Do converts make better Catholics?

[CheesusPowerKid]

as a cradle catholic, i know how little i knew about my faith until i started doing my own research, talking with people of other faiths, and attending RCIA meetings as a companion to one of my friends looking to be fully initiated into the Church…i think a lot of catholics don’t know as much about our faith as we should, i know i didn’t…so do converts make better catholics because they learn more about the faith? maybe not better, but more aware…i think it would be a great help if all Catholics, converts or cradle, had to take a brief almost RCIA course to remind everyone of exactly what we believe and how good it is to be catholic

 

[paramedicgirl]

Mijoy2:

To answer the last question:

Why, as children, do so few Catholics ever really get taught their faith?

I have a theory. Most parents desire to comfort themselves by sending thier children to CCD classes. They feel they are fulfilling thier parental duty by following the crowd and sending thier children to religious education. However it begins there and ends there. No follow-up at home, no real practicing or living of the faith. The children see through this and do not take thier time at CCD seriously. It becomes a social hour.

I think there are some wonderful CCD teachers with the best possible intentions in mind. However you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

Poor religious education is a ramification of a non-religious society.

I think you are right about this. I teach Catechism because I want the children to really know their faith well, not just some watered down version of it.

Some children come to CCD just long enough to receive first communion. Then we don’t see them again. Others send their children again just prior to confirmation, so their children will be able to get married in the church.

Our priest last year announced to the parish that the confirmation chidren need to come to Sunday Mass regularly, and asked parishioners to tell these children to start showing up at Mass. Otherwise, he said he could withold the sacrament of confirmation from them. Boy did he take a lot of flack for that. Some people were so offended that he made that request.

 

[Catilieth]

AquinasXVI:

.

I think the relationship is symbiotic. The cradle catholics see the youth of the faith in the converts and the converts see the weathered, tried and tested, begin everyday, long distance run that the faithful born, raised, orthodox and practicing catholic bring. Both are needed. As the gospel demonstrate, it is not a competition but a complementary display of God’s generosity.

in XT.

Beautifully said and what great insight!

 

[GodSoldier]

paramedicgirl:

Converts to Catholicism are usually very spiritual and eager to learn about the Catholic faith. They often become very knowledgeable about a faith that cradle Catholics know little about.

Do you think that converts make better Catholics? Can we lump
cradle Catholics who “convert” to their own faith (by their learning efforts) as adults into this category?

Why, as children, do so few Catholics ever really get taught their faith?

Well now, something I can finally speek with authority on.

I am a Cradle Catholic. I went to Church almost every weekend, did my CCD and Confirmation classes, I was even an Altar Server.

But guess what? Once I left home and had no one to MAKE me go to Church, I didn’t go. Why? Cause I was never inspired enough by my parents, my church leaders, or anyone else to WANT to go to Church, to choose for myself whether or not I had faith.

Right now I am “outside” the church, exploring faith, spirituality, and finding my OWN desire to be close to Jesus.

What’s wrong with the Church- and a lot of it has it’s roots in so called “tradition”- is that everything is procedural, it’s mandated, it’s not fun, it’s not intimate. It’s strict, it’s rules, it’s following orders, it’s watching a Priest perform Mass rather than the congregation praising the Lord, it seems less like worship and more like a dull stage show.

I was baptized as an infant, but that did not make me want to have faith. I took my first communion, but even then I did not understand what it was I was doing. I went to CCD classes, not because I was interested in learning about God, but because my parents made me. I served on the altar during mass, not because I wanted to be closer to God, but because I waned to actually participate in the Mass. I was confirmed, but only cause “I was supposed to be” before I left high school.

Parents, preachers- MAKING people do things before they are ready is about as useless as trying to bring water to a fire in a sive! Only now, at 23 years old am I actually interested in searching, studying, and finding my way to Jesus.

18 years I was MADE to go and worship, take classes, and participate in sacraments I never had any interest in, understanding of, or desire to take part in. As a result, my experience with the RCC is dull and boring. Can you honestly tell me that just because I went through the motions of Roman Catholic Tradition, that I am a Catholic? That I have a knowledge of salvation and of our Lord? NO!

That is why IF I do go back to the RCC church, I will need to start over from the beginning. So much for the “foundation”… The Church tried to build a house on me before the foundation was ready to support it. The result was that as soon as a slight wind came up, it blew it all over. Now what do I have?

Elsewhere I see people who are joyous in their worship- that let their faith show through in their day to day lives… not just Sunday morning only, like I have seen the vast majority of Catholics I grew up with.

