Observations needing your help

[JohnCarroll]

From what you can tell, would you say the average Catholic sees Christianity primarily ( but not entirely) as belonging to an institution which preserves a tradition?-- A true but impoverished idea. God they see as a somewhat distant figure who the man in the pew does not know well or does not think he can at all.

This is certainly not true of most posters here . And not true of the EWTN group-- who I think see Christianity primarily as a relationship with God --a relationship aided by the Church. But it seems true of people I see at Mass.
I am new at this.
Am I wrong?

 

[mercygate]

JohnCarroll:

From what you can tell, would you say the average Catholic sees Christianity primarily ( but not entirely) as belonging to an institution which preserves a tradition?-- A true but impoverished idea. God they see as a somewhat distant figure who the man in the pew does not know well or does not think he can at all.

This is certainly not true of most posters here . And not true of the EWTN group-- who I think see Christianity primarily as a relationship with God --a relationship aided by the Church. But it seems true of people I see at Mass.
I am new at this.
Am I wrong?

How could we possibly know? Why don’t you get to know some of them well enough to ask the question – or well enough so that you don’t need to ask the question?

Why does this interest you?

 

[AquinasXVI]

John Carroll:

Whether the pew sitters you see are devout or not, is not our place to judge. We do not know what sits in their hearts and thoughts. Granted that movement and expressions reveal much of the internal, we are in no position or authority to definitively say: this dude doesn’t know God! For all we know that’s exactly how we appear to other people, unaffected and indifferent. Instead we should see that everyone who made it through the door has been called and responded. They are there to encounter God deep inside and that sometimes is not obvious.

But have you seen the nuns pray the Holy Rosary at EWTN. They all have different expressions. Some don’t look like they’re into what they’re doing. The face often betrays what one is thinking.

I hope this somehow makes some sense.

in XT

 

[StCsDavid]

Everyone is at his or her own stage of conversion. Six years ago if you were lucky to catch me on the rare occasion that I went to mass, I was likely toward the back, checking my watch, and waiting for the “Through Him, With Him, In Him,” part of the Echaristic prayer as I knew I could soon stand and we were at the home stretch of the mass. Today, you’ll see me, (almost every day not just on Sunday) in the first or second row, and I’m cherishing every word of the Eucharistic prayer and only anticipate it being over so I can receive our Lord in holy communion. I give all credit to the Holy Spirit for my conversion. I’m still converting as is everyone in the church…as are the nuns on EWTN…as is the Pope. While I wish I could speed the process up for some…I trust the Holy Spirit to work in His time as he did with me. Additionally, the further I get into this conversion…the further I see I still need to go. I’m still a miserable sinner.