Baptist friends frosty with catholic faith

[velvetsky]

Hi there, I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I’m hoping someone might be able to advise me here. I used to attend a baptist church, I always felt there was something missing and never really felt close to God. But last october me and my husband were led to a catholic church and I was completely in awe. I’ve realy embraced the faith, desperately want to be baptised. It really feels right and I feel for the first time I’m getting to know God.
owever, two of my friends are baptists, i don’t want to lose them as friends but they are getting quite nasty, attacking the catholic faith like you wouldn’t believe. Because I’m fairly new to catholicism I don’t have answers to some of their attacks. I just don’t get why they have to be this way.
I go to church half an hour early so I can pray, (I can only attend weekend mass)i always feel closer to God in the church, but they say thats wrong and that I think of God to much. They say God doesn’t care if we’re in church or not. Are they right?
Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

 

[Third_Day]

Hi there, I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I’m hoping someone might be able to advise me here. I used to attend a baptist church, I always felt there was something missing and never really felt close to God. But last october me and my husband were led to a catholic church and I was completely in awe. I’ve realy embraced the faith, desperately want to be baptised. It really feels right and I feel for the first time I’m getting to know God.
owever, two of my friends are baptists, i don’t want to lose them as friends but they are getting quite nasty, attacking the catholic faith like you wouldn’t believe. Because I’m fairly new to catholicism I don’t have answers to some of their attacks. I just don’t get why they have to be this way.
I go to church half an hour early so I can pray, (I can only attend weekend mass)i always feel closer to God in the church, but they say thats wrong and that I think of God to much. They say God doesn’t care if we’re in church or not. Are they right?
Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

Please feel free to send me a private message and I will give you my e-mail address. I teach an RCIA class so I am familiar with your concerns. If they are truly your friends then they will not walk away because of your decision. Be kind to them and understand that they feel this way because they do not understand what the Catholic Church truly teaches.

 

[MyRdmrLvs]

Hi there, I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I’m hoping someone might be able to advise me here. I used to attend a baptist church, I always felt there was something missing and never really felt close to God. But last october me and my husband were led to a catholic church and I was completely in awe. I’ve realy embraced the faith, desperately want to be baptised. It really feels right and I feel for the first time I’m getting to know God.
owever, two of my friends are baptists, i don’t want to lose them as friends but they are getting quite nasty, attacking the catholic faith like you wouldn’t believe. Because I’m fairly new to catholicism I don’t have answers to some of their attacks. I just don’t get why they have to be this way.
I go to church half an hour early so I can pray, (I can only attend weekend mass)i always feel closer to God in the church, but they say thats wrong and that I think of God to much. They say God doesn’t care if we’re in church or not. Are they right?
Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

They are probably the best people to explain what they mean. There is no reason that you should lose your friendship with them but I wonder how good of friends they are anyway… I attend a church that was Baptist but we dropped Baptist from the name. We believe fellowship of believers is very important.

 

[chessmane4e5]

Hi there, I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I’m hoping someone might be able to advise me here. I used to attend a baptist church, I always felt there was something missing and never really felt close to God. But last october me and my husband were led to a catholic church and I was completely in awe. I’ve realy embraced the faith, desperately want to be baptised. It really feels right and I feel for the first time I’m getting to know God.
owever, two of my friends are baptists, i don’t want to lose them as friends but they are getting quite nasty, attacking the catholic faith like you wouldn’t believe. Because I’m fairly new to catholicism I don’t have answers to some of their attacks. I just don’t get why they have to be this way.
I go to church half an hour early so I can pray, (I can only attend weekend mass)i always feel closer to God in the church, but they say thats wrong and that I think of God to much. They say God doesn’t care if we’re in church or not. Are they right?
Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

As difficult as this situation is, their questions should only strengthen your faith, so long as you seek out the answers. This was my experience when I decided to become Catholic.

If you feel comfortable and/or confident, you may then try to answer their questions, which may in turn raise more questions, but so long as everything remains positive, this cycle is a good thing.