Until I came to know Jesus outside of the RCC Church, I was uncomfortable speaking His name, or discussing the Word in my own home let alone in public. Now with just a brief experience and study of Scripture outside the Church, I proclaim His name daily… proudly, and without reservation.

So my advice to the RC Chruch is this… Bring joyous faith back into your worship, nurture and let develop an individuals interest in faith in their own time, don’t mandate a timetable of sacraments to be given at particular ages, and in addition to the rites and rituals engage the congregation in more than responsorials and creeds.

Sorry for the rant… but I have a lot to say. I hope I don’t come across mean or patronizing… i’m just flowing from the heart here.

-GS

 

[Mijoy2]

paramedicgirl:

I think you are right about this. I teach Catechism because I want the children to really know their faith well, not just some watered down version of it.

Some children come to CCD just long enough to receive first communion. Then we don’t see them again. Others send their children again just prior to confirmation, so their children will be able to get married in the church.

Our priest last year announced to the parish that the confirmation chidren need to come to Sunday Mass regularly, and asked parishioners to tell these children to start showing up at Mass. Otherwise, he said he could withold the sacrament of confirmation from them. Boy did he take a lot of flack for that. Some people were so offended that he made that request.

Good for him! I’d love to see more priests willing to take this stand.

 

[maggieodae]

GodSoldier:

Well now, something I can finally speek with authority on.

I am a Cradle Catholic. I went to Church almost every weekend, did my CCD and Confirmation classes, I was even an Altar Server.

But guess what? Once I left home and had no one to MAKE me go to Church, I didn’t go. Why? Cause I was never inspired enough by my parents, my church leaders, or anyone else to WANT to go to Church, to choose for myself whether or not I had faith.

Right now I am “outside” the church, exploring faith, spirituality, and finding my OWN desire to be close to Jesus.

What’s wrong with the Church- and a lot of it has it’s roots in so called “tradition”- is that everything is procedural, it’s mandated, it’s not fun, it’s not intimate. It’s strict, it’s rules, it’s following orders, it’s watching a Priest perform Mass rather than the congregation praising the Lord, it seems less like worship and more like a dull stage show.

I was baptized as an infant, but that did not make me want to have faith. I took my first communion, but even then I did not understand what it was I was doing. I went to CCD classes, not because I was interested in learning about God, but because my parents made me. I served on the altar during mass, not because I wanted to be closer to God, but because I waned to actually participate in the Mass. I was confirmed, but only cause “I was supposed to be” before I left high school.

Parents, preachers- MAKING people do things before they are ready is about as useless as trying to bring water to a fire in a sive! Only now, at 23 years old am I actually interested in searching, studying, and finding my way to Jesus.

18 years I was MADE to go and worship, take classes, and participate in sacraments I never had any interest in, understanding of, or desire to take part in. As a result, my experience with the RCC is dull and boring. Can you honestly tell me that just because I went through the motions of Roman Catholic Tradition, that I am a Catholic? That I have a knowledge of salvation and of our Lord? NO!

That is why IF I do go back to the RCC church, I will need to start over from the beginning. So much for the “foundation”… The Church tried to build a house on me before the foundation was ready to support it. The result was that as soon as a slight wind came up, it blew it all over. Now what do I have?

Elsewhere I see people who are joyous in their worship- that let their faith show through in their day to day lives… not just Sunday morning only, like I have seen the vast majority of Catholics I grew up with.

Until I came to know Jesus outside of the RCC Church, I was uncomfortable speaking His name, or discussing the Word in my own home let alone in public. Now with just a brief experience and study of Scripture outside the Church, I proclaim His name daily… proudly, and without reservation.

So my advice to the RC Chruch is this… Bring joyous faith back into your worship, nurture and let develop an individuals interest in faith in their own time, don’t mandate a timetable of sacraments to be given at particular ages, and in addition to the rites and rituals engage the congregation in more than responsorials and creeds.

Sorry for the rant… but I have a lot to say. I hope I don’t come across mean or patronizing… i’m just flowing from the heart here.

-GS

Nope, just as someone who got lost and is trying to find their way.
Good Luck! May God open your heart to His abiding Presence and Power in His Church. May He awaken your mind with the knowledge of truth.

God Bless,

---

Ignorance of History, is ignorance of Christ and His church.

