Did I make a mistake becoming Catholic

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Hello all,
I became Catholic at this years Easter vigil. My future wife has been fantastic. and encouraged (not forced) me to join the church. I have always been Christian but lost my way in high school and college. I developed a drinking (and occasional drug) problem. I also fornicated with women. Sadly I was living the way most in college seem to live in these troubled times. The more bad I did the easier it became to continue! Sin truly is a slippery slope! That seems to be the way sin works. Since I started attending church I have been a much happier person. I am not quick to anger like I was in the past and I am seeing life in a new manner. I have found my way back to Christ. I enjoy going to mass and I like my parish very much. RCIA was a great experience but I did not learn much about some important topics.

Here is my dilemma. During the Easter vigil I repeated after the priest that “I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes,teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God”. I said this without knowing some of the Churches views on certain issues. After stumbling on this forum I can say I do not believe everything the Church says (on certain mortal sin for example).

I’m not one to fall in and not question some orders so to speak (unless it’s in the Bible) 👍 Some of what I read in the Bible and the churches interpenetration don’t add up to me. If I do not believe with all my heart some things in the Catechism should I stop receiving the Eucharist? I am going to make an appt. to talk to my priest about my concerns. I will continue to attend mass but will not receive the Eucharist if needed. When I make a commitment I follow through. I was not informed enough to make the profession of faith. I should have done more research I suppose. My question is if I disagree with some things should I look somewhere else to worship Christ? 🤷

Thanks for your time!

Edit:
If this is in the wrong section my apologies. I’m new here!
 
Thinker55 said:
Hello all,
I became Catholic at this years Easter vigil. My future wife has been fantastic. and encouraged (not forced) me to join the church. I have always been Christian but lost my way in high school and college. I developed a drinking (and occasional drug) problem. I also fornicated with women. Sadly I was living the way most in college seem to live in these troubled times. The more bad I did the easier it became to continue! Sin truly is a slippery slope! That seems to be the way sin works. Since I started attending church I have been a much happier person. I am not quick to anger like I was in the past and I am seeing life in a new manner. I have found my way back to Christ. I enjoy going to mass and I like my parish very much. RCIA was a great experience but I did not learn much about some important topics.

Here is my dilemma. During the Easter vigil I repeated after the priest that “I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes,teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God”. I said this without knowing some of the Churches views on certain issues. After stumbling on this forum I can say I do not believe everything the Church says (on certain mortal sin for example).
Click to expand...
It wasn’t a poll question; it was a vow.

Now that you know what the Church teaches, it is up to you to make an act of the will to believe it as best you can.
I’m not one to fall in and not question some orders so to speak (unless it’s in the Bible) 👍 Some of what I read in the Bible and the churches interpenetration don’t add up to me. If I do not believe with all my heart some things in the Catechism should I stop receiving the Eucharist? I am going to make an appt. to talk to my priest about my concerns. I will continue to attend mass but will not receive the Eucharist if needed. When I make a commitment I follow through. I was not informed enough to make the profession of faith. I should have done more research I suppose. My question is if I disagree with some things should I look somewhere else to worship Christ? 🤷
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Thanks for your time!
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Something else they might not have mentioned is that Christ only established one Church; He established it on Peter, and Peter established the Catholic Church as we know and love it today. There is no place else to go. Welcome aboard! 🙂

That having been said - do talk to your priest, and learn more about why the Church teaches as she does. Everything makes sense when you delve down to the reasoning behind it - but while you are delving down, it’s important to have faith that Jesus would not have taught His Church anything that is not really true.
 
Not everything in the catechism is binding. The answer to your question depends on what, specifically, you disagree with.
 
As stated, it depends on what specifically you disagree with.

But I have to ask you…
What attracted you to the church and why did you decide to join?

Is it above other things, that you recognized truth and Christ’s voice in the church? If so… you need to trust that! When you made your declaration you said it in this context: NO ONE KNOWS EVERYTHING the church teaches!, but to the degree of what you’ve come to know, to the degree of where you are spiritually and mentally in this life… and that you understand the authority of the church that guards and guides and protects us all!

The church has dealt with harder cases than you … I can guarentee you! You’ve already mentioned that it is changing your life! Also, look at the amazing things the church has no one else has (this can be your strength while you continue learing and growing)…for instance: the eucharist! How could you leave that!

God bless you on your search.

