Lost in the Catholic Church

[brotherhrolf]

Bloody Sassenachs

It is far better to show them the error of their ways. They let us starve in 1847. The granaries were full but they let us starve. God have mercy on their souls. Let us let Bob defend such an action in light of the Word of God. “I was hungry and you gave me to eat”. No, I’m not going to look up chapter and verse. The Word of God was implanted in my soul as a Catholic. What is more important: the ability to cite chapter and verse or the fact that the seed of the Word of God was implanted in your heart? Cite away, Bob, cite away. The graneries were full, Bob. There was no reason for the diaspora to America. The graneries were full. Explain that to me, Bob.

 

[East_and_West]

I was Baptised in a Chapel in County Derry,N.Ireland and have attented Mass regulary and recieved Holy Comunion for near 30 years. I am not a Protestant and i never will be as they have just as much to answer for as the Catholic Church does. The Religions of this Earth are man-made and there-fore suit their own political agenda.Pleasing Governments all along the way. You ask “why is this post doing here?” Because i found Jesus and i want to let others who feel lost in their Church, regardless of Religion or creed that there is a light. Jesus Christ. He saved my life.

Actually, you have found a human invention that you think is Jesus. What you have really found is the warm fuzzies of heresy. If you had found Jesus, you would be Catholic because the Catholic Church is his body. It was founded by him. This is the historical reality.

 

[kungfubob]

Just because i have found God outside the Catholic Church does not give any of you the right to put me down as some of you have made clear. Alot of you wonder why young people are turning away from the catholic church and the answer is quite clear, people like you,with your holier than thou attitude,are turning the people in most need of God away,leaving them confused and isolated,lonely because no-one will listen to them.Its no wonder there are so many suicides among the youth of today.Some of you people,and i do say some,as not all of your comments have been negative are ignorant.I have read Thomas and i know how he had doubts about Jesus’s resurection and Jesus came back to him to show him the way. I have full belief in Christ and i know what he has done for me

 

[Miles_Mariae]

Actually, you have found a human invention that you think is Jesus. What you have really found is the warm fuzzies of heresy. If you had found Jesus, you would be Catholic because the Catholic Church is his body. It was founded by him. This is the historical reality.

Yeah, this is basically it. Sorry buddy, we’re not being holier-than-thou, but the facts are the facts. Call it righter-than-thou if you must.

 

[christcnection1]

Just because i have found God outside the Catholic Church does not give any of you the right to put me down as some of you have made clear. Alot of you wonder why young people are turning away from the catholic church and the answer is quite clear, people like you,with your holier than thou attitude,are turning the people in most need of God away,leaving them confused and isolated,lonely because no-one will listen to them.Its no wonder there are so many suicides among the youth of today.Some of you people,and i do say some,as not all of your comments have been negative are ignorant.I have read Thomas and i know how he had doubts about Jesus’s resurection and Jesus came back to him to show him the way. I have full belief in Christ and i know what he has done for me

And did Jesus intend for His Church to be dead, lost in heresy and theological darkness for about 1,500 years until Martin Luther and others set things straight? And the Reformation had nothing to do with power and money?

If God allowed His people to be as lost as you believe the Catholic Church is, He is neither a God of love nor compassion. (God would not have waited so long )

No, the Catholic Church was not lost now and it was not lost then.

I also suggest that refrain from judgment of people’s hearts and “holier than thou” attitude. We are all in need of forgiveness, mercy, and healing.

I would also suggest that suicides and the rejection of all churches has more to do with secularization. There is no institution in the world that does more for the marginalized, health care, and education than the Catholic Church. How is that for love?

Unless you are being disingenuous here (and unfortunately some of us have reason to suspect), it’s my guess that your personal experience has been unfortunate. Nearly all of us have found our peace, joy, and fulfillment in Mother Church. Under different circumstances, maybe you would have too.

Perhaps there is a reason hundreds of former Protestant ministers and pastors have converted to the Catholic faith in recent years? Although it doesn’t necessarily prove anything, it is something to bear in mind.

In His Love,
JB

 

[Ravyn_Guiliani]

I was Baptised in a Chapel in County Derry,N.Ireland and have attented Mass regulary and recieved Holy Comunion for near 30 years. I am not a Protestant and i never will be as they have just as much to answer for as the Catholic Church does. The Religions of this Earth are man-made and there-fore suit their own political agenda.Pleasing Governments all along the way. You ask “why is this post doing here?” Because i found Jesus and i want to let others who feel lost in their Church, regardless of Religion or creed that there is a light. Jesus Christ. He saved my life.

so your intent is to turn people away from the Catholic Church and proselytize? uh excuse me…Moderator!

