I'm not sure I want to be Catholic

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Malia_Belen

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I have been curious about and interested in the Catholic faith for quite sometime. I just love going to Catholic church on Sundays and sitting through the service. I think it’s so beautiful and relaxing.

However, I’m just not sure I want to be Catholic. I have all the usual hang ups about Catholicism because I’m Protestant but I find that it’s not the biggest reason I’m turned off by the Catholic faith.

I feel like if I were to become Catholic, I’d be going over to another faith that seems to hate or intensely dislike Protestants. I even get the feeling that many Catholics consider Protestants less intelligent because of some of their beliefs i.e. creationism. I further felt alienated after reading Rome Sweet Home. I felt the guy who wrote the book was all study and very little…I guess the word is spirituality unless he was making his wife feel guilty. I really felt bad for her since I’m not yet convinced that the Catholic church is the Church yet. I just feel the Catholic faith is so academic…I’m not sure how to explain it

There are so many things I’m already struggling with just being Protestant. Now I feel like if I were to become Catholic…that I would be in a faith where people think less of non-Catholics because they have “faith” instead of using their “intelligence” as someone once said. That really upsets me since I love my family; my entire family is Protestant and since I’m not yet convinced that the Catholic church is “the” church I’m almost ready to stop search right here. Maybe I should have waited to read Rome Sweet Home until I’m sure on wanting to become Catholic

Any thoughts, tips, books, advice or movies would be appreciated.
 
Hi Malia,

I just wanted to respond to your message, even if I don’t respond to the things you said in particular.

I am also of a Protestant background, and have the usual hangups with the Catholic church. But interestingly enough, the one thing above all else that drew me in, is the same thing that you feel is holding you back: the academic-ness of their worship style.

I love the fact that anything I can say about the Catholic faith to possibly denounce it, someone will fly back (maybe a day or two later) with a near bulletproof response which completely defends what I was attacking.

It is the attention to detail, and intense study that made the Catholic faith so defensible.

I agree also with you, the Mass is beautiful.
 
The first thing to do is to choose to be a real Christian. I think that just picking between being a protestant a being a Catholic does not make too much sense. You have to be in love with God and because of his love you choose to really understand what He wants of mankind and how He wants us to behave.
Your first choice is to surrender to Christ, after that start to study tradition of the Church through the scriptures, the writings of the Early Fathers, and the Catechism. The Catholic Church does not and cannot hate the protestants, simple because they are our brothers in Christ even if they do not have the complete Truth.
Protestants are not either smarter or dumber than Catholics. They usually come from a different environment and they have been raised in the faith in a different manner. Just remember that idiots are equally distributed among different groups. Individual Catholics can be as nasty as any other person, and that is why we say that the Church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.
My suggestion is to accept the fact that you will struggle with your faith. That is part of the growing pains of spiritual life. Go around and try to meet Catholics (RCIA maybe?) that make you comfortable. Share with them your concerns and anxieties, with time they will open to you and get closer to you.
Just remember that you will never be able to do anything on your own, you have to accept God’s graces. True conversion comes from him, it is not our doing, we can only accept it.
 
Malia, I’m a cradle Catholic and my best friend (we’ve been friends for 38 years, since we were 15) is Protestant. She is one of the most beautiful Christian people I know. I have often attended services with her at her church and she has attended with me at mine. In fact, she credits the Catholic Charismatic group with whom she prayed extensively in the 1970s with making her a devout practicing Christian and bringing her ‘back to faith in Christ’. And I for one know that without her prayers and example I likely would not be striving to be faithful to Christ either.

So just because some few ‘loudmouths’ on the Internet may badmouth Protestants, please don’t feel that this is something that all Catholics do. I know there are some few Protestants who are virulently anti-Catholic but I surely don’t think that the Protestant faith of any given group is by nature anti-Catholic just because some individuals jump to ‘anti’ conclusions.

As far as I’m concerned as a Catholic, what my Church teaches (and is reinforced in the Catechism) is that our Protestant brothers and sisters are full-fledged Christians, many of whom put the “Catholic in name only” to shame when it comes to both knowledge and practice of Christianity.

Naturally I feel that the Catholic faith possesses the ‘fullness’ of truth but that doesn’t mean that Catholics, and ONLY Catholics, will take advantage of that truth. Further, it doesn’t mean that Protestants. . .and many of them at that. . .won’t find fullness in their Protestant practices such that they wind up being much closer and much more ‘full’ in that knowledge and practice than Catholics who HAVE the opportunity but choose to ignore it.

We can learn a lot from our Protestant brothers and sisters in many valuable areas. Sure, as Catholics we are supposed to read the Bible and many do . . .but some don’t. We are supposed to be a community, but often we don’t take as much trouble as we could.

Protestants do tend to be known for reading the Bible more (even the Protestants who are ‘lax’ in practice) and to be more tightly-knit in their churches and more ‘hospitable’ to all who come to service. While some Catholic Churches especially recently are thriving communities which have the best of both worlds–strong knowledge and practice of Christianity–those churches usually have benefitted by the example of their Protestant brothers and sisters in seeing that their people have NEEDS and in being very proactive and MEETING those needs. (Catholics DO do that, of course, but perhaps not as quickly as our Protestant brothers/sisters can and do).

So God bless our Protestant friends. My best friend has given me a thousand points of insight into my faith by means of her Protestant practices and has deeply enriched me spiritually. What a blessing it is to have a believing friend!
 
I may only be a child, yet I already know that I want to be in the service of the lord for the rest of my life. I haven’t always felt this way, but now that I do I’ve never been happier. The joy of the pure reassurance and comfort that I have from knowing that there is always someone looking out for me, that I’m never alone, that God shall care for me and show me the true path of righteousness… That is the true joy in this world.

Protestants and Catholics… For me, this has always been a cause of great concern. At first, I thought Protestant Christianity was totally, utterly and completely wrong. I though that of all religions, in truth, especially Atheists and Agnostics. I was racist and extremist, and looking back I am ashamed at my harsh views on other religions. But I spent some time with some Islamic friends in Saudi Arabia, and I learned that Islamic culture is wonderful and fascinating. I took it upon myself to learn more about all forms of Christianity and other religions.

We all love God and Christ. So we celebrate their glory in different ways, does this truly make us different? Although I would never think about converting to Protestantism, now I know that it is not worse than Catholicism, only different. I now accept and admire many different religions, and in doing so I feel I have become closer to God because I am closer to all of his followers, Christian or otherwise. I would always recommend Catholicism, but in my honest opinion, You should celebrate the glories of Christ the saviour in whatever way you’d like.

God bless you and all of my Protestant brothers and sisters. God bless us all!
 
It took me over two decades to finally realize, the Catholic church has every single element a true church is required to achieve full validity. I explored many different religions, attended many different protestant churches and with a great deal of zeolusy, it came down to struggling between what my protestant brethren were preaching and what the Catholic church had firmly established long ago, teaching wise. What I kept finding out, was that the protestants were playing a game of catch up too often, and things that were so called recent discoveries were old news for the Catholic church. This is that pure logic that Scott was basing his story upon, for he was addressing the logical arguments in regards to the validity of the Catholic church.

The struggle came in the end, to simply put my misunderstandings, my concerns, and everything I was not prepared to handle onto the foot of the cross, letting the truth be revealed to me in God’s time, and to simply have faith in his church for the rest. I suppose if you want a shortcut of sorts, get a Miraculas Medal and wear it at all times. It sounds crazy, but even if you don’t believe, it still has some ability to enlighten us to the truth in a supernatural manner and it’s an act of faith to own and wear one.

In the end, I had to decide in one, only one, and I stood on both sides of the fence for many years. When I made that decision to only embrace the Catholic church as the final authority out of faith, the rest fell into place on it’s own, and the more deeply I focus on the church, the more is revealed to me. You end up learning that the protestants don’t have an exclusive with their teachings, and in fact, they limit what they know because they don’t have the full gospel, they also don’t have the long standing heritage entirely because they are rather recently formed by original nature, more so with all of the recent splits, and the Catholic church, standing the test of time, having so many brilliant people over the ages remaining strictly within it, regardless of the so many options they had at their disposal, who am I to question it.
 
