Devout Catholics: Do you lack understanding and/or acceptance of some Church teaching?

[distracted]

One of the Baha’i teachings is that Satan is allegorical and that hell is separation from God, but not eternal - the soul continues to work for holiness after death.

But if a person rejected God and wasn’t working for holiness in THIS life… wasn’t even thinking about doing so… Why would he do so after death??

in those times in my life, I really was not capable of making such a huge decision.

God does not hold one to a certain decision if he is not capable of it… God meets people where they are… and loves them too much to leave them there…

So I would have been in eternal fire for making a decision that was not really my full choice because it was influenced by false teaching, clinical depression, and corrupt society.

This is one thing i have a problem understanding myself… It seems that a lot of people do not know Jesus… (the way true Catholics know Him)… because, for one thing, the Catholic Church doesn’t teach people the faith well and also doesn’t seem to evangelize outside the Church very well… and it seems that those people who are not taught… are understandably resistant to… what they see as 'just another church" just another “truth” out of the many… etc… I guess it all comes down to trusting Godto judge everyone perfectly fairly.

And lastly, me thinking Eucharistic Adoration is idolatry.

I would guess you haven’t done much Adoration?? Because i can’t understand someone who has saying this… (??).

Of course, I know that it isn’t really idolatry because the Catholic Church promotes it, and it is the charism of many saints, so therefore it cannot be idolatry. But I guess I have this opinion because I come from a more Catholic Charismatic background in my faith, so I’ve seen (and been one of the) people who see the Eucharist in adoration, and start raising their hands, crying, speaking in tongues, laughing, and screaming, “I’m sorry Jesus!” And somewhere along the way, I just said, “This is ridiculous!” and I guess I transfered that fed-upness of the charismatic movement towards Eucharistic adoration in general.

Wow… never heard of this… Every time i have been to Adoration, it is VERY quiet in there… (and… after you tell me of this kind of thing… i am even more thankful it is quiet… Yikes…I don’t think i would even be able to feel much of the presence of Jesus if people were loud like that… ).

Thanks again for the responses, and pray for me please!

Please pray for me also… general purposes… :whacky:

 

[distracted]

Yes-I have problems with their prohibition of barrier methods of birth control and disagree with them that there can ever be circumstances where capital punishment is appropriate.

their? you must not be Catholic…

I was asking the question of devout Catholics…

In any case, i don’t know why the big deal about artificial birth control prohibition… Even when i was “out in the world” totally un-catechized (or seemingly totally)… I NEVER believed in aftificial birth control… which proves, if only to me, that that kind of thing is UN- Natural… !!! and threfore wrong…

 

[distracted]

I In an ectopic pregnancy in the fallopian tube why is it OK to remove the tube with the fetus in it but not OK to remove the fetus from the tube that is about to rupture?

could you explain exacly what you mean here?? I am not following you…

harder to accept a teaching that something is sinful if the bible doesn’t directly address it and society is accepting of it. .

The books ofthe Bible were written a long time ago… How could anyone badk then foresee stem cell research… test tube babies… etc…

(another good reason to believe we need - don’t just desire - a Church like the Catholic Church… to guide us… Left to ourselves, we would not discover God’s will in any given matter…

 

[bookish]

I have a problem accepting the idea of Communion in the hand. If the Church says it is acceptable, I guess it is, but I just can’t see it being right.

 

[distracted]

Abortion and divorce teachings are no-brainer’s for me, but birth control for married couples was harder for me to grasp. .

i guess this shows how we are all different because the prohibition on artificial birth control was a “no brainer” for me…

another thing is the trinity. I don’t have a problem with that… but i guess many others do…

What i have a problem with is not giving dispensations to CERTAIN… not All… priests to marry… I have HEARD (dont’ knw if true) that JP II and Benedict have not/ will not grant them… I do NOT agree with that… Do i accept it??

Well… kind of… and kind of not… :coffeeread:

i think it kind of sends the message that marriage is a way to lose God… or something… (and of course, some marriages CAN be that)… but not all…

 

[distracted]

I have a problem accepting the idea of Communion in the hand. If the Church says it is acceptable, I guess it is, but I just can’t see it being right.

