**Well, the Church increasingly feels just as frustrated of her members, as vice versa. Both forgot, how togetherness works. I too know a lot of Priests who “do their job” but sadly enough avoid further contacts as “off topic”. Members of the parish avoid each other and so on.
However, my friends an I are most disappointed of Priests, though they do not represent THE CHURCH but actually ought to serve her. Ought to, but their stiff upper lip doesn’t allow them to mix up with ordinary folks like me. So, I’m as frustrated as you.
Some even think, I’m a proper antichrist, as I do go to church not when the calendar says so, but when I feel so. Church isn’t God, and God you can “have” an time, any situation, any place, as long as you like.
Don’t let the church tell you, it’s a sin not regularly go to church. Don’t burden more sins upon you, then you commit anyway. Go to Church when you want to be closer to God, to thank being allowed to be such near.
Well, I too haven’t had much luck so far as to hearing that “my fellow Catholics have found that Christ, that being Catholic gives them a sense of peace and joy; a sense that the Church makes their day to day lives better, happier, more fulfilled”. That’s because most of them are either to wishy-washy Christians, or too fanatic in ACTING AFTER RULES INSTEAD OF ACTING AFTER DESIRE.
Now, what’s very important on this point is: Catholicism does not bring you believe. The devil Hitler was Rom. Catholic. It’s the desire to be a Christian, which you are only then, if you have this desire to follow Jesus Christ, because you believe in His word.
Catholic was every Christian until Luther’s schism and short time later King Henry VIII, when the Protestants separated and later on kept separating, over and over again into hundreds of “Christian Churches”.
So; Catholic is neither guaranty or warranty, nor a brand, but it’s the original Christianity.
True, before Luther pointed it out, the one and only Church (Catholic and Orthodox) had made many mistakes. Though, the reason for the schism was rather political fortune of some kings and princes than religious reasons. Even though Luther made some basic theological mistakes, his until today endless protesting Church, separated from the original. Church, Pope and Christians made a huge mistake letting things run this way. The simple monk Luther became tool in the hands of politics. Luther’s basic theological mistakes survived however in all the many protestant denominations until this day.
So let’s be glad about being born into the original church of Jesus Christ.
What am I saying this for? Because Catholicism itself, doesn’t give you “a sense of peace and joy; a sense that the Church makes their day to day lives better, happier, more fulfilled”.
Christianity does! . . . It does then, if and when and as son as we really open ourselves to Jesus Christ.
I know a lot of people and sadly enough Priests too, whom you wouldn’t really mix up with, even though you find these members of Cath. Parishes every Sunday in church – yes, even every day. They have a lot of sweet words, golden framed and true, but what they do not have is love. St. Peter was the first Pope and he said: Even if we where spoke in Angels tongues and fulfil all rules of Christianity but had no love, we where nothing but a hollow bowl. And so said St. Paul in 1Cor. 13:1
Yes, I too am afraid, I haven’t had much luck so far with my fellow Christians. But – what about if we started to “gives others a sense of peace and joy; a sense that the Christianity makes their day to day lives better, happier, more fulfilled”. In that case, we would show probable cause that makes Christianity creditable out of own experience.
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Krippenfiguren at
t-online.de
). The Church, the Pope, the Cardinals and Bishops know that. Therefore the struggle will go on to absolutely and without mistake follow Christ. And that’s why the Church calls herself the continuously renewing: