I'm Not Being Fed - Jeff Cavins cd

[Elzee]

I just listened to the Jeff Cavins cd titled *‘I’m Not Being Fed - The #1 Catholic eating disorder’. * I’ve heard this complaint of ‘not being fed’ by several people in my parish and several ex-Catholics, so the title intrigued me. It is an amazing cd! I would rank it right up there with Fr. Larry’s ‘The Mass Explained’ - perhaps even higher. I haven’t seen this cd discussed on this forum so I thought I would recommend it.

And - if anyone has heard it, I havea question if you don’t mind. When he gives his beautiful account of the story of the loaves and the fishes, it sounds as if he is saying that the bread passed out was in essence the first Eucharist - it was Jesus’ body. I have always been taught that the loaves/fishes story was a ‘foreshadowing’ of the Eucharist and actually of the Mass itself, but that it wasn’t until the Last Supper when Jesus really turned the bread into his body. Am I correct? I love how Jeff tells the story, but I have to admit he did leave me a little confused on this part. Can someone clear this up for me? Thank you!

 

[WBB]

I have not heard the CD, although I would like to. I wanted to respond because I think this is a common statement of people who are lukewarm in their faith at best or have intention of leaving the church. A friend of mine mentioned it to me one time, “The church does not feed me.” My response: “Perhaps you should be doing some of the cooking.” I think if we expect to sit back and have the church do everything spiritual or theological for us, then we will feel “unfed.” However, if we are actively involved through prayer and study, we will be fed infinitely and sometimes in unfathomable ways.

 

[carol_marie]

I’m with you… only a foreshadowing - not his body. I didn’t hear the CD but I’m wondering if Jeff said how he came up with that idea? Was it his alone?

 

[dcdurel]

WBB:

I have not heard the CD, although I would like to. I wanted to respond because I think this is a common statement of people who are lukewarm in their faith at best or have intention of leaving the church. A friend of mine mentioned it to me one time, “The church does not feed me.” My response: “Perhaps you should be doing some of the cooking.” I think if we expect to sit back and have the church do everything spiritual or theological for us, then we will feel “unfed.” However, if we are actively involved through prayer and study, we will be fed infinitely and sometimes in unfathomable ways.

Unfortunately I agree with those who say “the Church does not feed me”.

The past Pope does also. He constantly urges catechesis, (teachings) to be given by the bishops on various things from lack of a sense of sin, lack of understanding of grace, lack of understanding the Eucharist, the mass, etc, etc, etc. Over and over he says, and the past Popes have said that there is an **URGENT need for catechesis. **

Of course some of us can study and learn on our own, like Jeff Cavins did. But, that is not the normal way. Proof that the Pope is right is the fact that almost all Catholics at mass go to communion, don’t go to confession, don’t know the teachings on contraception, on the Church, on the Eucharist, disagree on abortion, etc.

But, catechesis is NEVER or rarely given to the parishoners.

The reason for this is that the homily is the main time, main place, primary place and time for catechesis. **The Church teaches this over and over and over. **

But, there is a false teaching that has been present since Vatican II which says that the homily is primarily to be a commentary on the readings, and limited to the content of the readings, instead of a deep catechesis on the fundamentals of the Catholic faith. I know this because priests tell me this is what they have been taught in the seminaries or this is what they have been taught Vatican II says. Ask a priest why he never gives deep teachings on the sacraments, contraception, the rosary, etc, but only reads back the scriptures of the readings and this is the answer you will get.

Now a few priests do teach and go into the deep fundamentals of the faith. I asked one of these priests about this, and even he said that what he was doing seemed to go against the teachings of Vatican II. Thus, even he was hesitant to teach the faith (feed the people)

Until the bishops of this country reject this false idea and explain why it is wrong and teach all the priests** that the homily is primarily a place for catechesis on the fundamentals of the Catholic faith **(which has come from the apostles, and thus is the whole Gospel) then Catholics will continue to leave the Church in droves, practice contraception (which causes divorce) have abortions, and vote for pro-abortion political candidates,etc.

