Different religions of Catholicism and seeking God

[RunDWL]

Hi, can’t say I am Roman Catholic, but I am some type of Catholic. The Roman faith wasn’t something entwined in my life by my family. However, went to Catholic school I think as far back as Pre School to 12th Grade. Went off to College felt lost alone sought God out considered joining a college missionary group, but life changed and went a different direction. Few times had this calling to be closer to God. At one point in my life felt God wanted me to look into the Priesthood.

I haven’t been to Confession in ages and Church probably haven’t been in two year’s. I work in social.services a lot of client’s have a strong religious base so I pray with them a lot. Outside of that I do read prayers Try to.do it daily and pray to the Angels.

Feel God has brought me in my life to my partner and my partner to me.; her name is Chris. She is Roman Catholic hasn’t been to Church, but goes a few time’s on the Holiday and is Confirmed. For myself I am not Confirmed Baptized and received Holy Communion. Sweet with a Deacon who can incorporate a religious type ceremony outside of the Church for our wedding in a year. The Deacon asked if I consider Confirmation and we talked about how I do miss my connection with God. Feel lost pushing myself away from God and how I want to be closer.

I have been praying and reflecting on whether or not I should go for my Confirmation. However, I can’t tell if the Roman Catholic faith is for me, but a Catholic faith is. Not sure of that makes much sense. I reflect on what pushes me away from.the Church for me I feel that there is a lot of belief ingrained into the Scriptures. However, I can’t see the Scriptures as Cannon and only a message by God to offer guidance and direction in our life. I believe the Scriptures are open for interpretation. I do feel involvement in the Church is important, but I used to feel Chruch never accepted the “Golden Rule”. I felt the Chruch closed it’s doors on a lot of individual’s maybe was wrong. Seeing the Pope and his recent messages have changed that assumption a lot.

I am wondering if Roman Catholicism is for.me? Should of seek maybe Episcopalian? Is there other Catholic sects to.explore? Can a Roman Catholic and for example an Episcopalian be married inside a Roman Catholic Church?

Appreciate the feedback and insight.

 

[Vico]

Hi, can’t say I am Roman Catholic, but I am some type of Catholic. The Roman faith wasn’t something entwined in my life by my family. However, went to Catholic school I think as far back as Pre School to 12th Grade. Went off to College felt lost alone sought God out considered joining a college missionary group, but life changed and went a different direction. Few times had this calling to be closer to God. At one point in my life felt God wanted me to look into the Priesthood.

I haven’t been to Confession in ages and Church probably haven’t been in two year’s. I work in social.services a lot of client’s have a strong religious base so I pray with them a lot. Outside of that I do read prayers Try to.do it daily and pray to the Angels.

Feel God has brought me in my life to my partner and my partner to me.; her name is Chris. She is Roman Catholic hasn’t been to Church, but goes a few time’s on the Holiday and is Confirmed. For myself I am not Confirmed Baptized and received Holy Communion. Sweet with a Deacon who can incorporate a religious type ceremony outside of the Church for our wedding in a year. The Deacon asked if I consider Confirmation and we talked about how I do miss my connection with God. Feel lost pushing myself away from God and how I want to be closer.

I have been praying and reflecting on whether or not I should go for my Confirmation. However, I can’t tell if the Roman Catholic faith is for me, but a Catholic faith is. Not sure of that makes much sense. I reflect on what pushes me away from.the Church for me I feel that there is a lot of belief ingrained into the Scriptures. However, I can’t see the Scriptures as Cannon and only a message by God to offer guidance and direction in our life. I believe the Scriptures are open for interpretation. I do feel involvement in the Church is important, but I used to feel Chruch never accepted the “Golden Rule”. I felt the Chruch closed it’s doors on a lot of individual’s maybe was wrong. Seeing the Pope and his recent messages have changed that assumption a lot.

I am wondering if Roman Catholicism is for.me? Should of seek maybe Episcopalian? Is there other Catholic sects to.explore? Can a Roman Catholic and for example an Episcopalian be married inside a Roman Catholic Church?

Appreciate the feedback and insight.

To avoid the sin of indifferentism, Catholics will recommend the Catholic faith. Not apostolic sister Churches nor ecclesial communities.

 

[pete_29]

Jesus Christ is the only path to God, but I don’t think that anyone ever said that there weren’t a few paths to Jesus. Learn what you can, meditate and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you. Whichever path you follow, I pray it will be untroubled.

