Christianity and Catholicism

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inJESUS said:
In my experience, it is our sins that keep us away from God and the Church. Sometimes we find it difficult to confess so we postpone and postpone and feel more and more alienated.
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That’s EXACTLY how I feel! I’m hoping today I can make the plunge and get to confession since we are going to a baptism tonight at the Vigil Mass. 🙂
 
mrs_abbott said:
That’s EXACTLY how I feel! I’m hoping today I can make the plunge and get to confession since we are going to a baptism tonight at the Vigil Mass. 🙂
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i wrote this EXACTLY because i know that’s how you feel 🙂 you’re on the good track again 🙂 it is the “experience” of confession that makes us understand its importance 👍
 
inJESUS said:
i wrote this EXACTLY because i know that’s how you feel 🙂 you’re on the good track again 🙂 it is the “experience” of confession that makes us understand its importance 👍
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Well I didn’t make it to confession because we left late to go to the baptism but I did make it to Mass! 😃 :dancing: :bounce:
 
mrs_abbott said:
Well I didn’t make it to confession because we left late to go to the baptism but I did make it to Mass! 😃 :dancing: :bounce:
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Oh how wonderful. I am so glad you made it to Mass. 👍 I hope you enjoyed it. 🙂

Pax vobiscum
 
dosdog said:
Just Watch TBN(:confused: ) for a couple of hours Then turn on EWTN(:gopray2: ) and ask yourself which path you want to follow
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Call me a cynic, but I view all religious programming with equal distaste. ETWN is nothing like my parish and TBN was nothing like the churches I attended in non-denominational land.
 
Thanks happy34! 🙂
I’ve been reading the Bible more and more these days and that has brought much peace in my heart. I know it’s only a start but the more I read, the more I learn and understand why it’s important to know, love and serve God. I know it sounds basic but life gets complex and it’s good to start with the basics and build a solid foundation.
I’ve fallen away from God before and I don’t want to go down that road again due to laziness, which is what happened last time.
I’m working on being the best follower of Christ that I can be. Embracing Catholicism is hard but I’m trying, slowly but surely. We’ll see where God takes me. 😃
 
mrs_abbott said:
I need some (name removed by moderator)ut on this. Everytime I think about being just a Christian, I get a good feeling inside and am just happy. But, since I was born and raised Catholic, my mind always gears toward that path but then I’m not happy when I think about the Catholic Church. Why is that? Any thoughts?
On a side note, I don’t think I could be anything but Catholic because it’s what I know. I’ve been trying to be a better Catholic than what I have been but can’t seem to get over some ever-looming hurdles (a.k.a. sins). It seems hopeless at times and I get down on myself because of it.
Why does it seem so easy to be a Christian but such a hard task to even pursue being Catholic? Shouldn’t the two be hand in hand for me, especially since I was born and raised Catholic?
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Didn’t your mother ever tell you that the Church possesses the fullness of truth?

And didn’t she ever tell you that truth hurts?

did someone tell you following Christ would be happy happy joy joy?

Or did He Himself tell you that you must pick up your cross and carry it?

Yes truth hurts.
 
I realize that, tequilamac. Christianity and Catholicism just weren’t connecting for me, at the time.
 
mrs_abbott said:
I realize that, tequilamac. Christianity and Catholicism just weren’t connecting for me, at the time.
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Well good I’m glad I came in on this late. I do know that whenever I’m feeling badly, happy34’s chick tracts puts me right back on track. 😃
 
mrs_abbott said:
I need some (name removed by moderator)ut on this. Everytime I think about being just a Christian, I get a good feeling inside and am just happy. But, since I was born and raised Catholic, my mind always gears toward that path but then I’m not happy when I think about the Catholic Church. Why is that? Any thoughts?
On a side note, I don’t think I could be anything but Catholic because it’s what I know. I’ve been trying to be a better Catholic than what I have been but can’t seem to get over some ever-looming hurdles (a.k.a. sins). It seems hopeless at times and I get down on myself because of it.
Why does it seem so easy to be a Christian but such a hard task to even pursue being Catholic? Shouldn’t the two be hand in hand for me, especially since I was born and raised Catholic?
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Sister, A Christian is one who believes the Gospel. The Good News - that by grace you are saved, it is a gift from God.

A Roman Catholic is one who believes the official teachings and traditions of Roman Catholicism.

There for saying that one is a, “Roman Catholic Christian” is truly an oxymoron.

You will never have more peace than when you place all of your faith in Jesus Christ alone! He is the ONLY ONE that can save you.
 
JCPeacekeeper said:
Sister, A Christian is one who believes the Gospel. The Good News - that by grace you are saved, it is a gift from God.

A Roman Catholic is one who believes the official teachings and traditions of Roman Catholicism.

There for saying that one is a, “Roman Catholic Christian” is truly an oxymoron.

You will never have more peace than when you place all of your faith in Jesus Christ alone! He is the ONLY ONE that can save you.
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You are so misunderstood Catholicism. First I would not use Roman Catholic. Are you aware that there are Eastern Rite Catholic Church, or Byzantine Catholic Church. The best description of the Catholic Church is Catholic Church. Roman is just the Latin Rite.

Of course Jesus can save us and the Catholic Church teaches that.

He is also responsible for the first known use of the Greek word katholikos (καθολικός), meaning “universal,” to describe the church, writing:

Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful to baptize or give communion without the consent of the bishop. On the other hand, whatever has his approval is pleasing to God. Thus, whatever is done will be safe and valid. — Letter to the Smyrnaeans .

