Name Pet Peeves You Have About the Church Today

[kell0618]

1. Catholics in general seem somewhat skeptical concerning those who have been “born-again”…
2. There isn’t much evangelization going on.
3. It is too “liberal” (comparatively speaking)… & there are people in the Church who should leave because they don’t believe as the Magesterium teaches.

My pet peeve is when people complain about what is ‘wrong’ with the Church.



Kelly

 

[distracted]

I
by the example of showing a gentle, loving and quiet interest in our God, people will pick up on your faith and they will want to be inspired by what you have. They’ll want to know what it is that makes you happy. They’ll want to be near you.

Faith is indeed contagious.

These comments are causing me to think of many things… so i hope what i end up actually writing makes sense… (my brain is overwhelmed/ discombobulated…[or: I’m “old” ]).

Ok… I have a loving & quiet interest in God… but lately, people don’t seem to want to be near me… (well, a lot of them don’t anyway)… In fact, it seems that the “holier” i get the less people want to be around me… I think a lot of people who aren’t so into God as i am… just think/feel that i am weird… (as Christians, we Are foreigners). Anyway… i am continuing to think… I guess one thought is this: I try to share all the beautiful things about the Catholic faith with people & a lot of them just don’t seem interested. I mean, this boggles my mind. How can you not be interested in the Real Presence of Christ? I guess they think they have enough of his presence… but they don’t… I mean, if i had heard of Jesus… was attracted to His teachings & all that… why wouldn’t i want to actually be in HIs Presence? Or at least go where HE is supposed to be to find out if there is something to this Real Presence thing?
I don’t understand some Protestants… which is why, latley, i have been distancing myself from any of them… not deliberately, but just instinctively… without really meaning to.
Anyway, God bless

 

[distracted]

My pet peeve is when people complain about what is ‘wrong’ with the Church.



Kelly

One time i went to confession &, in a defiant mood, as i was waiting in a rather long line, I began to ask myself: “What am i doing here? All my life i have been told (or it has been implied, mostly by a parent) that i can do nothing right… & here i am getting ready to tell the priest all the things about me that aren’t right… when i have been doing a lot of things right lately…” I didn’t feel like focusing on negatives that day…
but the Holy Spirit seemed to be telling me that what i do right doesn’t need to be worked on… what is not right is what needs to be worked on… and one cannot know what is not right (sometimes) if one doesn’t “itemize” such things and face them head on…
I endured the long line & confessed my sins… & joyfully received absolution & grace…

 

[HiggDo]

As a member of the Secular Franciscan Order I have often heard that statement used to justify not talking. Remember, St. Francis was a preacher. When there weren’t people around, he preached to the animals. Yes, living the gospel life is necessary but there comes a point when you have to start explaining the gospel message and calling on people to repent just like St. John the Baptist and Jesus did.

I’m not saying you have to go stand on the street corner and preach - I don’t - but neither is it a bad thing to do if that is what God is calling you to do and has equipped you to do.

Gary

Gary,

I wholeheartedly agree with the overall purpose of your comments. I am not afraid to talk about the Catholic faith and I am open to do so and actually enjoy doing it. “Preach the Gospel when convenient and inconvenient”

I merely meant that,* for me*, I don’t usually initiate a conversation about Christ and the Church using strongarm tactics or by trying to scare people. It might completely turn someone away from the conversation and keep it from happening at all.

Usually, I find, that a person (particularly someone who doesn’t practice a faith or has very little knowledge thereof) needs to be expressing their curriousity in some way and needs to be gently nurtured into the possibility, before one can “start explaining the gospel message and calling on people to repent just like St. John the Baptist and Jesus did.”

I can use the example of where I work. Everyone here knows I am pretty devout to my religion and that I try hard to live as a loving worker in God’s vineyard. I can tell you for certain that it has inspired many conversations about God and faith and Catholicism. These conversations were not initiated by scaring people to repent but by expressing a loving interest in them and their spiritual well being.

Maybe I’m wrong but it seems necessary to point people towards inspiration and then let God provide the inspiration.

Hope this clarifies my own thought process on evangelization…

I also do not find fault with any type of evangelization, that keeps as the purpose of its intent, building the Kingdom of God and leading all to Christ.

God Bless…

 

[HiggDo]

These comments are causing me to think of many things… so i hope what i end up actually writing makes sense… (my brain is overwhelmed/ discombobulated…[or: I’m “old” ]).

