Revert seeks advice on finding faithful parish

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I am a recent revert coming out of a conservative reformed denomination after 30 years where I lately served as an ordained elder and attended regularily. I am asking for advice on how to find or measure up a potential parish for me to join. I am 63 years old, raised RC- had the sacraments, altar boy- Latin Mass, parochial school- stopped going to Church at age 14 after my parents divorced. To be honest, I’d not attended a Mass for nearly 50 years. When I visited our local Church I was surprised at what I saw- no altar rail, priest facing the congregation, communion in the hand?!, “Eucharistic ministers”.

I understand things may have changed, but more importantly I’ve learned about the extent of the problems in the Church- some well known. I am familiar with Church Militant and Remnant Underground. One “advantage” of Protestantism is the liberty to choose where to worship. Some of the liberal denominations have gone so far to ordain practicing homosexuals or women and even tacitly approve abortion. The denomination I belonged to might be considered “Rad-Trad” Protestantism. While the RC Church hasn’t gone this far (yet), I want to avoid any parish that might be heading for these type of nascent practices.

So, how do I find a faithful parish? Are there groups of individuals or organizations in my area that I might contact to help with this?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Talk to your local priests about your concerns. You can also talk to active lay Catholics in your area. There may be a local parish which tends the play the role of “the traditional parish.” To acclimate yourself to today’s Mass, try watching the Mass on EWTN.
 
You are suppose to attend your local parish.
I believe each parish covers specific areas.

I know many people hop around, but i think its rather disingenuous for the most part.
 
http://www.ecclesiadei.org/masses.cfm

This website can find you a latin mass near you if you wish to attend one. That being said, even if you wish to attend ordinary form mass, parishes that offer a Latin mass tend to be a little more conservative.

My local OF mass is very well done, and we offer an EF mass.
 
There was a similar thread a while back called “Indicators of a Strong Parish.” I haven’t read it but it got over 60 replies, there’s probably a lot of good advice there.
 
Mike82ARP said:
So, how do I find a faithful parish? Are there groups of individuals or organizations in my area that I might contact to help with this?
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If you are a member of the Roman Rite of the Holy Catholic Church, I firmly believe ANY and ALL parishes are “faithful”; hence the meaning “catholic”, and “one holy” church we profess in the Credo.

Religious conservatism, or liturgical traditionalism (or lack thereof) never makes for a parish more “faithful” to the mission and message of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Regardless, it is important you find what you are looking for, I just think the adjective (or label) “faithful” can be counter to the truth presented in all parishes of our Catholic Church.
 
Mike82ARP said:
So, how do I find a faithful parish?
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Every geographical subdivision in the church has faithful members and every parish has those who just trying, all are both faithful and somewhat deficient.

Expecting everyone to be on the same page, and have the same understanding of the faith, that’s unrealistic.
 
My only advice, be what you want your parish to be. If you want it to be more faithful, then be more faithful. If you want it to be more loving, be more loving. If you want it to be more welcoming, then be hospitable. You can only control you. Goodness is contagious.
 
Let’s not get into EF v OF here… make another thread if youd like to debate that. He asked how to find a faithful parish with traditional liturgy… no more, no less.
 
Welcome home. If you haven’t been going to mass for nearly fifty years, though that’s really a long time, if your memory is still good, nothing much has changed since then that you had not seen.

God bless.
 
You are critical to a faithful parish. You have chosen the Church whereas others were born into it. You appreciate the depth and splendor, the beauty and richness of the faith, while those raised in it may not. You are called to bloom where you are planted - not being dismayed by what you see when looking left or right, but being awe-striuck by beholding the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world. You are called to inspire, motivate, encourage, even embarrass those around you by your life lived out in love of God. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen famously said, “If you find the perfect Church, do not join it. You will ruin it.”

You are the faithful parish.
 
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Unfortunately not evey parish is the same. The mass itself, was always meant to be fundamentally uniform in its application, but not every parish celebrates it the same way. It’s these differnces that cause many of the laity to attend churches outside of their local area.

You may want to attend the parish closest to you while you familiarize yourself with the mass once again. Once you feel comfortable with how to participate at mass and get an idea for how the mass is celebrated , you can visit other parishes in your area to see if anything is truly different.

For me most of the differnces center around the parish itself. I’ve been to quite a few new parishes that are so plain inside, (no statues, no paintings, not even a crucifix) you’d have to ask around just to confirm if this was in fact a Catholic Church.

Another big difference is the music may vary from parish to parish. Some have adopted a more contemporary Christian sound and others leaned to a more traditional praise and worship style and yet others have tried to keep the Gregorian chant that the Church is known for.
 
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Every Catholic church IS pretty much the same. Universal. The decor has zero to do with it.
MASS is the same worldwide. Christ is fully present.
All the other stuff is personal preference, and not the point of being there.
 
Because the OP mentioned how versus populum celebration, the supression of altar rails, and EMs suprised him. This, in addition to his mention of Voris and The Remnant, makes me think the OP would prefer an EF Mass.
The merits or lack thereof of the EF vs the OF have no bearing on where the OP could find a church that offers what he is looking for in the RCC.
 
I see, thank you for the clarification. Yikes. That’s a lot to overcome.
God bless.
 
What do you mean?
I, for one, am simply joyous that the OP has come home.
Sure, Voris and The Remnant are not ideal, but theyre better than what the culture pushes upon us today.
 
pianistclare said:
Every Catholic church IS pretty much the same. Universal. The decor has zero to do with it.
MASS is the same worldwide. Christ is fully present.
All the other stuff is personal preference, and not the point of being there.
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I wasn’t trying to imply that the decor was going to make a difference in one’s Salvation or even if the Church was officially Catholic. I just wanted to empathize that it’s these types of differnces are what you’re most likely to find. At which point it becomes a matter of personal preference.

However, why a parish would choose to purposely strip away its statues or paintings and even its crucifixes in favor of a more “modernistic” bland style is up for debate.

And I wouldn’t venture to imply that All parishes are basically the same, simply because they are Catholic. I’ve been to parishes where the priest is very faithful and reverent in celebrating the mass so that he stays faithful to the rules and traditions of the Church and I’ve been to others where the priest and even the laity push the envelope to its breaking point so they can celebrate the mass according to their own views on what should be taking place.

That’s why it’s important to at least be somewhat familiar with the do’s and don’ts at mass.
 
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