Is the Catholic Church the right place?

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UUTDad said:
I get your point, but you do realize, that if everyone who refused to follow ALL of the church’s teachings suddenly left, the pews would be almost empty.

The church has enough issues with declining attendance. This would be like the final nail in the coffin. Besides, the church wants money from all of the people, whether they follow ALL of the teachings or not.
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There is no “final nail in the coffin” for the Catholic Church. Didn’t you learn when you were being “raised catholic” that Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church?

Of all the nasty comments I see on the internet, the ones claiming to be leaving the Church and taking their wallets with them strike me as the most insincere. As often as not, those who shout loudest about what they contribute (to any cause or organisation) are the ones who give the least or don’t give at all. No Catholic believes he can buy his way into Heaven.
 
IA_Catholic said:
You have to have faith that God has them there on Easter & Christmas for a reason.
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I have always thought that at least some of the people who are there only on Easter or at Christmas are there not because they have the gift of faith, but because they love their grandmothers. It makes me think: Bless their hearts. It may not be an act of faith, but it is an act of love, and knowing that might be coming from a heart not given the grace of faith, but a heart that wants to please someone they love instead of pleasing themselves, who is willing to put up with what would otherwise make them very uncomfortable in order to bring peace and happiness to a family gathering, that has to count with Heaven, too. It is not how much we offer, but how much of what we get that we offer back, and only the Lord knows that.
 
Suslar said:
Is the Catholic Church the right place for someone who admits to being unfaithful in the practice?
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It’s the right place for everyone to be, especially those who want to become better.
 
october_baby said:
I think that if our priest’s started preaching orthodoxy (IE, the real presence,birth control,
Hell,homosexuailty,abortion, and other orthodox subjects.) the pews would be a
more empty. As St. Paul said" in the last days people will look for doctrine that will
tickle the ears.
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Exactly. I know some people on CAF live in areas where people have lots of access to orthodox Catholic worship and fellowship, but many of us don’t. If you want to hear about sin and those “controversial” parts of the catechism in my area, frankly, you have to drive out to Malibu and ask Mel Gibson if he’ll let you in.

I have NEVER heard a priest speak about more than a vague idea of “doing good” and “charity.” Even the prayer of the faithful asks that we pray “For an increased awareness of life issues” instead of “for an end to abortion ans euthanasia.”

If priests started asking people to be accountable to the catechism, we’d have a natural falling away of heretical thinkers AND and increase of orthodoxy amongst some of the ignorant faithful.
 
aspirant said:
It’s the right place for everyone to be, especially those who want to become better.
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What if the person has absolutely no desire to become better because she believes “God loves her exactly the way she is” . . .she refuses to take direction from anyone, criticizes those who try to offer her advice & education, and brags about her refusal to follow Church teaching? She believes with all her heart that she is a"a good Catholic".
 
Suslar said:
What if the person has absolutely no desire to become better because she believes “God loves her exactly the way she is” . . .she refuses to take direction from anyone, criticizes those who try to offer her advice & education, and brags about her refusal to follow Church teaching? She believes with all her heart that she is a"a good Catholic".
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If this person is bothering you so much and disturbing your peace, you should ask yourself why. You should pray to Christ that He gives you His peace, & say prayers and offer sacrifices for this ‘lost soul’ as you see it. Ask Our Lord to convert this poor person with His love - as only He can! & encourage this person, if you can manage it, to seek Him with all their heart and to never give up trying to understand. He loves her as much as He loves you.
 
Joy2day said:
If this person is bothering you so much and disturbing your peace, you should ask yourself why. You should pray to Christ that He gives you His peace, & say prayers and offer sacrifices for this ‘lost soul’ as you see it. Ask Our Lord to convert this poor person with His love - as only He can! & encourage this person, if you can manage it, to seek Him with all their heart and to never give up trying to understand. He loves her as much as He loves you.
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Oh thank you.
Nope, not disturbing my peace, I don’t even know the person - except for the nasty names she called me on another thread. And I have been praying for her and encouraging others she has slandered to pray for her too. She really needs prayer!

But my question was more in general . . .we have an entire generation (roughly ages 35-50) who were very poorly catechized but they think they know everything because they attended Catholic schools for 8 or 12 years - but didn’t learn much based on what they post and say. How can we help to convert them if they don’t want to be converted but insisted their ways are valid and they are still “true” Catholics? How can we be a part of the New Evangelization when this population is constantly threatening to leave the Church?
 
Suslar,

PM her. She PMed me, and we cleared things up. It’ll make both of you feel better! 🙂
 
Joy2day said:
If this person is bothering you so much and disturbing your peace, you should ask yourself why. You should pray to Christ that He gives you His peace, & say prayers and offer sacrifices for this ‘lost soul’ as you see it. Ask Our Lord to convert this poor person with His love - as only He can! & encourage this person, if you can manage it, to seek Him with all their heart and to never give up trying to understand. He loves her as much as He loves you.
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👍
Suslar said:
we have an entire generation (roughly ages 35-50) who were very poorly catechized but they think they know everything because they attended Catholic schools for 8 or 12 years - but didn’t learn much based on what they post and say.
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Catechize! Proclaim, support, promote, and defend the truth with charity and respect.
 
Suslar said:
But my question was more in general . . .we have an entire generation (roughly ages 35-50) who were very poorly catechized but they think they know everything because they attended Catholic schools for 8 or 12 years - but didn’t learn much based on what they post and say. How can we help to convert them if they don’t want to be converted but insisted their ways are valid and they are still “true” Catholics? How can we be a part of the New Evangelization when this population is constantly threatening to leave the Church?
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Let us just say that there was a reason the Lord didn’t set up His Bride the Church to be a democracy. It is worrisome that some in the laity seem bent on taking over the Church by force. That is not going to happen, but they could manage to wrestle away some real estate and lead many unknowing people away from the faith. If that happens, it will be tragic, so we do need to take these trends seriously.

Still, I have a friend, a self-defined progressive, who was depressed because the majority of the priests being ordained these days “are so traditional”. I said, “Is this some surprise? The ‘progressives’ don’t raise their sons to be priests, only their daughters!” The progressives have their hopes up about Pope Francis loosening things up that Pope Benedict had tightened, but I believe they are going to be very much disappointed.
 
EasterJoy said:
Let us just say that there was a reason the Lord didn’t set up His Bride the Church to be a democracy. It is worrisome that some in the laity seem bent on taking over the Church by force. That is not going to happen, but they could manage to wrestle away some real estate and lead many unknowing people away from the faith. If that happens, it will be tragic, so we do need to take these trends seriously.

Still, I have a friend, a self-defined progressive, who was depressed because the majority of the priests being ordained these days “are so traditional”. I said, “Is this some surprise? The ‘progressives’ don’t raise their sons to be priests, only their daughters!” The progressives have their hopes up about Pope Francis loosening things up that Pope Benedict had tightened, but I believe they are going to be very much disappointed.
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Ralph Peters In his book “Romeo Bravo” states “liberals didn’t join the military, and wondered
why it was traditional and conservative.”
Besides even if a progressive sent their son to seminary, chances are, they will turn out
orthodox.
 
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