Is anyone here a positive Catholic?

[halogirl]

I would also love to attend EF but it’s too hard to get to one every week (would be an hours drive each way )

 

[OurLadyofSorrows]

However, I find the level of negativity about the Catholic Church and about Catholics in general on this forum to be quite high.

This is an anonymous place where people can express their views and concerns. This leads, hopefully, to some sort of discussion and perspective.

I’m not exactly a happy face person. I am quite cynical, practical and realistic.

We all bring our own perspective . It colors our reading, interaction and communication.

the Church is somehow crumbling;

It has its problems, both regionally and globally.
For the rest of your dot points, people do feel strongly about different issues. That is ok. We are human.
But instead of , or after sitting on a forum expressing consternation, and getting ideas, the person should put them into action. Talk to the pastor, seek medical help, volunteer, start living to allow God to shine through.

Catholics paint such a miserable picture of the Church

This is a generalisation that should be avoided. There are also plenty of Catholics who paint the opposite
There are Catholics being martyred or risking their lives for their faith today in various places. That zeal is what I believe we should pray for in all the Communion of Saints.
The Holy Spirit wants us to have happiness and joy as a fruit and gift.

I will grant that certain events such as the clergy abuse scandal are definite big black eyes for the Church and should be addressed going forward and should not be swept under the rug.

Its been huge and very hurtful to a wide variety of people. The healing has not really started yet. The Church is still in damage control. People are in trauma and unbelief and untrust.

I also avoid extended arguments as they generally result in warnings from the mods and I already get flagged enough, simply because when one posts a lot on the forum, one draws flags.

This is one area where people who are not banned and forever suspended , learn, through community moderation, to moderate the tone of their speech. I disagree it is due to frequency of posting. Plenty of people post frequently without drawing community moderation.
It is an area we all have to work at to improve our communication skills so our intentions are understood and not misconstrued. That is one of the fruits of CAF. Communication over social media that becomes better with time, as a stable community.

 

[Joe_5859]

I always remind myself of that quote attributed to Pope St. John XXIII: “It’s your Church, Lord. I’m going to bed.”

To me, this illustrates that no one—not even the pope—needs to be or can be on high alert 24/7 to all the problems in the world.

I think there is the temptation for some to view the Church as the damsel in distress in need of me to protect, defend, and save her. As Jesus is our Savior (not me), I don’t feel like I need to be out there fixing everything that is wrong simultaneously.

The Church is made up of sinners. As such, the Church will always be in need of reform. Generally, that reform starts with me making choices to love others and strive for my own holiness. If I’m not doing that, I’m not doing my part.

So, yes, there are problems that need addressing. There always will be. But I never lose hope because God is control.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I get the impression that a lot of people feel we are being lazy or not being “good Catholics” if we don’t run around trying to fix everything. I can definitely understand wanting to address problems that occur in our own parish, our own neighborhood, our own diocese. But we constantly get people from Country A saying “something must be done” about what some diocese is doing in Country B half a world away. I find that a bit much, especially since we’re usually not knowledgeable about the social, legal, political, cultural, etc situation in Country B.

 

[Joe_5859]

Well put. There are lots of benefits of all the new forms of communication that have arisen in the past several decades, but one of the drawbacks is that reading stories about things happening on the other side of the world can distract us from giving due attention to what is going on in our own neighborhood.

 

[catholic03]

But we constantly get people from Country A saying “something must be done” about what some diocese is doing in Country B half a world away. I find that a bit much, especially since we’re usually not knowledgeable about the social, legal, political, cultural, etc situation in Country B

I have made this mistake far too many times about a parish in the USA.

Not only do I understand that I need not worry about it because it is a parish thousands of KMs away, but I also trust that the bishop of the diocese is doing his best - he will have a valid reason for not censuring the parish.

 

[PetraG]

I get the impression that a lot of people feel we are being lazy or not being “good Catholics” if we don’t run around trying to fix everything. I can definitely understand wanting to address problems that occur in our own parish, our own neighborhood, our own diocese. But we constantly get people from Country A saying “something must be done” about what some diocese is doing in Country B half a world away. I find that a bit much, especially since we’re usually not knowledgeable about the social, legal, political, cultural, etc situation in Country B.

Yes. It is one thing to want to understand all sides of an issue and another to presume it is your job to look for problems, identify the one correct “solution,” and then make it your business to see to it that it gets fixed. Pray for people who really are in that position, because they carry a heavy load. (And honestly, even those who hold those positions the most wisely seem very good at choosing their battles.)

Sometimes, the best thing to do when you seriously disagree with how someone in authority is doing something is to take yourself out of their sphere and let them do what they’re doing without the distraction of someone who can’t find a way to be a positive influence. Even when two people are rumored to be having a problem between the two of them, sometimes the best thing to do is to give them room to work it out in their own way. Listen, perhaps, if one or both of them need a listener, but let them take care of their own business. Hard to do, sometimes, but you’re right that sometimes being a “good Catholic” is as much in the ways we don’t allow ourselves to intervene as it is in the ways we respond when we have a real duty to intervene.

 

[yankeesouth]

It is one thing to want to understand all sides of an issue and another to presume it is your job to look for problems, identify the one correct “solution,” and then make it your business to see to it that it gets fixed

Aren’t we told from Scripture to do exactly that?

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry. - 2 Timothy 4:1-5

 

[yankeesouth]

So, with all that in mind, I’m just wondering if anybody here is, on balance, a happy Catholic who feels positive about the Church, is getting something positive out of their faith and also doesn’t have huge criticisms of/ problems with their fellow Catholics.

I happen to think it is a positive that we have many laity that are willing to do battle and not be lukewarm.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Just took the test, mine came out positive

Could not resist that one.