 

[Anima_Christi]

Not being fed?? You may feed on the very flesh and blood of our Lord, what more could you ask?

 

[gusano]

dcdurel:

Unfortunately I agree with those who say “the Church does not feed me”.

The past Pope does also. He constantly urges catechesis, (teachings) to be given by the bishops on various things from lack of a sense of sin, lack of understanding of grace, lack of understanding the Eucharist, the mass, etc, etc, etc. Over and over he says, and the past Popes have said that there is an **URGENT need for catechesis. **

** Of course some of us can study and learn on our own, like Jeff Cavins did. But, that is not the normal way.**

Proof that the Pope is right is the fact that almost all Catholics at mass go to communion, don’t go to confession, don’t know the teachings on contraception, on the Church, on the Eucharist, disagree on abortion, etc.

But, catechesis is NEVER or rarely given to the parishoners.

The reason for this is that the homily is the main time, main place, primary place and time for catechesis. **The Church teaches this over and over and over. **

But, there is a false teaching that has been present since Vatican II which says that the homily is primarily to be a commentary on the readings, and limited to the content of the readings, instead of a deep catechesis on the fundamentals of the Catholic faith. I know this because priests tell me this is what they have been taught in the seminaries or this is what they have been taught Vatican II says. Ask a priest why he never gives deep teachings on the sacraments, contraception, the rosary, etc, but only reads back the scriptures of the readings and this is the answer you will get.

Now a few priests do teach and go into the deep fundamentals of the faith. I asked one of these priests about this, and even he said that what he was doing seemed to go against the teachings of Vatican II. Thus, even he was hesitant to teach the faith (feed the people)

Until the bishops of this country reject this false idea and explain why it is wrong and teach all the priests** that the homily is primarily a place for catechesis on the fundamentals of the Catholic faith **(which has come from the apostles, and thus is the whole Gospel) then Catholics will continue to leave the Church in droves, practice contraception (which causes divorce) have abortions, and vote for pro-abortion political candidates,etc.

• there is in each of us the “child” who needs to be fed, and there is also in each of us the adult who can feed himself.

"Call to mind how you accepted what you heard; keep to it and repent.
if you do not rouse yourselves I will come upon you like a thief,
at a time you cannot know." * (Rev. 3:3)

gusano

 

[adstrinity]

Anima Christi:

Not being fed?? You may feed on the very flesh and blood of our Lord, what more could you ask?

1. The knowledge that it IS actually THE BODY and THE BLOOD…something that I didn’t learn in RCIA.
2. Sunday Mass is obligatory…something I didn’t learn in RCIA.
3. Confession: why it is important & why it is a sacrament…something I didn’t learn in RCIA.
4. The Church’s teachings on…well, anything, really. I didn’t learn any of it in RCIA. As a matter of fact, the nun teaching the class told us that annulments that she’s known of have always gone through.
5. How to pray the Rosary…RCIA got a plastic Rosary & a ‘How To’ Pamplet…???

Needless to say, these among other reasons, I do not attend Mass at this particular church (down the block) anymore. I drive 20 to 30 minutes to church’s I can never probably belong to to get fed. …Although, in all honesty, I do not know if the abuses are still going on there.

 

[adstrinity]

* there is in each of us the “child” who needs to be fed, and there is also in each of us the adult who can feed himself.*

***"Call to mind how you accepted what you heard; keep to it and repent. ***
if you do not rouse yourselves I will come upon you like a thief,
at a time you cannot know." (Rev. 3:3)
gusano

GREAT!!! We all know that we will be held accountable for what we know, but, not all of us are being taught what we SHOULD know. So, what are you saying one should do if one’s church is more Protestant than Catholic? I don’t know that one can accept some of what is being taught out there. …And, no, I’m not a SSPX or anything like that, but, I AM an honestly genuine lay Catholic who, after finding out what the Catholic Church REALLY teaches, could not go to the one church anymore.

