Catholic Convert Doubting

[Zackeera]

Are false signs and wonders taking place now? You bet! Never having attended a Catholic church, I am unsure of what is taking place but I personally experienced a false but very real manifestation in a Pentecostal church one night- the phenomena commonly known as “slain in the spirit.” I remember this evangelist touching my forehead and descending into smoky blackness. I remember thinking “If this is from God, shouldn’t there be light?” But all I saw was black, billowing smoke. When I regained consciousness, I tried to get up but it was like electricity began to course through my body and I was in the midst of spasms on the floor that only gradually waned. I left greatly disturbed. I knew that this was not from God no matter how many of the faithful were trying to tell me what a great thing had just happened to me. I began researching the phenomena and found that this same thing happens in Far Eastern religions- chakra or awakening the inner serpent. I repented of this thing right away and asked the Good Lord to protect me from any infiltration of the Enemy into my being. In churches where experience has become the sum total of one’s Christianity, the congregants become easy fodder for the Enemy. Only a sound, balanced church with both love and orthodox teaching can circumvent the great apostasy that seems to have begun.

Thank you for sharing that. I’ve often wondered what one might be experiencing during the course of being “slain in the spirit”. Praise God that you recognized that it was the manifestation of the enemy! May you continue to be blessed.

 

[Chez]

render to man the things that are man’s and to god the things that are are god’s.

Christ was not averse to using the word.

and 200 or 2000 yrs, both are miniscule in terms of this planet’s existence, and irrelevant.

and i completely fail to see where obama fits into catholic apologetics.

And how strange it is that you are so willing,… So receptive… So anxious, to render unto Caesar (Obama)… But you absolutely refuse to render unto God!

I wrote at the beginning of all this, “we Catholics do not get to make up our own rules”, I find that to be a Blessing, you seem to find if a curse!

Jesus Christ left us His Church, a promise… And His Word!

Catholics are not brainwashed… If is all there for us… all spelled out. No ambiguities, no guessing… No arguing!

There is nothing you nor anyone else can point to, to discredit His Church or that promise.

Oh… I know, you and others believe that scandals within the Church, or, meat bad, meat good, says something. But the Church was given the authority to loose and bind, and Jesus never said He would instantly remove sin from His Apostles just for following.

There comes a time when we must all humble ourselves and turn away from our own stubbornness… That time for me is now!

No matter what I say, no matter what Tom says (Tom, I don’t know you, but I love you like a brother! God Bless you!) you will not bend to God! (right now)

I’ll keep praying for you, and others like you, who have hardened their heart toward God.

Goodbye and God Bless!
Chez
P.S.- You have written twice now that you fail to see what Obama has to do with all of this.
I hope you are aware of his full frontal attack on the Catholic Church with the HHS mandate.
My guess is, in your mind, that’s a good thing. And it will better serve us Catholics by dragging us out of the Middle Ages!
So much for rendering unto Caesar’s what is Caesar’s, and rendering unto God what is His!

 

[tqualey]

Hi Dooraghero,

Thank you for sharing your experiences - several were quite distressing to me and certainly would not want to have any of them myself!

Any church member is at risk for the ‘wicked snares of the devil’ as a Catholic prayer put it - and through them, the Evil One would be able to manipulate those weak in their faith. In all honest - for those who rely on themselves - no matter how ‘strong in the faith’ they think they are - they are easy pickings for Satan.

Being able to clearly identify Satan as he works hard to deceive is not to be taken for granted. We were warned that he would masquerade as an ‘angel of light’ so as to deceive anyone not relying on God’s Love and directions on how to discern spirits. The Devil has lived a totally frustrating existence since he decided to worship himself instead of God. When humans are compared to angels … well… there really is no comparrison! Angelic beings are so much superior to human beings - but, we are the only ‘game in town’ as far as the Devil is concerned. All he can do is try to take us away from God - not that the Devil wants us - but, only to keep us away from God.

