RCC difficult to join

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I tried to leave the Catholic Church once, many years ago. I made an appointment for my first conversion class with a Lutheran minister. I never went. While showering that day, I was overwhelmed with fear, and knew I couldn’t do it. I never looked back.👍
 
A year ago I thought RCIA would be annoying, extraneous and redundant. Now I view it as absolutely critical to the process and would not trade it for the world.
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AMEN 👍
 
PauloFreire2 said:
I tried to leave the Catholic Church once, many years ago. I made an appointment for my first conversion class with a Lutheran minister. I never went. While showering that day, I was overwhelmed with fear, and knew I couldn’t do it. I never looked back.👍
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That’s why after a long day at work, we should take a shower to refresh our mind. 😉 😃

God bless!
 
LeahInancsi said:
The eight months I spent in RCIA were very easy, fulfilling and fun. I could easily have stayed in RCIA several more months as someone mentioned that the Pope is trying to require now.

Maybe a “phasing in” process might a good solution.

It should be difficult to make sure those coming in have really made the necessary committment.

IMO, the OP is still clueless.
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Hm, I just read this. I’m the OP. You were starting from scratch, were you not? I’d been through literally years of Catcheisis while boarding with Priests in Sydney. I was jokingly told, “You are the best-instructed non-Catholic in Sydney.” I don’t say that out of pride, but to show that the priests who I was living with as a boarder (ie knew my whole real self, not a Sunday face) clearly thought I was ready. I was silly not to join at that time.

As it turns out, the Parish which made it hard for me to join put other roadblocks in my way once we’d joined too. Things like choosing to keep the crying room as a room for stacking spare chairs for Christmas and Easter, rather than it’s intended purpose. Probably not a good Parish, compared to others I have been involved in. I’ve had to learn that Catholicism is not the same in all Parishes, and that not all Catholics are the same.

The impression I get from a post like this one, and sadly, from some Catholics, is that they’d like it to be like a very exclusive club. I don’t get any sense of God’s love from that attitude, and if the whole church had that attitude, I’d expect it to shrink very quickly.

You just said you found it “easy, fulfilling, and fun”, and then straight after say it should be “made difficult.” Perhaps people in glass houses and stones, well, you know…
 
It’s a shame you didn’t go through “regular” RCIA. The problems your wife was having, i.e., not knowing when to kneel, sit, or stand, and the fact that tradition and the magesterium are equal to scripture, are things you would have learned about. It takes a while to start “thinking” Catholic. Until you do, you won’t “feel” Catholic. Catholicism isn’t an exclusive club but it does require a mindset that is different than that of the rest of the world.

You’ll know your Catholic and you’ll fit in when you change your thinking and accept humility and suffering as part of the process.

Sorry about the cry room. My church doesn’t have one. It’s not a roadblock for any of my fellow parishioners. Most of us enjoy hearing the “children’s choir” because, where there are children in church, the church has a future. Thank goodness we have the ever-so-disdained-by-you missalettes so that we can read along with the service and the readings over the shouts of praise from the little children!

I guess I’m sounding a little bit sharp but I’m very disappointed that, after almost a year in the Church, you’ve come back with the same attitude. You will never grow in your faith until you lose your pride and let Jesus teach you. Spend time in meditation before the blessed sacrament if you really want to grow in spirituality. It’s said that women enter the Church through their hearts and men through their minds. It’s time to let some of it trickle down into your heart.

Pax,
 
Bit of a thread drift! 🙂
Most of us enjoy hearing the “children’s choir” because, where there are children in church, the church has a future.
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The “children’s choir” is a blessing from God! They are the sounds of life.

Back to the thread…
 
It is interesting. Please note Serena, that if everyone had your and VW’s attitude about kids at Mass, we would not be having this discussion. It would be a non-issue, because our kids would be welcome.😉 So you are saying that if you were immediately in front of us at Mass you wouldn’t turn around and give us death stares, or tch? If that’s so, then I wish there were more people like you.

I think, truth be told that for the most part people deceive themselves why they believe in Jesus. I think (well it’s true for me anyway), that I believe in Jesus because someone showed me God’s love in real life. That meant I could read the Bible and believe it. My wife was indoctrinated by her family and on one deep level is probably only finding her own faith now, now that she is more emotionally independent of her folks.

“Nobody can come until the Father draw him.” I was actually first drawn to the Catholic Church by love. A priest in Sydney took me in when I had nothing to offer except for playing guitar at Mass, and helped me get my life back on the rails. I went back to Uni, I’ve been blessed with a wife, family, etc. So “the hook” that dew me to Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular in the beginning was love in action.

After leaving there, I went to the AOG church with my now wife because her father was a pastor, and it was expected- and cos I loved her. They are very strong people. I had to put up with opposition to join the RCC, and disapproval

So I spent a few years living among priests, being instructed. So when people say I am poorly instructed I get confused. :confused: OK, so the Magesterium, Scripture and Tradition are on the same level. How does that help me be more loving to you? Will that information save one soul? But more to the point, are you saying the priest who initially discipled me taught me incorrectly? If he did, then I’ll stick with him rather than some of the strict legalistic people on this board.