Ok… I have a loving & quiet interest in God… but lately, people don’t seem to want to be near me… (well, a lot of them don’t anyway)… In fact, it seems that the “holier” i get the less people want to be around me… I think a lot of people who aren’t so into God as i am… just think/feel that i am weird… (as Christians, we Are foreigners). Anyway… i am continuing to think… I guess one thought is this: I try to share all the beautiful things about the Catholic faith with people & a lot of them just don’t seem interested. I mean, this boggles my mind. How can you not be interested in the Real Presence of Christ? I guess they think they have enough of his presence… but they don’t… I mean, if i had heard of Jesus… was attracted to His teachings & all that… why wouldn’t i want to actually be in HIs Presence? Or at least go where HE is supposed to be to find out if there is something to this Real Presence thing?
I don’t understand some Protestants… which is why, latley, i have been distancing myself from any of them… not deliberately, but just instinctively… without really meaning to.
Anyway, God bless

The key for me is finding an understanding of where that particular person is on their journey and appealing to them on their level. From there, I gently challenge them to go further. (or bring me up to their level!)

The most critical part of effectively attracting people to Christ is Listening to them first and foremost. It is critical and even holy to be a good listener. We are all at different levels on our faith journey.

Be accepting and loving of everyone, especially those you disagree with. Trust that God is present and working on them in their lives too. Allow yourself to be a channel for His purpose and don’t expect tangible results. An oak tree might not reach full height and maturity for 60 years, yet God ordains its growth.

As an example, I once heard that we Catholics share a lot in common with atheists… Now that I have your attention, hehe… That is, while we struggle amidst our belief with disbelief, the atheist struggles in their disbelief with belief. I can’t think of a better way to introduce a discussion about Christ with an atheist, who might ultimately reject every word at the time, than by first sharing a common struggle. Be accepting and even loving, never forceful or self-righteous.

So, be a loving listener who is accepting, understanding and then challenging. Isn’t that really what Christ did?

 

[distracted]

The key for me is finding an understanding of where that particular person is on their journey and appealing to them on their level. From there, I gently challenge them to go further. (or bring me up to their level!)

I do this. Maybe i don’t do it as well as others, but i do it… & still, well, things don’t go so well so i channel my energy/resources elsewhere… I know one problme is that i am very “damaged” from all the weird things i have been through (when i was young, i was not very religious… & got myself into things no one should allow themselves to get into… got involved w/ “unsavory” people, etc… so i have “issues” with people generally… I work on this but, well, things take time… ).

anyway… again, i just don’t understand why someone would reject things that are good for them… OK, now that i remember my younger years, maybe i CAN understand… I didn’t listen then either…

But if someone had told me about the Real Presence… I can’t help but think i would have listened… & been ***EXtemely ***interested…

 

[siouxbhoney]

In my church, there is a portion of the service where the priest prays for help for all of the people who are anxious and suffer from emotional turmoil. I think that this is nice, but I would like it if there was more talking about prayer being a solution to this. I’m not saying that I have an especially deep prayer life, but I do know for certain that prayer is a really good remedy for anxiousness and emotional turmoil. Its a durn good start in the fight that many people have against depression as well. In the year and a half that I have been attending catholic church, I have only heard two homilies about having any kind of a prayer life.

 

[Godi]

I don’t fault children for being children @ Mass (though their parents should discipline them better…) but young women dressing like they are… well, like they are staring in a soap opera… that bugs the heck out of me…

People do realize that if you dress provocatively and cause another to lust, you are guilty of causing that person to lust?

 

[HiggDo]

anyway… again, i just don’t understand why someone would reject things that are good for them… OK, now that i remember my younger years, maybe i CAN understand… I didn’t listen then either…

.

I think you definitely answered your own question! Trust that everyone is on their path and in God’s hands- just like you and me… Its God’s creation, its His grand design!

I came from a family that didn’t practice a faith when I was growing up and God wasn’t ever even part of our discussions; even though my Mom was raised Lutheran and my Dad as Baptist. Neither of them practiced their faith past jr high.

I know God has been at work in my life, bringing God moments to me when the time was right- in His plan for me. (I remember the day in 7th grade that I decided to believe in God because of listening to a dj on the radio argue with his wife whether or not God existed) I remember this like it was yesterday.

The day I came home and told my wife I wanted to become a Catholic (another God moment), her jaw hit the floor in disbelief. She never pushed me, tried to convert me as she herself was a fallen-away Catholic. How wonderful is our God- he worked through me to get her back into her faith!