Neither can i… and i don’t accept that way… In Maria simma’s book on the souls in Purgatory (they apparently contact her and have her sy Masses for them, etc…)… she says this is very wrong… she seems like a very devout person… very Catholic… believable…

I have heard the pope doesn’t like it… So why doesn’t he say something about it? I don’t get it…

 

[estesbob]

their? you must not be Catholic…

I was asking the question of devout Catholics…

In any case, i don’t know why the big deal about artificial birth control prohibition… Even when i was “out in the world” totally un-catechized (or seemingly totally)… I NEVER believed in aftificial birth control… which proves, if only to me, that that kind of thing is UN- Natural… !!! and threfore wrong…

You misunderstood me-I said I had problems with them BUT I accept them nonetheless.

 

[water]

Not understanding everything the Church teaches is alright, but having faith in Christ that He established the Church and that He guides the Church. With this faith, we could follow the teaching without understanding everything. In fact, not everything can be really understood until you go to Heaven.

 

[CatsAndDogs]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nickkname
, I don’t understand why God exists, but I accept the Church’s teaching that God dose exist.

i can easily understand why God exists… I can’t figure out why WE exist… I guess so He can have something to play with … Sorry… just my thoughts sometimes…

We do exist. Therefore, God had a good reason to create us.

But before He created us, He created a place for us to be.

But before He created a place for us to be, He created beings to communicate through between Him and us.

But before He created those Messengers, He created a place for those beings to be.

And after He created those messengers in their place, and while He was creating our place to be, some of those messengers decided that God’s reason for creating us was not a good one, and created evil.

And after He created us in our place, we allowed an evil messenger to lead us to believe that God’s reason for creating us was not good ENOUGH, and we chose to learn instead of to protect.

But, God DID have a most good reason to create us, and He will show us what we need to learn to choose to protect what we were given originally, which was to obey Him, which when we do will reveal to us God’s ACTUAL good reason for creating us.

 

[Prayer_Warrior]

i guess this shows how we are all different because the prohibition on artificial birth control was a “no brainer” for me…

another thing is the trinity. I don’t have a problem with that… but i guess many others do…

What i have a problem with is not giving dispensations to CERTAIN… not All… priests to marry… I have HEARD (dont’ knw if true) that JP II and Benedict have not/ will not grant them… I do NOT agree with that… Do i accept it??

Well… kind of… and kind of not… :coffeeread:

i think it kind of sends the message that marriage is a way to lose God… or something… (and of course, some marriages CAN be that)… but not all…

I have not heard of dispensations for priests (latin rite) to marry. Only that if a man was married and afterward converted to the faith, then he could become a priest. This has happened several times with the conversion of non-Catholic pastors who convert. Are there dispensations for men who are Catholic priests to marry after ordination? I have not heard of that happening. Since it is a discipline and not a doctrine, I suppose the Church can make exceptions, but it lacks consistency and that can cause problems with how the Church is viewed.

Personally, I like that our priests to follow the footsteps of St. Paul and remain celibate and unmarried–though, as a married woman, I can’t say I really grasp the rigors of this spiritual discipline. It seems that I am in the minority in support of celibacy of priests; there is a seems to be great deal of pressure for the church to “conform to the world around us” (cf Rm 12:2), and just let all priests marry. But I think there is a lot to be said about the good that can come from wholly devoting your life to Christ.

 

[distracted]

You misunderstood me-I said I had problems with them BUT I accept them nonetheless.

otay…

 

[distracted]

But, God DID have a most good reason to create us, and He will show us what we need to learn to choose to protect what we were given originally, which was to obey Him, which when we do will reveal to us God’s ACTUAL good reason for creating us.

If you say so…

i don’t know… maybe my life just isn’t so… well… making sense… but oh well… In a 100 yrs, i will probably be OK…

Its that “probably” that bothers me…

 

[distracted]

I there is a seems to be great deal of pressure for the church to “conform to the world around us” (cf Rm 12:2), and just let all priests marry.

i don’t look at it this way… (though, i used to, have to admit - when i was young and didn’t know anything)… . NO - i am not trying to insult anyone… just saying what comes to mind… so please don’t go off on a tangent…

But I think there is a lot to be said about the good that can come from wholly devoting your life to Christ.