It is completely unselfish to want to go to Mass and not disturb others’ experience of such a sacred thing.

Also, I read a comment here that this forum is quite Traditional. It may be too traditional for me. I enjoy the Charismatic movement, and I see Christ as my focus.
 
davidarlette said:
I would like to vent a bit of my frustration at the difficulty in joining the RCC, and a couple of other things.

I came to know Jesus through the RCC (I boarded with preists for 5 years undergoing Catechesis), and the AOG church (my wife’s church) at the same time. The AOG church went off on the prosperity tangent, and I thought, well the RCC still teaches the truth. I know “all” the teachings and accept them so let’s go there.

I expected having gone through years of Catechesis to simply be received into the RCC, but was told I had to do the RCIA. What has happened is that things I used to accept as fact (Apostolic Succession, Infallibility of the Pope, the Churche’s concern for the poor) have all come into question since doing the RCIA. I have looked into history, since my sponsor is a history buff, and found things to be not so clear-cut as I once though. She also insists that all other Churches are false since the RCC is the “One True Church.”

We also strongly dislike being called converts. We are already believers. If we were changing from Islam or Judaism, fair enough, but is Catholicism a different religion altogether to the AOG?

Another thing we dislike is being called protestants, since we have never had any ill-feeling towards the RCC, and were not involved in the Reformation. We didn’t know anything about it really (but do now).

So my other concern is this:
With my history, if I still have to jump through a million hoops to be received (despite my preist mentor saying I was ready 5 years ago), how are we expected to gain any new members for the RCC?

One more thing:
We are told to go to Mass, but cannot receive the Eucharist, despite believing in the Real Prescence, and that hurts. I also wish to make a good cofession and cannot do that either until just before being received into the Church. Even that has been put off until after Easter now because our whole group backed out!
I am told that as long as I am willing to make a good confession ASAP, then that counts. SO why do we confess to a preist at all? Why won’t they just hear my confession so I can have peace?
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You have it easy. 🙂

I was born to Catholic parents and was Baptized at a few weeks old. I went to Church every Sunday for the first 5 years of my life. Then, continuting to go to church, I took 2 years of classes before I was allowed to make my first Confession. A month or so after that, I recieved my First Communion. That’s seven years so far.

I continued going to church every Sunday, and also continued going to Catechism classes once a week for 8 more years, when I was finally Confirmed.

So that’s 15 years total. 🙂

5 years of knowing Catholics plus one year of instruction doesn’t sound bad now, does it? 🙂

I sympathize with you. There should be an interview process and a way to “test out” of the formal RCIA classes when someone already knows all the stuff, having been taught by priests.

I think, though, that Easter is the time when adults receive that Sacraments. The rest of us renew our Baptism at that same time.
 
davidarlette said:
Hm, I just read this. I’m the OP. You were starting from scratch, were you not? I’d been through literally years of Catcheisis while boarding with Priests in Sydney. I was jokingly told, “You are the best-instructed non-Catholic in Sydney.” I don’t say that out of pride, but to show that the priests who I was living with as a boarder (ie knew my whole real self, not a Sunday face) clearly thought I was ready. I was silly not to join at that time.

As it turns out, the Parish which made it hard for me to join put other roadblocks in my way once we’d joined too. Things like choosing to keep the crying room as a room for stacking spare chairs for Christmas and Easter, rather than it’s intended purpose. Probably not a good Parish, compared to others I have been involved in. I’ve had to learn that Catholicism is not the same in all Parishes, and that not all Catholics are the same.

The impression I get from a post like this one, and sadly, from some Catholics, is that they’d like it to be like a very exclusive club. I don’t get any sense of God’s love from that attitude, and if the whole church had that attitude, I’d expect it to shrink very quickly.

“As it turns out, the Parish which made it hard for me to join put other roadblocks in my way once we’d joined too. Things like choosing to keep the crying room as a room for stacking spare chairs for Christmas and Easter, rather than it’s intended purpose.”

I think you’re taking things too personally. We don’t have a crying room at all. “Kids cry. Get over it.” is what my pastor says. Of course he also wants parents to be sensible and to remove screaming kids.

We have a Mass in the basement that’s meant for kids who are learing how to behave in church. We need that Mass anyway, because there isn’t enough room upstairs at that Mass.

We also offer babysitting for the very young kids - usually 1-3 years.

Does your church have babysitting? If not, would you consider volunteering to get it started, and maybe to do some of the babysitting, too.?

It’s a great way to get to know people in the parish.

You just said you found it “easy, fulfilling, and fun”, and then straight after say it should be “made difficult.” Perhaps people in glass houses and stones, well, you know…
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tcraig said:
Well, I’m sorry, but you yourself have delayed your own entry into the Church. It shouldn’t have mattered that you were the only two … smaller parishes often have only one joining at Easter Vigil. This was the case for my son. My husband and I were received into the Church during the month of November during a regular Wednesday weeknight mass; we were the only ones then, too.