Now, here I am almost finished with my first year in the Diaconate formation program. (Yet another God moment)

I can plainly attest, by my own life and how God has done wonderful things for me and through me, that our God is an awesome God!

So have faith and don’t give up… keep up the good fight and trust that God’s will be done, in His time and for His glory. Just be willing to keep yourself available as He needs you.

Want to read (2) GREAT, inspirational books?

Try:

“The Prayer of Jabez”

and

“If You Want To Walk On Water, You Have To Get Out Of The Boat”

And if you want to get really deep into the truest form of humility and humbleness in serving God, try:

“Imitation Of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis

“For man proposeth, but God disposeth” - Thomas a Kempis

 

[kell0618]

One time i went to confession &, in a defiant mood, as i was waiting in a rather long line, I began to ask myself: “What am i doing here? All my life i have been told (or it has been implied, mostly by a parent) that i can do nothing right… & here i am getting ready to tell the priest all the things about me that aren’t right… when i have been doing a lot of things right lately…” I didn’t feel like focusing on negatives that day…
but the Holy Spirit seemed to be telling me that what i do right doesn’t need to be worked on… what is not right is what needs to be worked on… and one cannot know what is not right (sometimes) if one doesn’t “itemize” such things and face them head on…
I endured the long line & confessed my sins… & joyfully received absolution & grace…

Confessing your sins to Christ and complaining on an online forum instead of discussing what is wrong with your priest, bishop or other Church representative is fruitless. Complaining for complaining sake is like riding a stationary bike; lots of work but nothing is accomplished.

Peace

 

[Miriam1947]

I might politely yet strongly disagree with this one. As a practicing Catholic, I evangelize not by shouting “repent” from the street corners or threatening people with hellfire, but more by how I live my life and how I treat others with love and respect and service.

As St. Francis so eloquently states:

“Preach the gospel at all times – If necessary, use words.”

• Saint Francis of Assisi

The fact is, that if you live by the example of showing a gentle, loving and quiet interest in our God, people will pick up on your faith and they will want to be inspired by what you have. They’ll want to know what it is that makes you happy. They’ll want to be near you.

Faith is indeed contagious.

I am a brand new Catholic and so happy. I was baptized at Saturday vigil and was able to receive communion for the very first time. Awesome.

The quote from St. Francis is so true. My brother and sister, who both live with me, have noticed a change in me and have spoken about it.

I pray that they will also find the true church. But, I know that if so it will come to them from God.

 

[HiggDo]

I am a brand new Catholic and so happy. I was baptized at Saturday vigil and was able to receive communion for the very first time. Awesome.

The quote from St. Francis is so true. My brother and sister, who both live with me, have noticed a change in me and have spoken about it.

I pray that they will also find the true church. But, I know that if so it will come to them from God.

Congratulations and welcome to the Church!!!

Thanks for sharing your story with me, you’ve made my day! I can tell by your post that you are excited and your excitement can indeed be contagious. Always be open to the possibility that God will work through you to reach out to your family… Spread the love!

 

[Miriam1947]

Thank you for the welcome.

Have read a lot of conversion stories and so many of them are about how hard it was to accept this or that about the church teachings.

I had no problem at all accepting the authority of the church. The authority and teachings just make so much sense to me. The first time I went to Mass, I knew the Catholic Church was the place for me.

I had spent so much time searching for a place where I could just worship God.

Now that I have found it, I know how very blessed I am.

 

[distracted]

I think you definitely answered your own question!

I answered it but then un-answered it when i went on to say that, had i been told about the Real Presence & where He could be found (the Church 24/7) i am sure i would have been interested, would have sought Him out then (instead of years & years later after so much seemingly irreparable damage had been done…

trust that everyone is on their path and in God’s hands-

I have come to do this - or try to do it… I worry about people’s salvation… so sometimes it is not easy, but what choice do i have but to trust God? I am not God… can’t save anyone…

I came from a family that didn’t practice a faith when I was growing up and God wasn’t ever even part of our discussions;

I feel for you. I was raised Catholic & we went to Mass but other than that, we weren’t very religious… Even so, i am SO thankful for having been given the Mass

I am almost finished with my first year in the Diaconate formation program. (Yet another God moment)

Congratulations - enjoy hearing about people who are involved in (enthused about) the Church…

So have faith and don’t give up… keep up the good fight and trust that God’s will be done, in His time and for His glory. Just be willing to keep yourself available as He needs you.

Thanks for the encouragement… I needed it… (long story why… ).

