Leaving the church

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George,

Don’t leave Peter because of Judas. The Catholic Church is THEE church Jesus himself founded. No matter how bad some of the priests are Jesus said that he would always be with His church until the end of time. So George if Jesus can do it than so can we. Don’t let Satan win by getting you away from receiving Our Lord.

We have had our share of rough times with priests minimalizing the Mass, making things that should be important not important. There are good priests out there. You just need to continue to search and then also study on your own through Catholic Answers, Saint Joseph Communications www.saintjoe.com and Father Corapi. Buy tapes from Saint Joseph Communications from Father William Casey and Father Shannon Collins to help enrich and learn your faith. Get Father Corapi’s videos or find out when he will be in your town at his website, I think it is www.fathercorapi.com. Churches that have him come to give talks will more than likely be pretty orthodox.

I only say this because 10 years ago I came really close to just giving up and leaving the church. Only until I began to study and learn my faith did I realize that I am not going to let Satan win and keep me away from the Eucharist.

God Bless,
Gail
 
God bless you, George…I know how disheartening it is to be treated badly by someone who is supposed to be Christ’s representative. My response to you is:
  1. You must be going to be used by Our Lord in a mighty way, otherwise Satan wouldn’t be putting so many obstacles in your path, trying to discourage you as Christ’s instrument.
  2. He told us to be leaven…you can do tremendous good by being just that – leaven – and how desperately it’s needed.
  3. Prayer can move mountains (and curmudgeonly priests). Let it change your heart first…then trust in Him to change whatever is according to His will.
In the meantime, I’ll be praying for you. Keep the Faith! It’s our most precious gift.

Maresiedotes
 
latinmass.org/states/florida.html When there is alot of confusion, go back to a place where there was/is clarity. When was the last time you heard of liturgical abuse in the Latin Mass? Excluding the good folks on the outs with Rome!
 
My wife drug me kicking and screaming to her childhood Catholic Church for the first time, and I fell in love with it. I had been raised on the protestant side of things and I always had a problem with those preachers. Not to say that there arn’t good ones, but the few that I observed seemed to be doin’ it for the money (my impression). Realizing that the Priest in our RCC had a Masters in Divinity, was once a successful scientist in the world and gave it all up for God - made a big difference to me. I have a cousin in the very same Church that was about to jump ship about five years ago. He just wasn’t getting anything out of it (cradle Catholic). He began to attend a evangelical Church and though that is was fantastic. However, his wife did not like it at all. She insisted that she would remain in the RCC and he could go do what he wanted. Then she prayed. Within a very short time, they were asked to volunteer as a RCIA sponsors. Now, they are involved in too many ministries to count and you couldn’t pry him out of that Church. It is all a matter of perspective and the enemy wants to cloud your judgement. Go back to that Church and tell them you want to get involved with a ministry. The Priest will likely pass out, but when he wakes up he give you a big RCC hug. Hang in their, pray about it, fight back, it is your soul and your salvation, don’t blow it on a bad experience…
Peace be with you…
 
There are charlatans in every profession. Priests are not exempt. Look at the bigger picture.
 
Hi George. I have to agree with everyone else’s sediments. The Bible warns us that there will always be both good and wicked people in the Church…but regarless of scandal, regardless of human failure, Christ’s keeps His Church and is faithful to His promises. The Church teaches Truth, and Truth is Christ…regardless of the failings of its leaders.
 
