Defend the faith

[jacfalle20]

I come from a predominantly Catholic island in the Pacific (Guam). I had never known about the “absolute hatred” and vitriol toward Catholicism until I moved to the United States for a time. How do you deal with these blatant attacks from both the secular & other religions? I can’t seem to do it because the attacks themselves make me so angry that my mind goes completely blank. I understand this is exactly what they want, but I can’t seem to shake the anger. I recently moved back to Guam, but now ANY attack against the faith I take personally. Like on the news about the pope’s resignation, I couldn’t help but read the comments. I would say 99.9% of them were blatant attacks, most of them involving the sex abuse crisis. I got so angry that these people would attack the faith and its leader without actually know exactly what the Church teaches & why we teach it. Even ex-Catholics who claim to know the faith. For a long time I considered myself Catholic and even I didn’t know the faith. It wasn’t until I decided to actually understand what the church teaches & the history of why it’s taught that I saw the true beauty of the faith.

 

[Christine85]

Hi I totally know what you mean. Over the past 5 days I have had 2 different Protestant people on fb telling me I believe the wrong thing. Today it was that I’m an idolator who will spend their eternity regretting my choice to be Catholic… Pfft. They think because the scandal at the moment and then the Pope leaving the seat as Vicar , is a perfect time to
convert Catholics. I lived with 3 Pentecostal woman and I recall a night when they ganged up on me about why we pray to Mary.
I try hard not to judge them and just pray for them. If their hearts are full of hatred as it may seem, God alone will convict them. There’s no point fighting over it . They will just quote Bible verses to try prove you wrong and will never open their minds to your opinion.
This is just the way it is from what I have found. Just pray for them. But if you’re mega strong in the faith and have studied apologetics perhaps you could state your points.
I am still only quite new to the Church so I’m not that confident in this.

Please see my prayer thread to pray for the Church. The Church is in a big time of change and many people seem to hate us , from what I have seen today.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=753804

 

[MaeganFlinchum1]

Hi I totally know what you mean. Over the past 5 days I have had 2 different Protestant people on fb telling me I believe the wrong thing. Today it was that I’m an idolator who will spend their eternity regretting my choice to be Catholic… Pfft. They think because the scandal at the moment and then the Pope leaving the seat as Vicar , is a perfect time to
convert Catholics. I lived with 3 Pentecostal woman and I recall a night when they ganged up on me about why we pray to Mary.
I try hard not to judge them and just pray for them. If their hearts are full of hatred as it may seem, God alone will convict them. There’s no point fighting over it . They will just quote Bible verses to try prove you wrong and will never open their minds to your opinion.
This is just the way it is from what I have found. Just pray for them. But if you’re mega strong in the faith and have studied apologetics perhaps you could state your points.
I am still only quite new to the Church so I’m not that confident in this.

Please see my prayer thread to pray for the Church. The Church is in a big time of change and many people seem to hate us , from what I have seen today.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=753804

i know what you mean, my whole household is protestant , it can be rough…

 

[JRKH]

A most interesting question…

What you present is something almost unique in today’s world. A person who, due to their environment, has not been seriously exposed to this type of persecution. If I may suggest, and make reference to the body of Christ, you are like a part of the body that is generally protected and highly sensitive because you have not been able to grow calluses.
Sort of like a person who takes up the guitar and at first the stings hurt their fingers - and only over time do the calluses develop.
That may not be the best analogy…but I hope that you get may meaning.

This is simply a new facet of your faith…A new test…and will give new meanings to some of the things that Jesus has said about Loving your enemies and do good toward those who revile you and spitefully use you. (Mt 5:43-48) God is giving you the opportunity to grow in faith and will give you the grace to grow the calluses you need and to subdue this anger - which is the tool of the devil.

Peace
James

 

[ProdglArchitect]

I come from a predominantly Catholic island in the Pacific (Guam). I had never known about the “absolute hatred” and vitriol toward Catholicism until I moved to the United States for a time. How do you deal with these blatant attacks from both the secular & other religions? I can’t seem to do it because the attacks themselves make me so angry that my mind goes completely blank. I understand this is exactly what they want, but I can’t seem to shake the anger. I recently moved back to Guam, but now ANY attack against the faith I take personally. Like on the news about the pope’s resignation, I couldn’t help but read the comments. I would say 99.9% of them were blatant attacks, most of them involving the sex abuse crisis. I got so angry that these people would attack the faith and its leader without actually know exactly what the Church teaches & why we teach it. Even ex-Catholics who claim to know the faith. For a long time I considered myself Catholic and even I didn’t know the faith. It wasn’t until I decided to actually understand what the church teaches & the history of why it’s taught that I saw the true beauty of the faith.

#1: I envy you that you were able to live away form this vitriol most of your life.

#2: I know what you mean about getting so angry your mind goes blank.

