Are you Catholic? Why or why not?

[AlanFromWichita]

There are quite a few ex-Catholics here who are abysmally ignorant about the Catholic faith. Despite all the qualifiers
“altar boy for 4 years!” …
“taught by Sr. Mary Margaret Joseph in full habit!”
“went to Mass every day for 9 years!”

if you ask them even the most basic question about Catholicism they will get it wrong more often than not.

So you’ll have to forgive our skepticism about your catechesis, despite the “13 years of Catholic education”.

The Church has done a dismal job of providing nourishing truth for her flock in the past, so it’s probably not your fault.

Just a quick question, though, wendit. Do you know where Scripture is recited in the Catholic Mass?

By referring to them, you have just brought them to the attention of all who are in spiritual communion, if also physical communion, with Jesus.

So by even mentioning their name, you have implied two or more so automatically the whole post is blessed. This is your public confession to the Lord, who by His nature cannot fail to put it to Good Use.

I underlined the action words I got from your quote. I hope you don’t mind my adding one period.

Thanks again,
Alan

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Is it during the liturgy of the word? How arrogant of you to question my knowledge of your precious “mass”. I simply disagree with you, but you charge me with ignorance! I nearly become sick at the sound of the word “mass”. I tire of hearing how beautiful, deep, spiritual, and others, all of which is pure brainwash. Absolutely nothing done in the “mass” is special. Any man alive could perform what the priest does, including the supposed transubstantiation, which is disgusting to think of actual flesh. Especially since Christ died once for all, not at every “mass”. Evidenced in 1 Peter 3:18 or Hebrews 9:28. Why cant anyone tell me the ratio of works to Jesus necessary for salvation? The Catholic church teaches works are necessary to earn salvation, so how much can we rely on Jesus? PRmerger what say you?

What a beautiful post!!! Bravo!

I got much joy out of it. Everybody can see Jesus in you.

What’s better than that

Alan

 

[AlanFromWichita]

sigh

And they breathed their last.

This smacks of so much ignorance, I’m half-tempted to ignore this. But I will still attempt to somehow educate you.

Firstly, transubstantiation is backed up by the Bible. Read the story of the Last Supper.and it is quite clear by Jesus’ own words that the bread IS His body and the wine His blood. From the Catholic Answers tract on the Eucharist:

Fundamentalists insist that when Christ says, “This is my body,” he is speaking figuratively. But this interpretation is precluded by Paul’s discussion of the Eucharist in 1 Corinthians 11:23–29 and by the whole tenor of John 6, the chapter where the Eucharist is promised. The Greek word for “body” in John 6:54 is sarx, which means physical flesh, and the word for “eats” (trogon) translates as “gnawing” or “chewing.” This is certainly not the language of metaphor.

This is beautiful too, there is a great deal of (com)passion evident. Passion is the power that expands, destroys, and renews the temple to upgrade purgatory.

:extrahappy:

 

[AlanFromWichita]

+jmj+

Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

As to faith and works, it’s been said time and time again that faith without works is not faith, and that works without faith are dead. Just as a tree produces seeds or fruit, faith and works go hand in hand, and works will naturally follow faith. Even something as simple as defending Christ is a ‘work’ as such.

mortality = eternity

 

[JustaServant]

+jmj+

This guy wasn’t any more Lutheran than the Pope. From his claims that he was once an altar boy, he gave himself away as another poster (username escapes me) who was banned as well. He made the same claims.
Glad Eric chose to leave the posts up instead of deleting them. Ignorance like that needs to be displayed,

 

[AlanFromWichita]

See?

These are the things Jesus showed us.

1. treat every human like God Himself. (that implies loving neighbors and self)
2. no matter what mortal words they use, just pick out any spirits that interest you. They can be good, bad, mean, funny, nostalgic, boring, whatever you speak them to be. Just look for them and when you like one, highlight it. You don’t even have to actually do it. When you get good at it, neither the sender nor the receiver needs human words, and they are free to dress them in civilian clothes so they can keep their naked prayers inside the church. Another step is to get to where neither the sender nor the receiver even knows the other exists, and of course time travel is no problem
3. oh, and nothing escapes the eye of God. Don’t worry about anything because if God wants to change you He will.

Note the sending, receiving, and creation of the post can happen in any sequence, because spirits can’t tell time.

