Rejecting the faith...in part

[bobballen_18]

In summary, here’s the way I think about it

God is infinitely smarter than I am.
God loves me more than I love myself.
God tells us what to do, for our own good. And left us a living church to keep us up to date.
God gave us free will so that we can freely choose to do good, rather than being forced.

If I hear something that the church teaches, and disagree with it, I figure it’s because:
I’m not as smart as God.
I don’t love myself as much as God does.
I don’t understand what the teaching says or means. And maybe I never can.

So I choose to absolutely trust in God’s goodness, and accept it, and obey the teaching even though I don’t understand it. Rather then tell God that he’s wrong.

The most fundamental sin at the beginning of time was a sin of disobedience, due to a lack of trust in God’s goodness.

I like this! It’s all about trusting in God whether you understand something or not. Our journey here on this earth can be described as “faith seeking understanding”.

In regards to the OP’s question, I’m not sure since I don’t fit the description…but I have always wondered the same thing.

 

[Don_Jackson]

Don:

So . . . when one of the Ten Commandments was “Remember, keep holy the Sabbath,” God didn’t really mean that. Instead, what he meant was, “Remember, if you, according to your exquisite whim, want to keep holy the Sabbath,” then do so. Otherwise, don’t worry about it?

(I can’t say that I’ve never embraced that, because I have. Much to my chagrin.)

There in lies part of the problem. While Moses wa told to keep Holy the Sabboth Day, “the faith” changed it to “keep holy the Lords Day”. So the Church through a whim of its own has decided the Sabboth has been replaced and we are not bound to keep holy the seventh day.

And neither does the word of God tell us we are not keeping a day holy by not attending mass. That is a man made not God created law.

 

[Michaeljc4]

Like the original poster, I, too, disagree with some of the teachings of the Church, but remain Catholic in my self-identification and in my practice. There are three reasons.

First, I am much more interested in what people do than in what they believe. What’s in a person’s heart is between them and God. What a person does in this world–kindness toward others, love of neighbor, helping ‘the least of these’–is far more important than their feelings or opinions. As a Catholic, I try to ‘walk the walk,’ in other words: do what it is I think Jesus said was essential.

Second, I believe in the primacy of conscience. After careful study and prayer, if I find that I still disagree with this or that teaching…I just disagree. I don’t make a big deal out it, or offer scandal by yelling out my opinions, but I feel free, in my heart and in my thoughts, to dissent. That’s between me and God, not me, God, and the person sitting next to me in a pew.

Finally—and other people have touched on this in this thread–I am Catholic because of culture. My family is of Irish descent. Going to mass, celebrating the sacraments, engaging in Catholic spiritual practices…these are my heritage. They offer me great spiritual insight, comfort, and strength. I would not give them up for anything.

There are an unfortunate number of conservative Catholics who would like to put walls up between them and those lesser Catholics who don’t share their orthodoxy with regard to certain topics. Those people are much more like the Pharisees than they are like Jesus, who invited* everyone *to join him. For example, a new(ish) priest in the town where I live told his parishioners that they would no longer sing the hymn “All Are Welcome” at the beginning of mass because not all are welcome. He mentioned gay people in particular, if they were not repenting of their homosexuality. While that may be catnip for some, his church is emptying each Sunday as fewer and fewer people choose to worship there. I can’t blame them.

This particular priest is very orthodox. He also wouldn’t know who Jesus was if he passed him on the road to Jericho.

So be of good cheer. Your faith is between you and God. Your beliefs are between you and God. Do the work of Jesus in this world, ask God humbly for his guidance, and ignore those who would tell you that you are not Catholic because, in their arrogance, they believe they speak for God. They don’t.