 

[Trident_H]

Um, man if you’re asking a bunch of Catholics if they think you should become Episcopalian I think you’re going to be able to predict the answer. Otherwise if you want a welcome you’ve got it. Welcome home.

Take care man.

Peace.

-Trident

 

[GLam8833]

Your profile religion is Buddhist, so
so I take it you deny fleshly desires
in order to be holy, well, Catholics
do believe in the mortification of the
flesh(1 Pet. 2:24) for drawing closer
to God and to others!!
May you find your way home, I pray,
that your deepest desires are those
that GOD desires for your life!!
As for your marriage, I pray that you
will sanctify it by marrying in the
Catholic Church thru the sacrament
of matrimony!!

 

[St_Francis]

Hi, can’t say I am Roman Catholic, but I am some type of Catholic. The Roman faith wasn’t something entwined in my life by my family. However, went to Catholic school I think as far back as Pre School to 12th Grade. Went off to College felt lost alone sought God out considered joining a college missionary group, but life changed and went a different direction. Few times had this calling to be closer to God. At one point in my life felt God wanted me to look into the Priesthood.

I haven’t been to Confession in ages and Church probably haven’t been in two year’s. I work in social.services a lot of client’s have a strong religious base so I pray with them a lot. Outside of that I do read prayers Try to.do it daily and pray to the Angels.

Feel God has brought me in my life to my partner and my partner to me.; her name is Chris. She is Roman Catholic hasn’t been to Church, but goes a few time’s on the Holiday and is Confirmed. For myself I am not Confirmed Baptized and received Holy Communion. Sweet with a Deacon who can incorporate a religious type ceremony outside of the Church for our wedding in a year. The Deacon asked if I consider Confirmation and we talked about how I do miss my connection with God. Feel lost pushing myself away from God and how I want to be closer.

I have been praying and reflecting on whether or not I should go for my Confirmation. However, I can’t tell if the Roman Catholic faith is for me, but a Catholic faith is. Not sure of that makes much sense. I reflect on what pushes me away from.the Church for me I feel that there is a lot of belief ingrained into the Scriptures. However, I can’t see the Scriptures as Cannon and only a message by God to offer guidance and direction in our life.

The writings included in the Bible are the canon of the Bible. They have been judged as inspired by God.

However, the Bible is not the sole source of Catholic teaching, Our teachings have 3 sources: Tradition or “oral teachings”; the Bible or “written teachings”; and the Magisterium, the authority, guided by the Holy Spirit, of the Church.

Here is an example: the Trinity is not mentioned in the Bible (which does mention each of the three Persons), but all the early Christians believed in the Trinity, as the Apostles and their followers taught (Tradition). Questions arose about the nature of the Trinity, and this was decided upon by councils of bishops in union with the Pope (Magisterium).

I believe the Scriptures are open for interpretation.

To a certain extent, this is true. However, not so true that we can derive something contrary ti Catholic teaching. For example, some people read the Bible and decide Baptism is only symbolic, or not even needed at all. That is going too far.

I do feel involvement in the Church is important, but I used to feel Chruch never accepted the “Golden Rule”.

The Golden Rule is: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But this can he tricky. I may prefer that my neighbor not point out to me that viewing porn is really bad, and be willing to refrain from mentioning his proclivity to lie to his employer about how many hours he works.

Christ taught: *Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: **and thy neighbour as thyself. ***Since *to love *means *to will the good for one’s neighbor, *it is very clear that not mentioning sin because we don’t want ours mentioned would be out of bounds.

And this is considered the greatest Commandment, the summation of all God’s teaching by the Catholic Church.

I felt the Chruch closed it’s doors on a lot of individual’s maybe was wrong.

The Church should never close its doors on those who are sincerely seeking God. Unfortunately, sometimes people without a firm grasp of how thet should be have as Catholics have not followed the command of Christ to love their neighbors as themselves.

On the other hand, some people think that pointing out that certan actions are sinful is “unloving,” so there can be found errors on both sides.

Seeing the Pope and his recent messages have changed that assumption a lot.

I think this Pope has been very good at reminding us of who and how we are called by God to be

I am wondering if Roman Catholicism is for.me? Should of seek maybe Episcopalian?

Catholic means unversal (from the Greek ekatolico, the same word from which we get whole and holistic), so Catholicsm is for everyone! Gid wants each of us to be Catholic so that each of us can follow Him to our fullest.

Is there other Catholic sects to.explore?