If I wanted to feed myself, I could stay home & read the Bible, though, I’d really only be snacking, really.

You guys who don’t understand the, “I’m not being fed” are truly VERY lucky!!!

 

[Maccabees]

Sometimes when one is not being fed one doesn’t look for food.
With the cathhcism, catholic answers, saint joseph communications, Ignatius press, Assension press, and so many other catholic resources out there you must not be looking to hard perhaps this was a better argument in the 70’s and 80’s before the wave of catholic apologetics and the internet that debunkd most funamentialist claims. Heck we have EWTN now and catholic radio in many areas.
Many ex-catholics ignore all of these options but hey they will soak up all the evangelical books and tapes out there by their favorite prot pastor by won’t read one papal encynical or read one catholic apologetic book or read any of the church fathers.
I think a lot of people just choose to be ignornat so they don’t have a reason to go back to a church they find on a material level as boring and old fasioned and not the hip new church they have found and like for its various fellowship programs and groovy music and upbeat sermons.

 

[Lazerlike42]

It’s also a matter that as Catholics we portray Protestants as brothers who are simply defecient, whereas Protestants portray Catholics as blatantly wrong, deceptive idol worshippers.

In other words, Catholics grow up learning to respect Protestants as Christians, but once a person goes to Protestants, they learn that Catholics are not trustworthy and they distort the Bible and all sorts of crazy things.

 

[Maccabees]

The worst part is ex-catholics eat up all this stuff and get brain washed and forget everything they ever learned. They are the worst offenders and a virulent-anti-catholics. I don’t know why this is but it is.

 

[Elzee]

carol marie:

I’m with you… only a foreshadowing - not his body. I didn’t hear the CD but I’m wondering if Jeff said how he came up with that idea? Was it his alone?

I want to make clear that I’m not sure what he’s saying one way or the other. He beatuifully (with some humor thrown in - it’s really good) tells the story of the loaves and the fishes and explains how Jesus is saying to himself ‘*they’ll understand later what all this means’ *(referrring to the Bread of Life Discourse that’s coming up in the second part of John 6). But to me at least, the way he proceeds to tell the Bread of Life discourse seems to imply that the people thought the bread they ate during the loaves and fishes miracle was his flesh. I could be completely misunderstanding him. He does such a wonderful job telling both stories that I’m probably totally misssing something and perhaps nobody else would be confused. If anyone listens to the cd I’d love to hear your thoughts. I think I’ll buy a copy for our parish to use during RCIA (if our pastor likes it…). I’m sure the must hear this concern from time to time from people considering joining the church.

 

[Sherlock]

1) The knowledge that it IS actually THE BODY and THE BLOOD…something that I didn’t learn in RCIA.

1. Sunday Mass is obligatory…something I didn’t learn in RCIA.
2. Confession: why it is important & why it is a sacrament…something I didn’t learn in RCIA.
3. The Church’s teachings on…well, anything, really. I didn’t learn any of it in RCIA. As a matter of fact, the nun teaching the class told us that annulments that she’s known of have always gone through.
4. How to pray the Rosary…RCIA got a plastic Rosary & a ‘How To’ Pamplet…???

Needless to say, these among other reasons, I do not attend Mass at this particular church (down the block) anymore. I drive 20 to 30 minutes to church’s I can never probably belong to to get fed. …Although, in all honesty, I do not know if the abuses are still going on there.

It can be so discouraging to hear stories like yours…but then, we’re called to evangelize, not despair.

I’m curious: why do you say, “churches I can never probably belong to”? Are you talking about Catholic churches? If so, why can’t you belong to them? I drive 45 minutes to go to a parish that is orthodox and vibrant—it may not be ideal, but it’s not prohibited.