Of course, when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity took on Flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary - this really was bad news for the Devil. He did not see any value in us as us - but, God did! If it were not for having a soul that would not be going to God - he would have nothing but contempt for us (as opposed to this momentary interest where he shows interest i the same way a poisonous and hungry snake has an interest in a unaware mouse) . So, the idea of some damned human soul being in charge of other damned human souls - in a place where humans are truly unloved - is quite a mental gymnastic on how to be happy in Eternity!

Again, thank you for sharing your experiences. Oh… and please … for old men like me who have some trouble reading … please break up your post into paragraphs - it makes it sooooooo much easier on the eye! Thanks!

God bless

Liberalism within the Catholic Church must be akin to what I have seen in the course of my journey in the Protestant Church. I do not understand the mindset of people who oppose orthodox belief, indeed, not only oppose, but seek to change the traditional beliefs within a given church. It would seem to me, if an individual or group of individuals was vehemently opposed to orthodox tenets, they would simply leave and perhaps form their own liberal “church.” Unfortunately, this rarely occurs. There must be some kind of perverse delight in subverting long-held teachings, a warped joy in seeing others lead astray. Liberals may very well take great pride in perverting the Word, creating a god in their own image, and experiencing a rush of power as they sow their seeds of discord amongst the brethren but they may, in fact, be but automatons in the service of the Enemy as he sets the eschatological table

In Protestantism, it has begun to spread like wildfire with self-help teachings, the omission of any reference to the place of eternal punishment, and the prevalent message of everyone being saved- even those of other religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Even now, many of the central tenets of these religions are being woven into the fabric of the contemporary Protestant Church- most notable is the combination of Islam and Christianity or Chrislam. These are indeed dark times for the Church. “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect if it were possible” (Matthew 24:24). Are false signs and wonders taking place now? You bet! Never having attended a Catholic church, I am unsure of what is taking place but I personally experienced a false but very real manifestation in a Pentecostal church one night- the phenomena commonly known as “slain in the spirit.” I remember this evangelist touching my forehead and descending into smoky blackness. I remember thinking “If this is from God, shouldn’t there be light?” But all I saw was black, billowing smoke. When I regained consciousness, I tried to get up but it was like electricity began to course through my body and I was in the midst of spasms on the floor that only gradually waned. I left greatly disturbed. I knew that this was not from God no matter how many of the faithful were trying to tell me what a great thing had just happened to me. I began researching the phenomena and found that this same thing happens in Far Eastern religions- chakra or awakening the inner serpent. I repented of this thing right away and asked the Good Lord to protect me from any infiltration of the Enemy into my being. In churches where experience has become the sum total of one’s Christianity, the congregants become easy fodder for the Enemy. Only a sound, balanced church with both love and orthodox teaching can circumvent the great apostasy that seems to have begun.

 

[tqualey]

Hi, Chez,

Good post!

I do disagree with one thing, however … Obama isn’t interested in draging Catholics out of the Middle Ages or any other time period. He is interesting in putting his unique stamp on all Christianity - and decided what will be allowed (e.g., Catholics forced to pay for abortions, requiring military chaplains to perform ‘gay marriages’ under threat of being unlawfully discriminatory, and no one is to be allowed to have and then express their own conscience). That stamp is one of many that will eventually be the 21st equivalent of what the Catholics in the 2nd Century faced.

God bless

And how strange it is that you are so willing,… So receptive… So anxious, to render unto Caesar (Obama)… But you absolutely refuse to render unto God!

I wrote at the beginning of all this, “we Catholics do not get to make up our own rules”, I find that to be a Blessing, you seem to find if a curse!

Jesus Christ left us His Church, a promise… And His Word!

Catholics are not brainwashed… If is all there for us… all spelled out. No ambiguities, no guessing… No arguing!

There is nothing you nor anyone else can point to, to discredit His Church or that promise.

Oh… I know, you and others believe that scandals within the Church, or, meat bad, meat good, says something. But the Church was given the authority to loose and bind, and Jesus never said He would instantly remove sin from His Apostles just for following.