 

[ljubim]

Hi there, I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I’m hoping someone might be able to advise me here. I used to attend a baptist church, I always felt there was something missing and never really felt close to God. But last october me and my husband were led to a catholic church and I was completely in awe. I’ve realy embraced the faith, desperately want to be baptised. It really feels right and I feel for the first time I’m getting to know God.
owever, two of my friends are baptists, i don’t want to lose them as friends but they are getting quite nasty, attacking the catholic faith like you wouldn’t believe. Because I’m fairly new to catholicism I don’t have answers to some of their attacks. I just don’t get why they have to be this way.
I go to church half an hour early so I can pray, (I can only attend weekend mass)i always feel closer to God in the church, but they say thats wrong and that I think of God to much. They say God doesn’t care if we’re in church or not. Are they right?
Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

You think of God too much??
RED ALERT!
Are these people really worth being your friends? They don’t sound like very nice people.
If every time you are around them, you stress about what the next attack will be, you should stay away.
You can just say, “God has shown me that the Catholic Church is the Church that He established, and I find far more love being near Our Lord in the tabernacle than I do anywhere else. I am asking you to stop bothering me in order to save our friendship. If you cannot respect me as a person then I cannot respect this friendship.”
God bless! I am so happy for you
If you feel closer to God just being near Him in church, you have no idea how amazing receiving the Eucharist is!! You’ll never be the same again

 

[RoryMcKenzie56]

Hi there, I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I’m hoping someone might be able to advise me here. I used to attend a baptist church, I always felt there was something missing and never really felt close to God. But last october me and my husband were led to a catholic church and I was completely in awe. I’ve realy embraced the faith, desperately want to be baptised. It really feels right and I feel for the first time I’m getting to know God.
owever, two of my friends are baptists, i don’t want to lose them as friends but they are getting quite nasty, attacking the catholic faith like you wouldn’t believe. Because I’m fairly new to catholicism I don’t have answers to some of their attacks. I just don’t get why they have to be this way.
I go to church half an hour early so I can pray, (I can only attend weekend mass)i always feel closer to God in the church, but they say thats wrong and that I think of God to much. They say God doesn’t care if we’re in church or not. Are they right?
Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

It is natural that we lose friends if we change the things that once bound us together. Friendship is a relationship that can blossom overnight and flourish gloriously for a short time, or it can be like a steady old tree that lasts forever. I have had good friends whose memories I still cherish, but we grew apart as I became more religious, and there is nothing wrong with that. I still have fond feelings for my old buddies, but if we met, we would only talk of old times. Why? Because that would be all we have in common now. Friendship is based on mutual enjoyment of an object that we share in common.

I am just encouraging you to not be disappointed if these friendships prove not to be permanent. I was Baptist too. I converted in 1995 and have a brother who is still distressed about it. Most serious Baptists will think it means you aren’t saved. Most Catholics think little of it, but that is because most Catholics have never been in Baptist shoes. Your friends are probably genuinely distressed for you, and even if you eventually lose them as friends, it does not mean they were bad people. It means that you no longer have a shared way of worship and ideas about how to please God in this life.

It is also quite consistent their beliefs that you would feel as inspired in one place as another. Baptists can come into church chatting and continue the conversation because of their beliefs about church. They don’t think God is there except inasmuch as He is omnipresent everywhere. But Catholics truly believe that when the altar candle is lit, it is because the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the King of the Universe is verily present. We try to behave as though we are in the presence of God because our faith informs us that the Church is a specially holy place, since Christ dwells there.

Your Baptist friends are being completely consistent with their beliefs. And so are you with your new ones. It is possible that you don’t appreciate how much you have changed in their eyes. I would implore you to interpret even the nastiest remarks you might hear from any of them in light of the probable frustration they are feeling at losing you as a friend, and possibly causing them to question their own beliefs. If it comes to a separating of ways, remember them fondly for what you once shared, not for anxious and desperate words of disparagement toward your new ways of acting out your faith. And welcome to the Catholic Church!

By the way, it is probable that you are already baptized. The Church has always understood that the act of baptism (with the proper form (invocation of the Trinity), matter (water), and intention (to do what the Catholic Church does), even performed outside the visible Church is effective and can only be done once.

God bless,

Rory

 

[SingleMomMonica]

Hi there, I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I’m hoping someone might be able to advise me here. I used to attend a baptist church, I always felt there was something missing and never really felt close to God. But last october me and my husband were led to a catholic church and I was completely in awe. I’ve realy embraced the faith, desperately want to be baptised. It really feels right and I feel for the first time I’m getting to know God.
owever, two of my friends are baptists, i don’t want to lose them as friends but they are getting quite nasty, attacking the catholic faith like you wouldn’t believe. Because I’m fairly new to catholicism I don’t have answers to some of their attacks. I just don’t get why they have to be this way.
I go to church half an hour early so I can pray, (I can only attend weekend mass)i always feel closer to God in the church, but they say thats wrong and that I think of God to much. They say God doesn’t care if we’re in church or not. Are they right?
Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

I think the reason you feel closer to God in a Catholic Church is because you are perceiving the physical Presence of Jesus Christ in the Tabernacle.

