NO
I do. For a miscarriage anyway.
Perhaps “buffet Catholic”?
Just kidding. I think though the quality of the label derives from the belief that the “temerity” is self-serving, i.e. just as one might genuinely prefer the hamburger to the salad, a cafeteria Catholic might prefer for personal reasons to suppose that contraception is okay after all: we should let the faith in-form us, and not seek a faith that suits our tastes.
I have read somewhere that Padre Pio prayed often that faith is difficult. I can’t find the quote at the moment.
It is encouraged to question. However, a sincere effort to discover the truth is required, not a quest of convenience.I want to come back to the Church, but all I feel after reading these posts is condemned.
It doesn’t seem to be allowed within the faith to question anything anymore. Some seminarian recently said to a friend of mine that we aren’t even to try to interpret Sacred Scripture for ourselves…that only priests are allowed to “tell us what we will believe”.
You mean to tell me that if I get an M.A. in Theology from a Catholic university, that I can’t read the Bible just as well as they can?
Unless it’s “ex cathedra”, isn’t it good to question and study and question some more, so we truly have an understanding of why we believe what we believe? I feel like the Church drops the ball when it comes to adult education. (It sure has dropped the ball when it comes to me, period.)
Therese
I am right there with you but in four more years I will have reached the half way mark. That is half in the cafeteria and half in Christ’s buffet line.While I chose and try to live up to #1, I’ve spent a lot more of my life as “Other”, in particular as a completely fallen-away Catholic.
Guess I don’t do things by half-measures. Lucky for me, neither does God.
Talk about hypocrisy! It appears to me that the Catholic Church itself is the inventor and originator of “cafeterianism”. Any reading of the book of Leviticus will clearly show that we are quite liberal at picking and choosing which of God’s direct commands we are going to follow. God is very clear that all of the restrictions are to be obeyed - just think of that the next time you cut into that rare t-bone or button up that cotton-polyester blend shirt.
You’re confusing disciplines from the Old Testament with doctrines, dogmas and issues relating to faith and morals from since Christ established his church (the Catholic church) in the new covenant. The Lord promised that the Spirit would guide the church into all truth - a reading of the Catechism of the Catholic church confirms that He has done this. A cafeteria catholic doesn’t trust (or doesn’t care) that this promise by our Lord was made - it is simply ignored out of convenience or ignorance.
So show me where the new covenant says its ok to wear clothes with blended fabrics or eat scallops or sow two different crops in the same field. We certainly like to use the prohibitions against male homosexuality (I notice female isn’t mentioned) from Leviticus but we conveniently ignore most all the others. We also like to emphasize belief in most other things from the OT - from creation to Adam and Eve to the Flood and so on but get real “cafeteria like” when it comes to God’s direct commandments.
Homosexual relations are condemned in the New Testament as well. When it comes to the Catholic Church, doctrines and dogmas haven’t changed (but at times were developed) since the inception of the church and these are what we are called to believe in. We’re also called to assent to all the church’s teachings on faith and morals. Those who don’t aren’t really catholic.
In some cases I think you’re right about people just struggling with the doctrine or teaching. However, I think in most cases it is because the person realizes that following all the teachings of the church means changing their lives and alot people aren’t willing to do that. As a result, they accept the teachings they feel they can follow and ignore or dismiss the teachings that would be a problem to follow - a good example is contraception. In other cases, it is just simple ignorance of the true teachings due to poor catechesis. The bottom line is if the Church and the Magisterium cannot be trusted on putting forth correct and true teachings, then the promise from Christ that the Holy spirit would teach all truth is a lie. I don’t think alot of people think this last point through and what the implications of their cafeteria catholicism are. You need to take the whole package if you want to call yourself a Catholic.