I hope i dont make you angry but i am getting tired (again, just being honest, if that is OK?)… of this inference that is made, that somehow being married precludes being devoted to Christ…

I am not saying you said that exactly, but it was definitely implied… and has been by others on the forum…

Yes, there ARE marriages that take away from our walk with Jesus … maybe there are more of them than i ever dreamed of… This is one area where i am not well informed because i have never been married…

 

[Kevin42]

I have had difficulty understanding several church teachings, and have formerly even not obeyed them. However, I have never denied them, publicly rejected them, or taught others falsely.

 

[Nickkname]

We do exist. Therefore, God had a good reason to create us.

But before He created us, He created a place for us to be.

But before He created a place for us to be, He created beings to communicate through between Him and us.

But before He created those Messengers, He created a place for those beings to be.

And after He created those messengers in their place, and while He was creating our place to be, some of those messengers decided that God’s reason for creating us was not a good one, and created evil.

And after He created us in our place, we allowed an evil messenger to lead us to believe that God’s reason for creating us was not good ENOUGH, and we chose to learn instead of to protect.

But, God DID have a most good reason to create us, and He will show us what we need to learn to choose to protect what we were given originally, which was to obey Him, which when we do will reveal to us God’s ACTUAL good reason for creating us.

Divine Mercy In My Soul, 83:

On Friday, after Holy Communion, I was carried in spirit before the throne of God. There I saw the heavenly Powers which incessantly praise God. Beyond the throne I saw a brightness inaccessible to creatures, and there only the Incarnate Word enters as Mediator. When Jesus entered this light, I heard these words, Write down at once what you hear: I am the Lord in My essence and am immune to orders or needs. If I call creatures into being - that is the abyss of My mercy. And at that very moment I found myself, as before, in our chapel at my kneeler, just as Mass had ended. I already had these words written.

Source: saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS2.shtml

 

[KestrelRose]

have you spend any time at the Blessed Sacrament? That really helped me a lot… and i was raised Catholic… (though not taught the faith very well… )…

As a child were you receptive to what your teachers were saying?

How does one go about teaching children when there are so many distractions for children?

I taught fifth graders religious education for awhile. It is not an easy to reach children. Did I teach them well? I did the best I could but it has to be a two way street even if they are children.

Parents need to be involved. When attendance is poor there is little continuity.

Educators can not to the job by themselves.

They are either too strict or to lenient
Talk far above the students or talk down to students.
Not with it or to contemporary.
To old or to young.
To this or to that.

It is easy to blame the lack of education on those who are doing their best to educate.

 

[KestrelRose]

I have had difficulty understanding several church teachings, and have formerly even not obeyed them. However, I have never denied them, publicly rejected them, or taught others falsely.

For me it is a learning process. Sometimes we disobey and learn the lesson as to why a teaching is the teaching.

We are children. We can not possibly understand all this all at once. God understands how difficult this is. We always need to be receptive to the teachings and trust in His love and mercy.

 

[distracted]

As a child were you receptive to what your teachers were saying?

I think most children are receptive… esp to Jesus… i loved Jesus when i was a child, but i was never taught a fraction of what i later taught myself about the Church teachings…

I did the best I could
Parents need to be involved. When attendance is poor there is little continuity.

i don’t remember if we went every Sat or not… but it seems like we did… All i remember is the beautiful prayer cards and other little gifts we got… for answering some question correctly?? I don’t know why i don’t remmber learning much… but i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if i had been taught something like the Real Presence, i would definitely have remmbered… I always felt that presence… but didn’t know that i could sit with Him There… and that… well, that things would happen to me There… (etc.)… If i had known then what i know now, my life could have been/ would have been totally different…

The Church DOES not… teach its members well. I have heard many Catholics say the same thing…

 

[Burdock]

to desracted i also think priests should be able to marry. I did read recently that two young men said that they would consider becoming a priest if they would be allowed to marry. Also there is a shortage of priests. To avoid thar situation from becoming worse i think the church will have to consider priests marrying.

 

[redrosetea]

I am glad are cergy are celibate and I hope it continues…I see no earthy reason for them to wed

If you aren’t willing to take up your cross, I doubt that you would have made a good priest anyway

Saying if I could marry when it is forbidden doesn’t show me ziltch…They are married to the church

Our priest are not like ministers…It is a vocation and not a job