Your Baptist friends don’t understand your feeling of being closer to God while in the Church because they’ve never experienced it themselves. Since theyhave only experienced the spiritual Presence of God, not the physical, & they can feel His spiritual Presence equally anywhere - in their Church, in their car, at the store and so on.

The first times I entered the Church, I noticed it. I could feel it was different. I did not know that Jesus was there and so had no idea the cause. It felt like a sense of heaviness to me. I had a sense of awe, but could not understand it. I could only describe it as heaviness.

It may be something you can try to describe to your friends and invite them to walk into the Church with you (maybe not even for Mass, but just to see if they can feel what your talking about) as if they do, it may help them to understand which will strengthen your friendship.

 

[AmericanJosiah]

.

Dr. James Dobson wrote a classic little book some years ago entitled, “Emotions: Can You Trust Them?” A good read. I recommend it.

.

 

[rev_kevin]

Hi there, I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I’m hoping someone might be able to advise me here. I used to attend a baptist church, I always felt there was something missing and never really felt close to God. But last october me and my husband were led to a catholic church and I was completely in awe. I’ve realy embraced the faith, desperately want to be baptised. It really feels right and I feel for the first time I’m getting to know God.
owever, two of my friends are baptists, i don’t want to lose them as friends but they are getting quite nasty, attacking the catholic faith like you wouldn’t believe. Because I’m fairly new to catholicism I don’t have answers to some of their attacks. I just don’t get why they have to be this way.
I go to church half an hour early so I can pray, (I can only attend weekend mass)i always feel closer to God in the church, but they say thats wrong and that I think of God to much. They say God doesn’t care if we’re in church or not. Are they right?
Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

If they are true friends they will understand. They say you are wrong for thinking about God too much. Its never wrong or too much to think about God. I don’t understand what they are saying. Now I may question and disagree with some of the teachings of the Catholic church but I don’t believe I have attacked. Now like you I was a Catholic but did not feel close to God and since I became a Baptist I have never felt closer to him.
Maybe they think that you will not be their friend anymore because you became a Catholic and they are on the defensive. I would have a talk with them and let them know that you don’t want to loose them as friends and that friendship has no religious bounds.
But if they continue I would start to distance myself from them maybe they will realize what a good friend they let go because of their intollerance and ignorance.
I’ll be praying that things work out for you. And congradulations on being in a place where you are close to God.

 

[Carlan]

Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

Welcome Velvetsky, It must be very hard in the beginning, leaving friends and family behind, trust God to see you through this big step you and your husband have taken. Know that our prayers at CA are with you.
May I suggest that you tell your friends that you understand where they are at in their spiritual walk in life and you respect them, but that you have discovered a new path that is bringing you peace and that for now you feel it is best for us, as good friends, to refrain from talking of it or about it.:grouphug: Time and acceptance heals much. I ask God to be with you on your journey of faith.Carlan

 

[wisdomseeker]

Hi there, I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I’m hoping someone might be able to advise me here. I used to attend a baptist church, I always felt there was something missing and never really felt close to God. But last october me and my husband were led to a catholic church and I was completely in awe. I’ve realy embraced the faith, desperately want to be baptised. It really feels right and I feel for the first time I’m getting to know God.
owever, two of my friends are baptists, i don’t want to lose them as friends but they are getting quite nasty, attacking the catholic faith like you wouldn’t believe. Because I’m fairly new to catholicism I don’t have answers to some of their attacks. I just don’t get why they have to be this way.
I go to church half an hour early so I can pray, (I can only attend weekend mass)i always feel closer to God in the church, but they say thats wrong and that I think of God to much. They say God doesn’t care if we’re in church or not. Are they right?
Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

hi! and welcome to the CF. here is a website that may help you.

thecatholictreasurechest.com/index.htm

 

[benidict]