If you have questions: don’t hesitate.
 
garysibio said:
Not everything in the catechism is binding. The answer to your question depends on what, specifically, you disagree with.
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The mortal sin portion is tough to agree with for me. It was not covered at all in RCIA. I just find it hard to believe that some child rapist would face the same punishment as a 16 year old who watched a porn movie. If the rapist confessed he would be saved but if the kid was ashamed he would end up in hell?

Maybe I’m cynical but missing mass once is a mortal sin? Same class of sin as murder? Am I not missing something here? I have read the explanation why missing one mass is a mortal sin here. Third commandment says keep that sabbath holy I believe? To equate that to missing a mass being a mortal sin is a stretch to me. Christ was a Jew, I thought the sabbath was on Sat. for Jews? What about Matthew 18:20? I like mass but I don’t agree with encouraging attendance with fear.

I am going to miss it in a few months. I am going to be in the middle of no where on a hike in fishing trip. Seeing the sun rise over a lake with a couple of friends is keeping the sabbath holy to me. Being in nature is being surrounded by the holy spirit to me! If I pray that day like I always do I have still committed a mortal sin? If I die on a 20 mile hike back to the car I will go to hell for missing one mass? I thought I could go before the trip but that would not cover the mass for Sunday I guess.

When I hear missing mass is a sin my mind thinks they want butts on the benches for bucks in the baskets. I can’t help it. I just think that is a dated way to scare people into giving money to the church. Many people think they can go to mass and then do manual labor the rest of the day. Is that keeping the sabbath holy?
Perhaps I am just confused. To be honest some of the answers I have seen on this forum made me more confused/scared of the church. I thought there was only one sin that was not forgivable? The bible never mentions what sins are mortal, right? It’s scary having to rush to confession or be damned!
 
MichaelHowling said:
As stated, it depends on what specifically you disagree with.

But I have to ask you…
What attracted you to the church and why did you decide to join?

Is it above other things, that you recognized truth and Christ’s voice in the church? If so… you need to trust that! When you made your declaration you said it in this context: NO ONE KNOWS EVERYTHING the church teaches!, but to the degree of what you’ve come to know, to the degree of where you are spiritually and mentally in this life… and that you understand the authority of the church that guards and guides and protects us all!

The church has dealt with harder cases than you … I can guarentee you! You’ve already mentioned that it is changing your life! Also, look at the amazing things the church has no one else has (this can be your strength while you continue learing and growing)…for instance: the eucharist! How could you leave that!

God bless you on your search.

If you have questions: don’t hesitate.
Click to expand...
What attracted me to the church was love to be honest. I love my future wife and she told me how much she loved going to mass. I really love it also. I’m afraid I made a profession of faith without knowing enough. To be honest I think quite a few in my Church don’t know or care to know what the Church teaches. I do not want to leave! But I don’t want to make a false profession of faith. Would that not be a sin? I take anything I say very seriously. It seems ignorance is bliss in the church for many. Can faith be a journey or is it supposed to be all at once or nothing for the Catholic church?
 
The Bible says anything that isn’t pure cannot enter heaven. If the child rapist confesses his sin and is truly sorry for what he did then that sin is absolved. If a teen watches porn and gets off on it, that is still a sin. If he doesn’t repent then that sin is not absolved. Anything impure will be turned away. A sin is an impurity.
 
I think you’re more confused in this than anything.

First off…when we’re speaking of the truths of the church…truth is not ONLY objective right and wrongs…it’s a person : Jesus : “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life”.

You’re in a relationship with a person here…the church is telling you how to stay safe in this world because it holds the authority and and teachings…the very voice of Christ.

The commandments and mortal/veinal sin teachings…they’re not there to restrict you but to make you your better self and really FREE you!

THERE IS NO FREEDOM WITHOUT THE LAW!

And these laws…what we should and should not do…are not to be laws anymore to you being a full catholic!..Christ freed us from the law in that we not longer look at them as “what we have to do’s” but as “what we desire to do’s!” because we love Him! and because we recognize that He loves us and only wants to bless us!

Yes mortal sin…your personal willingess to directly cut yourself away from God = hell! That does not mean that the rapist or missing mass get’s the same punishment.

Yes, you can find God in nature…His spirit is within everything and sustaining life! However NOTHING…NOTHING compares to His presence in the mass where He is present body, blood, soul and divinity! You will not find Him in that form in nature. Why do you have to miss mass? Can’t you go saturday evening? or at some point on sunday?
 
