Catholic at a Christian University

[ThatOldGuy]

I suggest typing on your computer/device 1-2 pages of Scripture on charity and signs of the Holy Spirit. Use a quote on charity or the Holy Spirit when you can’t think of anything else to say. If they continue to come at you, say something like, “I appreciate your concern, but I’m praying over the passage in Scripture today. Would you care to pray with me for guidance from the Holy Spirit?”

You could also ask them if they would like to join you in reflecting on the word agape (charity) in the Bible. It’s everywhere. Use the online Bible referred to below, or Google: Bible charity … and … Bible love

When they say something truly strange (blood of babies, really?), ask calmly. "“What is your source for that? Have you researched the quality and credibility of that sourced?” … Put a stop to any argument or attack by calmly saying “Would you like to silently pray with me over this beautiful passage in the Bible?” (something on charity, love, neighbor, Holy Spirit)

Get familiar with the Bible quotes they use. Ask for the Book and the Chapter (no need for the verse). Your absolute best source for the Bible is the online Bible provided on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops web site. Absolutely beautifully organized. Finding any passage would be easy and you will get brief but useful Catholic commentary on the meaning of passages. To find any passage you could also simply Google: Words of the passage (a few will do, no need for all) Bible.

Just Google: US Conference of Catholic Bishops Bible

Best wishes, and prayers. Just remember that Jesus is with you when you are kind.

 

[Celtic_Maiden]

As a Jewish convert I have never had that one thrown at me “baby’s blood” I would just laugh when they say that to me and say back and you come here to be educated, I think you should have started years ago when you come out with those ignorant lines, after all I dont believe that Protestants only believe in singing only at your services .

Its equally as stupid as signing oneself Catholic and Reformed as I see some Anglicans do,
Henry V111 broke off from Rome and Elizabeth 1 most certainly did , any Cathollic even putting a nose into England got hanged, drawn, and quartered for being a Catholic, I went to a Church of England school, and this is what they are Church of England/Anglican. Even though I was brought up an Orthodox Jew.

The Catholic Church has never been reformed, and its equally as offensive to me as a Catholic for someone to say that, if they want to be a Catholic change to be one and then one can sign themselves a Catholic. A lot of Anglicans ( if you watch Marcus Grodi on EWTN) a lot of Anglican pastors are changing to be Catholic, so if they were Catholic, how could they change to be Catholic ( a Catholic changing to be Catholic huh) 2800 Anglicans in England last year changed to be Catholic yes Catholic of the Roman variety. Did you hear that in Germany they have just ordained a woman Archbishop only probem she does not believe in the Virgin Birth, what would Luther think, well he set the ball rolling, and when you do that who knows where the ball will stop - yes women Archbishop who does not believe in the Virgin Birth.

 

[VanSensei]

Never heard “unborn baby’s blood” before. But I can see why they’d say that. We believe it is actually Christ in the species, their Communion/Lord’s Supper/what have ye is only symbolic.

Anyway, I would read some apologetics books or open, cordial dialogue to clear misconceptions.

 

[RuthTherese]

Never heard “unborn baby’s blood” before. But I can see why they’d say that. We believe it is actually Christ in the species, their Communion/Lord’s Supper/what have ye is only symbolic.

Probably doesn’t help that this school had us sign a lifestyle agreement saying that we would never drink alcohol anywhere, no matter our age, as long as we are enrolled here. Since they don’t believe in our Communion, they must think I’m rather contrary “drinking wine” every Sunday.

Best wishes, and prayers. Just remember that Jesus is with you when you are kind.

Thanks. Sometimes I get so frustrated that I need reminding that kindness is the best answer I can give them.

 

[ThatOldGuy]

To Celtic Maiden:

You paint too strong a picture of Elizabeth as anti-Catholic. In contrast to Spain, where it was policy to eradicate Protestants (and Jews), Elizabeth tolerated non-political Catholics. How do I know? I have relatives who married into some English families that have been openly Catholic from the time of Henry, Mary and Elizabeth Tudor. They had non-political priests to say Mass. They were known as Marian priests, that is, priest who were Catholics under Mary Tudor and remained Roman Catholic after her Protestant sister Elizabeth came to the throne. They were English educated and not indoctrinated in the campaign to get rid of Elizabeth that was stirred up by priests educated abroad. Many of these Catholics were prosperous farmers in Warwickshire.

What do I mean by political Catholics? Those who imprudently took the Pope at his word that Elizabeth was bastard and not the legitimate monarch and therefore Catholics could feel free, even obliged, to revolt against her. Certain clergy and lay people preached that Catholics had a duty to dethrone Elizabeth. On the whole she left alone those Catholics who practiced their religion rather than religious politics, what this new pope has called ideological religion, not a good thing.

