Hi fallensoldier, not sure I can advise. I’m detaching culture, emotions, preconceptions and trying to weigh things out. In my case, it is not looking like the church is going to be in my future. I don’t think there is a sanctuary left on this world. Not sure what is going on, but something is not right.
Thank you, I’m in hover mode. There is a lot of movement within the Vatican tonight…an emergency meeting called by the Pope. I’m watching intensely what unfolds. Perhaps stress is getting to me, perhaps it’s something else. I’m praying and fasting.
Been there and done that…
…and still do pretty regularly…
Our faith is to be in God and in His Son, Christ Our Saviour, and in His Holy Spirit, and it is not to be shaken by this event or that event within the church, or any events outside of the church.
We are living in the last days. and soon I believe that Jesus will take the reins of the church. There are a lot of bad things I see when I was at seminary in Wisconsin, liberal priests liberal seminarians liberal professors teaching liberalism. My formation advisor blatantly said he receives communion from any church. It goes on and on. No bishops publically defends life and Catholic public figures are never excommunicated and their agendas go on and on and the political picture is worse than hopeless and it looks like there is no end in sight. but there is an end to this. The second coming. That gives me the most hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. we as a country are done and we brought it upon ourselves turning by turning it’s back on God. The final straw happened in 1973. I never lose hope in the Catholic Church as Jesus will take over soon and so I have peace in that She will be in her full glory very soon. My opinion.
The sanctuary, that entered earth’s realm in spite of it’s sin, is Christ. The Church is far from perfected by Him yet. But she tells us the truth about Him anyway, because He gaurantees us that much, regardless of how well she, herself, may or may not heed His message at any point in time. The sanctuary is here, but it’s to be found in God, not in any man.
True, but for me there are some things that are nonnegotiable in faith…the legitimacy of the consecration and persona Christi in reconciliation. One has been compromised repeatedly in my own experience judging by its fruit. The other is a struggle if faith considering the norm. I have experienced the Divine Liturgy of the Ruth. Byzantine rite. My oldest son received the life of the church in this rite after we were denied by my home parish in the Latin. This was decided on his legitimacy. I was 19 at the time. I was 32, in the hospital dying from chemo, ignorant in the faith, scared out of my mind. I requested that a priest come by. He stopped in. I told him I had lived a bad life. I didn’t know of confession, mortal sin, anything. He offered nothing but these words “take advantage of this grace” and left. What!!! What was grace? I nearly died three times in the following weeks. My dad died my last week of chemo. I buried him in the morning then drove 30 miles to outpatient treatment. A few days later a friend was murdered in Baltimore. He was shot four times in the face. On and on and on it goes to this day. Each time The Lord was there. Each time it was me and Him. That is real. That us more tangible than anything I have ever come across. It seems a world of ghosts at times, almost solipolistic. It is difficult to explain. Tim
Every day, ask God for the willingness and grace to accept and believe. Faith is a gift, not a strength or skill we develop. A gift. Ask for it consistently. Especially for the willingness. God is never coercive. We must accept the many gifts he offers because he won’t (well, almost never) thrust them upon us. Ask. God wants nothing more than for you to accept his love and to love him in return.
Remember you always have my friendship and prayers, no matter what you believe