The initial reaction was along the lines of, “As long as you believe in Christ, we don’t care what you are.”
However, my family showed their true feelings a few months ago when I made the decision not to attend my father’s (invalid) wedding.
My mother accused me of being brainwashed by my husband (whose initial interest in converting to Catholicism led me into the Church) and, when I asked her pointed questions about
sola scriptura that she couldn’t answer, simply announced that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
My dad has said that my husband is trying to use the Catholic Church to “control” me (apparently neither of my parents believe that I’m a reasonably intelligent adult capable of making up my own mind on things). He’s also accused our priest of being the leader of a cult, called our priest up to yell at him, and is appalled that I think Catholicism is “right” and everyone else is “wrong.” (I tried to explain about Catholicism having the fullness of the truth and other religions just having elements of the truth, and what the Church really teaches about “no salvation outside the Church,” but he refused to listen and instead continues to accuse me of believing that only Catholics are going to heaven.) He also brings up countless examples of Catholics who DID go to his wedding as to why I’m “wrong,” and has refused to attend our expected baby’s baptism since we didn’t “support” him in his wedding. He’s also tried to claim that annulments have no Biblical basis (despite the fact that I’ve shown it to him) and has tried to claim that the Bible teaches that divorce is A-OK in his situation (but wouldn’t answer about the two prevoius marriages of his “wife,” who was raised Catholic).
My sister, who married a Catholic (in the Church) but has no intention of converting (because she doesn’t think ANYONE has the authority to tell her if she can use birth control, or how often to go to Church) got so mad at me for “causing family drama” that she called the police and said I was abusing my child.
A few months prior to this, I overheard my stepbrother, who recently joined the Catholic Church (because his wife is Catholic and they’re raising their daughters Catholic) tell my sister that she could go up for the Eucharist because “how would the priest know that you’re not Catholic unless you tell him?” When I spoke up in protest and in defense of the Eucharist, I was told by my sister to shut up and mind my own business, and that “she didn’t want my opinion, and she could tell me things about my life that she didn’t approve of.”
Long story short – it’s been a rough road. But I keep praying, and am always on the lookout for opportunities to share my faith with my family (although they avoid the subject pointedly when I’m around).
Originally Posted by Just wondering
My family and friends don’t know I’m converting, but I have been defending the Faith against some comments that my friends have made. One of my friends in particular has been making hateful comments about Catholics lately - she figures that Catholics can just do anything they want and confess later, so the Church actually encourages sin. I replied that for the confession to be valid, you have to really regret your sin and try not to do it again. Then she said that the Church encouraged sin because if thoughts are sinful, then you may as well do the deed, since you’d be sinning either way. I wasn’t sure what to say about that, but I told her that there are different levels of sin.
My mother tried the same argument when I was trying to explain to her why I couldn’t attend my father’s wedding. “Can’t you just go and then go to confession later?” she said. I asked her if she was telling me that I should try to lie to God, and if she thought that was a good thing. She didn’t have a reply.
Your friend is wrong in one respect – thoughts are only sinful if you’re DWELLING on the sin in question (fantasizing about it, for example). If someone is looking at a woman lustfully, it’s not a brief, fleeting, involuntary thought that’s immediately pushed out of one’s mind and regretted; you really have to DWELL on it for lust to start forming. That’s where the sin comes in. There are involuntary thoughts and voluntary ones – we have control over the latter and can at least repent of, regret, and attempt to stop the former. That’s where conscience comes in.
I would ask her where she got that information or what caused her to draw that conclusion. The Mass is ALL about Jesus! The Nicene Creed, proclaimed at every Mass, says all of that about Jesus and more!