There comes a time when we must all humble ourselves and turn away from our own stubbornness… That time for me is now!

No matter what I say, no matter what Tom says (Tom, I don’t know you, but I love you like a brother! God Bless you!) you will not bend to God! (right now)

I’ll keep praying for you, and others like you, who have hardened their heart toward God.

Goodbye and God Bless!
Chez
P.S.- You have written twice now that you fail to see what Obama has to do with all of this.
I hope you are aware of his full frontal attack on the Catholic Church with the HHS mandate.
My guess is, in your mind, that’s a good thing. And it will better serve us Catholics by dragging us out of the Middle Ages!
So much for rendering unto Caesar’s what is Caesar’s, and rendering unto God what is His!

 

[Chez]

Hi, Chez,

Good post!

I do disagree with one thing, however … Obama isn’t interested in draging Catholics out of the Middle Ages or any other time period. He is interesting in putting his unique stamp on all Christianity - and decided what will be allowed (e.g., Catholics forced to pay for abortions, requiring military chaplains to perform ‘gay marriages’ under threat of being unlawfully discriminatory, and no one is to be allowed to have and then express their own conscience). That stamp is one of many that will eventually be the 21st equivalent of what the Catholics in the 2nd Century faced.

God bless

Hello Tom,

Your posts are spot on. Maybe one day I will learn to be more patient.

When I mentioned the Middle Ages, it was directed towards rmtracey, he/she thinks we Catholics need to get pass the Middle Ages.

I am perfectly aware of Obama’s intentions… Tear down everything and rebuild it in the Statist’s image… And quite frankly, there is no place for the Catholic Church in Utopia!
What arrogance!.. What an ego!

We have a tough battle ahead. Keep up the good works!

God Bless!
P.S.- Did I say “good works”?
Yes… I admit it, I’m a pot stirrer.

 

[tqualey]

Hi, Chez,

Hey, you did great!

Now… I always write WORKS in upper case…

I was serious - in 1,521 days we will have a new President - and during this time we really can not get discouraged. Life has to be respected, Marriage has to be respected and Religious Liberty needs to be respected - looks like the Courts are going to have their hands full…

God bless

Hello Tom,

Your posts are spot on. Maybe one day I will learn to be more patient.

When I mentioned the Middle Ages, it was directed towards rmtracey, he/she thinks we Catholics need to get pass the Middle Ages.

I am perfectly aware of Obama’s intentions… Tear down everything and rebuild it in the Statist’s image… And quite frankly, there is no place for the Catholic Church in Utopia!
What arrogance!.. What an ego!

We have a tough battle ahead. Keep up the good works!

God Bless!
P.S.- Did I say “good works”?
Yes… I admit it, I’m a pot stirrer.

 

[Miriam1947]

Liberalism within the Catholic Church must be akin to what I have seen in the course of my journey in the Protestant Church. I do not understand the mindset of people who oppose orthodox belief, indeed, not only oppose, but seek to change the traditional beliefs within a given church. It would seem to me, if an individual or group of individuals was vehemently opposed to orthodox tenets, they would simply leave and perhaps form their own liberal “church.” Unfortunately, this rarely occurs.

There must be some kind of perverse delight in subverting long-held teachings, a warped joy in seeing others lead astray. Liberals may very well take great pride in perverting the Word, creating a god in their own image, and experiencing a rush of power as they sow their seeds of discord amongst the brethren but they may, in fact, be but automatons in the service of the Enemy as he sets the eschatological table. I am not all that familiar with Catholic eschatology, but my understanding of the end times from my Protestant perspective is that there will be a great apostasy that overtakes the Church prior to the “Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.” This is specified in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.”

Thus, though liberals in any manifestation, be it ecclesiastical, political, or cultural seek power above all else in the name of “freedom,” they have placed themselves in chains unwittingly and have sought to bring as many along with them into the place of existential and eternal punishment. It is a spirit of antichrist at work here. It’s like an article I read a few years back written by a former Satanist who had converted to Christianity.