There are different Churches in union with the Pope which have mostly outer differences from what we typically consider “Catholic,” which is Latin or Western.There are 22 others, from Maraonite to Byzantine. They are the same at the core, but their liturgies, prayers, and expressions of some truths differ.

Can a Roman Catholic and for example an Episcopalian be married inside a Roman Catholic Church?

Epsicopalians and Catholics can marry in the Catholic Church, but I think your more important question is whether you should be Catholic.

Appreciate the feedback and insight.

And welcome to CAF

 

[fhansen]

Hi, can’t say I am Roman Catholic, but I am some type of Catholic. The Roman faith wasn’t something entwined in my life by my family. However, went to Catholic school I think as far back as Pre School to 12th Grade. Went off to College felt lost alone sought God out considered joining a college missionary group, but life changed and went a different direction. Few times had this calling to be closer to God. At one point in my life felt God wanted me to look into the Priesthood.

I haven’t been to Confession in ages and Church probably haven’t been in two year’s. I work in social.services a lot of client’s have a strong religious base so I pray with them a lot. Outside of that I do read prayers Try to.do it daily and pray to the Angels.

Feel God has brought me in my life to my partner and my partner to me.; her name is Chris. She is Roman Catholic hasn’t been to Church, but goes a few time’s on the Holiday and is Confirmed. For myself I am not Confirmed Baptized and received Holy Communion. Sweet with a Deacon who can incorporate a religious type ceremony outside of the Church for our wedding in a year. The Deacon asked if I consider Confirmation and we talked about how I do miss my connection with God. Feel lost pushing myself away from God and how I want to be closer.

I have been praying and reflecting on whether or not I should go for my Confirmation. However, I can’t tell if the Roman Catholic faith is for me, but a Catholic faith is. Not sure of that makes much sense. I reflect on what pushes me away from.the Church for me I feel that there is a lot of belief ingrained into the Scriptures. However, I can’t see the Scriptures as Cannon and only a message by God to offer guidance and direction in our life. I believe the Scriptures are open for interpretation. I do feel involvement in the Church is important, but I used to feel Chruch never accepted the “Golden Rule”. I felt the Chruch closed it’s doors on a lot of individual’s maybe was wrong. Seeing the Pope and his recent messages have changed that assumption a lot.

I am wondering if Roman Catholicism is for.me? Should of seek maybe Episcopalian? Is there other Catholic sects to.explore? Can a Roman Catholic and for example an Episcopalian be married inside a Roman Catholic Church?

Appreciate the feedback and insight.

The RCC is simply a Church that can trace its roots all the way to the beginning of Christianity, and, as such, is that Church which Christ established, together with the eastern Churches. There is no reason or need to look beyond the original. The purpose of Christs church is to align the universe, God’s creation, with His perfect will, recognizing that our world lacks the peace and harmony and wholeness that was intended for it.

The bottom line, really, is that love and goodness are foundational to this universe and, to the extent that we accept and experience and participate in these things, we have life and peace and happiness, beginning in this life, and completely fulfilled in the next. Another way to state this: we’re to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strentgh and our neighbor as ourselves, the greatest commandments. This love defines our justice, that which makes us right. This love opposes and destroys war and strife and division and fear and selfishness and chaos. The Church’s true purpose, sometimes performed better, sometimes worse, is to inform us about and and lead us to this love, a personal being we call God, so that we may believe, and be transformed by Him. Faith and grace working together.

 

[RunDWL]

I appreciate the feedback. More confused then ever. I mean if a Christian religion believes in God isn’t that enough?

 

[GLam8833]

In James, the epistle, we read that
“the demons believe in… God and
tremble” It is not enough to believe
in God, but Jesus Christ and His
Church which is the Way , the
Truth and the Life and reject the
false promises of the flesh, the
world and the devil.

 

[fhansen]

I appreciate the feedback. More confused then ever. I mean if a Christian religion believes in God isn’t that enough?

Yes, that’s good. But the better understanding we have of His nature and will for us is naturally better yet.

 

[TheDoctor]

I appreciate the feedback. More confused then ever. I mean if a Christian religion believes in God isn’t that enough?

If I only pick and choose the Buddhist teachings I believe in, is that OK? How about if I only pick one Buddhist teaching? Does it matter is I follow Theravada, Mahayana or Tibetian Buddhism? How about if I just take traditions of Zen, Nichrien and Shingon and make up my own form - am I still a Buddist? Do I have the fullness of the teachings?

