C
Cyril_Of_Canada
Guest
I had my brothers over for my birthday the other day. They were at my home and we were having a pleasant time together. I’m not catholic yet, but I do have catholic bibles that I keep to myself most of the time. I haven’t shown them to my wife or protestant community I’m part of because they have anti-catholic beliefs and aren’t receptive of my desire to investigate catholicism and become a catholic.
So yesterday, on my birthday, in my own home, I offered to show my catholic bibles to my brothers. My athiest brother was really cool with it and I mainly wanted to only show him and share some material I really care about and that has influenced me(Such as the Catholic Answers tract “Pillar Of Fire”). Not so much my younger brother, who is usually indifferent to religion, religious discussions, and who shrugged and accepted my decision to want to convert to catholicism that I had told him back a few months ago. He and his fiance, who go to a pentecostal church, had shrugged and seemed indifferent to it and respectful.
However, my brother who was usually indifferent started to make this comments that seemed ignorant about catholics and the catholic faith. He started to go on about how catholics can’t work sundays, can’t do anything leisurely on sundays and, other than going to church, have to stay home on sundays and do nothing. It sounded a lot like treating it literally like a jewish sabbath, so I thought, that sounds kinda untrue. So I asked him some questions to see what he’d think about nurses and medical pracitioners working on sundays.
I asked him where he heard his ideas about catholics and sundays from. He told me he heard it from others who were catholic(or maybe were ex-catholic?). He mentioned he had read some stuff too and had heard things from others. He didn’t say where or from who or what book. And he refused to answer my question even though I had asked politely and kindly out of curiousity. It concerned me because I didn’t think he really had looked into the claims of catholicism much, and I was hoping he wasn’t hearing it from anti-catholic material.
I’m already having trouble enough with people from my own christian community and my wife. I really didn’t want to have to deal with misinformation from my own brother either.
So I said, “Hey, I got a catholic catechism, so let’s see what it has to say about working on sundays.” I got it then he remarked how he didn’t want to see it. I thought “okay” so I pulled a tract post from catholic answers website(not forum) that seemed to settle the question.
He refused to even look at it and just told me with a smile that I was trying to prove a point, as if I was trying to win some kind of argument of debate—seemingly amused me at me as if I was trying to do it just to be right. I took that remark and just let it be, and left further discussion alone. I’m not trying to argue or debate, I just wanted to show him the truth but if he doesn’t want to hear it, then fine. I’ll leave it. By now, I had completely forgot about sharing the catholic bible with my other, athiest brother and proceeded to put them, alonf with the catechism, away.
We eventually settled down in my living room to play some board games as we usually do when all we hang out together. At one point, he blurted out that catholics worship Mary. I took offense to this, and wondered even why he blurted it out. What was he trying to do saying something that clearly offended me, in my own home, on my birthday. Fine. We’re
brothers who can usually talk about any subject with no trouble. And my brother is usually indifferent to religion, but this was different. I was wondering why he was acting this way, in my own home, on my birthday. What had suddenly gotten into him. So I responded by saying that catholics don’t worship Mary, and then asked where he was getting his information from.
He said he read books and heard things from others. What books and who was telling him these things, I thought. No doubt maybe my own investigation into catholicism and having told him I wanted to convert may have motivated him to investigate the claims of the catholic church—or maybe anti-catholic people in his life who knew I wanted to convert had told him such anti-catholic ideas. Nonetheless, I tried to reason with him and share what I had learned, but he wasn’t having any of it. He kept asserting that catholics worship Mary while refusing to listen to anything I have to say, which I thought was rude and inconsiderate.
Knowing that out mom was catholic, I asked “Does mom worship Mary?” “Do you know what communion of the saints is?” And other questions to get him thinking. Still, he kept asserting catholics worship Mary, even though my athiest brother was intrigued by questions. I was having enough of his stubborn attitude toward me and just asked why he had to keep saying that and bringing it up. “I don’t worship Mary. You’re saying I’m an idolator.” But he went silent.
So yesterday, on my birthday, in my own home, I offered to show my catholic bibles to my brothers. My athiest brother was really cool with it and I mainly wanted to only show him and share some material I really care about and that has influenced me(Such as the Catholic Answers tract “Pillar Of Fire”). Not so much my younger brother, who is usually indifferent to religion, religious discussions, and who shrugged and accepted my decision to want to convert to catholicism that I had told him back a few months ago. He and his fiance, who go to a pentecostal church, had shrugged and seemed indifferent to it and respectful.
However, my brother who was usually indifferent started to make this comments that seemed ignorant about catholics and the catholic faith. He started to go on about how catholics can’t work sundays, can’t do anything leisurely on sundays and, other than going to church, have to stay home on sundays and do nothing. It sounded a lot like treating it literally like a jewish sabbath, so I thought, that sounds kinda untrue. So I asked him some questions to see what he’d think about nurses and medical pracitioners working on sundays.
I asked him where he heard his ideas about catholics and sundays from. He told me he heard it from others who were catholic(or maybe were ex-catholic?). He mentioned he had read some stuff too and had heard things from others. He didn’t say where or from who or what book. And he refused to answer my question even though I had asked politely and kindly out of curiousity. It concerned me because I didn’t think he really had looked into the claims of catholicism much, and I was hoping he wasn’t hearing it from anti-catholic material.
I’m already having trouble enough with people from my own christian community and my wife. I really didn’t want to have to deal with misinformation from my own brother either.
So I said, “Hey, I got a catholic catechism, so let’s see what it has to say about working on sundays.” I got it then he remarked how he didn’t want to see it. I thought “okay” so I pulled a tract post from catholic answers website(not forum) that seemed to settle the question.
He refused to even look at it and just told me with a smile that I was trying to prove a point, as if I was trying to win some kind of argument of debate—seemingly amused me at me as if I was trying to do it just to be right. I took that remark and just let it be, and left further discussion alone. I’m not trying to argue or debate, I just wanted to show him the truth but if he doesn’t want to hear it, then fine. I’ll leave it. By now, I had completely forgot about sharing the catholic bible with my other, athiest brother and proceeded to put them, alonf with the catechism, away.
We eventually settled down in my living room to play some board games as we usually do when all we hang out together. At one point, he blurted out that catholics worship Mary. I took offense to this, and wondered even why he blurted it out. What was he trying to do saying something that clearly offended me, in my own home, on my birthday. Fine. We’re
brothers who can usually talk about any subject with no trouble. And my brother is usually indifferent to religion, but this was different. I was wondering why he was acting this way, in my own home, on my birthday. What had suddenly gotten into him. So I responded by saying that catholics don’t worship Mary, and then asked where he was getting his information from.
He said he read books and heard things from others. What books and who was telling him these things, I thought. No doubt maybe my own investigation into catholicism and having told him I wanted to convert may have motivated him to investigate the claims of the catholic church—or maybe anti-catholic people in his life who knew I wanted to convert had told him such anti-catholic ideas. Nonetheless, I tried to reason with him and share what I had learned, but he wasn’t having any of it. He kept asserting that catholics worship Mary while refusing to listen to anything I have to say, which I thought was rude and inconsiderate.
Knowing that out mom was catholic, I asked “Does mom worship Mary?” “Do you know what communion of the saints is?” And other questions to get him thinking. Still, he kept asserting catholics worship Mary, even though my athiest brother was intrigued by questions. I was having enough of his stubborn attitude toward me and just asked why he had to keep saying that and bringing it up. “I don’t worship Mary. You’re saying I’m an idolator.” But he went silent.
***