Questions from a former Catholic thinking about returning

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Unique_name said:
I don’t mean to be offensive, but out of the large number of various churches I’ve been to, Catholics ranked as the worst in terms of fellowship
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I won’t address the other issues since you have received excellent information on those. However, as far as fellowship goes, Mass is not a time for fellowship, the way most non-Catholics see their Sunday services.

But there are many, many ways to develop fellowship at a Catholic Parish. Volunteer to be on committees and ministries. Participate in the bible studies (yes, Catholics have bible studies). Also there are groups within Catholicism that promote fellowship. One that made a huge difference in my life was the Cursillo movement., which does involve accountability.

Most Catholics barely touch the tip of the iceberg of Catholicism but the banquet is overflowing with delicious opportunities for those who go seeking.
 
vsedriver said:
However, as far as fellowship goes, Mass is not a time for fellowship, the way most non-Catholics see their Sunday services.
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I don’t take fellowship and socialization to be synonymous. What I mean by fellowship is closer to what you described further on - getting together to read the word, pray together, study together, encourage each other, and challenge each other. It’s entirely possible that I just live in an area that’s not very fruitful in this area and the rest of the church isn’t like that. I can always be wrong (that’s why I asked the questions above - I don’t want to be in error about something serious like this but I also don’t want to just take it on blind Faith).
 
There are plenty of Catholic bible study groups, prayer groups, and other fellowship and service groups in my urban area. Have you looked around, called parishes, read church bulletins or the local Catholic paper to find some?
 
I’m not sure I have the skills to answer your questions to your satisfaction (#1, for example, seems to me kind of self explanatory the way you stated it; Christ didn’t literally mean: ‘call no man father’; if he did you wouldn’t have things like the Paul referring to himself as father. So I’m not sure I can expand on that in a way you’d find convincing).

What I would recommend is that you listen to, and maybe call in to, the ‘Called to Communion’ show by Dr. David Anders. As a crazy smart former Presbyterian I think he might come much closer than I could to answering your questions in a way you’d find efficacious.
 
All your questions are frequently asked questions from those with Protestant backgrounds. My suggestion would be to read works by converts such as Scott Hahn and/or look at his YouTube videos, as well as The Journey Home videos with Marcus Grodi that feature converts. All of these tackle these typical questions many times over.
 
For me, when I am looking at the tabernacle where Jesus is present, I have this image in my mind. Maybe I don’t know all the catechism of the Church, I am not a scholar, but I do know I am on holy ground. God is with us. The other things I can work on but in the mean time, I’m not missing out on this.

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Unique_name said:
What I mean by fellowship is closer to what you described further on - getting together to read the word, pray together, study together, encourage each other, and challenge each other.
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I think it is easier to find these groups once you are actually a practicing member. Sounds like you would really like the Cursillo group. But there are also 3rd order members in religious orders. These are lay people who follow the rules of a particular religious order. You have to remember though that these rules include praying together, study, encourage etc not just a list of do’s and don’ts.

Our parish doesn’t keep a list of members of Cursillo, but we will approach people and ask them if they would be interested in becoming a member. We have our own newsletter, prayer chain, and meet on a regular basis.

There are other Catholic groups out there that are very similar. But you won’t know what is available till you are a practicing Catholic and give the people in your parish a chance to get to know you too.
 
Unique_name said:
I don’t buy that she was sinless.
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The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception does NOT hold that Mary was unable to sin. It holds that She was conceived in the same state as Eve: free from original sin. And, unlike Eve, She said NO to the devil and therefore did not lose the original grace that Adam and Eve had been created with. Further, Mary did not commit any actual sin during Her life.

Now… here is why it matters.

At the time of the fall of man, God has to be 100% sure that the plan of salvation will go through: that Mary will say yes. Otherwise Christ doesn’t ransom us, and all of us are gonna go to hell. Now who doesn’t want it to be 100%? The devil.

Now, because of original sin, all of us are conceived with concupiscence (a weak, wounded conscience and tendency towards sin) and are to some extent under the devil’s power in a way that Adam and Eve were not before they fell. If Mary is not protected from that, the devil can exploit concupiscence the way he does with us. We fall all the time, don’t we? If Mary had fallen, ALL OF US DO, and the devil wins.

But wait, you may say… God can just find another Virgin to say yes. Infinite recursion. A train of just cabooses. No engine, goes nowhere. And so God would have to change the plan of salvation. He can’t do that. He made a promise in Genesis 3:15 and He has to keep it. God cannot change. (Malachi 3:6). He is Perfect, and change means lack; if you change, you lacked something before you changed. And if God could change one of His promises… what else can He change? We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with… oh wait not anymore. Marriage? Abortion? Any question of morality… A changeable God is how you get today’s moral relativism.

The other “fix” is to deny free will: Mary is a robot and so are we. That’s Calvinism. Problem is, there is a hell with a population greater than zero. If we have no free will, God is the cause of our sins. Then the atheists are right: God is evil. Again, welcome to today’s dark world.

Now you see why Mary is a big deal, and why the devil will stop at nothing to keep you away from Her!

EDIT: split into new topic: No Immaculate Conception, No Immutable God
 
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1ke said:
For future reference, the CAF forums ask that we stick to one topic per thread. So each of these 6 should really be its own thread. This keeps discussions on topic and less confusing.
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I’m not sure how I missed that, but I apologise!
 
skelly said:
Also at another service people were eating donuts and drinking coffee at the same service as communion.
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I saw people eating pretzels at Mass. Also, I see many women altar servers and readers keeping a bottle of water to drink during the Mass.
 
Unique_name said:
(“Does the Catholic Church really teach that works grant us salvation?”)
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I think good works can save a person. Why not ask your Protestant friend to read Matthew 25: 31-46? What does all that mean to a Protestant?
 
It does affect one’s living a Christ-like life. The dogma of the Assumption/Dormition is de fide divina et Catholicam. It does not say that she died.

In his epistle, St. James says (I’m paraphrasing here) that if one keeps the entire law but offends in one point is guilty of breaking the entire law.

If we keep every part of the Catholic Faith except one (or more) dogma(s) that we don’t want to accept, then we are no longer Catholic. That does impact our spiritual life because if we persist in error then we are no longer part of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Catholic Church.
 
Margaret_Ann said:
Mary is not dead. She had no original sin and therefore was not subject to death.
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Ven. Mary of Agreda reported that Mary was given the choice by God about whether She wanted to leave the world by rapture instead of death. Not wanting to be the odd one out—as even Her Son wasn’t—She declined the offer. Over the next few years Her capacity to love began to exceed what Her body was capable of and She did eventually die as a result. Jesus raised Her from the dead and took Her into Heaven three days later (on August 15).

As far as Her phone number goes: communication in Heaven is not aural, it is by cognition. As such there are no iPhones in Heaven. You do not need a phone to talk to Her any more than you need one to talk to Her Son.
 
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