This individual was actively infiltrating various churches with the expressed purpose of sowing the seeds of discord and sought to turn as many from the true faith as possible. He stated that the reason for this was that Satan had promised him authority over a great many souls in Hell. It was deceived thinking upon his part. Indeed, during the course of his church forays he began to see that he was in fact being tricked by the Father of lies and that Hell was not going to be a place of continuous partying. He eventually repented and converted to Christianity.

I would not say that most liberals would have this conscious intention of bringing many to destruction. But on a subconscious level, the same spirit is operating at some level. Yet, there is always hope. Such individuals like the converted Satanist, could have an epiphany, repent, and be brought back into orthodox fellowship. However, such conversion would be unlikely in churches that have already caved into liberal theology where the full truth is rarely if ever spoken.

Indeed, the great apostasy may have already begun. In Protestantism, it has begun to spread like wildfire with self-help teachings, the omission of any reference to the place of eternal punishment, and the prevalent message of everyone being saved- even those of other religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Even now, many of the central tenets of these religions are being woven into the fabric of the contemporary Protestant Church- most notable is the combination of Islam and Christianity or Chrislam.

These are indeed dark times for the Church. “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect if it were possible” (Matthew 24:24). Are false signs and wonders taking place now? You bet! Never having attended a Catholic church, I am unsure of what is taking place but I personally experienced a false but very real manifestation in a Pentecostal church one night- the phenomena commonly known as “slain in the spirit.” I remember this evangelist touching my forehead and descending into smoky blackness.

I remember thinking “If this is from God, shouldn’t there be light?” But all I saw was black, billowing smoke. When I regained consciousness, I tried to get up but it was like electricity began to course through my body and I was in the midst of spasms on the floor that only gradually waned. I left greatly disturbed. I knew that this was not from God no matter how many of the faithful were trying to tell me what a great thing had just happened to me.

I began researching the phenomena and found that this same thing happens in Far Eastern religions- chakra or awakening the inner serpent. I repented of this thing right away and asked the Good Lord to protect me from any infiltration of the Enemy into my being. In churches where experience has become the sum total of one’s Christianity, the congregants become easy fodder for the Enemy. Only a sound, balanced church with both love and orthodox teaching can circumvent the great apostasy that seems to have begun.

Paragraphs are your friends.

 

[Erick_Ybarra]

Hello Seton Girl,

I am very familiar with your current experience. I personally grew up in a Catholic Church and home and as far as I knew, everyone I knew in the Church or in my family were very apathetic about God and the Lord Jesus. However, we were always in church receiving communion. I remember being an atheist by the time I was 15 years old and receiving the Eucharist every Sat/Sun. .

When I moved out of the house in 2005, I heard the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ for the first time by a baptist pastor in Orlando, FL. The baptist pastor actually preached that there were “condition” that had to be “met” in order to go to heaven, and that initially repenting, believing, and being converted were the initial step into a life of required purity and perseverance in order to be an heir of God and eternal life. I was astonished at the amount of people who turned from their sin in the Church. The very day I arrived to visit the church, there was baptism’s where people were shouting their testimonies about being cleansed on the inside of the heart. Something that was completely new to me as well was the issue of “closed communion” and “church discipline”.

It is the conviction of the catholic church (and I mean the undivided church of the first few centuries) that the church must be disciplined and that those who were unworthy (living in sin) could not partake of the Lord’s Supper and that those who were in sin must be disciplined, and if found unrepentant, must be excommunicated.

Now while some protestant churches excommunicated rather quickly, it is clear that in the NT (1 Cor 5), the apostles foresaw a church that was to maintain purity in it’s members through accountability (Hebrews 10:25). Those parishoners who do not attend for months and months must be disciplined.

I believe that it is the Roman Catholic Church’s refusal to appoint conservative bishops who will discipline the church morally and doctrinally are one of the huge barriers between someone like myself and actually joining the catholic church, despite it’s historicity. People who really want to serve God must not have with them those who are living in sin and are not pure.