Cristiano said:
Your first choice is to surrender to Christ.,
Just remember that you will never be able to do anything on your own, you have to accept God’s graces. True conversion comes from him, it is not our doing, we can only accept it.
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Amen…Our walk in Christ is a journey…It all starts with knowing Him…I committed my life to Christ in 1973 in an evangelistic outreach by the Evangelical Free Church…I am now in a church that has it’s roots in the Anabaptist…It was a growing and maturing process all the way…God’s word has been instilled in my heart…Go where you feel the Holy Spirit leading you and settle in there to grow and mature…We need to be settled and live close to the Lord for the days ahead to be light and salt for those around us…In heaven we won’t have labels…We will all stand before Christ as believers having our works judged whether we lived for Him or hide our light…Rewards given accordingly…I’d rather have gold, silver and precious jewels to lay before Him than a handful of ash…May the Lord bless you and draw you closer in these last days…K
 
Tantum_ergo said:
Malia, I’m a cradle Catholic and my best friend (we’ve been friends for 38 years, since we were 15) is Protestant. She is one of the most beautiful Christian people I know. I have often attended services with her at her church and she has attended with me at mine. In fact, she credits the Catholic Charismatic group with whom she prayed extensively in the 1970s with making her a devout practicing Christian and bringing her ‘back to faith in Christ’. And I for one know that without her prayers and example I likely would not be striving to be faithful to Christ either.

So just because some few ‘loudmouths’ on the Internet may badmouth Protestants, please don’t feel that this is something that all Catholics do. I know there are some few Protestants who are virulently anti-Catholic but I surely don’t think that the Protestant faith of any given group is by nature anti-Catholic just because some individuals jump to ‘anti’ conclusions.

As far as I’m concerned as a Catholic, what my Church teaches (and is reinforced in the Catechism) is that our Protestant brothers and sisters are full-fledged Christians, many of whom put the “Catholic in name only” to shame when it comes to both knowledge and practice of Christianity.

Naturally I feel that the Catholic faith possesses the ‘fullness’ of truth but that doesn’t mean that Catholics, and ONLY Catholics, will take advantage of that truth. Further, it doesn’t mean that Protestants. . .and many of them at that. . .won’t find fullness in their Protestant practices such that they wind up being much closer and much more ‘full’ in that knowledge and practice than Catholics who HAVE the opportunity but choose to ignore it.
Edited for space…
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Excellent post…Thanks
 
Malia_Belen said:
I have been curious about and interested in the Catholic faith for quite sometime. I just love going to Catholic church on Sundays and sitting through the service. I think it’s so beautiful and relaxing.

However, I’m just not sure I want to be Catholic. I have all the usual hang ups about Catholicism because I’m Protestant but I find that it’s not the biggest reason I’m turned off by the Catholic faith.

I feel like if I were to become Catholic, I’d be going over to another faith that seems to hate or intensely dislike Protestants. I even get the feeling that many Catholics consider Protestants less intelligent because of some of their beliefs i.e. creationism. I further felt alienated after reading Rome Sweet Home. I felt the guy who wrote the book was all study and very little…I guess the word is spirituality unless he was making his wife feel guilty. I really felt bad for her since I’m not yet convinced that the Catholic church is the Church yet. I just feel the Catholic faith is so academic…I’m not sure how to explain it

There are so many things I’m already struggling with just being Protestant. Now I feel like if I were to become Catholic…that I would be in a faith where people think less of non-Catholics because they have “faith” instead of using their “intelligence” as someone once said. That really upsets me since I love my family; my entire family is Protestant and since I’m not yet convinced that the Catholic church is “the” church I’m almost ready to stop search right here. Maybe I should have waited to read Rome Sweet Home until I’m sure on wanting to become Catholic

Any thoughts, tips, books, advice or movies would be appreciated.
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Well, the only thing I can tell you is that you shouldn’t enter the Church unless you are ready to do so. Doing that before you are ready may push you right back out the door.

But I would suggest you watch ‘The Journey Home’ on EWTN. It’s on Monday nights at 8 ET in the US. You will hear conversion stories of many different backgrounds, and the arguments that finally led them to the Catholic Church. I love the show and it brings up many things I’d never thought of before. If you want, I can look for the link to past shows in audio format and you can download them onto an iPod or mp3 player to listen to as well.
 
Tantum_ergo said:
Malia, I’m a cradle Catholic and my best friend (we’ve been friends for 38 years, since we were 15) is Protestant. She is one of the most beautiful Christian people I know. I have often attended services with her at her church and she has attended with me at mine. In fact, she credits the Catholic Charismatic group with whom she prayed extensively in the 1970s with making her a devout practicing Christian and bringing her ‘back to faith in Christ’. And I for one know that without her prayers and example I likely would not be striving to be faithful to Christ either.