Thinker55 said:
Hello all,
I became Catholic at this years Easter vigil. My future wife has been fantastic. and encouraged (not forced) me to join the church. I have always been Christian but lost my way in high school and college. I developed a drinking (and occasional drug) problem. I also fornicated with women. Sadly I was living the way most in college seem to live in these troubled times. The more bad I did the easier it became to continue! Sin truly is a slippery slope! That seems to be the way sin works. Since I started attending church I have been a much happier person. I am not quick to anger like I was in the past and I am seeing life in a new manner. I have found my way back to Christ. I enjoy going to mass and I like my parish very much. RCIA was a great experience but I did not learn much about some important topics.

Here is my dilemma. During the Easter vigil I repeated after the priest that “I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes,teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God”. I said this without knowing some of the Churches views on certain issues. After stumbling on this forum I can say I do not believe everything the Church says (on certain mortal sin for example).

I’m not one to fall in and not question some orders so to speak (unless it’s in the Bible) 👍 Some of what I read in the Bible and the churches interpenetration don’t add up to me. If I do not believe with all my heart some things in the Catechism should I stop receiving the Eucharist? I am going to make an appt. to talk to my priest about my concerns. I will continue to attend mass but will not receive the Eucharist if needed. When I make a commitment I follow through. I was not informed enough to make the profession of faith. I should have done more research I suppose. My question is if I disagree with some things should I look somewhere else to worship Christ?
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If you have issues with some teaching of the Catholic Church, I suggest you research those issues. Most people struggle with at least some of the Church’s teachings at some point. There are Catholic theologians out there who have devoted their lives to learning and defending the teachings of the Catholic Church, and getting to know some of them could be very helpful to you (be cautious- there are some bad theologians out there). You can also submit questions in the “Ask an Apologist” section here for the CAF apologists to answer, and you can ask your questions in the Apologetics section of this forum for the general membership to answer. The main thing I want to emphasize though is that you need to ask Catholics (in good standing with the Church) your questions about Catholicism.

I am afraid the above posters are mistaken when they say not everything in the Catechism is binding. While there hasn’t been an infallible proclamation from the Pope on each article in the Catechism (there have only been two of those), the Catechism is a document from the teaching body of the Church containing a summary of the Church’s teachings- it’s all “binding”,
 
Give your faith a chance to learn and grow with God. It is not going to happen over night. It takes time. God will guide you. God will be with you. God will be united with your soul and in time you will see what is right and then you will see that the Catholic faith is the true faith. The church of God.

God bless
 
I think one can get too literal on believing EVERYTHING. As a new Catholic, this board could come across “shocking” because you are going to see a lot of conservative answers at the far right of the Church. It doesn’t mean they’re wrong, but it may be more than a new Catholic can immediately accept. I’d pose this question to you, do you believe everything in our Creed? If you do, then you made the right decision in converting to Catholicism.
 
MichaelHowling said:
I think you’re more confused in this than anything.

First off…when we’re speaking of the truths of the church…truth is not ONLY objective right and wrongs…it’s a person : Jesus : “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life”.

You’re in a relationship with a person here…the church is telling you how to stay safe in this world because it holds the authority and and teachings…the very voice of Christ.

The commandments and mortal/veinal sin teachings…they’re not there to restrict you but to make you your better self and really FREE you!

THERE IS NO FREEDOM WITHOUT THE LAW!

And these laws…what we should and should not do…are not to be laws anymore to you being a full catholic!..Christ freed us from the law in that we not longer look at them as “what we have to do’s” but as “what we desire to do’s!” because we love Him! and because we recognize that He loves us and only wants to bless us!

Yes mortal sin…your personal willingess to directly cut yourself away from God = hell! That does not mean that the rapist or missing mass get’s the same punishment.

Yes, you can find God in nature…His spirit is within everything and sustaining life! However NOTHING…NOTHING compares to His presence in the mass where He is present body, blood, soul and divinity! You will not find Him in that form in nature. Why do you have to miss mass? Can’t you go saturday evening? or at some point on sunday?
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Tough to find a church in the middle of a 20 mile hike! It’s a day to hike in and a day to hike out. When I get out in nature I don’t mess around haha. No roads, no path most of the time. A topo map and a compass. Like I said I was going to go to mass the day before I left (and still will) but I guess I will have to be in fear of mortal sin and confess asap when I get back to civilization. Just seems strange to me that being in nature for a few days could put my soul at risk.

I will talk with my priest asap about this.
 
It’s a journey friend!

It’s a relationship that you are going to continue with and learn more and more about that person: Jesus.

Marriage is the perfect symbolism of this: God uses the imagry of marriage with us! So I think it is sooooo beautiful that your wife had so much to play in this!