 

[kayla]

I am a cradle catholic who stoped going to mass many years ago…but now a revert since two years ago.
As a young child I was poorly instructed and usually went through the motions without really understanding the faith .
When I came back to the Church, I joined the RCIA class and was amazed at how much I “did not” know, but one other thing that was so refreshing was how much zeal the converts had for the Catholic faith and how much I learned from them
I was so excited about going to the classes that I’m taking some of them over again this year:yup:

 

[Catilieth]

It becomes more and more apparent to me how important the parents are in the formation of their children’s faith. Not enough can be said about it. What the “church” does or does not do has little impact in the end. What does matter is that the parents authentically live the faith, every day, and believe with all their hearts and souls.
My family is a case in point. Most of us (the children) grew up in the 60’s-70’s, when the whirlwind that was a combination of what Vatican II really said, what many heterodox Catholics said the “spirit of Vatican II” was, and the modernist, relativistic world view swept through the Church. We went from having a holy and orthodox bishop to one that was,well…let’s say he was heterodox. Catholic doctrine was removed from Catholic religious education, we were told that “faith couldn’t be taught”, we were to form our own consciences without having to listen to anyone(ie the Church’s teachings), the CCD books used in our “Catholic” school were neither authored by Catholics or printed by Catholic publishers, they were Protestant (in authorship and content). Lets say that many lost their faith.
Yet my parents taught us independently. They not only taught us, they believed it with all their strength, and lived it. They had 8 children (obviously no contraception here ), and not one of us has ever left the Catholic Church, not even for a weekend. My parents didn’t have to wonder if we attended Mass when we went to College because being Catholic is what we were, not just what we believed. The same applies for those of my friends whose parents truely believed and lived their faith, they too never left, never wandered.

 

[paramedicgirl]

Catilieth:

It becomes more and more apparent to me how important the parents are in the formation of their children’s faith. Not enough can be said about it. What the “church” does or does not do has little impact in the end. What does matter is that the parents authentically live the faith, every day, and believe with all their hearts and souls.
My family is a case in point. Most of us (the children) grew up in the 60’s-70’s, when the whirlwind that was a combination of what Vatican II really said, what many heterodox Catholics said the “spirit of Vatican II” was, and the modernist, relativistic world view swept through the Church. We went from having a holy and orthodox bishop to one that was,well…let’s say he was heterodox. Catholic doctrine was removed from Catholic religious education, we were told that “faith couldn’t be taught”, we were to form our own consciences without having to listen to anyone(ie the Church’s teachings), the CCD books used in our “Catholic” school were neither authored by Catholics or printed by Catholic publishers, they were Protestant (in authorship and content). Lets say that many lost their faith.
Yet my parents taught us independently. They not only taught us, they believed it with all their strength, and lived it. They had 8 children (obviously no contraception here ), and not one of us has ever left the Catholic Church, not even for a weekend. My parents didn’t have to wonder if we attended Mass when we went to College because being Catholic is what we were, not just what we believed. The same applies for those of my friends whose parents truely believed and lived their faith, they too never left, never wandered.

What wonderful parents you have! You must be forever grateful for their religious guidance. There is no greater blessing for a child than for the parents to be caretakers of their souls.

 

[the_phoenix]

Dear Catilieth,

Count me among those cradle Catholics who can identify with and relate to you.

My mother from the time I was little has written articles published in the Homiletic and Pastoral Review, a scholarly magazine for priests to help them prepare sermons. When Mom saw the kind of weak and watered-down religion textbook we were using in Catholic school, she pulled me and one of my sisters out of Catholic school, enrolled us in public school, and taught us the Catholic Faith at home. When my sister and I went to be tested by the parish nun to see whether we qualified as knowing enough to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, the two of us tested better than anyone in the entire city.

Here’s an example to show you how diligent my mother was in handing down the Catholic Faith in all of its fullness and loyalty to the Pope and the Magisterium of the Church. There were definitely times (sadly) while we were driving home from Mass when Mom would ask us kids, “What did the priest say in his sermon that did not match what the Church really teaches, and can you tell me what the correct teaching is?”

So to my mind, a lot of it comes down to parents having to take responsibility as first teachers of their children, and to priests conforming their Sunday homilies with the Vatican’s position.

When it came to loyal Mass attendance, during the Blizzard of '77 in the Buffalo, NY area, my parents bundled up us four kids and drove us to an empty church parking lot. The church was closed. Only then we learned on the car radio that the Bishop had granted a dispensation and that we were not obligated to attend Mass that Sunday due to the dangerous weather conditions.

But am I a better, or a worse, Catholic than a convert? I can’t even begin to try and judge such a thing.

~~ the phoenix

 

[tradconvert]

As a convert I certainly wouldn’t want to claim that I’m a better Catholic than anyone else. But I can say in my journey towards conversion it was the encouragement and support from a very strongly religious recent convert which was what helped me get across the line probably more than anything else. He explained better than anyone else questions I had and opened up my mind to fully understand how Catholicism was so logical and the only means of salvation.