How to deal with family members that do not support Catholicism

[Leslierunner]

My little brother is currently training to be a pastor for the Acts 29 churches. I’m very proud of what he’s pursuing however he has been treating me as someone who is not as good as he is because I am in search of a new church. I’m a college student and have attended most churches in the town I live in and haven’t found any that I like as much as the Catholic church. Now I am strongly considering going through the classes necessary to become Catholic. When I told my family this was what I wanted (they are Pentecostals) they strongly criticized the Catholic Church and my decision to become a part of it. We have a very close family but this issue is coming between them and me. I have never felt comfortable attending their church. I am a believer that what is important is my relationship with God, not what church I attend or what denomination I choose to be apart of. How do I deal with this situation without alienating myself from mt family?

 

[JoArtist]

Honestly it is just how it is sometimes. I started dating my now husband while going to an Evangelical Fundamentalist church and while he was away at Boot camp, I got excommunicated because I was with a Catholic. I was in the worship team and everything, they gave me the choice to dump him and never have anything to do with Catholicism again, or be excommunicated… sadly this process was started due to my sister and brother-in-law conspiring with the associate Pastor and his wife. I started going to his families Church weekly and eventually decided to become a Catholic.I came close to getting disowned, but they figured they had Catholic friends so why not a Catholic family member. My sister has gotten to a point where she is friends with me again, but I cannot speak about Catholicism with her (she will not allow this… she will just leave if I even bring it up.). My Bro-in-Law rarely talks to me. I can’t talk to most of my family about my faith, but they accept me okay now.
Just give it time… it has gotten better for me with time and hopefully it will for you too. I pray every day that the Lord will heal the divisions in His Church and make us whole again.

 

[Sheadad]

My wives family are Calvanists, and this makes for a very difficult suitation for them, that their daughter became Catholic with me and my family. At one time, her mother was forbidden to even see us and the kids, but now, over time, things have changed. I have spent a lot of time talking to them about our true beliefs and have slowly explained the truth to them, which they will probably never really concede to, especially the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. However, understanding the faith is critical to your future with the family. I believe that God allows this conflict among our faiths so that we could achieve just this. Your growth in the one true faith will be strengthened by understanding the fundamental truth of the real presence, and the valid sacraments because of apostolic succession, especially and most importantly the sacrament of reconciliation. This is the essence of our faith and without these, a Christian church is just empty and cold, no matter how much people get up and dance in the isles or have pot luck dinners (sorry to be so rude). But really, think about these important aspects of our faith and remember Christ’s words that he came to divide, father against son, mother against daughter, etc…

 

[mightyaphrodite]

Pray for them! Unfortunately, many people are not well versed about the Catholic Church. They blame the Catholic FAITH for the sins of some of our members and clergy in the past . . .and present. Many think we “worship” Mary - we do not. She is our greatest saint, and as such, she intercedes for those who ask.

Some Protestants criticize the fact that we ask the saints and angels to assist us, in addition to our prayers to the Holy Trinity. In fact, we often storm heaven with our prayers and the prayers of our heavenly friends. I do not believe their prejudice is meant to be cruel - I think they do not know many facts about us.

Good luck!