How do you talk to cafeteria Catholics?

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Well thanksgiving with my caffiteria catholic family… And the result is all the kids of these hippies are divorced and “saved” at non denominational churches

With gods grace I spoke the truth when Rome was mock and I was treated as a “non- believer”

Wonder why these kids left the church after thier parents taught them false things of what the church beleives
 
Adamski said:
Well thanksgiving with my caffiteria catholic family… And the result is all the kids of these hippies are divorced and “saved” at non denominational churches

With gods grace I spoke the truth when Rome was mock and I was treated as a “non- believer”

Wonder why these kids left the church after thier parents taught them false things of what the church beleives
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Be glad they’re going to church.
 
A very wise person on these CAF once stated that there is no such thing as a Cafeteria Catholic or a Faithful Catholic… there are only Catholics. The church is a hospital for sinners, not a clubhouse for those who do not sin. When you are sitting in Mass you have no way of knowing if the person praying next to you is Cafeteria or Saint, but you can be relatively certain that they are CATHOLIC whether cradle or through RCIA. 😉
 
Faithdancer said:
All very true. Religious ed materials are deficient in Scripture and CCC references and content, imo. And I’ve heard homilies wherein well-intentioned priests praised curiosities such as Pentecostal-type “holy rolling” and the practice of Zen Buddhist meditation, for Catholics. I’ve also seen liturgical dance within the Mass, which is not appropriate- and I’m a choreographer! What are the populi supposed to learn from this? It’s no wonder why so many are, as you describe, confused about what Catholic dogma and liturgy are supposed to be.

It really does all hinge on religious ed. I informed a teen at weekly youth group night a while back about the Sunday obligation. She had never heard of it, but said that she was going to tell her mother about it when she got home; obviously mom wasn’t aware of it either. Perhaps we can’t do a whole lot about the adults, since if they are already confirmed they can’t be held accountable to attend any more classes. But if we can overhaul the religious ed for kids and teens, make it authentically Catholic, we can indirectly influence the parents. Then in another 20 years or so we might also have a population of Catholic voters who will be properly informed about Catholicism, and we can avoid continuing to elect candidates and enact legislation antithetical to Catholic teaching.
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I think one of the things that needs to happen is more adult ed - in a fun way. Maybe we could come up with classes like the ones they do for defensive driving - comedy routines. I mean, at least for an intro class, and then get more serious - obviously talking about abortion and contraception will not be full of giggles.

On one hand, Catholics are more relaxed than fundamentalists, because we don’t over-react to things like alcohol and other cultural entertainment. And on the other, we are more fundamental because of our strict adherence to life from conception to natural death. Someone needs to explain the tenets in a clear and yet somewhat entertaining way. Mass should never be an entertainment but I don’t see why adult education can’t include humor, etc.
 
kozlosap said:
A very wise person on these CAF once stated that there is no such thing as a Cafeteria Catholic or a Faithful Catholic… there are only Catholics. The church is a hospital for sinners, not a clubhouse for those who do not sin. When you are sitting in Mass you have no way of knowing if the person praying next to you is Cafeteria or Saint, but you can be relatively certain that they are CATHOLIC whether cradle or through RCIA. 😉
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This is malarkey.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
I think one of the things that needs to happen is more adult ed - in a fun way. Maybe we could come up with classes like the ones they do for defensive driving - comedy routines. I mean, at least for an intro class, and then get more serious - obviously talking about abortion and contraception will not be full of giggles.
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Yeah, and make catholicism is bigger joke than many people already think it is.

The problem is that people don’t take it seriously enough. Not that they should be encouraged to clown around more.
TheRealJuliane said:
On one hand, Catholics are more relaxed than fundamentalists, because we don’t over-react to things like alcohol and other cultural entertainment. And on the other, we are more fundamental because of our strict adherence to life from conception to natural death. Someone needs to explain the tenets in a clear and yet somewhat entertaining way. Mass should never be an entertainment but I don’t see why adult education can’t include humor, etc.
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It’s not “relaxed.” It’s sloppy and anti-intellectual. They don’t want to learn anything because they think they know it all already. And they don’t even know the basics of Christianity about half the time.
 
As a rule, I choose not to talk to Cafeteria Catholics.

These are mostly people who have ceased to be Catholic but do not yet know that. To be a Catholic is to follow Rome, not your own nose.

People who want to re-invent Catholicism are like people who’d want to re-invent the wheel. It can’t be done.
 
Charlemagne_II said:
As a rule, I choose not to talk to Cafeteria Catholics.

These are mostly people who have ceased to be Catholic but do not yet know that. To be a Catholic is to follow Rome, not your own nose.