 

[tqualey]

Hi, Erick_Ybarra,

You may want to take a deeper look at what you left. I think staying with CAF is a good way to actually identify the Truth of Christ’s Chruch - and that would be the Catholic Church from the various doctrinal splinterings of Protestantism.

You also may be interested in knowing that there are conservative bishops. Here is a link: newsbusters.org/blogs/paul-wilson/2012/11/08/cnn-belief-blog-catholic-bishops-election-behavior-threatens-their-auth

God bless

Hello Seton Girl,

I am very familiar with your current experience. I personally grew up in a Catholic Church and home and as far as I knew, everyone I knew in the Church or in my family were very apathetic about God and the Lord Jesus. However, we were always in church receiving communion. I remember being an atheist by the time I was 15 years old and receiving the Eucharist every Sat/Sun. .

When I moved out of the house in 2005, I heard the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ for the first time by a baptist pastor in Orlando, FL. The baptist pastor actually preached that there were “condition” that had to be “met” in order to go to heaven, and that initially repenting, believing, and being converted were the initial step into a life of required purity and perseverance in order to be an heir of God and eternal life. I was astonished at the amount of people who turned from their sin in the Church. The very day I arrived to visit the church, there was baptism’s where people were shouting their testimonies about being cleansed on the inside of the heart. Something that was completely new to me as well was the issue of “closed communion” and “church discipline”.

It is the conviction of the catholic church (and I mean the undivided church of the first few centuries) that the church must be disciplined and that those who were unworthy (living in sin) could not partake of the Lord’s Supper and that those who were in sin must be disciplined, and if found unrepentant, must be excommunicated.

Now while some protestant churches excommunicated rather quickly, it is clear that in the NT (1 Cor 5), the apostles foresaw a church that was to maintain purity in it’s members through accountability (Hebrews 10:25). Those parishoners who do not attend for months and months must be disciplined.

I believe that it is the Roman Catholic Church’s refusal to appoint conservative bishops who will discipline the church morally and doctrinally are one of the huge barriers between someone like myself and actually joining the catholic church, despite it’s historicity. People who really want to serve God must not have with them those who are living in sin and are not pure.

 

[paul_c]

Hello Seton Girl,

I am very familiar with your current experience. I personally grew up in a Catholic Church and home and as far as I knew, everyone I knew in the Church or in my family were very apathetic about God and the Lord Jesus. However, we were always in church receiving communion. I remember being an atheist by the time I was 15 years old and receiving the Eucharist every Sat/Sun. .

When I moved out of the house in 2005, I heard the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ for the first time by a baptist pastor in Orlando, FL. The baptist pastor actually preached that there were “condition” that had to be “met” in order to go to heaven, and that initially repenting, believing, and being converted were the initial step into a life of required purity and perseverance in order to be an heir of God and eternal life. I was astonished at the amount of people who turned from their sin in the Church. The very day I arrived to visit the church, there was baptism’s where people were shouting their testimonies about being cleansed on the inside of the heart. Something that was completely new to me as well was the issue of “closed communion” and “church discipline”.

It is the conviction of the catholic church (and I mean the undivided church of the first few centuries) that the church must be disciplined and that those who were unworthy (living in sin) could not partake of the Lord’s Supper and that those who were in sin must be disciplined, and if found unrepentant, must be excommunicated.

Now while some protestant churches excommunicated rather quickly, it is clear that in the NT (1 Cor 5), the apostles foresaw a church that was to maintain purity in it’s members through accountability (Hebrews 10:25). Those parishoners who do not attend for months and months must be disciplined.

I believe that it is the Roman Catholic Church’s refusal to appoint conservative bishops who will discipline the church morally and doctrinally are one of the huge barriers between someone like myself and actually joining the catholic church, despite it’s historicity. People who really want to serve God must not have with them those who are living in sin and are not pure.

