so discouraged

[Merrick]

Thanks again everyone who has empathized with where I am coming from. I will read these posts again. I can say on the positive side that I have a very good confessor priest which is more important to me in terms of support than anything else. I have also found some of our hispanic members to be very kind and seem to have a great reverence for the blessed Mother. I often see them visiting the tabernacle and feel a kinship there.

So I am trying to remember the positive and why I am doing this. Thank you again for the encouragement.

 

[Chatter163]

I was an Episcopalian who became Catholic 31 years ago. I hold aspects of my catechetical formation there, and especially my liturgical and musical formation, dear from my childhood. However, the only thing that I miss from my Anglican days is good music, since I knew that I was joining the One True Church. Since I belong to an FSSP parish that uses the old Latin Mass, I am blessed. But for many years I had to put up with shoddy, banal, folk music. At the time Latin Masses were practically non-existent.

The story that I have often told was how I emerged from the confessional after making my first Catholic confession, and the 5:30PM Mass was starting. “Glory and Praise to Our God” was the processional. This was totally unlike any music that I was accustomed to as a High Church Anglican, who had identified as “Anglo-Catholic.” I remember thinking, “Lord, I don’t know if You have a sense of humor about this or not, but please take my hand and lead me through this cacophony into the True Church.” He did, and I have never, ever regretted it, even for a second.

 

[runwaymodel]

Thanks again everyone who has empathized with where I am coming from. I will read these posts again. I can say on the positive side that I have a very good confessor priest which is more important to me in terms of support than anything else. I have also found some of our hispanic members to be very kind and seem to have a great reverence for the blessed Mother. I often see them visiting the tabernacle and feel a kinship there.

So I am trying to remember the positive and why I am doing this. Thank you again for the encouragement.

Merrick, even though I’ve been a Catholic all my life I can understand your feelings of isolation. Unless I am visiting family, I have been attending Mass alone for years (I’m twenty-something so perhaps that is not as long as others have endured) but what helps me is that I may be alone but I am not lonesome because I feel the presence of God while at Mass. Try to focus and Him and things will eventually fall into place. Finding the right parish and becoming involved helped tremendously. These things take time but rest assured, I will be praying for you. The journey never ends for anyone–lifelong Catholics or new converts—so take solace in that. Welcome home!

 

[Tigg]

Making heretical Arian statements about Jesus in a faith formation class is serious. My expectations are realistic. I understand the problems that infected Anglicanism. That is why poor faith formation or liturgy discourage me. This kind of lax attitude is what crept into Anglicanism so I wouldn’t be smug.

What an asset you will be to the OHCA Church and, in solidarity with Christ, borne from grief and mourning. In many ways, my experience over the past two years is similar due to a reassignment of pastors and an inevitable decision to change parishes. It’s been over a year now, and while I do have a grateful heart to find myself again grounded in truth and tradition, the pain of knowing what is transpiring in some places, coupled with concern for Catholic friends continually exposed to harmful situations, remains a heartache to be endured.

I have found that submission to God’s will and complete trust are about the only consolations I have. That and the occasional light that promises Christ sees all, knows all and is allowing this time for His purposes.

 

[808Catholic]

I was an Episcopalian who became Catholic 31 years ago. I hold aspects of my catechetical formation there, and especially my liturgical and musical formation, dear from my childhood. However, the only thing that I miss from my Anglican days is good music, since I knew that I was joining the One True Church. Since I belong to an FSSP parish that uses the old Latin Mass, I am blessed. But for many years I had to put up with shoddy, banal, folk music. At the time Latin Masses were practically non-existent.

The story that I have often told was how I emerged from the confessional after making my first Catholic confession, and the 5:30PM Mass was starting. “Glory and Praise to Our God” was the processional. This was totally unlike any music that I was accustomed to as a High Church Anglican, who had identified as “Anglo-Catholic.” I remember thinking, “Lord, I don’t know if You have a sense of humor about this or not, but please take my hand and lead me through this cacophony into the True Church.” He did, and I have never, ever regretted it, even for a second.

I’m enrolled in an on-line course and one of the exercises was to compare 3 versions of the Creed used by the Catholic church. It’s amazing how different they might sound to those who don’t believe in what we Catholics believe but, when you study the profession of faith, you can easily see how nothing has changed since the Roman Creed until today. The point I’m trying to make is that some may believe Gregorian chants may be the only way to sing our praise in church but this is not the only way. We can still attend Latin Mass and sing in the ways our fathers or grand fathers sang but we also have the option to worship using more modern music. It’s not the way we sing but the fact that we do sing just as it’s not the words that we use to profess our faith as much as it’s about the faith we profess. God Bless you all.

 

[Brendan_64]

I am in so much grief and I know it shouldn’t be this way. I would never do this if it weren’t for my theology or spirituality. I am in mourning. I will miss my Anglican parish so much. I mourn the disintegration of the Anglican tradition. And I mourn the fact that the Catholicism I am seeing is nearly altogether unrecognizable to me.

