Protestant?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Prairieskies
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=Prairieskies;12037089]Life is interesting. For over 5 years I have been struggling with my desire to know more about the Catholic faith. Each year as been stronger then the next. Usually I could get it under control but it was always there. Frankly I was wondering if I was beginning to losing my mind. In January the instance that I learn about the Catholic faith became almost unbearable. Soon after I bought my NAB and have been reading it more then my New King James. This lead me to surf the Internet to see if there was any Catholic Churches that were on the Internet. I didn’t find a church at that time that had a service on the net but one site had a great website that gave links to different Catholic organization. One of those links was “Catholic Answers” were I was able to learn without feeling trapped.
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**Check out EWTN.com
They braodcast the Mass 4 times every day, and I think they SREAM it also **

I agonized for several weeks if I should post my question and after a lot of pray finally decided it was safe to do so. I am so glad I did. The advise, support and prayers has been a God send to me. I truly feel the Lord has lead me to this site since I was too afraid to learn any other way. Once I stopped suppressing the Holy Spirit, (I didn’t realize at the time that was what I was doing. Beside, as one poster commented before, the Holy Spirit can be mighty persuasive) I could no longer hold back my need to learn and become involved with the Catholic Church. So what is this leading up to? Yesterday afternoon I decided I couldn’t keep this a secret any long. I need to talk to my father about this before my sister told him. His body is frail, (93) but his mind is sharp as a tack. It was just he and I at the cemetery, (my brother died 10 years ago from cancer) and he calmly listened to me! Praise God! He sat there for 5 minutes or more before he said anything. Then he said the most unexpected thing, … he said, " I’m not surprised. I understand that the catholic church is full of meaningful rituals and is very visual. You will like that". I was shocked. Meaningful rituals? Very visual?( I hoped he wasn’t implying I was a superficial Christian) The Lord is truly awesome! He answered my prayer that Dad would listen to me and not get upset and he did. Praise the Lord! :extrahappy:

Praising God and wondering about the future:)

God Bless you,
Patrick
 
I recommend, as far as Baptism, that you advise the priest/RCIA director as to which Protestant denomination your previous church was in (or which it most closely resembled). In the diocesan policies & procedures manual, there should be a list of valid and invalid Baptisms according to rite. If it’s not certain whether or not your Baptism was valid, and there’s no way to find out, you can be given a conditional Baptism.
 
His_helpmee, Thank you, I will definitely ask the priest/RCIA director. Hopefully I won’t have to get rebaptised. 🙂
 
Thank you for all your answers pablope. 🙂 I am planning on talking to the priest about attending RCIA, The church that I want to attend starts their program in August. Now that I think about it, - is it permissible to attend the church that you want to or do you have to attend the church that is closest to you?
pablope said:
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Thank you Frank for your insight.🙂 I would like to tell the rest of my family and friends but at this time I don’t think it would be for the best. I understand what you are telling me and trust me I don’t want to cause the shock and pain that grandmother must of felt when her granddaughter finally told her. At this time I will just take it one step at a time and pray the Lord will tell me when the time is right to let the others know. Thank you!

QUOTE=FAB;12033479]A few years ago I had a teenage girl who came into full communion with the Catholic church. She did so on her own attending classes and mass over a two year period. I not certain she kept it from her parents, I don’t think they had any particular religious leaning and may not have objected. The only challenge was with her grandmother that she didn’t tell until the come into the church.
If after discerning, you with the come into the church I would encourage you to do so. Your are not the first to have to turn away from family to be a follower of Christ in His Church. Jesus himself told us that these things would happen.
Peace and prayers
Dcn.Frank
 
=Prairieskies;12042599]Thank you for all your answers pablope. 🙂 I am planning on talking to the priest about attending RCIA, The church that I want to attend starts their program in August. Now that I think about it, - is it permissible to attend the church that you want to or do you have to attend the church that is closest to you?
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pablope said:
FROM a Sacramental perspective ALL Catholic Churches are created equal., so ANY Catholic Church is OK .

That said:)

It is still a good idea to attead as often as practicle the CC where you will take RCIA so you can come to know the Priest and the local Catholic Community. NOT mandated; but definely a GOOD idea:thumbsup: And they can get to know you too.🙂

God Bless you,
Patrick
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Thank you PJM. This is good to know. I have located a very small Catholic Church that is about 30 minutes away from from me. I don’t think anyone I work with or know lives there so it would be a great place to attend Mass and go through RCIA. If I need to go through baptism again, I feel it would be safe to do so. 🙂
 
=Prairieskies;12042841]Thank you PJM. This is good to know. I have located a very small Catholic Church that is about 30 minutes away from from me. I don’t think anyone I work with or know lives there so it would be a great place to attend Mass and go through RCIA. If I need to go through baptism again, I feel it would be safe to do so. 🙂
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as A FYI:

RCIA as a NORM is usually at ones home parish. So keep this in mind.