People who want to re-invent Catholicism are like people who’d want to re-invent the wheel. It can’t be done.
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So how do you suggest I don’t talk to every family member
Mom, dad, aunt, uncle, cousin, …
 
iloveangels said:
Yeah, and make catholicism is bigger joke than many people already think it is.

The problem is that people don’t take it seriously enough. Not that they should be encouraged to clown around more.

It’s not “relaxed.” It’s sloppy and anti-intellectual. They don’t want to learn anything because they think they know it all already. And they don’t even know the basics of Christianity about half the time.
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I didn’t mean clowning, but I think we could reach downward and then bring people UP, KWIM? I guess there are differing perspectives on this one. Maybe the Church will end up as a remnant, and that would be OK with me too, if that’s the way God wants it…

🤷
 
Often, people who take their religion lightly come to see it more seriously over time, by the work of the Holy Spirit. We don’t dare write them off.

I would suggest to the OP that he attend the men’s group a time or two more, and maybe talk to the leader about the purpose of the group, and suggest they start with prayer.
I go to a weekly Bible study and we always start with prayer, it settles people down and reminds them why they are there, for one thing.

Just because one older man said some inappropriate things, don’t just leave the group, it may be that others didn’t appreciate what he said but hesitated to interrupt him. I’ve seen that happen often in groups.
 
Adamski

**So how do you suggest I don’t talk to every family member
Mom, dad, aunt, uncle, cousin, … **

I guess you took me in a way I did not intend. I wouldn’t talk to Cafeteria Catholics about being Cafeteria Catholics. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t talk to family members at all just because they are Cafeteria Catholics.
 
kozlosap said:
A very wise person on these CAF once stated that there is no such thing as a Cafeteria Catholic or a Faithful Catholic… there are only Catholics. The church is a hospital for sinners, not a clubhouse for those who do not sin. When you are sitting in Mass you have no way of knowing if the person praying next to you is Cafeteria or Saint, but you can be relatively certain that they are CATHOLIC whether cradle or through RCIA. 😉
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Well it is one thing to have the right ideal (orthodox) and fail sometimes to live up to it (be a sinner) but it is entirely another to reinvent, or pick and choose from the ideal.
 
There is a movement afoot, as I just discovered, to evangelize through FB (now in my signature). Just posting a Scripture verse or two a day could have a profound impact, if tens of thousands of Catholics are doing it. It’s not preaching, just posting a verse a day. Since most people with FB accounts have family members as “friends,” it seems to me to be a gentle, non-confrontational way of getting the word out, little by little, day by day, to our fallen away family and friends, and all those “friends” we’ve never met as well.

Hope you all will join us! God bless!🙂
 
Faithdancer said:
There is a movement afoot, as I just discovered, to evangelize through FB (now in my signature). Just posting a Scripture verse or two a day could have a profound impact, if tens of thousands of Catholics are doing it. It’s not preaching, just posting a verse a day. Since most people with FB accounts have family members as “friends,” it seems to me to be a gentle, non-confrontational way of getting the word out, little by little, day by day, to our fallen away family and friends, and all those “friends” we’ve never met as well.

Hope you all will join us! God bless!🙂
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The New Evangelism has to start INSIDE the Church.
St. Benedict said, “to be a channel you must first be a reservoir.” We have to get people inside the Church to understand it before we can hope to go to people outside the Church. Getting the story wrong poisons the well. Faithdancer, I don’t know that you have it wrong, but a good 50% of Catholics don’t have even a remote idea of what Christianity is about. They cannot evangelize effectively. They must first be evangelized.
 
Evangelization begins at home because from what everone is saying, we are ignorant. And the question I hear is, where do we start, and how.

I have one suggestion. Books.

A Parish library.

Maybe make pamphlets from books on subjects.

Make them easy to understand the basic teaching.

Assign these booklets numbers.

Have everyone scheduled to read them.

Something along these lines.

Just a thought.
 
iloveangels said:
The New Evangelism has to start INSIDE the Church.
St. Benedict said, “to be a channel you must first be a reservoir.” We have to get people inside the Church to understand it before we can hope to go to people outside the Church. Getting the story wrong poisons the well. Faithdancer, I don’t know that you have it wrong, but a good 50% of Catholics don’t have even a remote idea of what Christianity is about. They cannot evangelize effectively. They must first be evangelized.
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I’m doing my little part in that regard…trying to teach Catholic Confirmation from an orthodox point of view despite the text; showing my youth group video clips featuring Cardinal Arinze; practicing what I believe are appropriate behaviors in Mass, such as not socializing in the nave, praying prayers of Thanksgiving after the Mass, etc. It’s not much, but its what I can do. It is tough in some parishes wherein the parish leadership itself may be compromised…

That being said, we are also called to evangelize to unbelievers, and to those of other faiths.
 
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