Attacking others is no proof of Catholic truth, especially when attacking them unfairly.

P.S. My parents were Catholics from Ireland who took part in the Irish War of Independence. They did not hate their English neighbors, all of whom supported Irish independence. They considered the local Protestant priest to be more scholarly and saintly and charitable and fair minded than many of the Catholic priests.

 

[Blackshirtproud]

I agree with what others have said about answering their statement with question, I pretty smart guy you may have heard of did that all the time.

I feel for you and all of us who carry this cross daily. Attached is a “cheat sheet” to use until you have it memorized mostly for what you will benefit for you’re self as well as planting seeds. Cast you’re net. catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0039.html

 

[cmodrmac]

Something is not right here- I never heard of “free Methodists”- the Methodist Church and its members are usually quite mellow

Be that as it may if this is one of those “Christian Colleges” that basically train Ministers why are you there?

There are plenty of Catholic Colleges transfer to one if you are distressed

 

[RuthTherese]

Be that as it may if this is one of those “Christian Colleges” that basically train Ministers why are you there?

It’s a liberal arts school, mostly. You can get a degree that allows you to go on to their seminary, but that’s as far as minister training goes.

 

[Michael57]

Hey all,

I recently transferred to a Christian univeristy for various reasons. In the three months that I’ve been here, I’ve encountered a lot of prejudice when people find out that I’m Catholic.
…
So how do you think I should try to handle this? Is keeping my head down really the only option I have? I’ve been praying about this a great deal, and I feel in my heart that this is the right school for me, but it’s very difficult.

And if I get one more person asking me how I can live with myself when I “drink unborn baby’s blood every Sunday” I will scream…

Be not afraid. God bless you, with many blessings. Every single day.

Live your Catholic faith and live it well. Be a light in the darkness, and a cheerful light too.

Know what our faith teaches and why, it’s all there in the CCC. It is good to know scripture and where to look in the Bible for what you want to point out to someone, but isn’t the better way to simply live the faith well?

Don’t engage with those that want to argue and ridicule against what they neither know nor understand. Don’t respond to strident argument with the same.

Be meek and humble as a lamb. Know your faith, the faith of our fathers. The answers are all there. Let your reply to the honest inquiry be: Come let us reason together.

Here’s a link that’s handy: the CCC

Again, God be with you in your walk of faith and at this school.

Praying for you…



…oh, and please don’t scream.

 

[Contarini]

Something is not right here- I never heard of “free Methodists”- the Methodist Church and its members are usually quite mellow

The Free Methodists split away from the Methodist Episcopal Church (one of the parent denominations of the current United Methodist Church) just before the Civil War. The Free Methodists were more staunchly opposed to slavery than the mainstream Methodists; they also opposed pew rentals and favored less liturgical worship. They are today definitely more conservative than most UMCs, but not fundamentalist.

As I said earlier, I know several people who teach at Free Methodist schools (though actually they are United Methodist themselves). I would really like to know what school this is.

RuthTherese, I beg you not to take a hostile attitude toward the school as a whole. The faculty and staff are not responsible for the dumb things the students may think and say. Remember that your Protestant fellow students are also there to learn. I taught for six years at an evangelical college and tried very hard to be an advocate for the Catholic students. It’s tough to be in a minority, and it’s easy to think that the folks who give you grief are more representative than they really are.

 

[adawgj]

Don’t be afraid while your being persecuted. If they throw you a verse I would train to throw ten versus back. Learn how to academically understand scripture. When people just quote one verse it is normally way out of context if they use that verse as their only form of evidence.

 

[Billy_Buescher]

I suggest that you look at the Bible Christian Society web site:

biblechristiansociety.com/home.php

This is an excellent place to learn how to defend the Catholic Faith.

There are free mp3 downloads on a lot of topics, you can also download past newsletters written by the founder, John M. where he defends our faith against Protestants.

Bill

 

[ffg]

Hey all,

I recently transferred to a Christian univeristy for various reasons. In the three months that I’ve been here, I’ve encountered a lot of prejudice when people find out that I’m Catholic. It’s a Free Methodist school, but the majority of the Christians there refuse to call themselves a member of any particular denomination. I really don’t know how to deal with this. While I’ve had Christian friends many times before, I’ve never encountered such rabid “You’re so deluded, it’s not even funny!”

I try to answer questions about the faith as they come up, and try to defend what I believe to a certain extent, but my theological knowledge apparently isn’t as in depth as I thought it was when they all start throwing Bible verses at me. So how do you think I should try to handle this? Is keeping my head down really the only option I have? I’ve been praying about this a great deal, and I feel in my heart that this is the right school for me, but it’s very difficult.