So just because some few ‘loudmouths’ on the Internet may badmouth Protestants, please don’t feel that this is something that all Catholics do. I know there are some few Protestants who are virulently anti-Catholic but I surely don’t think that the Protestant faith of any given group is by nature anti-Catholic just because some individuals jump to ‘anti’ conclusions.

As far as I’m concerned as a Catholic, what my Church teaches (and is reinforced in the Catechism) is that our Protestant brothers and sisters are full-fledged Christians, many of whom put the “Catholic in name only” to shame when it comes to both knowledge and practice of Christianity.

Naturally I feel that the Catholic faith possesses the ‘fullness’ of truth but that doesn’t mean that Catholics, and ONLY Catholics, will take advantage of that truth. Further, it doesn’t mean that Protestants. . .and many of them at that. . .won’t find fullness in their Protestant practices such that they wind up being much closer and much more ‘full’ in that knowledge and practice than Catholics who HAVE the opportunity but choose to ignore it.

We can learn a lot from our Protestant brothers and sisters in many valuable areas. Sure, as Catholics we are supposed to read the Bible and many do . . .but some don’t. We are supposed to be a community, but often we don’t take as much trouble as we could.

Protestants do tend to be known for reading the Bible more (even the Protestants who are ‘lax’ in practice) and to be more tightly-knit in their churches and more ‘hospitable’ to all who come to service. While some Catholic Churches especially recently are thriving communities which have the best of both worlds–strong knowledge and practice of Christianity–those churches usually have benefitted by the example of their Protestant brothers and sisters in seeing that their people have NEEDS and in being very proactive and MEETING those needs. (Catholics DO do that, of course, but perhaps not as quickly as our Protestant brothers/sisters can and do).

So God bless our Protestant friends. My best friend has given me a thousand points of insight into my faith by means of her Protestant practices and has deeply enriched me spiritually. What a blessing it is to have a believing friend!
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Maybe the best post I’ve read in a long time…As a Lutheran I feel you actually “get” and respect your protestant friends and neighbors in this world. I wish I was seeing more of this. It doesnt take much. All I need or want when I attend a mass with my wife’s family is the same thing they get from my Lutheran pastor at any service he presides over. “Welcome to our visitors of all faiths who are in attendance here today…”
 
Dear Malia,

I am a Catholic catechist who was born and raised in the Catholic Church. As a catechist, I am called to teach about how we as Catholics implement the teachings of the Catholic Church into everyday life.

On behalf of those Catholics who you have met that are “anti-Protestant”, I sincerely apologize for their behavior as they have not yet acheived the standard of Catholic behavior that the Catholic Church in fact teaches.

Please know that [SIGN]AS A CATHOLIC, WE ARE CALLED TO RESPECT ALL PEOPLES OF ALL FAITHS AND RELIGIONS![/SIGN] Jesus said, “Whatever you do unto others, you do unto Me.” This teaching, in fact, is one of my favorite teachings and one of my favorite things about being Catholic. If you need further verification about this, just ask the priest after Mass.

Please feel free to set the record straight with those Catholics who you meet that are “anti-Protestant” by politely reminding them that the Catholic Church asks them to **RESPECT **those of other religions just as Catholics would hope that those of other religions would respect us.

Thank you for your diligence in asking this question before making judgement. It’s always best that when learning about religions to “go to the well” in striving to find the most accurate and up to date information. I am convinced that you may also find GOOD information and resources with and through the priest who celebrates the Masses you attend.

God Bless You! Again, thank you so much for asking this question! 👍
Yours in Christ,
Elizabeth
 
Lutheranteach said:
Maybe the best post I’ve read in a long time…As a Lutheran I feel you actually “get” and respect your protestant friends and neighbors in this world. I wish I was seeing more of this. It doesnt take much. All I need or want when I attend a mass with my wife’s family is the same thing they get from my Lutheran pastor at any service he presides over. “Welcome to our visitors of all faiths who are in attendance here today…”
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I hear this welcome regularly at Mass in my Catholic parish and at other Catholic parishes. We even sing a song called “All Are Welcome In This Place”. Please know that in some parishes this is being done on a regular basis. If you are not being made to feel totally welcome at a Catholic service, this should be brought to the attention of the pastor.