Catholics know that believing in God is the first step, but you must also align your life with His will, and to do that you need to understand fully what He teaches, what He wants from us and how much He loves us. Only in the Catholic Church (which includes those Eastern Churches in communion with us) will you find the fullness of the Christian faith. Other Christian communities have portions of it, but not all of it.

 

[TheDoctor]

Jesus Christ is the only path to God, but I don’t think that anyone ever said that there weren’t a few paths to Jesus.

Agree that there are many paths to the Lord (since Jesus Christ is God), but we don’t want to forget that the path God wants for us is through His Church, and I think that is the main point that the OP was missing.

P.S. - prayers for your daughter and for you.

 

[RunDWL]

Shouldn’t a love for God, love for other’s, and helping one another isn’t that what God wants. I mean can be closer to God through prayer. I don’t think it would matter where you go as long as you follow God’s will and you follow in the love of God. That’s where I am confused in the core how are they different why aren’t the Churches all unified if they believe in God. I mean I believe in God, I’ll pray to God, and try my best to do his will. I am not perfect but who is it were human’s were made to have fallacies. These fallacies is what makes us stronger grow and be better people when we learn from them by opening our heart to God to guide us.

I am frustrated I can’t figure the answer where should I go to Chruch ha. All I want is a place to pray in community with God and volunteer my time to grow spiritually.

 

[FrDavid96]

If I only pick and choose the Buddhist teachings I believe in, is that OK? How about if I only pick one Buddhist teaching? Does it matter is I follow Theravada, Mahayana or Tibetian Buddhism? How about if I just take traditions of Zen, Nichrien and Shingon and make up my own form - am I still a Buddist? Do I have the fullness of the teachings?
,

Well, quite frankly, from the Buddhist perspective, the answer would be “yes.”

To Buddhists, the idea that different people might have different paths is quite acceptable.

Remember, to a Buddhist, people don’t even exist—they only think they exist and the ultimate goal is cease that misconception and merge back into the “great all” of Nirvana. That’s what matters to them, and as long as that goal is achieved, the idea of mixing different methods is not a problem at all.

I understand the point you’re trying to make here, and believe me, I agree with you. There is only one true, revealed faith and that is the Catholic Church and faith. However, the Christian idea of theology is based on entirely different principles from Buddhism (or any other advaita religion).

 

[fhansen]

Shouldn’t a love for God, love for other’s, and helping one another isn’t that what God wants. I mean can be closer to God through prayer. I don’t think it would matter where you go as long as you follow God’s will and you follow in the love of God. That’s where I am confused in the core how are they different why aren’t the Churches all unified if they believe in God. I mean I believe in God, I’ll pray to God, and try my best to do his will. I am not perfect but who is it were human’s were made to have fallacies. These fallacies is what makes us stronger grow and be better people when we learn from them by opening our heart to God to guide us.

I am frustrated I can’t figure the answer where should I go to Chruch ha. All I want is a place to pray in community with God and volunteer my time to grow spiritually.

It has to do with 1) who God is, & 2) what God wants. And believe it or not there are some very important differences in these areas between the faiths. In the end, however, St John of the Cross summed it up this way, “At the evening of life we shall be judged on our love”.

Again, to come to obey the greatest commandments, to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves, is the goal, the measure of our perfection, the definition of justice for man-an impossible accomplishment without grace. The purpose of the Church, everything she does, is oriented towards that goal: communion of man with God. It’s a process. There are Christian faiths that fail to recognize this important and most basic truth, believing, for example, that we are justified in God’s eyes by faith alone, as if that’s all He wants, as if faith is the *equivalent *of justice for man, rather than a beginning and foundation of it, failing to fully recognize the central role of love in Christianity. God wants a great deal more from us-and, most importantly, for us.

 

[TheDoctor]

Well, quite frankly, from the Buddhist perspective, the answer would be “yes.”

To Buddhists, the idea that different people might have different paths is quite acceptable.

Remember, to a Buddhist, people don’t even exist—they only think they exist and the ultimate goal is cease that misconception and merge back into the “great all” of Nirvana. That’s what matters to them, and as long as that goal is achieved, the idea of mixing different methods is not a problem at all.

I understand the point you’re trying to make here, and believe me, I agree with you. There is only one true, revealed faith and that is the Catholic Church and faith. However, the Christian idea of theology is based on entirely different principles from Buddhism (or any other advaita religion).

