Catholic or Christian?

[puzzleannie]

if spokenword has had bad experiences with people within the Catholic Church that led her to leave, they will be called on to pay the price for damaging a soul in their care, so le us all ask Jesus the healer to find her wherever she is, and bring her to wherever she needs to be. Our job is to show her what real Catholic Christians are like. Unfortunately, the answer too often is that we are sinful fallen creatures doing our best and failing a lot more often than we succeed. Until we try to do all things in Christ, that’s the way it’s going to be.

For the record, there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Father of all. All baptisms with water and the Trinitarian formula are recognized by the Catholic Church, unite the baptized with the one Church founded by Christ, impart an indelible character on the soul, cleanse original and actual sin, impart the gifts of the Holy Spirit and make us children of God and heirs with Christ, and members of the priesthood of the baptized.

 

[Katholikos]

SPOKENWORD:

Jay, you found it strange because you were trying to read my heart.without the Gift.

I have no doubt you were led out of the Catholic Church – but it wasn’t God who was leading you.

I’ll pray for you.

JMJ Jay

 

[JesusFreak16]

Believe it or not… I am not Catholic, but I don’t feel empty. I have not rejected Jesus. I don’t hate Catholics. I don’t think that I know everything. I don’t think that Catholics are wrong about everything. These are very popular misconceptions about non-Catholic Christians like me.
To Katholikos-
I don’t find a greater fullness in the Catholic church. Can you please acknowledge the validity of my faith?

 

[WBB]

SPOKENWORD:

There is no question in my mind that catholics are christian. I believe the problem is mutual. Many protestants think catholics are not christian and many catholics believe we are not christian because we are not catholic.

Oh, but SPOKENWORD, the Catechism addresses this.

818 “However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers . . . . All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church.”

In the eyes of the Catholic Church, you are a brother in the Lord by virtue of your baptism.

 

[Annunciata]

To be honest with you, I though you were a Catholic!

What’s that saying…”If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck…”

I mean this in every good way. I thought to myself when I happened to meet you on some recent threads, “What a wonderful Catholic…wish I could be more like her”…then I read your profile as I usually do whenever I’m going to respond to a particular post. Ooops… Wrong!!! I have a baby brother your age!
Anyway I think you are just fine and wish there were more like you here:thumbsup:
and I am truly sorry that you have been hurt by the Church.
God Bless, Annunciata

 

[Katholikos]

Part 1

JesusFreak16:

To Katholikos-
I don’t find a greater fullness in the Catholic church.

The fact that you haven’t found it doesn’t mean that the treasure isn’t there. It does mean that you haven’t asked the right questions or have rejected the evidence. Or maybe you don’t know how to read the map (the Bible), which would direct you to the treasure.

Can you please acknowledge the validity of my faith?

Let me begin answering your request (above) by asking you to read this column by Ann Landers. This appeared in The Arizona Republic newspaper on Wednesday, November 20, 1996. After you’ve read it, we’ll talk.

Continued

 

[Katholikos]

Part 2

QUOTE
Dear Readers: Do you have any idea when your religion was founded and by whom? If you are not interested in the subject, skip today’s column and go directly to the horoscope. I found the following fascinating:

If you are a member of the Jewish faith, your religion was founded by Abraham about 4,000 years ago.

If you are Hindu, your religion developed in India around 1,500 B.C.

If you are a Buddhist, your religion split from Hinduism and was founded by Buddha, Prince Siddhartha Gautama of India, about 500 B.C.

Continued

 

[Katholikos]

Part 3

If you are Roman Catholic, Jesus Christ founded your religion in the year A.D. 30.

If you are Islamic, Mohammed started your religion in what is now Saudi Arabia around A.D. 600.

If you are Eastern Orthodox, your sect separated from Roman Catholicism around the year 1054.

If you are Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk in the Catholic Church, in 1517.

If you belong to the Church of England (Anglican), your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.

If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded when John Knox brought the teachings of John Calvin to Scotland in the Year 1560.

If you are Unitarian, your group developed in Europe in the 1500s.

If you are a Congregationalist, your religion branched off Puritanism in the early 1600s in England.

If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1607.

If you are a Methodist, your religion was founded by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.

If you are an Episcopalian, your religion came from England to the American colonies. It formed a separate religion founded by Samuel Seabury in 1789.

If you are a Mormon (Latter-day Saints), Joseph Smith started your church in Palmyra, N.Y. in 1830.

