No Catholic Church nearby

  • Thread starter Thread starter lisauze
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Driving an extra 2.5hrs/week is not a reasonable risk to take, given that their actual livelihood is at stake if the car quits.
 
lisauze said:
I also don’t want to miss Easter services etc. but from what you all are saying it’s better for us to sit at home and have no church type services at all then go to a Protestant Church is that correct?
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EWTN televises weekly Sunday mass, and it is likely that your diocese televises or streams one.

hawk
 
What about an orthodox Church, look it up. You are allowed to go there i think
 
If you do take your son to Protestant services, it could be a teaching opportunity. Following the service you could discuss the similarities and the differences between the service you attended and a Catholic mass. Of course this wouldn’t fulfill your Sunday obligation, but you should discuss that with a priest anyhow.

I hope your car situation gets resolved soon enough and then you can attend the Catholic church. In the meantime, I would imagine it is important to you to have some sort of religious community you can be a part of, albeit not your first choice of a Catholic Church.
 
lisauze said:
About and hour, hour and 15 min
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You can still make it to the mass. Try to do so whenever possible. If you cannot for whatever reason and due to the distance, it is ok.

But if you do, it would be wonderful. Consider the going out trip to the church as something enjoyable for your son.

To go out for the long distance just so that you can attend mass would make a lasting impression on your son as he grows up.

God bless.
 
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Apparently you haven’t read anything I’ve written. We just bought a house here and so far I haven’t met any other Catholics. Have met quite a few people who where raised like I was and told me I was going to hell when I started asking around about other catholic families. I’m not sure where all of you are from but I currently live in the Bible Belt there are two Catholic Churches both are over an hour away. We only have one car and you all may have lots of money and can just buy a new one or something we can’t. Our house recently burned down and we used our insurance money to buy this house. Unfortunately a few unexpected things came up and costs us more than we anticipated. I doubt any of you understand what it’s like to lose everything you have other then the few things that matter most your family. We don’t have Uber or lyft here this is not a city this is rural bfe North Carolina we have farms, swamps, a phosphate mine, lots of holiness, free will and southern Baptist Churches. I guess the majority of you don’t understand what it’s like to have to worry about where your foods coming from or if your going to be able to keep your propane tank filled up because this winter has been colder than usual. If the only car we have breaks down we would have nothing, there’s a good chance my husband would lose his job and we have no family left to help us out. So don’t talk to me like I’m trying to find excuses not to go to Mass. I want to go more than anything but I can’t. TV Mass just doesn’t feel the same that’s why I asked the question I did. I was just hoping God would understand our needs right now.
 
I apologise as being from the UK I probably hadn’t really factored in the hostility towards Catholics by other Christians, that can’t have been a pleasant conversation. I don’t know if the nearest Catholic church, if contacted, would maybe have any information on what Catholic resources or groups are available locally. I think it would be good to take your child along to something like a rosary group. I mean it’s hard enough to raise a child Catholic when you do have a parish.

It sounds like you are doing the best you can in very difficult circumstances and I completely get that you cant just magic up money out of thin air.
 
I am so sorry if the advice here sounds as if you were trying to make excuses for not going to the mass. I think that was not the intention at all but more of the fact that they are trying to persuade you to try to make it to the mass.

I can understand your situation and often buying a house is not so much out of choice but of necessity. So we may end up probably getting a house, which is far from the most ideal for us.

I admit perhaps most of us do not have much problem with life necessities; probably affluence is much to blame for that. Yet, it is a reality too that there are many people who can hardly make ends meet. God bless their souls.

I think you do not have to worry too much about being unable to go to mass, if it is too difficult to do so. It is only a sin when we purposely do not go to mass on obligation days.

I think you do not have to go to Protestant churches because as been said here, they are not replacement of Catholic mass. I mean, they are hardly similar issue. Besides, being exposed to different belief and less to your own would not be healthy to your spiritual development.

God bless.
 
I would definitely do as others suggested and give the parish priest a call to see if you can get permission not to attend mass due to circumstances.