Eric - the Catholic church’s role is to teach the truth about salvation and to administer the Lord’s sacraments. It has no temporal power to discipline. It must propose the truth to the people and those that accept it will be saved. Don’t blame your choices on a lack of church discipline. You know what the church teaches (or at least, you certainly have the opportunity to know what it teaches). It is incumbent on you to decide whether to follow those teachings or not. Salvation, is after all a free-will choice.

 

[rmtracey]

quoting chez.‘I wrote at the beginning of all this, “we Catholics do not get to make up our own rules”, I find that to be a Blessing, you seem to find if a curse!’

The nazis used the same excuse. “we were just following orders”

Catholic apologetics is meant to be an intellectual discussion to get to the truth. the pope is infallible only on matters of doctrine. statements of discipline are not infallible.
do you think god sits there with a clock saying ,sorry you were there in the time of pope x. so what you did was a mortal sin, so down below you go. and to the next saying , you were lucky , you just snuck into pope’s y time and it was then not a sin at all. off you go upstairs. man may be stupid, but i do not think god is.

bringing in usa politics, e.g obama . as part of the discussion is stupid , irrelevant, and has nothing to do with catholicism.

 

[Michael_Francis]

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

3 posts removed which were off topic. Please remain on topic and continue to counsel OP to help overcome their doubts.

 

[paul_c]

quoting chez.‘I wrote at the beginning of all this, “we Catholics do not get to make up our own rules”, I find that to be a Blessing, you seem to find if a curse!’

The nazis used the same excuse. “we were just following orders”

Catholic apologetics is meant to be an intellectual discussion to get to the truth. the pope is infallible only on matters of doctrine. statements of discipline are not infallible.
do you think god sits there with a clock saying ,sorry you were there in the time of pope x. so what you did was a mortal sin, so down below you go. and to the next saying , you were lucky , you just snuck into pope’s y time and it was then not a sin at all. off you go upstairs. man may be stupid, but i do not think god is.

bringing in usa politics, e.g obama . as part of the discussion is stupid , irrelevant, and has nothing to do with catholicism.

The Church is not the same thing as the Nazis. The Church was given the role to teach the truth about salvation and to administer the sacraments. Matthew 28: 18-20. Jesus said that he would be with the church to the end of time and he also said that Peter had the authority to bind and loose both in heaven and on earth. This can not be said for the Nazis.

Catholic Apologetics is indeed meant to be an intellectual discussion to get at the truth. However, you need to enter into it with the proper attitude to gain any fruit. The first step is to find out what the Church actually teaches. If you understand what it teaches and it doesn’t make sense to you, you need to dig deeper into it to find out what you are missing. If you take the tact: I know the church teaches “x” but I don’t agree, therefore the church must be wrong, then aren’t you putting yourself in the position of knowing more and being more inspired than the entire Church? And really, if you think about it, how can you possibly learn anything with an approach like this, where you think you already know the answer?

AS for your assumption that the popes change what can be a mortal sin, I humbly ask for you to give an example. You see, popes teach what they have been taught by their predecessors. That is their role, to pass on the faith of the apostles. And sure, they need to interpret that faith into modern situations on occasion.

And finally, lets distinguish the difference between church doctrine (what it teaches) and discipline or practice (how it teaches). Doctrine is eternal and never changes. Discipline/practice can and must change to enable the people to learn the truth most effectively in their particular time, place and situation. Mass in English is of course a practice that couldn’t be done in 200AD.

Lets also cover what constitutes a mortal sin. It must be:
a) of serious matter
b) willingly done
c) done with the knowledge that it is sinful

Both failures to follow doctrine or practice/discipline could be mortal sin under these circumstances. For instance, priestly celibacy is a practice in the Roman Catholic Church and a priest vows to stay celibate. If one was to marry, this would definitely be a mortal sin since he is breaking a vow, knowingly, willingly and it would be scandalous enough to be serious matter.
I

 

[gkoomen]

Hi,

Here’s my problem in a nutshell: I’m a convert from Evangelical Protestantism. I was a strong Christian my entire life. I was drawn to Catholicism over a number of years and then had a sudden pull to it 3 years ago at the same time that I discovered EWTN. I immersed myself in reading and discerning things and came to the conclusion that the Catholic Church was the one true Church founded by Jesus. I went through RCIA and became Catholic 2 years ago. I was excited and thankful for the grace of finding the Church. I truly believed everything the Chuch teaches. I was excited about the Eucharist. I started contemplating religious life and/or working for the Church as a teacher or lay minister sometime in the future. The desires of my heart changed for the better and I became a much more peaceful and forgiving person.

