Catholics, and why we don't go to "other churches"

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Piwowar said:
Roman Catholics do attend other demoninational churches. My wife is a practicing Lutheran Missouri Synod and there are times I attend her service. She also attends my Roman Catholic Church Mass.
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Yes it is fine for you to attend a service with your wife, provided you have also attended Catholic Mass. IOW, if you go to a Saturday afternoon/evening vigil Mass and then attend your wife’s church on Sunday, you’re fine. Or if you go to an 8 a.m. Catholic Sunday Mass, and then go to your wife’s church at 10 a.m., you’re fine (or her 8 a.m. Lutheran service and then your 10 a.m. CATHOLIC service.)

The only thing you could NOT do is attend her Lutheran church on a Sunday and NOT attend a Mass for that Sunday (or the Saturday vigil), and think that the attendance at the Lutheran church was in lieu of Catholic Mass. A Lutheran service is not equivalent to Mass (even if much of the service is similar).
 
Piwowar said:
Roman Catholics do attend other demoninational churches. My wife is a practicing Lutheran Missouri Synod and there are times I attend her service. She also attends my Roman Catholic Church Mass.
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You need to be careful. She should not be receiving the Eucharist and you should not be receiving their Comnunion either.

I made that mistake, my Priest advised me that if I were to receive Communion at a non-Catholic community, it would be dangerous to my soul and if a non-Catholic were to receive the Eucharist it would also be dangerous to their soul. He said you can attend but do not take the bread and wine or their doctrine teaching from the pulpit.

He went on to discuss the theological argument for it but I didn’t really understand it, needless to say I would never do that again.
 
loko said:
You need to be careful. She should not be receiving the Eucharist and you should not be receiving their Comnunion either.

I made that mistake, my Priest advised me that if I were to receive Communion at a non-Catholic community, it would be dangerous to my soul and if a non-Catholic were to receive the Eucharist it would also be dangerous to their soul. He said you can attend but do not take the bread and wine or their doctrine teaching from the pulpit.

He went on to discuss the theological argument for it but I didn’t really understand it, needless to say I would never do that again.
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You are right about not receiving but I do not think that the poster said anything at all about receiving communion. He only spoke about attending the service.
 
In response to the video (and I posted this more thoroughly on the eucharist forum), belief does not make something so. Just because a denomination claims that communion is this or that, does not make it so. Communion is a command to action; drink and eat. Any further than this is simply a fun debate question to have with fellow believers.

As a follow up question do you think all 12 disciples understood what Jesus was saying at the Last Supper the same way? Read Mark, they couldn’t figure out simple parables, let alone the mystery of communion. Regardless of how they interpreted Jesus’ words they still participated in the Last Supper.
 
LowerCasec said:
In response to the video (and I posted this more thoroughly on the eucharist forum), belief does not make something so. Just because a denomination claims that communion is this or that, does not make it so. Communion is a command to action; drink and eat. Any further than this is simply a fun debate question to have with fellow believers.

As a follow up question do you think all 12 disciples understood what Jesus was saying at the Last Supper the same way? Read Mark, they couldn’t figure out simple parables, let alone the mystery of communion. Regardless of how they interpreted Jesus’ words they still participated in the Last Supper.
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Actually, Jesus’ example in Scripture is such that he was consistent in clarifying matters that were confusing; he went back and explained his parables, for instance. His command to eat his flesh and drink his blood? Same way…

catholic.com/tracts/christ-in-the-eucharist

There was never any confusion about what Jesus meant. He knew very well what he was saying. So did all the disciples who heard him and left in disgust.

It’s rather nice, really, not having to bend over backwards to have something make sense…it’s why I came back to the Church. Just sayin’.
 
Tantum_ergo said:
Yes it is fine for you to attend a service with your wife, provided you have also attended Catholic Mass. IOW, if you go to a Saturday afternoon/evening vigil Mass and then attend your wife’s church on Sunday, you’re fine. Or if you go to an 8 a.m. Catholic Sunday Mass, and then go to your wife’s church at 10 a.m., you’re fine (or her 8 a.m. Lutheran service and then your 10 a.m. CATHOLIC service.)