I am unable to attend mass as well, but due my ex-wife being opposed to my children going to mass with me and because I get them every Thursday through Sunday, I was given permission not to attend mass by my parish priest. My ex-wife in the divorce decree has the ultimate decision on where our kids attend church.
 
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I empathize with you. I lived in the rural south. I was closer to a parish than you. 25 miles through the mountains. Money was very tight. When I went to Mass I tried to combine my trip with shopping and other stops to maximize efficiency.

I never gave much thought to attending a protestant service. Mass - There is no substitute.

For the time being, do the best you can. Things will improve.
 
You’re in a difficult situation, I really sympathise with you. I’d do what several other posters have suggested, and make full use of all the free online resources to keep your connection with your faith. If you make watching an online Mass a proper event in your house, with no interruptions and full attention given, it’ll seem more like going to church. Contact your nearest priest and tell him about your difficulties, too.

I feel very blessed here in England, my own church is only about 500 yards from my house. We are lucky.
 
I grew up in piedmont NC, in a small town. It is heavily Baptist, with some Pentecostal, Moravian, Methodist churches, etc., sprinkled in. Catholic churches outside larger towns and cities are very few and far between.

Others here might be better able to grasp her situation were they to understand that that area is virtually a desert, in terms of Catholic community and churches. Furthermore, it is historically hostile to Catholics.

I would remind others here they it isn’t very kind to lay a guilt trip on her for being poorer than others here. Her options are limited through no fault of her own. I’m frankly offended by how some here so causually assumed she just didn’t want to go to Mass badly enough.

Here are some things to keep in mind with regard to her area:
  1. Strongly, even virulently, anti-Catholic. The KKK is part of the reason, as multiple groups are still very active in NC. So people here might want to consider that, and the history of violence associated with the KKK, before suggesting she advertises that she and her family are Catholic.
  2. This area is heavily rural. There is NO public transportation to speak of. It isn’t feasible where everything is so spread out. Cars are an absolute necessity here. Without a car, a person is stranded unless they have friends and family in the area to help out. Lisauze said they do not have any. And again, she’s out in the desert, Catholic-community wise.
  3. She has limited means. Do not disparage her for that, it’s a sin. Her family just went through a traumatic fire that destroyed their old house, forcing them to look for a new place that they could afford. That move took them away from their old neighborhood and the parish that spiritually supported them. So their loss is even more profound.
None of that is her fault, and I am sympathetic for her situation. I hope others will realize this is not the Northeast or even Nebraska, where there are established parishes all over the place. You would be better served to think of her area as almost completely devoid of Catholic life.
 
Lisauze, any chance your old parish priest could help you connect to a mission in the area?

Or, possibly put feelers out for you in finding someone to ride with?

Is there a possibility that the parish could help you with the money to fix your car? You probably know that it’s common for chuches in that area do such things for their members. Somebody needs some help, other church members pool donations together to help out.

Does anybody on this board know of a Catholic charity or agency that could help her out with getting her car fixed?
 
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QContinuum said:
Strongly, even virulently, anti-Catholic. The KKK is part of the reason, as multiple groups are still very active in NC. So people here might want to consider that, and the history of violence associated with the KKK, before suggesting she advertises that she and her family are Catholic.
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I can agree with your 2nd and 3rd points, its a rural area with few Catholics, and the OP has limited means.

But do you have proof of this? I haven’t heard of much virulent anti-catholic klan activity in the backwater areas of America including rural North Carolina. In fact, little kkk activity at all for decades.
 
I didn’t know the KKK was still active, that’s pretty scary.
 
Isca said:
I’m not American
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If you were on the ground here in the US, you would know what low regard the KKK is held in 2018, and you wouldn’t take information off the internet as gospel truth.
 
I’m sure that the vast majority of ordinary Americans abhor them - and I don’t take “internet info” as gospel truth! I do however see many news sites reporting the same kind of things. Like this:

www.foxnews.com

Ku Klux Klan leaves recruitment fliers outside North Carolina high school football game

A Ku Klux Klan group in North Carolina tried recruiting new members at a high school football game by plastering parked cars with fliers that decried the removal of Confederate monuments.
www.foxnews.com www.foxnews.com
 
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