Not "proud" to be Catholic?

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AlanFromWichita

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I am happy and grateful to be a member of the Catholic Church. I am a cradle Catholic, but some of my best friends are converts. šŸ˜‰

Anyway, I am grateful for all the incredible things the Church has done in writing and protecting the Bible for all these years, and making it so we can share today in what Christ brought us. I have no intention of ever leaving the Church.

That said, I canā€™t just come out and say, ā€œIā€™m proud to be Catholic.ā€ It sounds to me like Iā€™m boasting. What have I done that there is to be proud of? My parents brought me into the Church, and through some times of better or worse the Church has retained me as a member. Iā€™ve checked out a few other churches at times but Iā€™m back and plan to stay ā€“ that didnā€™t take any particular pain for me to decide that.

Maybe itā€™s different for converts. I donā€™t know.

Just tossing some ideas around. I know when somebody says they are proud to be Catholic, I can just take it as if they had said they love the Church. I would like to have a bit of discussion on the use of the term ā€œproudā€ and what it means to different people. Does it mean boasting? If so, are we boasting on the Church, or on ourselves for being a part of the Church? Are we boasting on behalf of the Giver of Good Gifts?

Thank you,

Alan
 
When someone says they are ā€œproudā€ to be anything, it means that they are very happy to celebrate the fact they are that thing ā€“ be it a religion, a nationality or any other group. It is a celebration of the group, and a gratitude towards it.

šŸ‘
 
I donā€™t see the sense of boasting when we say we are proud to be Catholic.
It means one is honored to associate with the true Church Christ established that contains all the truth and treasures of the faith.
 
Iā€™m more likely to say that I am proud of the Church, no matter how much people criticize it. Just like youā€™d be proud of being a part of any very good thing. I think this is what some people mean when they say theyā€™re proud to be Catholic.
 
I like what InLight said and my use it to define my ā€œprideā€ as a catholic. Iā€™m now HONOURED to be a Catholic. Truly it is an honour.
 
Loboto-Me said:
I like what InLight said and my use it to define my ā€œprideā€ as a catholic. Iā€™m now HONOURED to be a Catholic. Truly it is an honour.
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Yes, itā€™s really an honor to be part of the Catholic church.šŸ™‚ Iā€™m also proud of the fact that,as a cradle Catholic among generations of cradle Catholics, my family has carried on the Catholic faith for who knows how many hundreds of yearsā€¦Iā€™m happy to give back what was given to me by my parents and the generations before them.
 
Yea I have several protestant associates who latch onto anything I might say to try to attack the church. They got onto me when I once said I was proud to be Catholic. So now I say Iā€™m honoured to be Catholic, and truly I am.

I just celebrated my 3rd year of being Catholic, I have never come so far in my walk with Christ. I still have a LONG way to go but that I am where I am supposed to be I have no doubt, and everything I learn shows me my decision to join the church was the correct one. It is very much an Honour for Christ to have given us his church.

(This all being said there isnt anything really wrong with saying your proud to be Catholic, just make sure it is not a false pride, aka dont go around thinking everyone who is Catholic is perfect, we are sinners and the Church is Christs gift to us, lets take care of it shall we.)
 
Thank you for your opinions. I found them to be very interesting.

It doesnā€™t bother me when someone says ā€œIā€™m proud to be Catholicā€ except when it seems theyā€™re putting down another religion. If they say it just as they are pleased or honored to be, then thatā€™s fine.

For myself, I donā€™t know that I can actually say it any time soon, but Iā€™ll probably tryā€¦ šŸ˜‰

Alan
 
I am PROUD to be catholic,

because even though I am not worthy and am a sinner,

I have been given soo many sacraments to help me on this journey.
I have been honoured with the gift of having the Saints pray for me,
whenever I fall down, I can go for confession and pick myself up again
I share in the Body and Blood of our SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST every day (spiritually and physically)
I have a Blessed Mother who is ever ready to intercede for me and who has never failed me, and never will.
I have a celebration of prayer,where GOD himself is present, in the Trinity
I donā€™t ever have to be alone, my Guardian Angel is forever by my side

I can say I am proud to belong to a faith with all these and more, not because I deserve them but because I DONā€™T, and yet I am given.
 
I actually agree with the OP that sometimes saying ā€˜I am proud to be Catholicā€™ comes off as inappropriate boasting.

I think there is healthy pride where I wear a cross around my neck and donā€™t hide the fact. But deep down, who are we kidding. The only reason I am Catholic is because God led me to his church for which I am bless. Like the OP I was led by being a craddle Catholic and for others they are lead at different stages in their life. It is more something to be gratefull for.

CM
 
I would be more likely to say that I am ā€œgratefulā€ to be Catholic or blessed to be ā€œCatholicā€. As cmscms said, it is not by anything we have done that we are in the Church, but God has brought us here, in my case He brought me into the Church as a convert. I would never in a million years have found the Church on my own.
 
Dudes, you read my mind and then one-upped me. šŸ˜‰

Thank you for your replies.

Alan
 
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