Thank you for your post, Lutheranteach and thank you for attending our Masses with your wife’s family. Your interest and participation is such a wonderful testimony to Christianity. Welcome! Welcome! :grouphug:

Yours in Christ,
Elizabeth
 
Malia_Belen said:
I have been curious about and interested in the Catholic faith for quite sometime. I just love going to Catholic church on Sundays and sitting through the service. I think it’s so beautiful and relaxing.

However, I’m just not sure I want to be Catholic. I have all the usual hang ups about Catholicism because I’m Protestant but I find that it’s not the biggest reason I’m turned off by the Catholic faith.

I feel like if I were to become Catholic, I’d be going over to another faith that seems to hate or intensely dislike Protestants. I even get the feeling that many Catholics consider Protestants less intelligent because of some of their beliefs i.e. creationism. I further felt alienated after reading Rome Sweet Home. I felt the guy who wrote the book was all study and very little…I guess the word is spirituality unless he was making his wife feel guilty. I really felt bad for her since I’m not yet convinced that the Catholic church is the Church yet. I just feel the Catholic faith is so academic…I’m not sure how to explain it

There are so many things I’m already struggling with just being Protestant. Now I feel like if I were to become Catholic…that I would be in a faith where people think less of non-Catholics because they have “faith” instead of using their “intelligence” as someone once said. That really upsets me since I love my family; my entire family is Protestant and since I’m not yet convinced that the Catholic church is “the” church I’m almost ready to stop search right here. Maybe I should have waited to read Rome Sweet Home until I’m sure on wanting to become Catholic

Any thoughts, tips, books, advice or movies would be appreciated.
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This is an interesting post, since I, also, am toying with the thought of joining the Church. Ironically, the point that the Catholic Church is most attractive to me is Her intellectual coherence. My experience has been, though, that the the spiritually of the Catholic Church is vast and varied. Remember, it is the Catholic Church, that is, universal. Marian devotions are very prevalent. Likewise, devotion to the Sacred Heart is widespread. These are just a few examples, not to mention the Charistmatic Catholic movement and Eastern Catholic spirituality. The great thing, in my opinion, with Catholicism is that it all hang together. The intellectual and spiritual are simply different perspectives of the same ontological entity…TRUTH
 
Please be assured that Catholics do not hate Protestants, nor we consider them less intelligent. We look at Protestants as our seperated brothers and sisters in Christ, and pray for the reunification of Christ’s Church on earth. I can see why “Rome Sweet Rome” was a bit of a turn off for you. Scott Hahn is a brilliant intellectual, who had to convince his brain first that the Catholic Church is the true Church, before he allowed his heart to follow. There are many people who think like that, they have to kick the tires, so to speak, and be convinced intellectually, before they will allow themselves the emotional luxury to take the next step, it’s just a different approach to the world, that’s all. Kimberly’s real problem was that she didn’t want to let go of her dream of being a pastor’s wife; once she put that aside, and put her future in God’s hands, she never looked back and couldn’t be happier now. The Catholic Church has 2000 years of study and tradition behind her, that is plenty to intimidate anyone, but no one knows or is expected to know everything. The only thing you REALLY need to know is that the Catholic Church is THE church established by Jesus as His church for us here on earth. When you are ready to accept that, the rest will be easy! 🙂
 
I’m a cradle catholic, however, my mother was catholic my father was presbyterian. I don’t dislike, disrespect people based on their religious beliefs. How they act based on those beliefs is another story entirely. In fact, I enjoy chatting with protestants about the bible as they tend to have it memorized better than I. They can quote chapter and verse, whereas I cannot. I always have to look things up and sometimes it takes ages to find what I’m looking for.

Please don’t judge all catholics by those you encounter on web sites!!
 
Malia,

Jesus didn’t give us a book, He gave us a CHURCH.

I’m a recent convert to Catholicism. It was the LAST place I ever thought I’d end up, but I’m here now and I’ve never been happier or more at peace. Why? I guess because in the end it all boils down to the question of AUTHORITY. Protestants preach sola scriptura, but the Bible alone DOESN’T answer all our questions about the faith. Hence the HUGE variety of teaching in the protestant world on even basic things like Baptism, Confirmation, the priesthood, speaking in tongues, etc. If the Bible seems vague on the details to some of these subjects, it’s simply because it was written for Believers and the text assumes you will get those details from the CHURCH. Catholicism IS the answer because it is solidly built on THREE things: Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium. That’s why it has ALL the answers.