Hi there, I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I’m hoping someone might be able to advise me here. I used to attend a baptist church, I always felt there was something missing and never really felt close to God. But last october me and my husband were led to a catholic church and I was completely in awe. I’ve realy embraced the faith, desperately want to be baptised. It really feels right and I feel for the first time I’m getting to know God.
owever, two of my friends are baptists, i don’t want to lose them as friends but they are getting quite nasty, attacking the catholic faith like you wouldn’t believe. Because I’m fairly new to catholicism I don’t have answers to some of their attacks. I just don’t get why they have to be this way.
I go to church half an hour early so I can pray, (I can only attend weekend mass)i always feel closer to God in the church, but they say thats wrong and that I think of God to much. They say God doesn’t care if we’re in church or not. Are they right?
Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

sorry to say, i had a similar expierience. but it was long after i left the baptist church, converted to catholocism years later. but even having left the baptist church they were fine. still maintained my friendships with some. part of the reason i left was due to the anti catholic rhetoric i kept hearing. after joining the Catholic Church though… its like we spoke 2 different languages. have managed to maintain 1 friendship since then. weve been like brothers for over 20 years, but every time we get together, its like we are aliens to eachother. when we really dig into it, its like we really do believe in 2 different gospels. wouldnt let the attacks bother you. they are typical of ignorant and uneducated view the baptist hold about alot of things.God bless you and yours. peace

 

[velvetsky]

Thankyou so much for your kind words, support and good advice to all that took the trouble to reply.It really means alot to me.
:blush:I did try to thank you personally but may have missed a few).

 

[MyRdmrLvs]

It is also quite consistent their beliefs that you would feel as inspired in one place as another. Baptists can come into church chatting and continue the conversation because of their beliefs about church. They don’t think God is there except inasmuch as He is omnipresent everywhere. But Catholics truly believe that when the altar candle is lit, it is because the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the King of the Universe is verily present. We try to behave as though we are in the presence of God because our faith informs us that the Church is a specially holy place, since Christ dwells there.
,

Rory

We very much believe God is there, “where two or more are gathered” . Perhaps it was different in the church you came from.

 

[MyRdmrLvs]

when we really dig into it, its like we really do believe in 2 different gospels. wouldnt let the attacks bother you. they are typical of ignorant and uneducated view the baptist hold about alot of things.God bless you and yours. peace

Perhaps I dont understand Catholicism after all.

 

[RoryMcKenzie56]

We very much believe God is there, “where two or more are gathered” . Perhaps it was different in the church you came from.

Hi MyRdmrLvs.

It is true that Baptists believe that Christ is spiritually present wherever two or three Christians gather. In your house. On the bus. In a cave. In a church. But in which direction is the Lord located? No direction. No location. Not physically present. Baptists never, ever genuflect upon entering a house, cave, bus, or church whether there are two or two thousand Christians gathered together. Why? They deny any real physical presence. I am not saying they should. It’s their choice. I was not condemning their loud behavior (relatively speaking) in church. It is consistent with their beliefs. They don’t even remotely believe what Catholics believe regarding the Real Presence of Christ, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, dwelling in the Tabernacle of the Altar.

Rory

 

[KingAlfred]

Hi there, I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I’m hoping someone might be able to advise me here. I used to attend a baptist church, I always felt there was something missing and never really felt close to God. But last october me and my husband were led to a catholic church and I was completely in awe. I’ve realy embraced the faith, desperately want to be baptised. It really feels right and I feel for the first time I’m getting to know God.
owever, two of my friends are baptists, i don’t want to lose them as friends but they are getting quite nasty, attacking the catholic faith like you wouldn’t believe. Because I’m fairly new to catholicism I don’t have answers to some of their attacks. I just don’t get why they have to be this way.
I go to church half an hour early so I can pray, (I can only attend weekend mass)i always feel closer to God in the church, but they say thats wrong and that I think of God to much. They say God doesn’t care if we’re in church or not. Are they right?
Just want to say thankyou to anyone that wants to reply

Jesus instructs us to live exclusively for Him. You can never think about God enough.

 

[velvetsky]

We very much believe God is there, “where two or more are gathered” . Perhaps it was different in the church you came from.

I know the baptist church I used to attend believed this but why don’t Baptists kneel in prayer, stand to greet the gospel and give our Lord all the praise and respect He deserves?
When I started attending mass It really hit me how little worshp we gave to God in the Baptist church.

 

[Philena]

I know the baptist church I used to attend believed this but why don’t Baptists kneel in prayer, stand to greet the gospel and give our Lord all the praise and respect He deserves?
When I started attending mass It really hit me how little worshp we gave to God in the Baptist church.

I recently attended a few services at a local Baptist church, and I agree with you. I felt more like an observer than a participant in the worship. The people at the Baptist church were very kind and friendly - much more than the people at my Catholic parish! - but I just don’t feel the same awe and sense of reverance that I get at the Catholic church. The liturgy of the Catholic church is beatuiful and calls for our particpation and responses in prayer. The Baptist church calls for our attention on the sermon. Big difference.