How to welcome people in irregular unions to the Church

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mtdobbs
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
That’s what I said…when we sin we sin against each other. So in effect we are also instruments in salvation. When Jesus said go and sin no more wasn’t he loving?
 
Last edited:
You have to at least start by meeting people where they are at. Being corrected by someone you are close to feels very different to correction by a stranger.
 
Agreed. That’s why the whole ‘welcoming’ thing is bogus because we don’t come into Church wearing sin tags.
 
yankeesouth said:
That’s what I said.n we sin we sin against each other. We are also instruments in salvation. When Jesus said go and sin no more wasn’t he loving?
Click to expand...
Yep.

Because he loves us regardless. He doesn’t hate us when we sin. He hates that tendency. Not the person who does it.

And he didn’t say “you’ve done wrong” in every way possible to express the sentiment in the process.
 
If was to approach my secular cohabiting friends and start preaching hellfire do you really think it would do any good?
 
Of course He loves us unconditionly BUT…He did give us condition in how we are to love Him. And that is by obedience.
 
yankeesouth said:
By putting up with your whining lol.
Click to expand...
I’m done. It’s my bedtime anyway. It’s clear you have no desire to actually listen to anyone or discuss anything.

Let me just say that in all my years on this earth I’ve learned that people who make cutesy comments like that usually do it when they realize they have no real response.
 
If that’s your first conversion with someone you’ve likely lost them before you are even half way through that…
 
Just to answer your questions, I live in a culturally secular country where cohabiting is considered normal so naturally I have a lot of friends and family members who are secular cohabitees. Most Catholics here do.

I don’t think it’s as simple as telling them the truth. They broadly know what the Catholic church teaches but that doesn’t mean they take it seriously or believe it. Obviously I worry about the fate of my secular loved ones but I cant bring them to faith by nagging them.
 
www.americamagazine.org

Renewing our understanding of marriage—a sacrament in peril

When is a sacramental marriage truly consummated?
www.americamagazine.org www.americamagazine.org

“Mr. President, together with their fellow citizens, American Catholics are committed to building a society which is truly tolerant and inclusive, to safeguarding the rights of individuals and communities, and to rejecting every form of unjust discrimination. With countless other people of good will, they are likewise concerned that efforts to build a just and wisely ordered society respect their deepest concerns and their right to religious liberty. That freedom remains one of America’s most precious possessions. And, as my brothers, the United States Bishops, have reminded us, all are called to be vigilant, precisely as good citizens, to preserve and defend that freedom from everything that would threaten or compromise it.” - Pope Francis at the White House 9/23/15

Oh by the way… No more Domino’s Pizza for me.
 
I too live in a secular country and I agree completely that It’s not as simple as telling them the truth. That’s only a part of it . The truth has to be heard and absorbed to even have an impact but I feel some people have this assumption they are judged or unloved by the church. These people can feel too wounded to even hear the truth.

“The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.” Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa saw that emotional poverty ( being unwanted, unloved) is greater than material poverty.

Even if a person only feels they are unloved , it can be same as actually being unloved, because that person experiences the same woundedness. How we perceive our wounds can be just as much of a trial as how great our wounds actually are.
 
Last edited:
I have family members who do that, but no friends. I don’t want friends like that.

So how has your approach been working so far?
 
Wagging a shamey shamey finger is not good evangelization method.
 
@Crusader30 I read the article you provided and don’t think you understand the situation/lesson for the day. It had nothing to do with the faith of our children or whether or not our marriage with fail.

He said: “Find a good Catholic boy…they’ll treat your daughter right and respect her, the “others” will only see her as there for their needs and enjoyment”. As I as a non-Catholic sat there with my Catholic wife and 3 Catholic sons it was quite embarrassing (and very unwelcoming to all of us). The priest just said that Dad doesn’t know how to treat and respect your mother because he’s not Catholic. Once again it has zip, zero, zilch…nada about raising kids in the faith…he just plain out said that the only men that will respect your daughter are Catholics. How welcoming and inviting.
 
TC3033

The differences in sexual morals between Catholics and non Catholics can be a serious deal breaker for relationships.

Why don’t you talk to the Priest about what he meant and find out why he feels that way?
 
I met plenty of “Catholic boys” in college (and now as patients) who were (and are) no better than anyone else was (or is). You can trust me on that.

Being Catholic doesn’t automatically mean you behave as a Catholic should. As anyone should, really. And as TC3003 is a non-Catholic married to a Catholic with children being raised as Catholics I can imagine he was more than a little hot under the collar. How insulting.

I guess my Baptist mother was just using my Catholic dad, then. What a horrible thing to say about anyone.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top