I sincerely hope you’ll join us, so you too can have the joy, peace and contentment that comes from knowing that your understanding of Christianity is built upon an unchanging Rock that has stood the test of time for almost 2000 years! 😉
 
Wow, I never thought of it that way.

The Church can be likened to a large and well studied university. You can go to a class and get a textbook which will describe to you what you need to know. Any little details, however, that are not explained in that textbook can be explained by either the professor or one of the other professors at the university. The textbook itself is great for teaching and reproof, but it’s the larger institution that can fill the gaps for you.

And those teachers have all sorts of personalities. Some may be welcoming and willingly give you the info you need, others may be miserable curmudgeons whom you have to pry the info out of only with great difficulty. Yet they all work at that university and share the same goal.

Thanks for saying “Jesus didn’t give us a book, He gave us a Church”! It got me thinking… 👍
 
Malia_Belen said:
I have been curious about and interested in the Catholic faith for quite sometime. I just love going to Catholic church on Sundays and sitting through the service. I think it’s so beautiful and relaxing.

However, I’m just not sure I want to be Catholic. I have all the usual hang ups about Catholicism because I’m Protestant but I find that it’s not the biggest reason I’m turned off by the Catholic faith.
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Hi 🙂

I’m a convert to Catholicism from Protestantism, and I know what you mean… I used to have many hang ups about the Catholic faith too. I think it just takes some time getting used to 🙂 I found that all of my fears were resolved as I read more about the Church… and I slowly got comfortable with the Mass, Mary, etc.
I feel like if I were to become Catholic, I’d be going over to another faith that seems to hate or intensely dislike Protestants.
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wow I don’t know, but most of the Catholics I’ve met have been really respectful towards Protestants, or other faiths in general… even though we believe the Catholic Church is the original Church, we still believe that Protestants are Christians, and that they can also go to Heaven. In fact, we acknowledge that there are many Protestants who are great Christians and love the Lord… (I have a lot of Protestant friends :))

what the Church says about Protestantism is that they have a lot of truth but are missing parts of it cause the Reformers separated from the Church and so lost important doctrines. But we don’t consider them worse Christians in terms of their love for God, their faith, etc.
I even get the feeling that many Catholics consider Protestants less intelligent because of some of their beliefs i.e. creationism.
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there are Catholics who believe in creationism too 🙂
(ie: me)
I further felt alienated after reading Rome Sweet Home. I felt the guy who wrote the book was all study and very little…I guess the word is spirituality unless he was making his wife feel guilty. I really felt bad for her since I’m not yet convinced that the Catholic church is the Church yet. I just feel the Catholic faith is so academic…I’m not sure how to explain it
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have you tried reading the Saints?
there are some ‘academic’ ones, but many are just focused on spirituality, etc… some are even quite mystical (in the Christian sense of the word ;)). They wrote a lot about prayer… about growing in faith, finding union with God, etc. Some examples are St Therese of Lisieux, St Faustina, St Margaret Mary, St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, and many, many others…

also maybe it might help to look up some Catholic devotions… I know this REALLY helped me understand what Catholicism is all about. I’ve found there’s a nice balance between reason and faith, the ‘academic’ and spiritual… there’s something for everyone, in fact. There’s a lot of knowledge in the Church and it would take more than a lifetime to learn it all… but it’s also accessible for those who don’t need or want learning and just want to pray and spend time with God. There are devotions like Adoration, the Sacred Heart devotion, etc… it takes some time getting used to the whole ‘style’ of it, if I can use that word…it’s different than Protestantism, but I’ve found it to be very rich spiritually. 👍
There are so many things I’m already struggling with just being Protestant. Now I feel like if I were to become Catholic…that I would be in a faith where people think less of non-Catholics because they have “faith” instead of using their “intelligence” as someone once said. That really upsets me since I love my family; my entire family is Protestant and since I’m not yet convinced that the Catholic church is “the” church I’m almost ready to stop search right here. Maybe I should have waited to read Rome Sweet Home until I’m sure on wanting to become Catholic
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Any thoughts, tips, books, advice or movies would be appreciated.
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aw…I dont’ think that’s the case at all!! Maybe you would like St Therese of Lisieux… she talked about being like a little child before God and had a very simple (and very powerful) faith. (her book is called Story of a Soul). This is not a uniquely Protestant thing… as I said, there’s room in the Church for everyone. I myself really like the “simple faith” approach. I don’t think it means that the person has less intelligence at all.