If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865.

If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year your religion was founded by Mary Baker Eddy.

If you are a Jehovah’s Witness, your religion was founded by Charles Taze Russell in Pennsylvania in the 1870s.

If you are Pentecostal, your religion was started in the United States in 1901.

Continued

 

[Katholikos]

Part 4 of 4

If you are an agnostic, you profess an uncertainty or a skepticism about the existence of God.

If you are an atheist, you do not believe in the existence of God.

–End of Article–

Ann Landers (now deceased) got an A+ in history!

Which Church was founded by the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God Himself, and which churches were man-made?

Peace be with you, JMJ Jay

 

[Annunciata]

Katholikos:

Part 4 of 4

If you are an agnostic, you profess an uncertainty or a skepticism about the existence of God.

If you are an atheist, you do not believe in the existence of God.

–End of Article–

Ann Landers (now deceased) got an A+ in history!

Which Church was founded by the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God Himself, and which churches were man-made?

Peace be with you, JMJ Jay

Wow! Thanks for this list…it will come in very handy…

 

[Stephen-Maguire]

SPOKENWORD:

. To be truthful my heart is saddend. There is still alot of healing of the hurts the church has caused me.Everyday im being purged and refined because God knows my heart. Our God is a loving and Healing Savior. I thank Him for rescuing me .

We have all been hurt by the Church, and since I don’t read every thread would you like to share with us as to what the Church has done to you personally ?.
If it’s too personal don’t worry, but anyone here who says they haven’t been hurt by things that certain members in the Church have done, must be living in cloud cukoo land.

(Spokenword) there are people from other churches that have been hurt in their respective churches, are they going to leave each one willy–nilly, if you’ve ever heard that expression, because if they do then they just end up chasing their tails.
The Church established by Jesus is perfect, it’s just the members that are imperfect, hence the need for forgivness ( Confession)

 

[Katholikos]

Stephen-Maguire:

We have all been hurt by the Church. . .The Church established by Jesus is perfect, it’s just the members that are imperfect, hence the need for forgivness ( Confession)

I’ve been so hurt, I’ve been in tears for days. (I hate to see a grown man cry – especially when it’s me! ) Several times. I have even had bad exeriences in Confession. Even good priests have bad days. But I had to forgive – the Church teaches that I must forgive, because its demanded by Christ and it’s healing to my soul. We will be forgiven only to the degree that we forgive others. But leave Christ’s Church? Never! Lord, to whom would I go? The Church has the words of everlasting life! I would simply die without the Sacraments – especially Confession and Eucharist.

JMJ Jay

 

[jimmy]

JesusFreak16:

Believe it or not… I am not Catholic, but I don’t feel empty. I have not rejected Jesus. I don’t hate Catholics. I don’t think that I know everything. I don’t think that Catholics are wrong about everything. These are very popular misconceptions about non-Catholic Christians like me.
To Katholikos-
I don’t find a greater fullness in the Catholic church. Can you please acknowledge the validity of my faith?

Jesusfreak,

You may be different, but many protetants reject the beliefs just because they are Catholic. Most protestants reject every single doctrine of the Catholic Church except for the Trinity. The only protestant churches that hold to any of them are the Lutherans and the Anglicans and maybe a couple other small ones.

We believe that the Catholic Church is the fulness of the truth which God gave us. We will not reject that but we do acknowledge that your faith is real. All Christian churches have some truth and there faith is valid but they are not recieving the fulness of Gods grace.

Think about it. The Eucharist is either the body and blood of Christ(Catholic) or it is not(Protestant). Only one of these can be true. One has greater truth than the other. History and bible back up the Catholic view of communion, along with other beliefs, so we believe that we have greater truth.

 

[SPOKENWORD]

Stephen-Maguire:

We have all been hurt by the Church, and since I don’t read every thread would you like to share with us as to what the Church has done to you personally ?.
If it’s too personal don’t worry, but anyone here who says they haven’t been hurt by things that certain members in the Church have done, must be living in cloud cukoo land.