So calm down, take your time and just be faithful to your goal to know Christ…just as you did with your marriage.

The church has been around for over 2,000 years and has built soooo many saints and has transformed the world. THEY KNOW WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT! It’s like the church is saying: “stick with me kid…you’ll be alright”. LOL

Where else would you go ? You think you can interpret scripture better ? The church put the bible together! Do you have the ability and authority to forgive sin or confect the eucharist ? Of course not…the church does. Do you have 2 thousand years of experience and practice ? Church does.
 
the woods! a man after my own heart.

Yea, just talk to your priest…he can actually dispense you from the obligation to attend mass on sunday.

If you can go to mass on saturday evening …it is considered sunday if that helps!

You’re taking it seriously and you’re seeing what you can do to be acceptible to God…you’re heart is in God’s hands. Beautiful
 
Thinker55 said:
Tough to find a church in the middle of a 20 mile hike! It’s a day to hike in and a day to hike out. When I get out in nature I don’t mess around haha. No roads, no path most of the time. A topo map and a compass. Like I said I was going to go to mass the day before I left (and still will) but I guess I will have to be in fear of mortal sin and confess asap when I get back to civilization. Just seems strange to me that being in nature for a few days could put my soul at risk.

I will talk with my priest asap about this.
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You can get special dispensation for travel from a priest. Most Catholics would not worry about a large hike like that as it could be argued that it falls under the excused “no access to a Mass” loophole. Personally I’d say, find out what the readings at Mass will be that day and read them at some point on the Sunday of your hike. That way you have still recognized that it is the Sabbath Day.
 
Thinker55 said:
The mortal sin portion is tough to agree with for me. It was not covered at all in RCIA. I just find it hard to believe that some child rapist would face the same punishment as a 16 year old who watched a porn movie. If the rapist confessed he would be saved but if the kid was ashamed he would end up in hell?

Maybe I’m cynical but missing mass once is a mortal sin? Same class of sin as murder? Am I not missing something here? I have read the explanation why missing one mass is a mortal sin here. Third commandment says keep that sabbath holy I believe? To equate that to missing a mass being a mortal sin is a stretch to me. Christ was a Jew, I thought the sabbath was on Sat. for Jews? What about Matthew 18:20? I like mass but I don’t agree with encouraging attendance with fear.

I am going to miss it in a few months. I am going to be in the middle of no where on a hike in fishing trip. Seeing the sun rise over a lake with a couple of friends is keeping the sabbath holy to me. Being in nature is being surrounded by the holy spirit to me! If I pray that day like I always do I have still committed a mortal sin? If I die on a 20 mile hike back to the car I will go to hell for missing one mass? I thought I could go before the trip but that would not cover the mass for Sunday I guess.

When I hear missing mass is a sin my mind thinks they want butts on the benches for bucks in the baskets. I can’t help it. I just think that is a dated way to scare people into giving money to the church. Many people think they can go to mass and then do manual labor the rest of the day. Is that keeping the sabbath holy?
Perhaps I am just confused. To be honest some of the answers I have seen on this forum made me more confused/scared of the church. I thought there was only one sin that was not forgivable? The bible never mentions what sins are mortal, right? It’s scary having to rush to confession or be damned!
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Regardless of the severity of a sin from a human perspective, at their heart they are the same thing. The sinner is telling God “I reject you. I do not want to have fellowship with you.” The sinner is choosing Hell. To send such a person to Heaven would be Hell for them.

The problem with your reasoning is that you are using the child rapist as your baseline. It’s more realistic to look at it as, if masturbating is a mortal sin, how much more should rape be.

Have you ever heard anyone say, “Why would God send me to Hell? It’s not like I’m Hitler.” Yet you never hear anyone say “I’m not as good as Mother Theresa. Why should I go to Heaven?” Very few people are as bad as Hitler but what makes you think Hitler’s the standard we will be judged by.

The point of Christianity, Catholic or Protestant, is that there is not a single one of us that deserves Heaven. We all deserve to burn in Hell for all eternity. The good news is that, if we ask for it, God, by His mercy and grace, will save us.

Acts 13:22 calls David a man after God’s own heart. This is the same David who slept with Bathsheeba - since he was king, she didn’t really have any options - and had her husband killed. He was a rapist and a murderer. Yet, under God’s grace, he wrote most of the Psalms.

Hope this helps.
 