Thank you Father. I think knowing this helps to understand where the OP is coming from - the idea that all paths lead to God so it does not matter how I choose to go.

 

[TheDoctor]

Shouldn’t a love for God, love for other’s, and helping one another isn’t that what God wants. I mean can be closer to God through prayer.

Yes, it should. We can agree on this because Jesus told us that we are to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and love our neighbors as ourselves.

I don’t think it would matter where you go as long as you follow God’s will and you follow in the love of God.

Here is the crux of the matter. With respect, how do you know you are following God’s will? Did He tell you? Did you read it in a book? Which one? Jesus did not leave us a book, he left us a Church with the authority to teach in His name. If I may, let’s take the example of abortion. Catholics believe in loving the unborn and that abortion is the murder of an unborn life. Other Christians, very good and holy people, believe abortion is OK. We can’t both be right so which position do we take if we want to follow God’s will? See, it comes down to a question of authority and we believe that the authority to correctly interpret scripture and teach truthfully on faith and morals rests with the Catholic Church. Again, some other Christian communities have some of this truth, but none but the Catholic church has the fullness.

That’s where I am confused in the core how are they different why aren’t the Churches all unified if they believe in God.

And that my dear friend is the $64,000 question. We were all one church at the beginning, then through arrogance and pride, fueled by Satan, we were torn apart. Please don’t get discouraged and please continue to read and ask about the Church.

 

[TobyLue]

I don’t think it would matter where you go as long as you follow God’s will and you follow in the love of God.

TheDoctor’s reply was correct in saying how do you know you are doing God’s will.

He also said that God did not leave us a book, He left us a Church, but not just a Church but The Church. Jesus found one Church and He said Matthew 18:17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.” If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.: He also said Luke 10:16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

Ultimately it is God who judges us on whether we have listened to him or not. However, are we willing to take a chance and go it alone? Do we listen to The Church or make ourselves the interpreter of scripture. St. Peter warns us about self interpreting that we do so to our own destruction. Jesus’ great commission was to go out and teach all that he had taught his disciples… not go out and distribute KJV’s and every person do their own interpretation.

I know there have been many cases where people think they are doing God’s will. I was one of them some years back. I prayed and prayed and thought that it was God’s will that I marry a divorcee with two kids outside the Church but actually it was me following my own lustful desires. Thank God he brought me back in line but had to hit me over the head with a 4x4. I understand there have been some women that prayed together with their doctor and determined that it was OK to abort their child. Was that God’s will?

If we have trouble discerning God’s will, then we seek guidance from the Church.

And if we want to get technical, there is no such thing as Roman Catholic, even though that term is used frequently. If you will look at the Catechism it says, “Catechism of The Catholic Church”. The Catholic Church is very diverse in it many different rites, but they are all Catholic. The Latin Rite is referred to by many as Roman Catholic.

 

[pete_29]

Agree that there are many paths to the Lord (since Jesus Christ is God), but we don’t want to forget that the path God wants for us is through His Church, and I think that is the main point that the OP was missing.

P.S. - prayers for your daughter and for you.

Thank you for your prayers. God Bless

 

[FrDavid96]

Thank you Father. I think knowing this helps to understand where the OP is coming from - the idea that all paths lead to God so it does not matter how I choose to go.

Not quite.

It is not that all paths lead to God. Plenty of paths lead in the wrong direction. When that happens, the soul is re-incarnated and keeps looking for the path. That’s a very brief summary of Buddhism and all other advaita religions.

The point is that there is no one single way. As Catholics, we believe that there is one ordinary means of Salvation, i.e. Christ through His Church. From the Buddhist perspective, the way itself does not matter that much. What works for one person (or a few billions) might not work for others. Buddha was a teacher, not a savior–that’s not just the Christian perspective, it’s the Buddhist one as well. So for a Buddhist to “borrow” something from another advaita religion (like Shinto, Dao, Hindu, etc) is really not a problem if it works for the individual—because the individual doesn’t even exist, he’s just a small piece of the great-all that mistakenly thinks it exists.

The point I was making is that to use a Christian notion, namely that there can only be one Truth in religion, to convince a Buddhist just doesn’t work. A Christian can only believe in one God, one Truth, one Way.

When someone asks a Buddhist “now, you wouldn’t go mixing Buddhism with Hinduism, would you?” The Christian expects the Buddhist to answer “Surely, no, I wouldn’t do that. Now I see your point.” But the Buddhist actually answers “Of course I would, as long as it leads me to Enlightenment.”