And if I get one more person asking me how I can live with myself when I “drink unborn baby’s blood every Sunday” I will scream…

You are doing great. Stay strong. You get one person to start asking questions vs attacking you and your faith, and you’ll see a tide turn with regard to respect.

I would invite them to stop by here where they can lay all this Catholic knowledge they have down and see how it holds up, since they know so much about Catholicism, but can’t seem to define one for themselves.

With regard to your last, just turn a question back on them, only a foolish person would believe that last statement. See if they really think that’s what is happening, have them explain why.

They will walk themselves into a three walled square room.

Oh and it’s perfectly acceptable to take questions away for a later answer. Even have the person write down the question. Because what you are showing there is that…

1. You want to give a ‘correct’ answer (vs what is their opinion), this shows that similar to these other folks, your job is not theologian and you’ll reference 2000 years of insight to give them a good full and correct answer. (Which also implies Authority and Order in your faith vs chaos)
2. You are making the person put the illogical question on paper. Sometimes it’s hard to write what is easy to say.
3. You show you are taking them seriously, when they might think the joke is over. This will help with future communication.

 

[Porknpie]

I’m a junior at the moment. The more that I’ve prayed about it, the more that I feel God is telling me to stay put, that I have something to learn here that I wouldn’t learn at another school.

Courage. A gift of the Holy Spirit. I like you…Ms Ruth.

True, it proves good for my faith because I am challenged and it forces me to go back and study my catechism more thoroughly than I have in a while, but… I don’t know.

What don’t you know?

When I was looking to transfer last spring, there were two schools that I considered. The school I am currently enrolled at, and a Catholic university in Minnesota.

I grew up in the Chicago Burbs. Been to MN. It’s too cold there. Better to stay in Illinois.

I prayed a lot about the decision, and I asked God for a sign as to where He wanted me to be. The two schools were about the same as far as tuition, and had originally promised me about the same amount in financial aid. But then, the Christian college inexplicitly offered me $20,000 more than the other. The difference in money was overwhelming. After more prayer, I just felt like that was the sign I was looking for.

That’s a nice clear sign. Keep on praying to discern how to move through the next two years. Don’t ever get discouraged about your learning efforts…we will spend eternity learning about God. Learn what you can … a little at a time … and grow in faith, love & charity over your lifetime.

PnP

 

[RuthTherese]

Thanks so much for your support, everyone.

I’m finding many mixed reactions lately as far as religion. My favorite being the wild jealousy when someone found out that I can go to Mass on Saturday night if I choose. Sometimes I get a bit tired of people treating me like glass (“Now Ruth, please don’t get offended when I say this to the whole class”), but I’m getting by. I’d have left months ago if I was offended easily.

 

[Heart_Foam]

Hey all,

I recently transferred to a Christian univeristy for various reasons. In the three months that I’ve been here, I’ve encountered a lot of prejudice when people find out that I’m Catholic. It’s a Free Methodist school, but the majority of the Christians there refuse to call themselves a member of any particular denomination. I really don’t know how to deal with this. While I’ve had Christian friends many times before, I’ve never encountered such rabid “You’re so deluded, it’s not even funny!”

I try to answer questions about the faith as they come up, and try to defend what I believe to a certain extent, but my theological knowledge apparently isn’t as in depth as I thought it was when they all start throwing Bible verses at me. So how do you think I should try to handle this? Is keeping my head down really the only option I have? I’ve been praying about this a great deal, and I feel in my heart that this is the right school for me, but it’s very difficult.

And if I get one more person asking me how I can live with myself when I “drink unborn baby’s blood every Sunday” I will scream…

Well, those people are idiots and you don’t deserve that. Just don’t make the mistake of assuming Catholicism can’t be objected to on perfectly reasonable grounds. What you want is authority, and from reading the 1st page of replies, a few solutions have been given: some say ask around on this forum because you can get great answers here, and a book by Karl Keating is recommended too. But I’m curious… are these *infallible *sources you guys are suggesting, or private judgement?

RuthTherese:

My favorite being the wild jealousy when someone found out that I can go to Mass on Saturday night if I choose.

Without committing a mortal sin. A man-made loophole to a man-made rule. To do the work required of us, is to believe in the one God sent (John 6:29), but salvation according to more legalistic Catholicism at least partly involves an attendance record. Which is being justified by law.

Those people who are so fueled by uninformed prejudice have a lot to learn about how to be a Christian, and perhaps they will learn it from you. And I don’t feel one’s faith is something to be memorized and practiced by rote. God will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), and God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13) - the Greek for temptation and tempted can also mean testing and tested.

God bless

 

[bsroufek]

You don’t have to be a Bible scholar. Just say that the Church is the True Church
founded by Jesus and the Apostles and that He will never leave Her.