It is from the word katholikos that the word “catholic” comes. When Ignatius wrote the Letter to the Smyrnaeans in roughly 110 A.D. and used the word “catholic,” he used it as if it were a word already in use to describe the Church. This has led many scholars to conclude that the appelation “Catholic Church” with its ecclesial connotation may have been in use as early as the last quarter of the first century.

Ignatius of Antioch is credited by some Catholic apologists for being one of the first Church Fathers to extol the value of the Eucharist and its Real Presence.
 
JCPeacekeeper said:
Sister, A Christian is one who believes the Gospel. The Good News - that by grace you are saved, it is a gift from God.

A Roman Catholic is one who believes the official teachings and traditions of Roman Catholicism.

There for saying that one is a, “Roman Catholic Christian” is truly an oxymoron.

You will never have more peace than when you place all of your faith in Jesus Christ alone! He is the ONLY ONE that can save you.
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The Gospel in your hand that you can read is brought to you by the Catholic martyrs who died to keep it safe for you.
Truly any person who “believes the Gospel” while rejecting the Church who brought it to them, is an oxy-moron.
 
JCPeacekeeper said:
Sister, A Christian is one who believes the Gospel. The Good News - that by grace you are saved, it is a gift from God.

A Roman Catholic is one who believes the official teachings and traditions of Roman Catholicism.

There for saying that one is a, “Roman Catholic Christian” is truly an oxymoron.
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I understood a Christian to be a follower of Christ and His Word. I would certainly hope I wouldn’t have to give up being Christian to be a Catholic??? :confused:
 
mrs_abbott said:
I understood a Christian to be a follower of Christ and His Word. I would certainly hope I wouldn’t have to give up being Christian to be a Catholic??? :confused:
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No. Only if you give up Catholicism to be a Christian would you then be correctly called an oxy-moron.
 
JCPeacekeeper said:
Sister, A Christian is one who believes the Gospel. The Good News - that by grace you are saved, it is a gift from God.

A Roman Catholic is one who believes the official teachings and traditions of Roman Catholicism.

You will never have more peace than when you place all of your faith in Jesus Christ alone! He is the ONLY ONE that can save you.
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This coming from a Catholic who fell away from Jesus Christ as the Body of the Church. Yes, the Church as the Body of Christ. Although it is said also as the Mystical Body of Christ. Only the Holy Spirit knows the Hearts of many. There are some Protestants and most of whom are cradle Protestants who have no agenda or no hard feelings or no rebellion against the Catholic Church. They seem to have the most genuine hearts and Jesus Christ knows this of them.
It seems that a lot of cradle Catholics who fell away from the Catholic Church are the worst anti-Catholics of them all. I’m not saying that all of former Catholics are like this, I’m just saying that among the worst anti-Catholics are former Catholics themselves.

I know because I have family members who were baptized and raised Catholic and they fell away. They hate the Catholic Church. I can easily say this because my own brother used those exact words; “…hate the Church of Rome.”
I see some similarities between you and my brother. It seems you both ended up on the same anti-Catholic websites that are out there. He calls the Catholic Church the “Church of Rome” as you emphasize “Roman” Catholic. And you both seem to attack on the same areas.

I pity my brother but I’m also very sad for him.

I pray that you come back to the Catholic Church because
Jesus Christ awaits you right here in His Catholic Church.
Jesus is very patient. God has His own time. So Jesus waits. :gopray:
 
JCPeacekeeper said:
There for saying that one is a, “Roman Catholic Christian” is truly an oxymoron.
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:whacky: on your oxymoron.

I am a Catholic.
I am a Christian.
I am a Catholic Christian!

You must be a new “born again” christian.
You seem to have the makings of a “new” Protestant.
 
mrs_abbott said:
I need some (name removed by moderator)ut on this. Everytime I think about being just a Christian, I get a good feeling inside and am just happy. But, since I was born and raised Catholic, my mind always gears toward that path but then I’m not happy when I think about the Catholic Church. Why is that? Any thoughts?
On a side note, I don’t think I could be anything but Catholic because it’s what I know. I’ve been trying to be a better Catholic than what I have been but can’t seem to get over some ever-looming hurdles (a.k.a. sins). It seems hopeless at times and I get down on myself because of it.
Why does it seem so easy to be a Christian but such a hard task to even pursue being Catholic? Shouldn’t the two be hand in hand for me, especially since I was born and raised Catholic?
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I don’t know how I got involved in this thread without reading the original. I hope no one minds if I go back here for a minute.

I’ve observed this to be a common problem in the Church no matter what denomination. It’s not that “the faith” is hard to comprehend or follow. Christ himself said “my yoke is easy, my burden light”. This is coming from a reforming Protestant’s point of view. I’ve enjoyed how “easy” it truly is to be Catholic. The hard part is being Catholic/Christian without Christ’s help.

I haven’t yet found the Catholic “obligations” to be restrictive. I’ve found them to be life sustaining. My view is our “obligations” are the same to our spiritual body as breathing is to our physical one. It’s all in the attitude you choose. You can force yourself to stop breathing or breathe heavily. Both conditions take not only will but will lead to unconsciousness. If you have enough stubbornness, you can die.

My point would be our spirit (when lit by the Holy Spirit) can easily guide and regulate our faith, ceasing to make it an obligation or something we have to struggle with just to do. The hardest thing for me is keeping my eyes on the finish line.

When we take our eyes off Jesus Christ, it is easy to fall like Peter did when he walked on water. The deeper in Christ we go, the more obvious to us our sin becomes. Like Peter, we become painfully aware how “over our heads” we are without Christ. If we fall away from our faith. If we don’t use the avenues of grace afforded us in our faith, we will quickly drown. The good news of the story is Christ there always reaching out to us. If we reach out to Christ, He promised to save us from certain death. That’s my .03 worth 😉
 
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