Opinion question: Is Catholicism legalistic?

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I am getting back into work mode.

About the Mass, it is the form of worship the earliest Christians have followed, the Breaking of the Bread.

On the Road to Emmaus, a man appears to walk alongside some of the apostles and explains to them everything about Scripture and how their hearts were burning within them as they heard his words.

Then he came with them to eat. He said in this encounter to the apostles, 'You still don’t understand?" They spent 3.5 years with Him. They saw His words answered in actions in His ministry and responses.

When this man then broke bread, they then understood in their spirit the Lord’s teachings, realized it was Him, and He disappeared.

We need the Eucharist, the living Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, the Lord’s actual presence within us to fully understand His Living Word to enter into communion with the Holy Trinity.

For people to objectively understand our worship, so greatly different than Bible and text oriented services, you must go back to ancient historical documents of worship.

A good and clear read is that of St. Justin the Martyr who described what happened at Mass in ancient Rome to the Roman Emperor around 154 AD. He described the Mass in how it was basically practiced throughout the ancient Christian world.

The parts of the Mass, the spirit and tone, the intent are the same now as they were then 2000 years ago. Text reflections of Scripture cannot replace the Mass. Jesus said we are to eat of His Body and Blood.

Recall those many followers of Jesus who left Him prior to the Last Supper when He said we will eat and drink of Him to have eternal life.

You go to Mass, you enter, you make the sign of the cross with holy water, a sacramental of Jesus Christ, to renew our baptism, to purify ourselves in grace to enter His sacred place, a dwelling most beautiful to hold the tabernacle and altar of Our Lord. Mass begins and we are no longer in this world but in God’s sacred presence, we enter into the eternal being in union with Him, and the wounded but triumphant Lord before the Heavenly Father nourishes through the Holy Spirit to transform ordinary bread and wine, the work of our hands, into the Divine Food, the counterpoint to the forbidden fruit Adam and Eve ate, to the Fruit born by the Tree of Life, the Church, He the Vine and we the branches at the sacred banquet table of the Mass.

The Mass is the link between earth and heaven.

The Mass is what the Daily Sacrifice is, where every hour of the day around the world, His Blood is poured out for us to consume and to live out, Our Lord’s Eucharist preceeded by the Word of both Old and New Testament, the Mass the atonement for sin committed around the world.

The Mass is the greatest power against evil.

Many are indoctrinated to think we worship Mary but likewise are blocked from false teachers to learn what the Mass is and does.

Shane Shaetzel has a blog, ‘Catholic in the Ozark’. He is a former evangelical. He now is a most devout Catholic and answers all the spins out there. I really think now the spins are the work of the evil one from preventing a Christian to fully participate in the divine life and the abundant graces in the Church.

People can point out Scripture but they are taken out of context simply because such cherry picking is done outside Christ’s instituted and visible Church. Without the Church, one cannot follow Scripture to the fullness God intended and only leads to dissension, protest and fragmentation among the Mystical Body of Christ.

Trinitarian Baptism is a Catholic rite. People who receive it are essentially baptized into the Catholic Church. If they go elsewhere for Church we still see them as separated brethren and we do not indoctrinate our people to protest the Protestants.

Ironically, I take a gentleman to a Lutheran service on Sundays and he wanted me to commune with him. The Lutherans believe Jesus is there among the bread and wine but they are not Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. I received in their intent. But I really did not want to be up there. It is a small church.

Then I read that only Lutherans are to receive and if one is not and is at the altar, to cross hands over their chest like what is requested of non-catholics. So I did that. I crossed my hands and after receiving before, they noticed this time I did not participate.

I began to feel like I was protesting being up there for everyone to see but refuse their communion. I told the pastor I did not like looking like I was dissenting…I now sit in the pew and the client goes up alone. We sit in the back now as well so people don’t see me sitting there alone. May be it is my Catholic upbringing but I don’t like to protest in sacred places, and I do experience Christ’s spirit and love there among the Lutherans, God bless them.
 
When one removes all the imaginary boundaries which protects the flock of Jesus from being succumbed to wolves (heretics) and every wind of doctrine (heresy) invented by man that tries to move the flock away from her Shepherd.

What remains is our local Shepherds (Bishops) and the Popes freely and willingly taking a vow of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience to Jesus Christ feeding and tending the flock of Jesus Christ in and with and through the Word of God.

The flock (Catholic Church) follows her Shepherd because she knows her Shepherds voice, Who calls each one of us by name.

The Staff and Rod of my Shepherd, they comfort me and lead me to good pastures, and thou we may walk through the valley of death, we do not fear, because our Shepherd will never leave us.

Our local Shepherd is not of the world, but they are in the world. There solemn vows of chastity, poverty and obedience to God set them apart from all others in the world, for the kingdom of God is not of the world.

The only laws which govern the Catholic Church is to Love God with all our heart, mind and strength and to Love our neighbor as ourselves.

Do we the flock fail to obey these laws at times? Yes we do.

The gentle snub from our Shepherds staff in the form of discipline (fasting, penance, confession etc…) comforts and protects us from falling over a deep cliff of self destruction.

Is this legalistic? When all of these are done out of Love of God and neighbor, they supersede any legalistic terminology, because it is practiced from our own free will to Love God and our neighbor.To love and forgive is to be divine, and there is no law to convict the divine Who is Love.