 

[scott1228]

Bob:

Hopeful was not referring to the episode in the gospels about St. Thomas after the Resurrection, but the Gospel of Thomas.

You really have read that?

Do you consider it to be the Word of God?

Historians place it in the Apostolic Age.

So my question for you is, if you do not accept it, why? If you do not, aren’t you implicitly accepting the authority and tradition of the CATHOLIC Church that formed the canon?

Also, it is a little tiresome to engage in smart-alecky-ness and then complain about the attitude of those that respond to you.

God Bless,

Scott

 

[bpbasilphx]

Propaganda? Everything i have stated is known fact.

Known to people who don’t know any better.

 

[FCEGM]

Just because i have found God outside the Catholic Church does not give any of you the right to put me down as some of you have made clear. . . .

You might consider just what your intent was, then, in posting here at CAF to begin with. Was it not to put Catholics and Catholicism “down” now that you have found a relationship with Christ you say you never had before?

It’s good that you have found Christ, but you do so outside of the Church He Himself founded. Once you can see your way clear back to His Church by prayer and studying what the Church actually teaches and why, then you will find Him much more fully than you presently do. As was previously mentioned, this discovery of Christ AND His Catholic Church has been made by thousands of Catholics who for a time thought they knew better and by Protestants - including many Protestant ministers in very recent years; when your time comes, I pray you will not be too proud to acknowledge your willful abandonment of Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic and Church. Truth is accessed by humility.

I would suggest reading through the Catholic Answers library linked above; you will find many excellent articles that will help you discover just what you have actually left - what you have left behind is a strawman you have erected.

I have full belief in Christ and i know what he has done for me

A full belief in Christ includes the embrace of His Body, the Church.

 

[loscampos]

As far as Christ or the church i choose both. Remember Jesus is to the church as husband is to his wife. Which is telling us they are one union. And i hear alot of Catholics that belive all i have to do is what the bible says and not some priest or church. In theory that is fine, but how do account for all of the things Jesus tells us to specifically do: Just to name a few

confess your sins to one another
Unless you eat this bread you have no life
Intercede on behalf of each other
take up your cross
go to the church to settle disputes
go and baptize all nations
hold fast to traditions
work out your salvation
binding and loosing of sins carries over to heaven

the list could go on

my point is that it is easy to say i follow the word of God, but when you ask what does it mean to follow all of God’s rules and commandments, it is clear it takes more than one’s own self interpretation 2 Pet 1:20.

 

[scott1228]

loscampos:

thanks for pointing that out, about a man and women being one, and how that relates to the Lord and the Church.

beautiful!

Scott

 

[jmeyer3131]

As others have pointed out, your post shows no understanding of Church teachings. However, since Church wealth seems to be an issue and nobody has addressed that, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and give you a link that might clarify that issue a bit:

davidmacd.com/catholic/isn_church_rich.htm

 

[dyspepsic]