The only thing you could NOT do is attend her Lutheran church on a Sunday and NOT attend a Mass for that Sunday (or the Saturday vigil), and think that the attendance at the Lutheran church was in lieu of Catholic Mass. A Lutheran service is not equivalent to Mass (even if much of the service is similar).
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Tantum_ergo said:
Yes it is fine for you to attend a service with your wife, provided you have also attended Catholic Mass. IOW, if you go to a Saturday afternoon/evening vigil Mass and then attend your wife’s church on Sunday, you’re fine. Or if you go to an 8 a.m. Catholic Sunday Mass, and then go to your wife’s church at 10 a.m., you’re fine (or her 8 a.m. Lutheran service and then your 10 a.m. CATHOLIC service.)

The only thing you could NOT do is attend her Lutheran church on a Sunday and NOT attend a Mass for that Sunday (or the Saturday vigil), and think that the attendance at the Lutheran church was in lieu of Catholic Mass. A Lutheran service is not equivalent to Mass (even if much of the service is similar).
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The Catholic Church has a Mass not a Service. See above. I really do not want this to be an argumentative session.
 
loko said:
You need to be careful. She should not be receiving the Eucharist and you should not be receiving their Comnunion either.

I made that mistake, my Priest advised me that if I were to receive Communion at a non-Catholic community, it would be dangerous to my soul and if a non-Catholic were to receive the Eucharist it would also be dangerous to their soul. He said you can attend but do not take the bread and wine or their doctrine teaching from the pulpit.

He went on to discuss the theological argument for it but I didn’t really understand it, needless to say I would never do that again.
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When my Mother passed away several years ago, I asked the Deacon who came for evening prayers if my Wife and Son (both practicing Lutherans Missouri Synod) could receive Communion and her Funeral Mass. Wow! If looks could kill. He did state though that he would ask the Priest who was to have the Funeral Mass. When the Funeral Mass began the next day, the Priest came down to my Wife and Son and told them they were welcome to receive Communion. I told the Priest, thank you. My Mom had a smile on her face as she looked down on us.
 
Priest came down to my Wife and Son and told them they were welcome to receive Communion.
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That makes my heart happy to hear. It was right to ask first.

I’ve been to some of the most conservative parishes churches in remote areas in western France, and when there wasn’t a Lutheran church around, I’ve attended mass. And even though the law was very strong, the gospel was even stronger.

My impression is that some American Catholics can sometime act like the Eucharist is a gift of god and his only true church, when I think a better way of looking at it is that the Eucharist is a gift and personal sacrifice from god that is to be dispensed guardedly by the church appropriately. Again, that is my impression and opinion.
 
Nicea325 said:
Here is another reason as well,if one is not careful well educated in the faith.

Here is what I once encountered by a young mother with her unbaptized child:

My child is confused about Jesus? I replied, " Confused how?" Mom…"Well after service this past Sunday, someone from the congregation told my son and I, Jesus is not God?

I said, “WHAT?” Who here told you Jesus is not God? Mom…“Oh the other church we at times go on Sunday.” I replied, “What other church do you attend and do you know the name.” Mom…“Oh yeah…it is called the Kingdom of Hall and people are really nice.”

I assuming you get the picture? No wonder mom and her child were confused. Bad…bad…practice!
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Well, the problem there is apparently that the family went to a JW’s Kingdom Hall. And one would expect to encounter heretical teachings there, such as for example getting the nature of Christ all wrong. That doesn’t apply so much to non-cult churches.
 
vsedriver said:
And that’s so sad. I prefer a church that teaches the Truth.
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So do I. But people have different opinions on which church has the Truth. My current church is where I think the Truth is. If I thought it was somewhere else, I would go there.
 
