Name 3 reasons you are not Catholic (yet).

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HOW do you know what IS true oral tradition and what isn’t?
How do I know what is true oral Tradition?

I personally know because the Holy Spirit led me to this truth, His Church, the pillar and foundation of truth(1Tim3:15).

How about you?
 
One year ago, I began a spiritual journey (sannyasi in Hindi) as an adult. I decided that rather than take on all the beliefs and ideals - and divinities - of other religions, I would concentrate on the faith into which I was born - Christianity.

Although I am a baptised Canadian Baptist (note Canadian - nothing to do with American), I decided I would make my journey within the paradigm of the Catholic Church. Currently I attend mass 3 times a week, RCIA, retreats and workshops, church twice on Sunday. I have been given a spiritual director non pareil. My closest working colleague of 30 years is a loving Jesuit of international eminence. My retreat spiritual director is a greatly loved retired Bishop.

I was doing OK with my SDs, my reading, my listening, my being with Christ, and in Christ. He had been with me throughout a difficult career around the world, and protected, guided and comforted me in many hard conditions.

And then I hit this Forum. Suddenly it was all change. What had been a quiet relationship with Our Lord was suddenly covered over by the trauma of insulting posts following innocent queries on my part. (It took me a few weeks to learn the nature of many of the posters on this Forum.) My SD was angry, and advised me immediately to leave the Forum. I disobeyed (as usual) and did not: I preferred to go through the trauma, and see where I ended up.

Where I have ended up at the moment is strung out between the absolute beliefs and fundamentalist approach (for the most part) of posters on this Forum, and the loving, faith-respectful and more liberal focus - always trained on the work of a Christian, the responsibilities of a Christian in our daily lives - of my SD and congregants in my Catholic Church.

And so I am having to reconsider my commitment to enter the Catholic Church. On this Forum:
  • I have been introduced to a side of the Christian faith far removed from the life and mores of a Christian, one that I could never have imagined, one that I have never seen in my life as a Christian.
  • I have been urged again and again not just to consider doctrine/dogma/belief/policy/scripture/Magisterium etc etc, but to recognise and ‘accept’ with ‘humility and grace’, absolute belief in the correctness of the Catholic faith and not to question absolute truth.
  • I have encountered complete indifference, for the most part, to the questing of a learner-Catholic, to the difficulties an older would-be convert is experiencing.
    (Edited by Moderator)
There have been others who have been incredibly supportive, many of them people who have had similar or parallel experiences. They have stuck it out, and gave me the hand of friendship. To them I am grateful.

And so, dear friends, I am having to reconsider my options. I am absolutely clear in my own mind that for the most part, this Forum is antithetical to Christian spirituality, Christian life, and our responsibility as Christians. The Forum triumphs in two things: creating a safe haven for very odd people; and creating a place for discussion of some very odd questions about sex after menopause, nipple-pinching in the garden where there is no intercourse immediately following, swallowing toothpaste before Mass, inter alia.

If what I have seen here is the face of Catholicism in our time, it is not something I would wish to be part of.

Blessings

Jabulani!
I would like to say something to Carol post.
I have been back to RCC for a year and it has been a rough road and no one said it was going to be easy although I thought it would be a piece of cake. But what you might think about is that the parish you attend will be nicer:D
Maybe we could start a thread on 3 reasons why I want to stay.

I got bold and asked for prayer for my bro and had written a long prayer and read it at daily was so embarrased afterwards I even had three I read and the priest said ok let us pray to the Lord and wondered if I was done? 🤷 Thought that was the way? My priest was crying when I was done maybe from laughter?
Afterwards this nice lady came ovr tome and thanked me and said she would pray the Hail Mary with me. What? I said you lead !:eek: I didn;t know it. I gave THEM patience.

And I honestly didn’t know about toothpaste:D
Learned not to offer tums to anyone:blush:

So I have learned alot from you guys and they are saner but you are morecolorfull.👍 meaning rainbow perfect.

Her loss!

Dessert

PS , the Churches loss too so I too pray for you Carol
 
If you love truth, then you must really love Jesus.
But what keeps you from the truth,keeps you from Jesus.
The Catholic Church is not either or.
With the Catholic Church it is not Faith or Works, it is both.
With the Catholic Church baptism is not initiation or washes away sin it is both.
We have the fullness. Protestants subtracted.You still have homework to do. Just keep saying yes to Jesus. But don’t neglect God the Father or God the Holy Spirit.

1 Timothy 3:15:
if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the** truth**.

The Catholic Church is guided by the Holy Spirit.

More about Mary in scripture
scripturecatholic.com/blessed_virgin_mary.html
I sure commend your faith in the Catholic Church. I’m a drifting cradle, for lack of a better. I’ve been going to both Catholic mass and Protestant services. My wife is a firm Catholic, unless of course the Latin mass comes back.
God Bless!
 
As my history teacher put it you need to look back on history with the eyes of those at the time. We can’t judge the past by modern standards.
I disagree. When studying the past, to understand the past and the people who lived then, we do need to understand context. Things that seem to be uncomprehensible to us now can be explained by studying the stresses and challenges of life at that time. However, since the Fall, human nature has not changed…which is why Christ’s sacrifice was as necessary 2000 years ago as it is now. And, moreover, things that people did which were sinful in historical times are just as wrong now, although the culpability of historical figures for those wrongs might be lessened considering the challenges of the times in which they lived. Ultimately though, sin is sin.
 