A RL friend came to see me today with the same “Church is falling apart, Don’t trust the Pope, etc.” feelings. I told her, if that is the case, we all need to pack up and go on our way. Either I believe that the Catholic Church is the truth or it is not, the sins of some of the humans inside it are not why I converted.

I see so many who consume a steady diet of outrage “news” that they lose their peace.

Christ came that we might have peace. I’m not going to let anyone steal that from me.

 

[sainteriksrose]

LOVE our Church!!!

It was founded by God and His priests are AMAZING. And the members are very dear…

We have to remember that people can learn over time. That said, in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, none of us knows how much time we have.

So then, like one of those wonderful priests said in his homily, we should always have our spiritual lives in order. And another wonderful priest recommended confession once a month.

Too, we should remember that the sins of its members are OUR doing, and not God’s. And so we pray, “Look not on our sins but on the FAITH of Your Church.”…

PLUS…

John 6:48-58, 20:23, etc.

Not to mention…everything else.

This is the Church founded by God, Who breathed the same air we do. How could we KNOW this, and leave???

 

[SMHW]

I don’t consider myself an overly positive person. In fact I can kind of be a Debbie Downer.

But while I sometimes cynically roll my eyes over things going on in the Church, am occasionally horrified by certain people in the Church, and just plain don’t like some things about the Church, I think I am generally more positive about the Church than I am about other things.

I LOVE my parish. It is a source of great joy to me. But even if I didn’t like my parish, I still trust that the Catholic Church has the Truth.

 

[Irishmom2]

But even if I didn’t like my parish, I still trust that the Catholic Church has the Truth.

I feel the same way.

 

[sainteriksrose]

Good!

None of us are Catholics because we like or don’t like the Popes. They are members just like we are, with different responsibilities than we each as unique individuals have.

And we all know Who we’re going to answer to, too.

 

[Neithan]

I think we’re at a nadir in church history and so much still needs to change with clerical governance, moral and financial. There is still not nearly enough transparency. It’s definitely not the New Springtime that St. JP2 spoke about yet. But I believe that’s going to happen eventually (sooner in Africa and Asia). We may not be at midwinter yet either, though. It’s not quite as terrible as the church was 1,000 years ago, but it’s bad. I empathize with the negativity, although it really doesn’t help for us to stew about in it with each other. That’s why I’m really appreciative of the opportunity for dialogue here with nones/agnostics/atheists. This is a forum for evangelization, not for complaints.

 

[amazingcatholic]

I am worried about the future of the Church. One thing I like to tell myself though is that no church is perfect. I believe that even though there are scandals and there is a pope I disagree with, the Catholic Church is amazing. I never regretted deciding to become Catholic. My soon-to-be parish is awesome. The priest is fantastic! I know that there are many wonderful priests out there.

 

[7_Sorrows]

@Tis_Bearself

Sadly I read that since the year 2000 conversions to
Catholicism has dropped 46% in the United States.
This is not good news. The numbers used to be close to 100,000 annually.

I am a convert since 2008. I love the Catholic church but I think the church has definitely been hurt by the
sex abuse scandal. We cannot let this conversion rate keep dropping because there are aslso people who leave the Catholic church annually and there are many lost because they die.

We need to increase the conversion rate again and keep those who will be the next generation - those in their teens and 20’s in the church.

@Tis_Bearself

 

[Convert3]

With instant information from around the world 24/7, we are overwhelmed with troubles that are highlighted by various forms of media, making things appear much worse than they used to be. They are not.
Many Catholics do wonderful things for people in need, that often don’t make the news. In our own diocese much is done to help those in need. My parish has many people that are joyful, positive in thinking and action, good Catholics. I’ve only been a Catholic coming up three years in April. I don’t see the judgmental people I saw in Protestant churches. I know they exist, but not that I’ve seen. Maybe I’ve learned to block out the negative. I see it here, but don’t dwell on it. People say too much on the Internet.
We have a new Archbishop coming to Phildelphia to celebrate and thank our Lord for bringing him to us, and we must pray for his success.

 

[neophyte]

So, with all that in mind, I’m just wondering if anybody here is, on balance, a happy Catholic who feels positive about the Church…

Sure, there are and always have been things that are messed up within the church. And I don’t see how anyone could possibly argue against the claim that “not enough people bother to practice their religion or go to Mass”.

But how can anyone not feel positive about the Bride of Christ, which God himself promised to guide to Truth?

 

[MNathaniel]

Catholics paint such a miserable picture of the Church that I sometimes think it is only by the grace of the Holy Spirit that anyone would want to join it or remain a member.

That’s true though. Speaking as a recent convert, it is only by the grace of the Holy Spirit that anyone joins/remains in the Church God established. God loves us, so He allows us to be tested: circumstances shake, and everything that can fail does fail, as Satan ‘sifts us like wheat’. It is only through the graces of the Father and Holy Spirit, clinging to the person of Christ (communicated through Christ’s Catholic Church) that we remain on the rock of the Church Christ established.

Human leadership DOES fail (plenty are bumbling and corrupt, indeed). Not enough people DO practice. Many of those who show up ARE sinning privately. Many parishes DON’T do enough.

And yet… God Himself IS enough. He is enough for each of us. If we cling to Him, we won’t be shaken off – and He will always protect His Church (and us) sufficiently that the remnant of we who trust in Him will remain, no matter what else happens. And He will make each of us – who truly trust Him – into the change the Church needs.

So I personally feel pretty positive, all the time No matter what’s going on. And I think it’s a false premise to say that acknowledging concerning realities conflicts with ultimately being “positive”. Indeed, I think a ‘positivity’ that roots itself in needing to think that external stuff is good, is ultimately going to fail and become negative when reality hits and the external stuff proves fallible. Only a positivity that can remain positive AMONG openly-acknowledged-negative, is truly positive.