 

[Sherlock]

Elzee:

I want to make clear that I’m not sure what he’s saying one way or the other. He beatuifully (with some humor thrown in - it’s really good) tells the story of the loaves and the fishes and explains how Jesus is saying to himself ‘*they’ll understand later what all this means’ *(referrring to the Bread of Life Discourse that’s coming up in the second part of John 6). But to me at least, the way he proceeds to tell the Bread of Life discourse seems to imply that the people thought the bread they ate during the loaves and fishes miracle was his flesh. I could be completely misunderstanding him. He does such a wonderful job telling both stories that I’m probably totally misssing something and perhaps nobody else would be confused. If anyone listens to the cd I’d love to hear your thoughts. I think I’ll buy a copy for our parish to use during RCIA (if our pastor likes it…). I’m sure the must hear this concern from time to time from people considering joining the church.

I attended his study of Matthew this past year (it ran once a week from fall to spring). Obviously the multiplication of loaves and fishes was discussed (being part of Matthew), and I did NOT get the impression from him that it was meant to be Jesus’ body as in the Eucharist. What I did hear him say was that it was a prefigurement of how he was going to feed us with his own body by later instituting the Eucharist.

 

[Lance_O]

Elzee:

And - if anyone has heard it, I have a question if you don’t mind. When he gives his beautiful account of the story of the loaves and the fishes, it sounds as if he is saying that the bread passed out was in essence the first Eucharist - it was Jesus’ body. I have always been taught that the loaves/fishes story was a ‘foreshadowing’ of the Eucharist and actually of the Mass itself, but that it wasn’t until the Last Supper when Jesus really turned the bread into his body. Am I correct? I love how Jeff tells the story, but I have to admit he did leave me a little confused on this part. Can someone clear this up for me? Thank you!

I have this cd and absolutely love it! He was saying that loaves and fish story was the foreshadowing of the Eucharist. He makes referance to the Apostles not knowing the meaning until later on in the day, then goes into greater depth of the Eucharist in the John Chapter 6, and then talks about the Last Supper as the first Eucharist.

I also have another CD of Jeff Cavin’s, which is “A Rebel Returns to His Faith”. It’s about his re-verting back to the Catholic Church from a evangelical Protestant Minister. Someone mentioned that he learned it all on his own… he has a Masters of Arts and Theology from Franciscan University in Stuebenville OH, not to mention the “Bible” schools he attended to become a Protestant pastor.

Thanks,
Lance

Both are great Cd’s! Thanks Jeff!

 

[adstrinity]

Sherlock:

It can be so discouraging to hear stories like yours…but then, we’re called to evangelize, not despair.

I’m curious: why do you say, “churches I can never probably belong to”? Are you talking about Catholic churches? If so, why can’t you belong to them? I drive 45 minutes to go to a parish that is orthodox and vibrant—it may not be ideal, but it’s not prohibited.

I thought that one HAS to belong to the church for which one is districted. One MUST be a member of the closest avaliable church.

 

[Catholic4aReasn]

I recently heard Scott Hahn talking about the complaint about not being fed in the Catholic Church. He said that those who say they are not being fed are not really understanding exactly what’s being served.

I liked that.

In Christ,
Nancy

 

[dcdurel]

adstrinity:

I thought that one HAS to belong to the church for which one is districted. One MUST be a member of the closest avaliable church.

I am not sure about that. I do know under the old canon law, I was supposed to send my children to the nearest Catholic church for Catechism. But, their catechism classes were faulty and taught lots of error.
So I sent them to classes over 15 miles away, and had to by pass many other Catholic churches to get to one that did not teach error.
And nobody complained, because they knew I would take them to task for the heretical catechisms at these other churches.

 

[dcdurel]

It is good that some Catholics have the time and intelligence to teach themselves. But that is NOT the primary way the faith is to be learned.

Lets see what the Church says:
Canonl Law:
Can. 528 §1 The parish priest has the obligation of ensuring that the word of God is proclaimed in its entirety to those living in the parish. He is therefore to see to it that the lay members of Christ’s faithful are instructed in the truths of faith, especially by means of the homily on Sundays and holydays of obligation and by catechetical formation.

§2 They are also to explain to the faithful the teaching of the magisterium of the Church concerning the dignity and freedom of the human person; the unity, stability and duties of the family; people’s social obligations and the ordering of temporal affairs according to the plan established by God.
(Rarely if ever hear this)
43. "To continue the series of receivers of catechesis, I cannot fail to emphasize now one of the most constant concerns of the synod fathers, a concern imposed with vigor and urgency by present experiences throughout the world: I am referring to the central problem of the catechesis of adults. This is the principal form of catechesis, because it is addressed to persons who have the greatest responsibilities and the capacity to live the Christian message in its fully developed form."

Catechesi Trandenda* *
**OF POPE
JOHN PAUL II
ON CATECHESIS IN OUR TIME
(I, as an adult, seldom receive catechesis during the homily, which is the prime time for catechesis. This is why the Pope calls it a "central problem")

"while ongoing education in the faith, in which the place of the homily must be underlined, is characterized by being the necessary nourishment of which every baptized adult has need in order to live. "
GENERAL DIRECTORY
***FOR CATECHESIS ***
(Notice that education in the Catholic faith is NOT optional. It is necessary. It is to be done in the homily. Just like Father Corapi teaches, so should every priest teach the Catholic faith during the homily. They don’t have to be sound good like Father Corapi, they just have to educate us in the Catholic faith the best they can. Also notice the “feeding” imagery (necessary nourishment) )

“By the same word of Scripture the ministry of the word also, that is, pastoral preaching, catechetics and all Christian instruction, in which the liturgical homily must hold the foremost place, is nourished in a healthy way and flourishes in a holy way.” DEI VERBUM

1. “The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows.” [[13]](file:///e:/WP51/Daddy/Apologetics/Apol.%20St.%20Peter/Catechism%20of%20the%20Catholic%20Church.html#9G13) It is therefore the privileged place for c****atechizing the People of God. " Catechism of the Catholic Church

 

[gusano]

adstrinity:

GREAT!!! We all know that we will be held accountable for what we know, but, not all of us are being taught what we SHOULD know. So,
** what are you saying one should do if one’s church is more Protestant than Catholic? **

• If you have a good Catholic bible and the Catechism of the Catholic church, you are well prepared.
  acquire these (4) powers to work in your personal life; **
  (1)…The Message , (The Teachings of the Apostles)
  (2)…The Fellowship, (where we are formed to disciples of Christ.
  (3)…the Eucharist, Where we OFFER our living bodies (Rom. 12: 1 )
  (4)…The Witness, As we allow the Holy Spirit to LEAD us in service or evangelism to others.** *

I don’t know that one can accept some of what is being taught out there. …And, no, I’m not a SSPX or anything like that, but, I AM an honestly genuine lay Catholic who, after finding out what the Catholic Church REALLY teaches, could not go to the one church anymore.

• I have no Idea what SSPX is, but when we run up against some evil which we can do nothing about;
  1 Cor.13: 6 takes over “Love does not rejoice in what is evil but rejoices with the Truth.” the silence of Christ is powerful.
  Pray for the Love of Truth, because of 2 Thess 2: 10-12.*

If I wanted to feed myself, I could stay home & read the Bible, though, I’d really only be snacking, really.

Snacking is better than starving.
If you do your home work, Build your whole life from the Eucharist, the fountain of all Holiness (the 4 powers)…
God will bring people into your life whom He wants built up.

You guys who don’t understand the, “I’m not being fed” are truly VERY lucky!!!

I was there , and in my hunger I challenged many people, embarrassed some, repelled others, made many friends and discovered my prayer language from The Holy Spirit and God gave me a personal “mission statement”, to build up the body of Christ. (Eph. 4: 11, 12, 13 )
The first scripture that “Launched me” into “Rouse Yourselves” was 1 Samuel 13:19-22

Adstrinity, I am sure you are aware that we live in a society ruled by “Philistines” aren’t you ?

gusano