Currently I attend mass 3 times a week, RCIA, retreats and workshops, church twice on Sunday.
I am glad you are not giving up on the Catholic faith.
And then I hit this Forum… What had been a quiet relationship with Our Lord was suddenly covered over by the trauma of insulting posts…
I can totally relate to what you are saying… I have thought/felt the same feeling…
And so I am having to reconsider my commitment to enter the Catholic Church. On this Forum:
  • I have been introduced to a side of the Christian faith far removed from the life and mores of a Christian…
ditto.
I have been urged again and again not just to consider doctrine/dogma/belief/policy/scripture/Magisterium etc etc, but to recognise and ‘accept’ with ‘humility and grace’, absolute belief in the correctness of the Catholic faith and not to question absolute truth.
One should never question absolute truth. The problem is: none of us is born knowing exactly what absolute truth is on any given subject, whether moral theology or what… and therefore, we need to question and search things out. One should not be faulted for doing this kind of searching. If you were here (as i also seem to have been), i would say to just “absolutely” ignore those posters from now on… There are, unfortunatley, a lot of ignorant, narrow-minded - and worse - uncaring - people in this world - and for some reason, a good percentage of them seem to come to this forum :confused: .
I have encountered complete indifference, for the most part, to the questing of a learner-Catholic, to the difficulties an older would-be convert is experiencing.
(Edited by Moderator)
I think the problem is that a lot of people seem to have a hard time empathizing wiht others… I would guess that a lot of the posters you’ve had problems with are very immature, whether age-wise or whatever.
I am absolutely clear in my own mind that for the most part, this Forum is antithetical to Christian spirituality,
I think this is a little harsh, since you admitted you had found some posters who were/are supportive.
Maybe its human nature to focus on what is wrong and forget what is “right” in any given situation… i do it myself… big time. But the good thing about these kinds of problems (to me anyway) is that they provide us with a “fork in the road” whereby we are given a choice. Fate (or God?) is good at giving people choices… in fact, i believe that’s one basic reason He created us - to give us choices… so that we can be little “gods”… (He can thereby relate to us better??) Anyway…
The Forum triumphs in two things: creating a safe haven for very odd people; and creating a place for discussion of some very odd questions about sex after menopause, nipple-pinching in the garden where there is no intercourse immediately following…
I agree (somewhat) - some of the subjects brought up here have left me with a big “Huh? What?” reaction… but then, you have to keep in mind that everyone on these forums is not Catholic or any kind of Christian - and some may be teenagers!! :eek: 😃
If what I have seen here is the face of Catholicism in our time, it is not something I would wish to be part of.
I understand this completely. There have only been 2 or 3 times in my entire (relatively long) life as a cradle Catholic (& fallen-away-Catholic, unenthused Catholic… etc. ) when i have seriously questioned belonging to the Church… One of those few times was due to things said on this forum.
Even so, i have this to say: If you want to get away from all evil-doers, you would have to move up into a mountain cabin by yourself & stay there 4 the rest of your life… (& even then…).
Maybe you don’t feel you need the Catholic Church - or sometimes you feel that way (?) - but the Catholic Church needs YOU. We need people like you, for one thing, to off-set the views/attitudes (etc) of those kind u mention…
Also - and most importantly, JESUS wants you in His Church. Despite all the problems the Church has, it is still the ONE he designed/established/watches over and - best of all, He is there 24/7 in the Real Presence. 🙂
[Parenthetically… I believe that a lot of people are afraid of truly intelligent, open-minded people - who don’t just blindly accept things… those who don’t feel comfortable “checking their brains” at the entrance of a human-run “church” (…even if it is the right Church…) ]
God bless… 🙂
 
Alas, we morons and perverts who populate this forum can only aspire to such incredibleness. :rolleyes:
 
“Name 3 reasons you are not Catholic (yet).”

I’m sorely tempted to say “because of the example of Catholics in these forums who won’t condemn burning heretics at the stake.” (Said only half-jokingly :rolleyes: )
i hear you!!

Some Catholics just want to dance around that kind of issue… as in don’t even go there…

Even so, what about Jim Jones? What about the witch trials in Salem? What about the persecution of Catholics after Henry the
8th murdered Thomas More and (can’t recall…) the guy named Fisher… ?

It makes you not want to belong to ANY Church… and yet Christ established a Church. He didn’t establish the evil that has gone along with it, but that was no surprise to Him… He knew people in the Church (and elsewhere) would do evil…
Some people just don’t love Jesus, very much (enough to suffer for Him, to sacrifice… etc.) and unfortunately, many of those people are in the Church…

Hard to believe, but true…
 
Also, the tu quoque for the Protestants has been beaten to death. It doesn’t make the wrongdoing of Catholics look any better, only makes those using it seem childish.
Childish?? If its “childish” for Catholics to bring up past Prot. mis-deeds, than it is childish for Protestors to do it…

I think it is good to bring up both - it shows how evil we humans can be when we are not whole-heartedly committed to Jesus Christ…

It causes us to question people in the Church as well as out. I was naive to think (once) that the evil people were outside the Chruch… 🤷
 
However, there are plenty more who defend the historical execution of heretics as being contributory to the continuance and general good of society.
I know of no one who condones the burning of heretics (If they do, they keep it to themselves… but if anyone in our general society was whole-hearted about the idea of that kind of thing, it would have come up in casual conversation by now… Never has in my world…).

Also, this one anti-Catholic book once said that 50 milliion people were murdered during the Inquisition!! Hello!! The whole population of Europe at that time was not 50 million!!

Hmmm… i guess u just can’t believe everything you hear, can you??
 
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