“To Walk On Water, You Have To Get Out Of The Boat”

I have read the other 2 books u mention, but not this one… The title alone inspires me… although i don’t know exactly waht “boat” i am to get out of or what “water” to walk on… I think my boat has SUNK!!

“Imitation Of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis

That is a very powerful book…

thanks again for the encouragement God bless…

 

[CapaxDei]

there are people in the Church who should leave because they don’t believe as the Magesterium teaches.

To say that someone “should” do something is to imply that it would be good for them to do that thing. It is not good for anyone to leave the Holy Catholic Church. Therefore, no one “should” leave the Church.

What they should do is “repent and believe,” as our Lord calls upon us all to do (Mark 1:15). If they will not, then those of us who do should offer intercession on their behalf.

 

[HiggDo]

It is not good for anyone to leave the Holy Catholic Church. Therefore, no one “should” leave the Church.

What they should do is “repent and believe,” as our Lord calls upon us all to do (Mark 1:15). If they will not, then those of us who do should offer intercession on their behalf.

Absolutely! Well said!

Love, acceptance and prayers of intercession on their behalf is a must!

Its like some of the regular church goers who might complain because they can’t get a seat in a pew during Easter or Christmas… I’ll happily stand, I’m happy to see everyone there!

 

[distracted]

To say that someone “should” do something is to imply that it would be good for them to do that thing. It is not good for anyone to leave the Holy Catholic Church. .

I disagree. If they are staying in the Church & receiving Jesus in Communion, yet they believe in abortion (4 example), they are not receiving worthily…

I am not sure the Church would totally agree with that & i retract if i am wrong… However, a lbetter example is:

A lot of “Catholics” don’t believe in the Real Presence, yet they take Communion, and that IS receiving unwrothily… which involves a violation of 1Cor.11:22… eating and drinking damnation to oneself… (words to that effect)…

 

[HiggDo]

I disagree. If they are staying in the Church & receiving Jesus in Communion, yet they believe in abortion (4 example), they are not receiving worthily…

I am not sure the Church would totally agree with that & i retract if i am wrong… However, a lbetter example is:

A lot of “Catholics” don’t believe in the Real Presence, yet they take Communion, and that IS receiving unwrothily… which involves a violation of 1Cor.11:22… eating and drinking damnation to oneself… (words to that effect)…

Maybe think about this:

If someone is receiving communion while not in the state of grace due to mortal sin, they are definitely in the wrong and need to find their way to the confessional and then continue forward on the journey of working and praying to correct themselves.

BUT that is no reason to exclude them from otherwise receiving the many benefits of the Mass, offering them the continued opportunity of conversion and ultimate salvation. Of course they should refrain from receiving the body and blood of Christ until after reconciliation, performing pennance and seeking genuine conversion of heart.

Mankind is broken and nothing in our human existence is perfect which, is why we need a Savior in the first place.

Since every soul is created by God and is so extremely valuable as His creation, we should not be so quick as to cast anyone off because they sin. (along with everyone else in one way or another)

Rather, we need to be loving, accepting and patient with all of God’s creation (while admonishing them in a concerned and loving way- when needed and helpful But never hurtful or exclusionary or “holier than thou”)

Remember what St. Paul said- our bodies are dead to sin but we have the life of Christ in us.

Romans 8: 1-2, Hence, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death.

The angels rejoice over every repentant sinner. Christ granted love and forgiveness even as He was dying on the cross.

Why deny God even one repentant soul? If you judge them unworthy and exclude them, they most likely might fall away and risk losing salvation in that judgement. Just like death row inmates- killing them eliminates the possible chance for their salvation; assuming they hadn’t already received it- only God knows our hearts.

Think about this: Is it possible, that you can find more room in your heart, to love every sinner, while, out of that sheer love, hate every sin because it could cause their loss of Heaven? Separate the two and find true love for all.

One other note, regarding some people not believing in the true presence and other things, remember that every person who believes at a certain level also struggles with disbelief at a certain level. Pray for them and their ongoing conversion.

 

[HiggDo]

I have read the other 2 books u mention, but not this one… The title alone inspires me… although i don’t know exactly waht “boat” i am to get out of or what “water” to walk on… I think my boat has SUNK!!

Sorry, I got the title wrong… the book is called “If You Want To Walk On Water, You Have To Get Out Of The Boat”

It was written by John Ortberg and it will help you find exactly what boat you need to get out of in order to walk on the water with Christ…

Enjoy!