Thinker55 said:
The mortal sin portion is tough to agree with for me. It was not covered at all in RCIA. I just find it hard to believe that some child rapist would face the same punishment as a 16 year old who watched a porn movie. If the rapist confessed he would be saved but if the kid was ashamed he would end up in hell?
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We don’t know that the punishment would be “the same” - all we know is that they would not be in the presence of God. C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce is very helpful in understanding the concept of mortal sin.
Maybe I’m cynical but missing mass once is a mortal sin?
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If we think of Mass as a particularly inept form of entertainment being put on by some of our neighbors and friends, your idea makes sense - missing Mass would be the same as missing an amateur ballet recital that features some people we know - a disappointment, but not a crisis.

But when we realize that the Mass is God coming to earth to be with His People, and when we fully understand what the Mass really is, then it makes sense.

God has always had requirements for worship - there has never been a time in human history when God was okay with people making up their own worship ceremonies, or okay with being left aside while His People did more important tasks, or things that were more fun.
Same class of sin as murder? Am I not missing something here?
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Yes. First, you are missing Who God is - He is not some nice guy with superpowers that lives in the sky who happens to like you a whole lot. He is your Creator. He is the Source of your existence. If He were to forget you for a nanosecond, you would cease ever to have existed at all. It is HIs love that holds you in existence.

Should we worship Him? Yes. Should we worship Him on His terms? Yes. Should we get to decide when, where, and how we worship Him? Or does He, our Creator, get to make those decisions for us?

It’s not about “fear” - it’s about proper respect. it’s about doing things God’s way because He is God and we are not.
I am going to miss it in a few months. I am going to be in the middle of no where on a hike in fishing trip. Seeing the sun rise over a lake with a couple of friends is keeping the sabbath holy to me. Being in nature is being surrounded by the holy spirit to me! If I pray that day like I always do I have still committed a mortal sin? If I die on a 20 mile hike back to the car I will go to hell for missing one mass? I thought I could go before the trip but that would not cover the mass for Sunday I guess.
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Talk to your priest about this. It is possible to receive a dispensation in certain cases. And keep learning the faith - get yourself a Catechism and read it. 🙂
 
Thinker55 said:
Here is my dilemma. During the Easter vigil I repeated after the priest that “I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes,teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God”. I said this without knowing some of the Churches views on certain issues. After stumbling on this forum I can say I do not believe everything the Church says (on certain mortal sin for example).
…

My question is if I disagree with some things should I look somewhere else to worship Christ? 🤷
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I think I have an understanding of where you stand on this. I made that same profession nearly 6 years ago. At that moment I believed and professed “that all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God” however, I also knew that I did not understand “all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches and proclaims” and that was where my difficulty lay; not with the teaching itself, but with my understanding of it. My areas of disagreement if we call it that were from a lack of understanding.

So, the choice is to say, “I don’t understand and therefore I disagree” or “I believe the truth of the church, but I don’t understand some of the things the church has said, so I had better study the reasons why the things I disagree with/don’t understand have been said and see if I can agree with understanding.”

That’s how I ended up here on CAF. And my understanding has been developing over these 6 years. Don’t give up on the true church that Jesus founded.
 
WingsOfEagles said:
I think one can get too literal on believing EVERYTHING. As a new Catholic, this board could come across “shocking” because you are going to see a lot of conservative answers at the far right of the Church. It doesn’t mean they’re wrong, but it may be more than a new Catholic can immediately accept. I’d pose this question to you, do you believe everything in our Creed? If you do, then you made the right decision in converting to Catholicism.
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I think you are correct. Skimming some of the threads on this board have made me think everything is a sin and it’s impossible to please God. As you can tell I have a bit of a worry problem! I like Matthew 6:25-27. It’s part of what brought me to the Church. The more I read the less I think that verse is possible. Sadly I don’t recall learning the creed in RCIA.
 
I think you’ve heard the Creed/maybe even said it and don’t realize that’s what it is. It’s said at every Mass. Here it is…

I believe in one God, the Father almighty,
Code: 
maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
Code: 
    the Only Begotten Son of God,

    born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,

    true God from true God,

begotten, not made, consubstantial

   with the Father;

    Through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation

    he came down from heaven,

    and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate

    of the Virgin Mary,

    and became man.



For our sake he was crucified

  under Pontius Pilate,

    he suffered death and was buried,

    and rose again on the third day

    in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven

    and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory

    to judge the living and the dead

    and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
Code: 
    the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son

    is adored and glorified,

    who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic,
Code: 
 and apostolic Church.

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins

    and I look forward to the resurrection

    of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
 
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