Let me venture that a careful and deliberate attendance of a different church can be useful.

An example that struck me:

In the Apostles creed, some ELCA churches say “He descended to the dead.” The Catholic church says “He descended to hell.” But attending the opposing church, it will stand out! You’ll notice the difference!

If you seek to understand why the translation is different, you’ll come to the truth - both churches teach the same thing. It’s not the “hell” or “death” but this:

vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p122a5p1.htm

But unless you heard the different words, you may not have been curious.

…

Another example: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done” vs “Your kingdom come, your will be done”

If you’re used to “Thy” - try saying aloud the with “Your” translation. Does it seem more personal, like you’re giving your life to God. There’s a definite personalization when you use “your”.

Then hear it in Latin: “Fiat voluntas Tua” - “Fiat!” - the vary idea Mary said to God when he told her the good news. You are saying the same thing to God. What an amazing thing!

…

As a secular allegory, sometime you need to travel to appreciate your own country.
 
Izdaari said:
So do I. But people have different opinions on which church has the Truth. My current church is where I think the Truth is. If I thought it was somewhere else, I would go there.
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Truth isn’t based on peoples opinion. It is truth. It doesn’t change. We must seek out what is God’s truth, not what agrees with what we think is true.
 
followingtheway said:
I was in school, in the nurse’s office. When two nurses were talking. Religion came up. One nurse Protestant and the other was Catholic. I think the Catholic one said she had to drive to the nearest Catholic Church (not that far, but she made it seem like it) as opposed just walking up the street to nearest Baptist Church, just a block from my school.

The Protestant nurse said “I don’t understand why Catholic don’t just go to the Baptist Church”

I don’t even know how to respond. What’s everyone else’s take on this?
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IMHO because other churches only hold partial truth. They are not in full union with Rome and it is considered a sin for a Catholic to just say, well, it is too far for me to go to Mass, so I’ll go to the Baptist church.
 
Diana_Catherine said:
Truth isn’t based on peoples opinion. It is truth. It doesn’t change. We must seek out what is God’s truth, not what agrees with what we think is true.
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Agreed. I am where I believe God’s truth to be. I am probably wrong about some of it, but whaddaya gonna do? 🤷

If I believed, as you say, that the Catholic Church has the full truth and other Christian churches only have partial truth, I could use that as my standard. But I don’t believe that.
 
Piwowar said:
When my Mother passed away several years ago, I asked the Deacon who came for evening prayers if my Wife and Son (both practicing Lutherans Missouri Synod) could receive Communion and her Funeral Mass. Wow! If looks could kill. He did state though that he would ask the Priest who was to have the Funeral Mass. When the Funeral Mass began the next day, the Priest came down to my Wife and Son and told them they were welcome to receive Communion. I told the Priest, thank you. My Mom had a smile on her face as she looked down on us.
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I would be concerned if a Catholic priest is giving the Eucharist knowingly to non-Catholics regardless of the situation.

The Eucharist is not to be used as a statement. e.g. “I’m sorry that you have lost a loved one, here have the Eucharist”.

He should be careful because someone can report him to the Bishop.
 
loko said:
I would be concerned if a Catholic priest is giving the Eucharist knowingly to non-Catholics regardless of the situation.

The Eucharist is not to be used as a statement. e.g. “I’m sorry that you have lost a loved one, here have the Eucharist”.

He should be careful because someone can report him to the Bishop.
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Maybe he did ask the Bishop.
 
Izdaari said:
Agreed. I am where I believe God’s truth to be. I am probably wrong about some of it, but whaddaya gonna do? 🤷

If I believed, as you say, that the Catholic Church has the full truth and other Christian churches only have partial truth, I could use that as my standard. But I don’t believe that.
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Here is one standard that could help you…

From 1Sam 15…22 Samuel said,

“ Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.

23 “For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

He has also rejected you from being king.”

Which church or churches was/were borne out of disobedience and rebellion?
 
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