It takes a lot of time, and a lot of prayers for patience to be able to take it in stride and combat it. People who actively reject the Catholic Church are, in essence, rejecting the Truth about Christ; it’s only natural that, in place of this truth, they are filled with the hatred that comes with intense longing. They fill hatred because, whether they’ll admit it or not, the Holy Spirit is trying to tell them that we are the true way of Christ, the one official Church that He established on Earth; and people really don’t like being told they’re wrong.

Pray for them, and pray for the patience to engage them rationally, calmly, and with the Truth of our Lord’s church.

 

[Cordelil]

Studying Catholic apologetics is a must in dealing with this type of adversity. Fortunately, we have so many resources to pull from in equiping ourselves to defend our faith.

 

[fred_conty]

i know what you mean, my whole household is protestant , it can be rough…

Maybe it is better to give the faith to relatives than defending it.

Mary gave us the green scapular as a gift to us to use. Here is what she said about it:

… Conversion of those who do not have the faith
… Reconciliation to the Church for those who have lost/strayed from the faith
… Assurance of a happy death
… Strengthening of the faith for those already in the Church
… Protection from Satan for those who wear or promote the scapular

And she told us how to use it. Mary’s own words were:

“The GREATEST graces come from using the scapular but these graces come
in direct proportion to the degree of CONFIDENCE IN ME which the user has.”

This means that when you, the user, give it to someone, you trust Mary to keep her word to you. That should be very easy since she is “immaculate”. She has every intention of keeping that name and will keep her word to you. It is her gift, meaning that she asks and wants you to use it. She is the one one who thought this up. You will simply be doing what she wants.
You will be doing her a favor. And she will love you for it.

To do this properly, get green scapulars, have them blessed.
Be faithful to this prayer every day.
“Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for us now and at the hour of our death.”
Pray it also for yourself too.
She didn’t say when, just that she promised it would happen.

How to use the scapular:

Wear or carry the green scapular for yourself.
To help another, place it in their vicinity (i.e. their room, wallet, purse, or all over; lamp, house,car, chair, bed).

You can get them by googling “green scapular”.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=620449
(From an atheist)
How did you come to embrace Catholicism?
Strangely enough, it was the Blessed Virgin Mary. That friend of mine had sneakily
snuck in a scapular under my mattress. I didn’t know until about 1 year into my
conversion. I imagine that she had something to do with it. I think it was the
green scapular.

 

[frankies_music]

We get a LOT of that in Northern Ireland…and i suppose it’s extra bitter due to the aweful history here. Some “protestants” (probably athiests who were born protestants) burn dummies dressed like the Pope here every year etc…it can be genuinely quite threatening!

We’ll show them that our faith is right and that Jesus works through our faith by our actions. Jesus never said it would be easy! be glad of people attacking your faith and insulting you…it gives you the chance to show Jesus that you genuinely believe and love him, no matter what it costs you.

God bless.

 

[mackbrislawn]

I come from a predominantly Catholic island in the Pacific (Guam). I had never known about the “absolute hatred” and vitriol toward Catholicism until I moved to the United States for a time. How do you deal with these blatant attacks from both the secular & other religions? I can’t seem to do it because the attacks themselves make me so angry that my mind goes completely blank. I understand this is exactly what they want, but I can’t seem to shake the anger. I recently moved back to Guam, but now ANY attack against the faith I take personally. Like on the news about the pope’s resignation, I couldn’t help but read the comments. I would say 99.9% of them were blatant attacks, most of them involving the sex abuse crisis. I got so angry that these people would attack the faith and its leader without actually know exactly what the Church teaches & why we teach it. Even ex-Catholics who claim to know the faith. For a long time I considered myself Catholic and even I didn’t know the faith. It wasn’t until I decided to actually understand what the church teaches & the history of why it’s taught that I saw the true beauty of the faith.

I don’t take attacks on Catholicism personally because,first, I’m used to it here on the mainland, and second, attacking Catholicism is a Protestant’s reason for existence. That is, since Protestants broke off from Catholicism, they have to continually justify to themselves why they did. After all, if Catholicism is right, why should there be Protestantism? No reason–so they must insist the RC Church is wrong, so Protestantism can be right. They can’t help themselves.

Some Protestants have called the pope the anti-christ and the whore of babylon, and Catholicism a false or pagan religion. What seems odd to me then is how can they take the holy book (the Bible) of a false religion (Catholicsm) and from it construct a true religion? Makes no sense at all to me.

 

[ericc]

I am a cradle Catholic from Malaysia. In my teens, the ribbing I got from my Methodist classmates were restricted to “why you guys do this when the Bible says blah blah blah”. However what I read in certain “Christian” websites nowadays are so filled with hate that I wonder what Christian religion is that. Hatred towards the Pope, Priests in particular, and even Mother Mary at times. The signature mark of Christians is love of God and neighbour. If any of that is missing, how are you going to call yourself Christian? However, I benefited from all those attacks and got educated from the more knowledgeable Catholic brothers/sisters who responded magnificently.