Im a 29 years old male and i come from a strong Irish Catholic background.My mother is a Eucharistic minister and the community i live in is small and close knit.
Over the past few years i have looked at my faith in the Church and i found that i was completly lost. i asked myself, “Why do i feel this way?”
All my life i have had the Catholic “Religion” forced upon me by my mother,my priests and school teachers all of whom (as im older and more educated now, i realise) have mis-led me in so many ways via rituals and sacriligous worship,alot of which actually comes from paganism
I questioned my faith, asking myself " Do i even believe in God!?
I now know that God DOES exist and Jesus is my Saviour but for a long time i was very lost and now i know why.
The basic fundamentals of the Catholic Church revolve around money as do the vast majority of Churches.Every Sunday i went to mass but i wasnt learning anything about God and how he loves me.i was learning nothing and getting more confused within myself.
My head master in school was a priest and a very evil man like alot of priests (im not saying that all are like this but alot are). He constantly mentally,physically and sexually abused pupils and all the while everyone knew about him but were afraid to speak out as he was “a pillar of society” and any questions asked upon him were shot down by Bishops and “the other pillars within the Church” I,like many young people was blinded by these “pillars”
I am now glad to say that i have left the Catholic Church and since i have,i have now found God through Jesus Christ and everyday is a blessing. I read the bible with joy as im learning and gaining knowledge that the Catholic Church would not have given me.
Many of you reading this may not like what you read but what i learned is that “i dont need a priest/bishop or the pope to get to Heaven. Praying at statues wont get me to Heaven.Saying a million Hail Mary’s and rosarys wont get me into Heaven.I could do good works for all my life and i would not get to Heaven. So i asked myself “How DO i get to Heaven?”.
The answer is by reading and studying the words of Christ Himself and asking Him to come into my life and into my soul to fill the emptyness that the Catholic Church left in me.
Jesus said” The only way to Heaven and God the Father is through me and only me".
Those are the words of Christ Himself and no priest/pastor/or pope can disagree with that.The Catholic Church is the most wealthy organisation on Earth and thats a fact and at every mass/funeral/wedding/baptism they get a little more richer.They have the wealth to wipe out the third-world hunger but every Sunday priests across the world make us feel guilty so we will pay more into the basket for the starving children,but in reality the vast majority of the money taken in each week goes to fund evil doings and sheer greed.Let me say that the Catholic Church isnt alone on this subject as 95% of all Churches do just the same.
Jesus’s love is free. He did not preach in huge marble and gold laden Churches or from altars made from the most finest materials known to man.He did not wear the finest silk garments or jewels. He preached the Word of God in fields,on hills,in humble homes. Did Jesus charge for this service? no he didnt,God’s Love is Free.Jesus asked us to accept Him as the Saviour of Man-kind and pray to Him for forgiveness,and use the Ten Commandments as a guide to living a wholesome life,occasionally we will sin and fall but Jesus will Forgive us if we are true in our hearts to Him and eventually we will sin less.
So to you i ask the question,what is more important the Catholic Church or Jesus Christ? i know who i choose,do you?

You are quite mixed up. The Mystical Body of Jesus Christ is the Church.

 

[Tonks40]

Bob -

I congratulate you on finding God outside of the Church. In fact, many of us have, even some cradle Catholics. I pray that you will one day again see Christ fully in Eucharist in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

God Bless.

 

[latinmasslover]

So to you i ask the question,what is more important the Catholic Church or Jesus Christ? i know who i choose,do you?

Jesus Christ and His actual words, not commentary of those who lived 1500 years later. Jesus Christ established a Church and told us to be obedient to that Church because He will send the Holy Ghost to lead her into all truth.

Let me ask you this:

What does Jesus Christ say about the Bible? Compare that to what He said about the Church. Reject this, you reject Him all for the sake of feeling good.

 

[RC_Matt]

Just because i have found God outside the Catholic Church does not give any of you the right to put me down as some of you have made clear. Alot of you wonder why young people are turning away from the catholic church and the answer is quite clear, people like you,with your holier than thou attitude,are turning the people in most need of God away,leaving them confused and isolated,lonely because no-one will listen to them.Its no wonder there are so many suicides among the youth of today.Some of you people,and i do say some,as not all of your comments have been negative are ignorant.I have read Thomas and i know how he had doubts about Jesus’s resurection and Jesus came back to him to show him the way. I have full belief in Christ and i know what he has done for me

Dude, I’m glad you found a place that make you comfortable; that’s cool. However, before you go accusing others of being “holier than thou,” perhaps you should first review your own posts. In the second place, before you go spewing that bigoted intolerant garbage about money, statues, popes, et. al. (and YOU of ALL people should know better than to do that), remember that you are speaking to Catholics. What are you thinking? Do you really expect that vitriol to be well received here? If you get off your high horse for a moment and look around you, you will see many, many people who have paid a very high price to keep their Catholic faith. I can’t speak for the others here, but your new religion appears to be not much more than another spin on the “same old, same old.”

Gach beannacht,
Mata

 

[latinmasslover]

Just because i have found God outside the Catholic Church does not give any of you the right to put me down as some of you have made clear.

But you have the right to come onto a Catholic forum and bash Catholicism?

Alot of you wonder why young people are turning away from the catholic church and the answer is quite clear, people like you,with your holier than thou attitude,are turning the people in most need of God away,leaving them confused and isolated,lonely because no-one will listen to them.[/QUOTES]

No, young people leave God because they’re being taught the Protestant theology, “to each his own,” believe what you like…need I continue? There are no absolutes, there are no standards. No wonder people leave God? What’s the point in uniting to a God that expects nothing more than the pagan gods.