(Spokenword) there are people from other churches that have been hurt in their respective churches, are they going to leave each one willy–nilly, if you’ve ever heard that expression, because if they do then they just end up chasing their tails.
The Church established by Jesus is perfect, it’s just the members that are imperfect, hence the need for forgivness ( Confession)

I understand very well where you are coming from.The problem is not the church ,its those in the hiarchy who are our shepherds. If they are going to be examples of Gods Love they have failed terribly. Thank God its not all that are guilty. If this is the way the Leadership operates I dont want any part of it.They have shown me at what expense they will go through to protect the church. Its them first and us last. Im sorry I choose not to go into any details,please respect my wishes. God Bless.

 

[Strider]

It was John Henry Cardinal Newman, I think, who sayd, “A thousand difficulties don’t make a single doubt.”
I don’t know any Catholic who isn’t or hasn’t been hurt in some way by members of the Church, be they pew-sitters or bishops.
The more one loves the Church that Jesus founded, the deeper the pain can be. I’ve been there.
But nothing, no amount of abuse or misconduct, lukewarmness or personal insult by members of the Church will ever, EVER, separate me from the Eucharist again.
Every day, when I approach Jesus with utmost awareness of my inadequacy and His Divinity, I must coinsider how fortunate I am that I came back to the sacraments after many years away because of misbehavior by men of the Chiurch.
SPOKENWORD, I have no way of knowing your situation, but there is nothing in the world worth separation from the Eucharist. Only the Catholic Church, founded by Christ Himself, has the true body, blood, soul and /divinity of Jesus Christ.
There’s an old expression, “You’re cutting off your nose to spite your face.” Like a child who refuses to take medicine becaise he’s angry at his parents hurts himeslf more than he hurts his parents.
Regardless, as far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome here. Your posts are frequently insightful.

 

[SPOKENWORD]

Strider:

It was John Henry Cardinal Newman, I think, who sayd, “A thousand difficulties don’t make a single doubt.”
I don’t know any Catholic who isn’t or hasn’t been hurt in some way by members of the Church, be they pew-sitters or bishops.
The more one loves the Church that Jesus founded, the deeper the pain can be. I’ve been there.
But nothing, no amount of abuse or misconduct, lukewarmness or personal insult by members of the Church will ever, EVER, separate me from the Eucharist again.
Every day, when I approach Jesus with utmost awareness of my inadequacy and His Divinity, I must coinsider how fortunate I am that I came back to the sacraments after many years away because of misbehavior by men of the Chiurch.
SPOKENWORD, I have no way of knowing your situation, but there is nothing in the world worth separation from the Eucharist. Only the Catholic Church, founded by Christ Himself, has the true body, blood, soul and /divinity of Jesus Christ.
There’s an old expression, “You’re cutting off your nose to spite your face.” Like a child who refuses to take medicine becaise he’s angry at his parents hurts himeslf more than he hurts his parents.
Regardless, as far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome here. Your posts are frequently insightful.

Thanks for your welcoming words. You are right, there is nothing that can separate me from the Love of Christ. He lives and dwells in me. I have become whom He has called me to be. His hands ,his feet, his heart, eyes,and his ears. Thank God for His Spirit. God Bless

 

[mark_a]

SPOKENWORD:

There is no question in my mind that catholics are christian. I believe the problem is mutual. Many protestants think catholics are not christian and many catholics believe we are not christian because we are not catholic.

Many Catholics may believe this, but I guarantee you that this is not a Catholic Church teaching.

 

[RBushlow]

Annunciata:

To be honest with you, I though you were a Catholic!

What’s that saying…”If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck…”

I mean this in every good way. I thought to myself when I happened to meet you on some recent threads, “What a wonderful Catholic…wish I could be more like her”…then I read your profile as I usually do whenever I’m going to respond to a particular post. Ooops… Wrong!!! I have a baby brother your age!
Anyway I think you are just fine and wish there were more like you here:thumbsup:
and I am truly sorry that you have been hurt by the Church.
God Bless, Annunciata

Hi Annunciata. Who were you addressing? Your post doesn’t indicate the person you were addressing.

Yours in Christ

 

[Annunciata]

RBushlow:

Hi Annunciata. Who were you addressing? Your post doesn’t indicate the person you were addressing.

Yours in Christ

The author of the thread, SPOKENWORD.
I thought that was clear. Sorry I guess you probably didn’t read all the other posts. Annunciata

 

[SPOKENWORD]

mark a:

Many Catholics may believe this, but I guarantee you that this is not a Catholic Church teaching.

HI Mark, I agree with you,it is not a catholic church teaching.True christians walk in Gods Love, then there are those who claim to be christian,those are the ones that say it.