must clean up the Latin based countries and get them properly catechized. **

My wife is latino. After she accused me of being a “Cafeteria Catholic” for not believing in Limbo, I had to literally drag her into a meeting with our Priest so he could set her straight. She would not believe me because I once was a Pentecostal.
 
JoeyWarren said:
Exactly but it more like :bigyikes: . And that is one of the discrepancies that Protestants have with us Catholics.

I’ve said this before, but I will a tad bit harsh this time so that the point is driven home. When Pope John Paul II died, a woman was shown on CNN saying “My Savior has just died” Any run of the mill Protestant would say "Yep, that just proves that Catholics worship the Pope"

We lost a lot of credibility with Protestants the moment that was shown. When we have cradle catholics out there that think the Pope is a Savior then we have a severe problem.

Now is where it get’s harsh. **Latin based cultures are the ones that tend to believe in such stupidities. The woman that was on CNN was Italian. For an Italian to say the Pope is her Savior shows a distinct problem of POOR CATECHISM of the masses. Rome must first clean up it’s own country of stupidity. Then it must clean up the Latin based countries and get them properly catechized. **

My wife is latino. After she accused me of being a “Cafeteria Catholic” for not believing in Limbo, I had to literally drag her into a meeting with our Priest so he could set her straight. She would not believe me because I once was a Pentecostal.
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“My saviour”? :bigyikes:

Was she speaking English or Italian?
 
LilyM said:
:ehh: could she possibly have been saying ‘my father’ in a thick accent???
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No. It was clear and distinct. She was not the only one that was shown. Another woman was shown saying the same thing, except she was talking in Spanish and the subtitle was “Savior” I understand Spanish and it was **“salvador”. **
 
JoeyWarren said:
No. It was clear and distinct. She was not the only one that was shown. Another woman was shown saying the same thing, except she was talking in Spanish and the subtitle was “Savior” I understand Spanish and it was **“salvador”. **
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:dts: :doh2:
 
LilyM said:
:dts: :doh2:
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Exactly. My Protestant friends and co-workers who saw and heard did not let me escape it.

I was not a member here at CA when this happened so I don’t know how it was reacted to.

I wonder if it was reacted to at all. I wonder if Catholics exhibited the “Glaze Over” affect when they heard it? Scott Hahn in one of his CD said “When protestants read the bible they tend to skim over those verses that are blatantly Catholic”
 
JoeyWarren said:
Exactly. My Protestant friends and co-workers who saw and heard did not let me escape it.

I was not a member here at CA when this happened so I don’t know how it was reacted to.

I wonder if it was reacted to at all. I wonder if Catholics exhibited the “Glaze Over” affect when they heard it? Scott Hahn in one of his CD said “When protestants read the bible they tend to skim over those verses that are blatantly Catholic”
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Yup - this is in the Catholicity CD on the conversion of Scott Hahn. I just got the CD and I have listened to it 5 or 6 times in the past week. 🙂

It’s rather entertaining as well. On the third time I listened to it, I realized how wonderful his wife Kimberly is. 👍
 
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