Its no wonder there are so many suicides among the youth of today.

And yet among all religions, suicide is lowest among Catholicism.

Some of you people,and i do say some,as not all of your comments have been negative are ignorant.I have read Thomas and i know how he had doubts about Jesus’s resurection and Jesus came back to him to show him the way. I have full belief in Christ and i know what he has done for me

The Church has known and taught this for 2008 years. Just because you had bad examples in your life does not mean that Jesus Christ did not establish the Church. Remember Judas? Your mentality seems to be that one should abandon Jesus because, after all, Judas betrayed Him and Peter denied Him.

I had horrible Catholic examples in my life and ended up leaving the Church. Then I got my head on straight and realized that I cannot abandon God just because others do, and I can’t disobey Him, leave the Church that He established, because I don’t have a case of the constant “feel-goods.”

You really ought to read up on the history of Christianity before abandoning it. Jesus did not write the Bible, and He did not command anyone to write anything. He established a Church, and told us to obey that Church. That is in the Bible.

If this sounds harsh then I apologize, it’s not meant that way. Peace.

Marie

 

[latinmasslover]

Just because i have found God outside the Catholic Church does not give any of you the right to put me down as some of you have made clear.

But you have the right to come onto a Catholic forum and bash Catholicism?

Alot of you wonder why young people are turning away from the catholic church and the answer is quite clear, people like you,with your holier than thou attitude,are turning the people in most need of God away,leaving them confused and isolated,lonely because no-one will listen to them.

No, young people leave the Catholic Church because they’re being taught the Protestant theology, “to each his own,” believe what you like, one way of worship is just as good as any other…in short, because they’re being taught Protestantism and not Catholicism. Some Catholics are so worried about offending nonCatholic Christians that they teach lies. There are no absolutes, there are no standards. No wonder people leave God and His Church? What’s the point in uniting to a God that expects nothing more than the pagan gods. This is the Protestant god.

Its no wonder there are so many suicides among the youth of today.

And yet among all religions, suicide is lowest among Catholicism.

Some of you people,and i do say some,as not all of your comments have been negative are ignorant.I have read Thomas and i know how he had doubts about Jesus’s resurection and Jesus came back to him to show him the way. I have full belief in Christ and i know what he has done for me

The Church has known and taught this for 2008 years. Just because you had bad examples in your life does not mean that Jesus Christ did not establish the Church. Remember Judas? Your mentality seems to be that one should abandon Jesus because, after all, Judas betrayed Him and Peter denied Him.

I had horrible Catholic examples in my life and ended up leaving the Church. Then I got my head on straight and realized that I cannot abandon God just because others do, and I can’t disobey Him, leave the Church that He established, because I don’t have a case of the constant “feel-goods.”

You really ought to read up on the history of Christianity before abandoning it. Jesus did not write the Bible, and He did not command anyone to write anything. He established a Church, and told us to obey that Church. That is in the Bible.

If this sounds harsh then I apologize, it’s not meant that way. Peace.

Marie

 

[tomarin]

Im a 29 years old male and i come from a strong Irish Catholic background.My mother is a Eucharistic minister and the community i live in is small and close knit.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen famously said "There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church— which is, of course, quite a different thing.”

I think this applies very much to your post with all the boilerplate anti-catholic distortions of what we do and believe. Even a Catholic child knows we don’t “pray to statues”.

Get to really know catholicism on its own terms before you bash it – and i think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.

 

[krissy343]

Many of you reading this may not like what you read but what i learned is that "i dont need a priest/bishop or the pope to get to Heaven. Praying at statues wont get me to Heaven.Saying a million Hail Mary’s and rosarys wont get me into Heaven.I could do good works for all my life and i would not get to Heaven. So i asked myself “How DO i get to Heaven?”.

I truly would like to address some of the other things you have said, but that will have to be at a later time. However, I really feel the need to address the above.

Are you SURE you were Catholic? No Catholic I have ever spoken to has ever believed the above. The Catholic Church does NOT teach that we need to do the above to get into heaven. I’m sorry that you had such a hard time with the CC in past, but if you truly believe the above, I can see why. You were severely mis-informed. Sheesh, if the above were taught by the CC, I’d find it ludicrous and leave too!
I’m in no way shape or form trying to attack you, but before you come on here trying to explain why the CC is so wrong, at least get your facts straight on what the Church truly teaches.
God bless and I’ll be back later.