Physics shows there really is time travel in the physical world, as well as supposedly inert matter that acts differently when watched.

Dr. Quantum

 

[Omar_Gatskill]

And reading up on the Personal Ordinariate for Anglicans would have shown that we have made the best of Anglicanism ours, too.

Among other things.

And again, WHAT??? That’s ridiculous. If you choose to acknowledge and give consideration to something that comes from the Anglican church, then you may do so just like we may do with Catholics. But, this isn’t a game of Stratego. Where do you come off turning it into a power struggle? This is precisely what Jesus warns about in Scripture.

 

[Miriam1947]

This guy wasn’t any more Lutheran than the Pope. From his claims that he was once an altar boy, he gave himself away as another poster (username escapes me) who was banned as well. He made the same claims.
Glad Eric chose to leave the posts up instead of deleting them. Ignorance like that needs to be displayed,

I was reading his stuff last night and thinking it’s only a matter of time before he is banned.

Eric is quite patient and I am glad he left the posts up.

 

[veilofveronica]

Yes. Because I chose to be. I was a child convert (baptized at age twelve), by my own choice (mother was a lapsed Catholic, father a non-practicing Anglican. My mother started going to Mass after I decided to become Catholic). I left the Church and started practicing the occult when I was around nineteen, then was on and off attending until my twenties. I finally returned for GOOD last year, by the Grace of God.

I am a Roman Catholic because I believe that the Church teaches the full Truth.

 

[elecbudman]

I was born and baptized Catholic. That is the extent of my Catholic religion. I occasionally went to Catholic masses. I later married a Baptist woman and became Baptist then was divorced from her Thank God! I remarried to a Catholic woman outside the Catholic Church because we couldn’t marry in the church. I would like to find my Catholic roots again. Can I be a Catholic again or what? I have heard many things and would like some strait answers on how to become a Catholic so I can start communion and to marry in a Catholic Church.

Thanks

 

[Angela77]

I’m Catholic! Why? Well, it certainly helps that my parents are Catholic. But they aren’t SUPER-into it, so I’ve sort of had to come to fully accept Caholicism myself. AKA, I’ve done (and am still doing) a lot of exploration into the teachings of he Church. Everything seems to click about Catholicism, which I love. My confirmation made a huge difference for me too. Before being confirmed, I knew I believed in Christianity, but I wasnt sure Catholicism was the way to go. But my confirmation not only confirmed me, but my belief in Catholicism.

I had actually thought I might want to be Baptist before my confirmation in the CC. I knew a lot of really nice Baptists. I honestly didn’t know enough about the CC-- all I saw at that time was how Catholicism was more strict and how the Baptists seemed more free and openly loving. I still love my Baptist sisters and brothers, but the Holy Spirit has kept me in the Catholic Church, and I am greatful of it.

 

[Miriam1947]

I was born and baptized Catholic. That is the extent of my Catholic religion. I occasionally went to Catholic masses. I later married a Baptist woman and became Baptist then was divorced from her Thank God! I remarried to a Catholic woman outside the Catholic Church because we couldn’t marry in the church. I would like to find my Catholic roots again. Can I be a Catholic again or what? I have heard many things and would like some strait answers on how to become a Catholic so I can start communion and to marry in a Catholic Church.

Thanks

You need to go to your local parish and speak with a priest. That will at least get you started.

Besides you were baptized Catholic. You’re a Catholic but without catechesis.

 

[Alces]

I’m proudly becoming a Catholic through RCIA right now.

I was baptized a Lutheran, and started going through confirmation but never completed it due to a mini “schism,” if I may, between my grandma and the church.

The main reason is, that after going through a brief time of spiritual searching and religious, er, “dabbling,” I discovered that no religion had, at its core, the same message of love that Jesus taught.

What made me decide to become the Catholic flavor of Christianity is that I was looking through a Catholic study bible, and I discovered that Catholicism doesn’t intend to apply the teachings of Genesis literally (the first part, anyway). This was the first example I had of some sort of harmony between Christianity and science. I suppose it’s to be expected after the Galileo issue, huh?

After more discernment I decided that joining the Church would be in my best spiritual interest as a developing adult; I was fascinated by the Church’s vast libraries of literature, theological teachings, and heritage. But at the core of my decision to become Catholic was Jesus, advising us all to love God and love one another.