 

[CarolNoel]

Hafa Adai jacfallle20. I lived on the beautiful island of Guam in the 80’s and the people were very kind and loving. It is sad we are hated so much, but so was our Jesus.
We are in good company.

 

[Scottgun]

Hatred and vitriol fuel my faith and joy rather than diminish it. Occasionally I read a news story about a Church being vandalized by anti-Catholics. It usually occurs to me that if you parish isn’t getting vandalized every so often, then they are doing something wrong.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”

 

[bmonk]

I would try to pray for them, to help deal with anger–I’ve read that prayer is very effective in reducing anger.

When you can function, you might use your anger to learn to respond appropriately–sharing your faith, asking them why they have such hatred when Jesus calls us to love one another, especially fellow members of the Body of Christ. Invite them to come and see for themselves if their beliefs about Catholics are true.

 

[guanophore]

I come from a predominantly Catholic island in the Pacific (Guam). I had never known about the “absolute hatred” and vitriol toward Catholicism until I moved to the United States for a time. How do you deal with these blatant attacks from both the secular & other religions? I can’t seem to do it because the attacks themselves make me so angry that my mind goes completely blank. I understand this is exactly what they want, but I can’t seem to shake the anger. I recently moved back to Guam, but now ANY attack against the faith I take personally. Like on the news about the pope’s resignation, I couldn’t help but read the comments. I would say 99.9% of them were blatant attacks, most of them involving the sex abuse crisis. I got so angry that these people would attack the faith and its leader without actually know exactly what the Church teaches & why we teach it. Even ex-Catholics who claim to know the faith. For a long time I considered myself Catholic and even I didn’t know the faith. It wasn’t until I decided to actually understand what the church teaches & the history of why it’s taught that I saw the true beauty of the faith.

Just pray for them. Turn all of your anger into prayer and penance for the unbelieving souls. Imagine the pain to the heart of God, and the feeling of hanging helplessly on the cross while He was reviled. Join your sufferings with His, and forgive His enemies. Keep saying “forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do”.

 

[Ignatius]

I come from a predominantly Catholic island in the Pacific (Guam). I had never known about the “absolute hatred” and vitriol toward Catholicism until I moved to the United States for a time. How do you deal with these blatant attacks from both the secular & other religions? I can’t seem to do it because the attacks themselves make me so angry that my mind goes completely blank. I understand this is exactly what they want, but I can’t seem to shake the anger. I recently moved back to Guam, but now ANY attack against the faith I take personally. Like on the news about the pope’s resignation, I couldn’t help but read the comments. I would say 99.9% of them were blatant attacks, most of them involving the sex abuse crisis. I got so angry that these people would attack the faith and its leader without actually know exactly what the Church teaches & why we teach it. Even ex-Catholics who claim to know the faith. For a long time I considered myself Catholic and even I didn’t know the faith. It wasn’t until I decided to actually understand what the church teaches & the history of why it’s taught that I saw the true beauty of the faith.

Persecution is a sign that we’re on the right track
This should be the key to knowing that it is the Church that Jesus Christ founded. He said in John 15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you”, and Mat 5:11 “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven”

Of all of the Christian churches, Only the Catholic Church is so reviled and lied about, this is proof that we have found the Church of Jesus Christ; so be of good cheer, you’re in the right place.

Yours in Christ.

 

[BVMFatima]

i know what you mean, my whole household is protestant , it can be rough…

Me too whenever I talk about Catholicism its a big no no, but they have the “right” to talk about there religion which isn’t really fair. How Christian is that?

 

[Ignatius]

I come from a predominantly Catholic island in the Pacific (Guam). I had never known about the “absolute hatred” and vitriol toward Catholicism until I moved to the United States for a time. How do you deal with these blatant attacks from both the secular & other religions? I can’t seem to do it because the attacks themselves make me so angry that my mind goes completely blank. I understand this is exactly what they want, but I can’t seem to shake the anger. I recently moved back to Guam, but now ANY attack against the faith I take personally. Like on the news about the pope’s resignation, I couldn’t help but read the comments. I would say 99.9% of them were blatant attacks, most of them involving the sex abuse crisis. I got so angry that these people would attack the faith and its leader without actually know exactly what the Church teaches & why we teach it. Even ex-Catholics who claim to know the faith. For a long time I considered myself Catholic and even I didn’t know the faith. It wasn’t until I decided to actually understand what the church teaches & the history of why it’s taught that I saw the true beauty of the faith.

Persecution is a sign that we’re on the right track
This should be the key to knowing that it is the Church that Jesus Christ founded. He said in John 15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you”, and Mat 5:11 “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven”

Of all of the Christian churches, Only the Catholic Church is so reviled and lied about, this is proof that we have found the Church of Jesus Christ; so be of good cheer, you’re in the right place.

Yours in Christ.