Our Shepherds teach us to tithe, but they never force the biblical law of tithing upon the flock. When we do tithe or give offerings, we give from our abundance and for love for the poor. My tithing and giving is always for the poor, which my Shepherd has taken the vow of poverty, and I know from personal experience by my priest’s actions, what funds surpass his standard of living (poverty) my priest gives the surplus to the poor and sick.

A good example today of this is our Shepherd Pope Francis. Who struggles to live his life of poverty when he continues to resist any form of comforts to himself.

When we fail to love God and neighbor, the law (Decalogue) convicts us to repentance.To which I give thanks to God for His staff and rod (disciplines) that comforts me and leads me back to safe pastures. What Father who Loves His Son never disciplines him?

Peace be with you
 
Thanks for the replies, KathleenGee, Gabriel of 12, Pablope and everyone else who responded. I can tell you bring a lot of wisdom and spiritual maturity to the discussion. Thanks for your perspectives, which make a lot of sense.

If I can sum it up in my own words, Catholicism can be perceived negatively in some circles as a legalistic faith. However, the rules in Catholicism can also be interpreted positively as guidelines that help keep the faithful on the right track and out of the rough, so to speak, with the majority of folks on this forum holding this point of view. I am still forming my opinion but tend to agree with you.
 
So true, Tommy.

We needed God to provide us the 10 commandments…the ancient Jews who were as spiritual children up to the members of the early Church…and on up to today where each one of us must follow the path of spiritual maturity.

I think a good thought about spiritual maturity is that it is based on self knowledge and experience in life. We as Catholics are not superior at all to anyone else. Without the Lord, we are as nothing. We cannot attribute anything as truly our own, and that everything that God wills to exist, whether we have a roof over or head or even our beloved children, all belongs to God and finds its value in God. That is a rule of life that is hit and miss for so many of us.

Gratitude is the foundation of all virtues.

Keep you in prayer in your search for the faith.
 
The whole legalistic thing is a result of the reformtion when certain groups decided they didn’t need the Church but could form their own Christian communities. Well, once you begin rejecting one thing it quickly leads to rejecting others, as well. The first thing rejected was the Church’s authority to decide matters of faith and morals and its right to govern the faithful. It only follows that those who broke with the Church should “demonize” the Church’s governance by claiming it was “too legalistic” to begin with and so they had the “right” to form their own communities apart from the Church Christ founded. The logic is not only faulty but based on rebellion rather than any real desire for purity of worship, I’m afraid. No doubt many thought they were “returning to the NT Church” by rejecting Rome, but in actuality they were cutting themselves off from the Sacraments Christ established for our spiritual and salvific benefit.
 
Hi Della,
There are parts of Catholic faith that still appear to be a little legalistic to me from my protestant background, but I am processing everyone’s comments with an open mind and learning from them. I’ve come to believe that while some objective observers might perceive Catholicism as heavily weighted down with rules and regulations, the faithful see those rules as a guidebook to the faith and a lamp unto their feet and as light as a feather when done in the right spirit out of love for our Lord Jesus Christ and our desire to serve Him.
 
Hi Della,
In all honesty, there are parts of Catholic faith that still appear to be a little legalistic to me from my protestant background, but I am processing everyone’s comments with an open mind and learning from them. I’ve come to believe that while some objective observers might perceive Catholicism as heavily weighted down with rules and regulations, the faithful see those rules as a guidebook to the faith and a lamp unto their feet and as light as a feather when done in the right spirit out of love for our Lord Jesus Christ and our desire to serve Him.
I think you got this one right on, Tommy. Some would reject the rules of the Catholic Church…but some would substitute their own individual rules, without realizing they are making rules for themselves.
 
Hi Della,
In all honesty, there are parts of Catholic faith that still appear to be a little legalistic to me from my protestant background, but I am processing everyone’s comments with an open mind and learning from them. I’ve come to believe that while some objective observers might perceive Catholicism as heavily weighted down with rules and regulations, the faithful see those rules as a guidebook to the faith and a lamp unto their feet and as light as a feather when done in the right spirit out of love for our Lord Jesus Christ and our desire to serve Him.
Indeed. The reasons for misperceptions are many, but when people look into the reality they can see that the Church has its rules and regs for good reasons. There are as many good reasons as there are people who want to find some way to skirt God’s law. The good-hearted person says, “I wish to do God’s will in all things.” But there are always those who want their own will first and who have tried, down through the ages, to get the Church to conform to them instead of them conforming to Christ’s Church. 🙂

G. K. Chesterton, whose writings I cannot recommend highly enough, wrote that boundaries/fences are there for good reason–so that we can be safe within them. Within the law of Christ we can sing, play and dance all we please. But if we attempt to leave those boundaries and break down those fences we end up hurting ourselves.

I would point out the Church’s teachings regarding sex and marriage as examples of this. Since our society decided that Christian rules regarding these issues are expendable as we please it’s led to chaos and misery for millions. Instead of a majority of stable homes, we have broken ones with children taking the brunt of our “free love” experiment. It’s not pretty. Just now the Church is being persecuted by the eilites of our society because she won’t compromise Christ’s teachings.

But, the Church has gone through many such persecutions in nearly every age and culture, and is still here–because Jesus promised her it would endure until he came again. It’s not a matter of the Church being tolerant or understanding. The Church has been quite tolerant and understands better than many people inside and outside her realize. Disciplines are one thing. They can and do change to meet the needs of each generation. Devotions come and go in popularity, but doctrine and dogma cannot and will not change because they are Christ’s not just the Church’s, and she had no authority to change them.
 
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