I think maybe it might help you to look at other aspects of Catholicism that you perhaps haven’t come across yet… it’s always a journey to learn more, there’s soo much in the Church! don’t get discouraged…

God bless!
 
Since the very beginning of Christianity, even before the death of the apostles there were disagreements about doctrinal matters. Human creatures with finite intellectual capactiy, limited, try to conprehend that which is infinite, that which is beyond our ability to know. We can know some things about God who is infinite, but not everything. One of the words we use to describe this is mystery. Its there, but beyond our mental reach.

Jesus came and taught things about God and His kingdom and they are difficult to understand, or at least in certain respects. It is understandable that different people in trying to understand deep things of faith would see things differently and disagree.

So disputes arose over doctrinal matters. In earlier times these disputes were carried out with intensity within the Church. Different factions tried to have the Church embrace their view of things. The Church would take up different arguments and make a pronouncement on which was right and wrong. So for example in the early years there were arguments about the nature of Christ. It is easy to say the words that express a definition or formula of what is believed by Christians today. Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity is one person with two natures, God and man. It was not easy getting to that definition.

In matters of faith when there are disagreements, how do we know which position is correct? Protestants say the Bible is the only guide. History, not theology, shows that using this method it is impossible to maintain any unity. There are ever multiplying Protestant communities, denominations and non-denominations. All are filled with sincere people doing their best to find truth, but the method leads to division, history proves. People who claim the Bible is their source of doctrine end up believing different things.

Jesus commanded unity of His followers, and prayed for it, just before He died. A divided separated Church is not His will and disobeying Him will lead to serioius consequences. The disunity of the Church is the cause of the collapse of the social order, the disintegration of western society, built on the foundation of Christianity. A house divided surely will fall and we are witnessing that in our world today.

In the early disputes the arguers fought to get the Church to adopt their favored doctrinal position. Protestantism is unique or new in that it walked away from the rest of the Church to set up new separate churches, claiming the authority to do so is found in the Bible. The end result can only be continuing disarray and confusion, division and more division. Protestant history not theology proves this. I have met several people who said they were thinking of starting a church. They do not even hesitate to think that they might have no authority or mandate from God to do this. He already started His Church and we need to belong to it. This crazy notion that its perfectly ok for people could start their own church, because they could not find one they liked or that agreed with their beliefs comes from where?

We have to love these folks, but they are causing problems, even though they do not realize it and mean well. We call them separated. They are not one with us and we hope they join or rejoin us and end division. We hope for their good, their salvation, that God blesses them in every way possible, but also hope the confusion and division ends by the grace of God.

We agree with those who separated from us on many things, but as Paul tells us we need to agree on all things and be of one mind. This oneness of mind and spirit is not simply all of us here on earth now being in unity, but it is a unity with all those who came before us as well. This is not too much to hope for. Jesus commanded it of us and He would not command us to do the impossible.
 
Dear Malia,

I too was raised Protestant but recently began attending Catholic Church with my husband. The first service I was so nervous because I didn’t want to offend anyone because I didn’t cross myself or know how the service would be conducted. By the third service I had relaxed enough to actually enjoy the Mass and to actually feel God’s presence. So I decided to start attending RCIA classes just to see … to learn, ask questions … and really get to know some people. The team leaders have been so open and kind to me … answering all of my questions from the simple ones to the hard ones. I am completely accepted and respected.

Whether I am in an exceptionally great parish or this parish just reflects the Catholic Church in general I have to say not once have I heard anyone make a negative comment about Protestants. If you love the Mass and you feel blessed by the service, then I would suggest trying the RCIA classes. It’s not a commitment … its the start of a journey where hopefully you will have an opportunity to ask all the questions you want, receive or be directed to great reading material and let God speak to your heart.

I’m not saying that I’m completely comfortable with crossing myself or kneeling before I enter the pew but I’m working on it … and the more I do it the more meaning it has for me.

I think as Protestants coming to the Catholic Church there are a lot of things we have to get our heads around. But no one should make you feel uncomfortable about that … if they do, then perhaps try another parish.

Sherrie
 
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