I do have faith in the blessed sacrament and often spend hours in prayer in front of the tabernacle. But I already know this is going to be one long severe struggle. I will need a lot of faith and prayer.

Merrick, that last paragraph say all that needs to be said. You must join us.

But be aware that the Catholic Church is no bed or roses at the moment. There are many of us who are currently Catholics who feel as you do. I constantly feel that our liturgy is being stripped bare and attempts are made to replace it with something with a low-church Anglican evangelical flavour. And catechesis within many on our Church, including the catechists (and sometimes even our clergy) can be pretty dire. Catechesis is often best done through your own learning and prayer, don’t always rely on parish catechists, or even on some clergy, try not to feel disheartened if you seem to know more than those who are supposed to be teaching you.

But you faith in and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament means that you belong amongst us. We need people like you, we really do. In many ways the Catholic Church is not a very easy place to be if you value traditional liturgy and are not in favour of ‘modernising’ the Church. But things were never meant to be easy. Think of it as joining in the battle for the heart of the Church. You are not alone.

 

[TimothyH]

Making heretical Arian statements about Jesus in a faith formation class is serious. My expectations are realistic. I understand the problems that infected Anglicanism. That is why poor faith formation or liturgy discourage me. This kind of lax attitude is what crept into Anglicanism so I wouldn’t be smug.

To the other posts, I am glad to hear about the Anglican Use and other Anglican to Catholic experiences. It is true that in many ways this is an advantage to me.

Poor faith formation and heretical statements about Jesus are a symptom of your parish, not of the one universal Church. The opposite is true of Anglicanism where error is systemic. That’s the difference.

-Tim-

 

[ccmcmg]

Merrick,

My friend, my sibling in Christ:

I do not have the answers you are searching for, need or want; I know that God does. Perhaps think of it this way: this is more than joining a ‘parish’; you are becoming one with the entire Catholic Church, larger than a parish. Not one parish is perfect, because each is made with us imperfect human beings. However, because God is True, and the Church is True, the Church supercedes the mistakes and failings and shortcomings of the men and women in it.

Many times, we will be met by great trials, tribulations and challenges right before something great is about to happen. The darkness does not want even one of us to see the Light, to know the Way and the Truth. If you’re able to see it, see these challenges not as a reason to doubt the Faith and your entrance to the Catholic Church, but instead, as affirming that you are doing the right thing. The devil would not try to throw up roadblocks if you were doing the wrong thing; he would want that! Now, this is not always true; we do not always face challenges in this way, for this reason, but in my experience, most often that is the case.

I invite you to give your issues to Jesus Christ our Savior, who instituted the Catholic Church in 33 AD, and died so that we might live. Savior of Light, please take these challenges into the wounds You suffered on the Cross, so that Merrick can become one with the Church, as we become one with You. We pray for Merrick, and all those becoming Catholic, or those having doubts or concerns. We pray for our leaders, in and out of the Church, to lead us correctly and clearly, and for Faithful Teachings.

Do not doubt yourself, my friend; do not doubt the Faith. Instead, place all your trust and belief in the One God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

 

[Casilda]

And I mourn the fact that the Catholicism I am seeing is nearly altogether unrecognizable to me.

I do have faith in the blessed sacrament and often spend hours in prayer in front of the tabernacle. But I already know this is going to be one long severe struggle. I will need a lot of faith and prayer.

I reiterate your statement above. Though I did parish hop my way out of the local Roman Catholic diocese, as others have suggested to find a better fit, I was able to find an Eastern Catholic parish to safely grow in. Even blessed with an occasional Byzantine Catholic divine liturgy to nourish me. It will be a long struggle, but I pray you persevere.

 

[Merrick]

Poor faith formation and heretical statements about Jesus are a symptom of your parish, not of the one universal Church. The opposite is true of Anglicanism where error is systemic. That’s the difference.

-Tim-

This is not a debate about whether Anglicanism or Catholicism are true. I already said I am becoming Catholic. I am preparing myself for struggles I already face as a Catholic, not Anglican.

 

[Merrick]

To everyone else, though it will be tough I am encouraged and will have first communion Sunday. There are many insightful posts here.

 

[TimothyH]

This is not a debate about whether Anglicanism or Catholicism are true. I already said I am becoming Catholic. I am preparing myself for struggles I already face as a Catholic, not Anglican.

You said you missed your Anglican parish and were not happy with your Catholic parish. You are the one who brought up Anglicanism and Catholicism, not me.

Disappointment is usually the result of unrealistic expectations. I think your expectations about people in general and the Catholic Church in particular are not realistic, that’s all and am sorry if I have upset you.

-Tim-

 

[Merrick]

You said you missed your Anglican parish and were not happy with your Catholic parish. You are the one who brought up Anglicanism and Catholicism, not me.

Disappointment is usually the result of unrealistic expectations. I think your expectations about people in general and the Catholic Church in particular are not realistic, that’s all and am sorry if I have upset you.

-Tim-

Yes, I do miss it, but that is neither here nor there. And I get discouraged. My expectations are that core dogmas are taught properly. That is a reasonable expectation. But I believe in the Church and will persevere.