I think you worried too much about any “attention” you might have received. Receiving new members into the Church is expected at the Easter Vigil, and is a cause for celebration. People would have congratulated you after mass, but then life would have returned to normal.

You’re now in a “you’ve made your own bed now lie in it” situation. Figure out when you can reasonably join the Church, and stop worrying about whether anyone else is going to be up there with you. If you had just bucked up, you would have received First Confession and First Holy Communion already.
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I’m going to the Easter Vigil this year for the first time, especially to welcome the new members.

My son was 13 when he recieved his First Holy Communion at the Easter morning Mass. If a painfully self-concious 13-yr-old boy can stand in the front of the church to be congratulated at the most attended Mass of the Easter schedule (SRO), any adult can do it. 🙂

I’m sorry, OP, that you postponed it. You would have loved the warm welcome, I think. 😦
 
kalt said:
I’m going to the Easter Vigil this year for the first time, especially to welcome the new members.

I’m sorry, OP, that you postponed it. You would have loved the warm welcome, I think. 😦
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The idea was that we’d go through RCIA as a group and join together at Easter Vigil with some special ceremony involving a candle. That would have been special. But it just didn’t work out that way. I don’t think anyone joined at Easter Vigil that year from memory. We were all at different times for different reasons. It was still good. Lots of people came up and said hello.

Hope you enjoy tomorrow. 🙂
 
I read some disturbing comments by the OP in this thread.

Please, everyone, let this thread drop. This is a situation that none of us is qualified to handle. ❤️
 
Respectfully disagree. Some people are born into the church and wait 7 or 8 or 10 or 14 years for the sacraments.

Yes and they are usually children. Children who may not have the same learning capacity or understanding as an adult. To compare a child’s experience to that of an adult is a little condescending.

Look, I’ve read thread after thread over here about difficulties with RCIA (I’ve had them myself). Instead of anyone being willing to address those difficulties honestly, I see quite a bit of condensation, ridicule and cut-downs. It’s a bit bothersome.

Can you imagine if Paul had to go through a year of RCIA after he had his conversion?
 
JimmyJeff said:
Respectfully disagree. Some people are born into the church and wait 7 or 8 or 10 or 14 years for the sacraments.

I see quite a bit of condensation, ridicule and cut-downs. It’s a bit bothersome.

Can you imagine if Paul had to go through a year of RCIA after he had his conversion?
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😃 Clever comment.

Yeah, the condescending tone, etc doesn’t ever end on this site. I made a blunder in thinking today (a public holiday in Australia) would be a Day of Obligation, considering on the liturgical calender it is when Christ died, and also that I thought I remembered going to a “special” Mass one Good Friday. Oops.🤷 A bit embarrasing. But one guy said, because of that, he didn’t believe I went through RCIA and that I wasn’t a Catholic at all. Nice. We sorted it out, but it easy to be offended here. Thankfully there are enough nice people.

Kalt, I’m the OP. What disturbs you? It may have gotten better, I’ll let you know. Ask away.
 
JimmyJeff said:
Can you imagine if Paul had to go through a year of RCIA after he had his conversion?
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As I recall, he did fourteen years of instruction with the Apostles, and there is no mention that he got summers and stats off. 😉

I did seventeen years, and I probably should have done 18 - I wasn’t ready for First Confession. However, I’m still here now, and I credit that to the patience of my teachers and friends. 🙂
 
Yes, the Church is patient, and does not want to make any mistakes, either with her doctrine or her possible future members of the Body of Christ.

We see knee jerk reactions from other churches, ordaining active homosexuals as leaders, allowing birth control and divorce on demand, and making people like Britney SP___RS a saint because she claimed to be a virgin.

But now look at those churches and the results of their knee jerk reactions.

You will never find this happening in the Catholic Church.

Patience is necessary, let them croos their T’s and dot their I’s
 
With all due respect to everyone here you do not join the Catholic Church like a gym club.

You become part of the Catholic Church.

A part of Christ, “His Body”.

Whereby Jesus is the Head.

To make this transformation takes a committment for once a part of there is no turning back. You are then gien the fullness of the Church (Christ) and by denying this later with full knowledge you deny Him.

That is why the process is lengthy not to let you know everthing about your faith but for you to understand what you are taking upon yourself.

In the early Church people did not become a part of the Catholic Church till after they had sewn their oats so to speak because they knew the resposibility they were committing to.
 
Ahem, JTM. :ehh: That’s probably a bit unfair about Mrs Spears. I don’t know of a process of protestant beatification. But more to the point, our own Church has indeed had “bad” Popes, child sex charges…a checkered past. IMO it is best not to attack other denominations.

Which isn’t to say that I agree with practicing homosexual clergy, etc,

jmcrae, can I have a quote re St. Paul? I’m not contesting you, I just don’t remember reading that,

Luke 2:41:
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Hmm. Doesn’t sound lengthy to me. Sounds like God sovereignly wanted peope to join His Church on the double!! 👍
 
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