You may wish to discuss your concerns with the Pastor of that parish. Just call and make an appointment with him. Not a great idea to discuss it after Mass unless that is what he wants.

As for sharing what your doing with other family memebers:

Your RIGHT is taking your time in doing it.

1st learn enough about our beliefs and practices to be SURE that this is the right thing for you do.

2nd. Then pray MUCH about it asking the HS to guide both you and the family members.
  1. BEcause Christ choose to suffer so VERY much for us; He expects that we to will HAVE TO suffer for Him.
Take Up your Cross and Follow Me

Phil.2: 8 “And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross Luke.9 :23 And he said to all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Mark.8: 34 And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Luke.9: 23 And he said to all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke.14: 7 ***Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” ***

This aspect of Protestantism is seldom covered, and therefore not widely understood in there various communions.:o

PRAY much and ask lots of questions, BUT KNOW not everyone here on CAF is either qualified or perhaps motivated, to give you RIGHT direction, so keep that also in mind.

God Bless you,
Patrick [PJM]
 
Prairieskies said:
His_helpmee, Thank you, I will definitely ask the priest/RCIA director. Hopefully I won’t have to get rebaptised. 🙂
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It’s not a ‘re-baptism’. You were either validly baptized or you weren’t. If you weren’t, you will be baptized for the first time - WHAT A BLESSING! If the priest is not able to determine whether or not you were validly baptized, then he will perform a ‘conditional baptism’ - which works only if you weren’t validly baptized earlier. Conditional baptisms are done in private, but initial baptisms are usually done at the Easter Vigil. I haven’t seen one yet, but trust me, it would be a very special and beautiful baptism.
 
Prairieskies said:
Thank you PJM. This is good to know. I have located a very small Catholic Church that is about 30 minutes away from from me. I don’t think anyone I work with or know lives there so it would be a great place to attend Mass and go through RCIA. If I need to go through baptism again, I feel it would be safe to do so. 🙂
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Good. I think that the priest who oversees your RCIA progress is going to want you to be active in that parish.
 
DAML72 Thank you for the information.🙂 And of course you are right. If I haven’t been baptised correctly, then I wasn’t baptised. The important thing as you have said is to find out from the Priest if I have been baptised correctly. If not, I will need to rectify that as soon as possible.
 
Hi PrairieSkies,
I think it is awesome that you are considering the Catholic Church. It seems you have a lot of concern about baptism and I hope to give you some comfort in that area. Obviously the priest you deal with would be the best authority, but based on my understanding you have a valid baptism. You mentioned above that you were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. My understanding is that in order for a baptism to be valid water must be used and you must be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So assuming water was used it looks like you fit the criteria. I found this link on the archdiocese of Baltimore website which may be helpful. archbalt.org/evangelization/worship/rcia/upload/Validity-of-Baptisms-and-Confirmation.pdf

It looks like you’ve already been pointed to some great resources. I highly recommend the CD in the link below or anything by Scott Hahn. He was an ordained minister in a Protestant church and went through the same struggle you are going through. He even visited a Catholic church during a weekday mass and was surprised to see how the whole service was based on scripture. He does a great job of using the type of scriptural arguments that Protestants use to support the Catholic faith. His material would be helpful in the discussions with your family and friends that will naturally arise.

amazon.com/CALLING-CATHOLICS-BIBLE-CHRISTIANS–AND-VERSA/dp/B00GAGLFJ8/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1401669290&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=scott+hahn+calling+all+catholics
 
Thank you Frandecker! 🙂 I checked out the link on the accepted and unaccepted baptisms. I couldn’t find my denomination, (Brethren, - similar to Baptist). But the rules stating what is needed for a valid baptism is exactly how I was baptised! It was full emersion with the Pastor baptising you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. So from what I have read it looks like I qualify! Of course I will be discussing it with the Priest and he will tell me what I must do. Thank you:)
 
=Prairieskies;12045608]Thank you Frandecker! 🙂 I checked out the link on the accepted and unaccepted baptisms. I couldn’t find my denomination, (Brethren, - similar to Baptist). But the rules stating what is needed for a valid baptism is exactly how I was baptised! It was full emersion with the Pastor baptising you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. So from what I have read it looks like I qualify! Of course I will be discussing it with the Priest and he will tell me what I must do. Thank you:)
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Permit me to qualify for you:)

HAS to be done in the names of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit [Mt. 28:18-20]

Water has to be used either poured or immersion [both are valid forms] John 3: 5

For Adults: must desire to be Baptized.

That then are the primary requirements, along with evidence of the same. Testimony of someone who was there can be accepted too.👍

God Bless you!
Patrick
 
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