Fast forward to today. I feel like I’ve lost my Catholic faith. I feel like I don’t believe much of the Church’s teachings now. I am not doubting God or Christianity in general, just whether or not I should’ve stayed Protestant. I tell you, I truly am shocked at this turn of events. If someone had told me this was going to happen, I would not have believed it could because I know how I felt and I know what I believed up until a couple of months ago. I would’ve staked my life on the Church and its teachings.

I need to figure things out fast because I don’t want to feel like this. I don’t know what the exact cause of this is. I think most of it stems from two things: I have a very liberal priest. He came the parish after I became Catholic. He preaches things contrary to the Church’s teachings. I was enraged when this happened and I planned to find a better parish but then some other conservative people begged me to stay. I stayed. After awhile, I started to try and see things from the liberal priest’s perspective, and then I started to think liberal (by liberal, I probably should say “heretical”). Some of the things he taught were: women are denied equality in the Church, God can be called “mother”, God wants us in heaven so we’re all going to end up there. Stuff like that. Anyway, after flirting with liberalism myself because I didn’t fit in with some of the extremely conservative Catholics (the more Catholic than the Pope types), I came back to my senses and was enraged again that I didn’t quit this parish when I had the chance. Now I am involved in it too much to quit (I teach catechism and I don’t think I can quit it since it’s my duty to keep my word and it’s hard to find teachers).

A friend of mine wrote to the priest to address his heretical ideas but got no response. My friend then wrote to the Bishop and got no response. I think I started to get bitter and doubtful about the faith after seeing that the Bishop doesn’t seem care.

The second thing that may be causing my doubts is that when I see that the majority of the other parishoners are not bothered by my priest’s liberalism. I’ve started to wonder if anyone knows their faith or even cares (I’m generalizing, I know). And then adding further confusion, I joined a group of supposedly conservative Catholics who meet to discuss doctrine and I’m taken aback by some of the things they do and say and it confuses me because I know Protestants that are more clean living than them.

So I guess in a nutshell, I see lots of spiritual fruit from some Protestants and a lot of Evangelical Protestants know the Lord and know their Bible and love the Lord with their whole hearts and they are bearing much fruit despite the fact that they don’t have the Eucharist. Then I see other Catholics that have the Eucharist (which at this point, is the only thing I’m clinging to) and they don’t know anything about the Bible or Church teachings.

I’ve rambled some and I don’t intend any disrespect to anyone here. I’m baring my heart in the hopes that I can get some advice because I’m heart broken about the way my thoughts and beliefs are messed up.

I don’t know who I can talk to about this because I’m ashamed that I feel like this. I alluded to some of this during Confession with a conservative priest but he basically said it’s no wonder I’m mixed up based on the liberal priest stuff. But that Confession was a month ago and I initially felt better after it and now in the past week, I feel worse.

Thanks for listening.

And does this happen much? Do Catholic converts ever revert back to Protestantism???

Hasn’t this thread gotten a ‘little’ off course? Someone is hurting. Arguments about papal infallibility and Obama are not what is called for. I see this happen with a lot of threads - they turn into circular arguments where the parties have no openness to changing their opinion anyway. But here we have someone in genuine distress that I can relate to. She needs our support and prayers. Setongirl, I hope you haven’t been chased away by now. Much of the counsel you got at the beginning was very good. The problem with your parish - with all parishes, and even the Church on earth itself is that they consist 100% of sinners. You will find the resulting problems wherever you go. The answer is, as always, prayer - yours, and the ones you ask of others, here and in heaven. I will pray for you. I hope some of our arguers will stop and do the same. The Lord go with you!