Momof9 said:
latinmass.org/states/florida.html When there is alot of confusion, go back to a place where there was/is clarity. When was the last time you heard of liturgical abuse in the Latin Mass? Excluding the good folks on the outs with Rome!
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I can remember serving Latin Masses on a regular basis in the 1950’s.and there were a few priests who said Mass at a speed
which suggested they were in a rush to catch a train afterwards.
When i was being the Altar Boy,i was obviously responding to the
priest in Latin,but when i was in the congregation i would be reading the English in my missal.I struggled to read the English as quick as the priest was reading the Latin.Admittedly,the priest was saying Mass every single day and could read quicker than a young boy.After the English Mass became the norm,a
Jesuit church in my part of the world still held a Latin Mass once a month.One particular priest would expect the congregation,not
just the Altar Boys,to respond in Latin.This was at a weekday evening Mass,when a lot of the people were from other parishes
and only worked nearby.How were we to know which day of the month was going to be the Latin Mass.He would be giving us the
Last Blessing and checking his watch for the time.Noone will ever convince me that the Latin Mass is better.
I have an acquaintance with a Protestant background who now thinks of himself as an atheist.He thought his former clergy were too concerned about their stipend.I had to
point out that these men had a family to support.I have heard of Ministers taking on larger parishes to get the bigger stipend.A
good reason to support celibacy in the Catholic Church.In addition,not every Minister is a pleasant character.We had a case in the last few years who was in Court over the way he punished his children.Anyone remember WW2 and how the
Japanese used a bamboo cane on the soles of the feet?I just
don’t remember if those children were beaten on the bare feet.
There are the Judases in every Church.Every time we sin we are a Judas.
 
Hi George

Here’s my prayers to u to be strong and to perservere… as many have shared, there are ‘weeds’ and ‘wheats’ in the Church… but don’t let the weeds get onto you… u will be taken care off by our Lord who never break a promise, continue to pray… be strong… just be in the household of our Lord, I am sure he will take care of you and your need…

be in my prayers

God Bless

little goblin
Singapore
 
George M.

I’m so sorry about this. I have my own bitterness (not nearly as big as yours). I’ve e-mailed my old parish 2 times, and I’m trying to be patient, but as you can see this problem I have is still live and open for me or I would have just forgotten this old parish and moved on.
Anyway, in your post you said that you are having a problem backing the Church that won’t even back you. I’m the unofficial pinkie toe in the Body of the Church…and I back you 👍 . I really do.
What I got from your post is that you’ve been hurt and it is hurting not only your relationship with the Church but also hurting your own spiritual life. I’m concerned that you need what you aren’t getting from the Church.
I suggest that most immediately you start listening to someone like Rosalind Moss, click on the RADIO link at the top and search their archive for her. She does touch on Apologetics, but the part that I think you need is her…I don’t know what to call it…holiness? No, LOVE …of Jesus, His Sacraments, of what you need to be fed.

Also start listening to some of the programs on this link ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/series_index.asp

That is what you can do now that you are at the computer, but once you go try to fight the good fight, I think you would be the best person for lay ministry in helping people through anullment application. Or even be part of the welcoming committee. We need people like you.

I’m not just trying to get you to stay by hook or crook (actually friends are starting conversations with me about Catholicism and I’m sooo hesitant even talking about it, but I will do it just as long as I"m being as truthful and honest as I can).
I hope we can be updated on what happens.
I will do my next three morning prayers for you.
 
Maybe I can get lucky today and bang on a few doors at the church and hopefully someone will be in and get this thing resolved. Thanks for all the support and God Bless all of you. George
 
George, how did it go? I hope that you managed to get a hold of a priest? But please remember, regardless of the sinfulness of it’s members, the Church remains the Church of Christ, the Pillar and Foundation of Truth. If it didn’t work, perhaps you need to write a letter to the bishop? God bless.
 
Robin L in TX said:
When I had been away from the Church for a number of years, I was trying to get to confession. There were two parishes nearby–you wouldn’t think it would be a problem. For three or four weeks, I tried to go before Easter Sunday. Each time I went, something happened to prevent me from confessing–one time the priest ran out just as I pulled up–he had an emergency,etc.
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Easter came and I was so disappointed not to be able to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist. My mother-in-law, God bless her, advised me to go, as Our Lord knew how hard I had been trying to go. So I prayed a fervent Act of Contrition, promising to go as soon as possible. I did, and it was wonderful, and I was the first in line the next Saturday
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I appreciate the concern your mother-in-law had, Robin, but she gave you erroneous advice, if you were in the state of mortal sin. If you were, then you had to wait for sacramental confession before receiving Communion.

