Catholics Becoming Protestant

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I did not state that my brother has said that I must attend their Non Denominational Church one Sunday. I stated that my brother has made the invitation to attend the Non Denominational Church one Sunday. I may attend or I may not attend. But if I attend one Sunday and they have the Lord’s Supper I do not wish to cause war because family is the most important thing to me an so I will partake of the Lord’s Supper at my brothers Non Denominational Church. When my brother and his wife were married for a few years and they were Methodists at the time, my father and I attended a couple of church services at their Methodist Church and my father and I partook of the Lord’s Supper in the Methodist Church.

Albert
 
Albert Kopsho:
I did not state that my brother has said that I must attend their Non Denominational Church one Sunday. I stated that my brother has made the invitation to attend the Non Denominational Church one Sunday. I may attend or I may not attend. But if I attend one Sunday and they have the Lord’s Supper I do not wish to cause war because family is the most important thing to me an so I will partake of the Lord’s Supper at my brothers Non Denominational Church. When my brother and his wife were married for a few years and they were Methodists at the time, my father and I attended a couple of church services at their Methodist Church and my father and I partook of the Lord’s Supper in the Methodist Church.

Albert
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Hi Albert,
This is the thing though… your brother is thinking that it’s fine that YOU go to a Catholic Church and HE goes to a Methodist church just so long as you are both going to church. Sort of like, you like chocolate, I like vanilla. Only it’s not the same, is it? But that’s what you are saying, whether you mean to or not when you participate in the Lord’s Supper at his church. No big deal… communion is communion. I think by you respectfully declining to participate in communion, it will communicate to both your brother and your neices and nephews that there’s a BIG difference between being Catholic and Methodist and it has nothing to do with Bible studies. I think it’s awesome that you want to be a good Uncle - but the best thing you can do for those children is show them your faith and the most important/unique part about our Catholic Faith is our Lord in the Eucharist.
God Bless you!
CM
 
Albert Kopsho:
When my brother and his wife were . . . Methodists . . . my father and I partook of the Lord’s Supper in the Methodist Church.

Albert
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I sense that your posting the matter on this forum means that you have since had misgivings about that – as you should. Indeed, it is matter for confession.

You seem to have matured in your faith since then but to be struggling with the consequences of that growth since you are now facing a problem that you chose to deny in the past. That is commendable.

Pray for wisdom and courage. And don’t invite yourself to your brother’s church until you are at peace with your conviction. Besides, most non-denom churches offer the Lord’s supper quarterly or even less often, so you could probably avoid the whole difficulty without turning yourself into a pretzel.

Godspeed.
 
Albert I suggest you pick up a copy of the new Catechism and look up: Sin: Grave/Mortal and review the sections about the sin of incredulity and also apostasy, read the whole section and you will understand that the teaching of the Church is very clear on why what you are doing is serious. After all Jesus said he came into the world and there will be divisions for belief in him. Participating in their worship is fine, Lord’s supper is not, and going to their service in-lieu of your Eucharist Service as a Catholic is not acceptable. I suggest you change your Mass to Saturday evenings, attend to participate and staunchly refrain from their profered piece of bread for the sake of your religious needs. Then at the same time make the standing invitation for them to come and visit your Church and observe the real Lord’s Supper as taught by the Church Fathers. Advise them they are not invited to participate in our Eucharist because of the difference found in the 6th Chapter of John. Go read it. The Eucharist IS THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. That is the bottom line, that is the dividing line between truth and the Heresy the Protestants launched in the Reformation.

Good luck, I will lift you up in prayer.
 
eleusis,

I have been going to Saturday Vigil Mass for years. The only time that I go to Mass on Sunday is on Easter Sunday. When I have gone to Protestant Church services in the past I have not substituted the Protestant Church service for the Mass. Even though my brother is not Catholic anymore he and his family are not Anti Catholic and even though they are not Anti Catholic there is no way that my brother will come back to the Catholic Church and there is no way that my brothers wife and three children will become Catholic and so I will never invite them to Mass. When my nephew was younger and my father and I had to babysit my nephew on Saturday we took my nephew to Mass with us.
 
Albert Kopsho:
eleusis,

Even though my brother is not Catholic anymore he and his family are not Anti Catholic and even though they are not Anti Catholic there is no way that my brother will come back to the Catholic Church and there is **no way that my brothers wife and three children will become Catholic **and so I will never invite them to Mass. When my nephew was younger and my father and I had to babysit my nephew on Saturday we took my nephew to Mass with us.
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If they are not anti-Catholic, then you are starting from a better place than if they were. Do not be so certain that “there is no way.” People in much worse situations have returned home to the fullness of the faith. Your witness and your prayer, your good heart, and possibly your invitation for them to join you for something special like the Holy Thursday liturgy, could be a bridge for them. You are uniquely positioned to rescue the lost sheep.

You might want to look at Patrick Madrid’s book, Search and Rescue: catholiccompany.com/product_detail.cfm?ID=424
or listen to the TV series over the EWTN web site by clicking on the link below and finding series #173, Search & Rescue: ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/selectseries.asp
 
Albert, I really feel for you. I understand how much this must weigh on your heart. I would also urge you, however, not to go to your brother’s church at all if you feel obligated to partake of their “Last Supper”. If you do, then you are only perpetuating the myth that their “non-denominational” faith is just as true as Catholicism, which you know is not the case. I know you want to be involved with your family and probably are just happy that they are at least involved in Christian Church. The more involved you get in their faith, the more they will expect you to. Maybe you should just pray privately for the conversion of their hearts and get involved with all the other aspects of their lives. without going to their church. After all, if they were to come to Mass with you, they couldn’t participate in Communion. And would they really do that anyway? They are probably just trying to convert you and would probably not be offended if you politely decline their offer. There are a million other ways to be close to your brother’s family without compromising your beliefs. Hope that I didn’t offend you. God Bless
 
If you have “the Lord’s Supper” in any church but the Lord’s own Church, you will go away hungry.

You can look it up.
 
Albert,

MercyGate made an excellent suggestion yesterday, regarding inviting your brother to the Holy Thursday Mass. The Holy Thursday Mass is scriptural, interesting, interactive and sets forth the Passion, a common interest among all Christians since the Mel Gibson Movie was shown last February/March.

Also, I suggest reading any of the 150 Psalms with your brother’s family. The Psalms are a good place to start an ecumenical ministery because there is little disagreement among most faiths regarding their meaning or origin.
 
After reading through a number of responses. I would suggest, People often post on these boards since they struggle to find a mentor to answer sensitive questions. Perhaps it might be of value to think for a moment that maybe this question/problem is from a real person with a real problem before replying in an insensitive fashion.
 
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