 

[Erick_Ybarra]

As far as I can see, if you all encourage her to remain at this liberal catholic church then you would be encouraging her to corrupt not only her good beliefs and practices but also that of her family and other loved ones, as well as the world of human beings who she will influence in the future.

There is a doctrine of “seperation” which is taught in the Old and New Testaments as well as the first 9 centuries of the Catholic Church, and which now it almost unanimously lost. As faithful catholics, we have no part of fellowship with those who are not orthodox christians and whom are in the practice of sin.

If someone was to go to confession with the sin of adultery, they were excommunicated for at least 1 year in the process of restoration. Today, it is a simple confession and forgiveness.

At the very least, she needs to remove herself from this parish and find one that is orthodox in their teaching.

 

[Parvana]

A doubting Catholic convert came to this forum for help. While I have not read all the posts, I have seen a huge argument between 2 people develop. How is this a response of loving help and compassion for the person who requested guidance? People, please take this argument somewhere else! It must be discouraging to anyone who reads it, especially someone having a serious crisis of faith. This argument is selfish and is not a reflection of Catholic teaching. Please take a humility pill, step down from the soap box, and go pray. I’ll be praying for you.

 

[Parvana]

I don’t believe that we should be telling anyone else what they should or should not do, whether they should stay in their parish or go somewhere else, etc… We only know one side of the situation and personally know none of the parties involved. I think that sharing our own experience, strength, and hope, without giving definitive advice, is the best policy.

 

[tqualey]

Hi, Parvana,

Two excellent posts!

I think you have offered some very good advice.

God bless

I don’t believe that we should be telling anyone else what they should or should not do, whether they should stay in their parish or go somewhere else, etc… We only know one side of the situation and personally know none of the parties involved. I think that sharing our own experience, strength, and hope, without giving definitive advice, is the best policy.

 

[gkoomen]

I don’t believe that we should be telling anyone else what they should or should not do, whether they should stay in their parish or go somewhere else, etc… We only know one side of the situation and personally know none of the parties involved. I think that sharing our own experience, strength, and hope, without giving definitive advice, is the best policy.

You’re right Parvana, about not giving ‘advice’. Setongirl, you need to seek out a priest you trust - perhaps the one you mention - to give you counsel… In the meantime the posters on here need to offer you their compassion, support and prayers - this is the Church at it’s best. I will offer one piece of ‘advice’ - read stories and writings of the saints, especially recent ones, and our Holy Father, and John Paul II. You will discover there the Catholic Church at its best; and you will find direction and encouragement. All the best.

 

[paul_c]

This whole thread leads to an interesting set of questions.
Setongirl was questioning whether she should leave her parish because of the liberal views of her priest She quoted three issues:
→ Women are denied equality in the church
→ God can be called Mother
→ Everyone goes to heaven.

I wonder if any of the congregants asked the priest what he meant by these things in a non-threatening environment (i.e, during office hours). It could be a misunderstanding on the part of the priest or the people. Discussion is really necessary.

To her complaints, I would say:
→ Women have different roles than men in the church. This is a fact. But all roles are important and can lead to heaven, which is the ultimate goal. If he is saying that women can’t be priest, well this is true and is considered Catholic Doctrine. If he is saying that this doctrine is incorrect, then a more specific discussion should be held with the bishop.

→ God is Spirit and Jesus called him Father. I wonder what the perceived benefit would be to regard God as feminine? This would be a good question to ask the priest.

→ All people go to heaven. Well, Jesus did say the door to heaven was narrow and only a few would find it. You could ask the priest how to reconcile that point with his own view.

Also, She is assuming that the Bishop didn’t care. But she has no way to know what conversations the bishop has had with the priest.

Most of all, she should remember to give people the benefit of the doubt, including both the priest and the bishop. Situations like this can also be seen as opportunities to discuss the faith more thoroughly.