 

[queenyellow]

I belong to the Church of Christ (not the out there ones). This would fall under the Protestant umbrella, although we really don’t use that term. I have attended a private Christian school my entire life and therefore have had an opportunity to learn and compare Catholic to Protestant. I am a member of the Church of Christ because we believe strictly in the Bible. We try to set ourselves up as the original New Testament church did and follow what is outlined by the apostles.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Yes, baptized, received First Eucharist, then fell away after my convert mother (very devout) passed away. I didn’t consider myself Catholic any more, but I searched for years for what was missing, never realizing it was Jesus. Came “home” after I had my 1st son. I love our Church so much! Receiving Jesus is the best part of my life. Sometimes I get frustrated with certain aspects of the Church but I could NEVER leave the Eucharist. And I believe the Church is the one true Church founded by Jesus. So where else would I go?

 

[SwampThingDude]

I was raised protestant and deconverted to atheism for a number of years and now I find myself re-enterring Christianity, which I thought I would never do, and I’m arriving at Catholic Christianity.

I grew up in the fundamentalist charismatic evangelical version of protestant Christianity and deconverted primarily because I had never really formed any real bonds with any of the people at that church. The people at that church failed to make a connection with me and so, despite being made to attend by my parents, they missed out on their opportunity to be a positive influence in my life.

And so by my early twenties, mistakenly thinking that that was Christianity, I turned my back on God and Jesus and remained an atheist for a number of years.

I am, almost two decades later, making my way back to Christianity but I have a completely different concept of Jesus and Christianity than what I was taught as a child. My understanding in both is now much better informed by knowledge of differing historical views than before. The catholic church claims to be The One started by Jesus himself who then put Peter in charge and the deeper I get into the history of both Christianity and Judaism, the more evidence I find to support this claim.

For instance, consider the following; The original religion and even the specific sect that Jesus was born into and grew up practicing is still around. It is rabbinical Judaism and it is the only sect from Jesus’ time to survive to the modern day. Roman Catholicism is so similar to Rabbinical Judaism that it can be thought of as a Grecko-Latin translation of the Hebrew religion.

Some of the original churches started by the original apostles are still around and they all have oral traditions that are very similar to the Catholic Church. The Roman Church is the one started by Peter and Peter is the one that Jesus identified as the leader of the church and the Roman Church as been the most successful.

The Protestant Church has no historical ties to the original religion that Jesus started and likewise does not resemble any of the branches of Christianity that do.

 

[PRmerger]

And so by my early twenties, mistakenly thinking that that was Christianity, I turned my back on God and Jesus and remained an atheist for a number of years.

I am, almost two decades later, making my way back to Christianity but I have a completely different concept of Jesus and Christianity than what I was taught as a child.

Welcome to the CAFs, SwampThingDude! Stay a while and learn and your journey towards Christ and His Bride, the Catholic Church, will be enriched!

 

[batman1973]

Wanting to very much. I’ve been reading the Catholic answers website, and feel a real strong connection to the Catholic Church. I was raised a Mormon, left, became a born again evangelical for a while, Joined the Re-Organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, left it to go back to evangelical Christianity. I guess what I love about Catholic faith is the tradtion. Mormons have very tradional worship. The Non-Demonanational Churches that I’ve been to are very relaxed in worship, and I’m not comfortable with that.

 

[PRmerger]

Wanting to very much. I’ve been reading the Catholic answers website, and feel a real strong connection to the Catholic Church. I was raised a Mormon, left, became a born again evangelical for a while, Joined the Re-Organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, left it to go back to evangelical Christianity. I guess what I love about Catholic faith is the tradtion. Mormons have very tradional worship. The Non-Demonanational Churches that I’ve been to are very relaxed in worship, and I’m not comfortable with that.

Welcome to the CAFs, batman!

As you continue on your faith journey I urge you to find the Church that proclaims the Truth, and conform your views to that which is proclaimed. Most folks try to find a church that conforms to their beliefs–which seems to me to be a rather backwards way of searching for Truth, don’t you think?

If you find a church that professes everything that you believe, haven’t you in essence created a god in your own image?

(Here, “you” is meant in the generic sense, not a personal sense. )