An act of contrition, no matter how “fervent,” would not substitute. It substitutes only “in extremis,” and the situation, as you describe it, would not qualify. Not being able to receive Communion at Easter would have been a disappointment, but a mere disappointment doesn’t raise a situation to the “in extremis” level.

The Church has this rule because, absent sacramental confession, it takes an act of perfect contrition to remove a mortal sin. It is not possible to know with certainty, in the normal course of things, whether one reaches that level of contrition–in other words, it’s easy to fool onself. Thus the Church says one must go to confession in order to be certain of absolution.

In your case, since you were given erroneous advice and acted on it in good faith, you incurred no guilt for making an unworthy Communion, but you would not have received the graces of a worthy Communion either.

Of course, once you went to confession the following Saturday, everything was fixed. All this presumes you were in the state of mortal sin prior to speaking with your mother-in-law. (If not, never mind! :o )
 
George, don’t leave Peter because of Judas.

What you’ve gone through is bad, yes, but that’s because we have these people known as sinners in the Catholic Church.

That’s by Divine Design, the Church is a Hospital for Sinners, not a Hotel for saints only.

Find yourself a good parish (there’s lots of them) and practice your faith.
 
Well I tried again this weekend and nothing. I can’t believe what’s going on. The only thing I call think of is that I’m going outside my parish. I don’t have a problem getting my marriage blessed in this parrish if the priest would pick up the phone. Or get a answering machine. I talked to a few of my neighbors and they say he’s shy and doesn’t care for people. Oh well I’ll try and stay active on the forum but I think I’m going to pull the pin. I know the church has it’s law but when I was married it was blessed by an ordained Lutherian minister. What’s the difference? God Bless all of you and thanks for the support. George
 
George M:
Thanks for all the responses and they do help. I’m glad you can see where I’m coming from. There is a lot of fundamentalism down here and I find it hard to back a church that wont back me.Thanks again and God Bless George
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Hopefully this forum helps you to remember that the Church is much bigger than one parish or even one diocese. It includes the entire Communion of Saints.
 
George M:
I know the church has it’s law but when I was married it was blessed by an ordained Lutherian minister. What’s the difference?
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There is a difference. It is in the interest of everyone, including the couple, the Church, and society as a whole that we know when a valid marriage exists. To this end laws were created to ensure that we know when a couple is validly married.

It is kind of like when a legal document is not valid unless it is notarized. A notary’s seal is required by law because it makes it easier for the state to determine the validity of the document.

Likewise, the Church has used its authority to bind and loose to establish constraints that must be met by its members in order for them to validly enter marriage. This makes it easier for the Church to teach the doctrine of the indissoluability of sacramental marriage.
 
George M:
Well I tried again this weekend and nothing. I can’t believe what’s going on. The only thing I call think of is that I’m going outside my parish. I don’t have a problem getting my marriage blessed in this parrish if the priest would pick up the phone. Or get a answering machine. I talked to a few of my neighbors and they say he’s shy and doesn’t care for people. Oh well I’ll try and stay active on the forum but I think I’m going to pull the pin. I know the church has it’s law but when I was married it was blessed by an ordained Lutherian minister. What’s the difference? God Bless all of you and thanks for the support. George
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You’re not required to stay in that parish, especially considering what’s going on!! You can go to any Catholic Church that makes you feel welcome. That was one of the first things I asked!! You’re going to laugh, but you know how I found my church? I went on MapQuest, and asked for Roman Catholic Churches within a 10 mile radius. Then I looked them up on the web for one that looked like the best fit for me. Maybe try that. A lot of them have their bulletins on line nowadays so you can get a feel for how welcoming and available they are, and get their e-mail addresses or office hours and stuff that way… Just a thought.
 
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