This girl is not our judge. Nor does she get to be her own judge, God help her. She needs our prayers. She is suffering from the sin of presumption.
Hislittlelady said:
Their boasting was not in the Lord, but in their own perceived rank in the world. They are in need of prayer.
Hisalone has proven you right in her attack on Jimmy B. She makes attacks on our faith but she doesn’t see it as attacks because she thinks she is right. That is what I see about non-catholics. They think what they say is truthful and so they can say anything for instance we worship idols they don’t consider it an attack. They see what we say as untruthful and believe we are uncharitable and are quick to tell us so. They have no capability to see things in other people shoes.
Adrift - I want to thank you for that comment - I am going to come back to this thread after the holidays. I will pray about it and give it a lot of thought because I believe that one does have to try to put oneself in another person’s shoes.
:extrahappy: 
I’ve had many similar experiences. That’s why I generally avoid sharing my faith or spiritual experiences with non-Catholics. If I ever left my faith, which I wouldn’t, of course, I’d go in the direction of Liberal Christianity. I’d fall in with the folks who welcome gays, ordain women, and do all the things conservative Christians dislike. At least that brand of Christianity is truly tolerant.I went to my grandson’s Christmas play last night. I am Catholic, and my daughter passed away six years ago, and her children stayed with their daddy. He has remarried and he and his new wife decided that the Catholic church was not for them so therefore, they left and joined a Christian church. It’s probably Baptist based. That’s fine, although I’m disappointed that my grandchildren are not of my own church, but I’m so grateful they are being raised in the faith and being taught Jesus is the center of their lives.
When I arrived at their church some ladies invited me to sit at a table in their vestibule as we waited for the play to start. We had about an hour wait. They didn’t include me much in the conversation, but I understood that since they didn’t know me. I quietly sat as they conversed and one asked the other how was a wedding she had recently gone to and was it a Catholic wedding? I guess this other girl must have had Catholic relatives. The girl answered, “Lord no. Thank God. They were saved.” That was insult number one.
Insult number two came when the woman made another comment saying “Don’t mention that word around here, you know it’s not appreciated.” A real bona fide Catholic bashing and they, not knowing that I was Catholic, sitting there with tears welling in my eyes from the deep pain they caused me. This brought such a deep insight about how minorities feel when they are persecuted and ostracized just because of their color, their race, or any other person who might not quite fit into the mold. I believe this was a true sign from God for me as a lesson to be learned. How the other person feels.
I can only say I was so wounded and so distraught from feeling their hatred, and believe me, it was hatred. Out and out disgust on their part from the faces they made and the smirks. I told them then that I was Catholic and they didn’t even flinch except that they only ignored me more. It was awful.
I only want to say to all my other Christian brothers and sisters, who might in the past have said things about Catholics, “please don’t.” We are Christian people, we love the Lord, we obey His commands, we follow two thousand years of apostolic teachings, nor have I ever heard a fellow Catholic bash a Protestant, or speak against them. This was a lesson to me from the Lord and I pray to let it be a lesson to you as well. The wound is deep within me, that’s how badly it hurt my heart. I never knew we were that hated. It’s a terrible thing to feel.
May God bless you all and I pray for all Christian people in spite of the church they attend or their personal walk with Jesus, as well as all my non-Christian brothers and sisters, please refrain from saying things that one day you may have to account for when you are standing before the Lord’s throne.
Catholics are not evil, we are not the whore of babylon, we have a loving holy Pope who sits in the chair of St. Peter from a long line of popes before him, and we are taught through the apostolic church which is two thousand years old. I hope you all understand this. Thank you all for reading my statement of faith and of pain inflicted on me.
I think he is just passionate in his belief and wants to challange our non-catholic brothers and sisters to think really hard about their beliefs.Adrift - I want to thank you for that comment - I am going to come back to this thread after the holidays. I will pray about it and give it a lot of thought because I believe that one does have to try to put oneself in another person’s shoes.
Just off the top of my head I have not had a lot of contact with JimmyB but what I recall is that** he is bold and challenging and maybe has no patience for certain types.** I don’t remember rudeness (although I have not been on many threads with him).
Hisalone struck me as a Fundamentalist and although it was explained time and again - painstakingly - that we do not worship idols - he would repeat the acusation! That gets people’s backs up. You cannot debate with someone who thinks he knows better than you what you believe!!!
My husband always says that intelligence goes together with a sense of humour. Maybe we should use humour more:extrahappy:
I will come back to Adrift’s posting and reflect on everything in it in case I missed something. It might make me understand the other person better. In any case if, as a result, I get to understand others better, it should make the communication more effective - and that is the purpose of these forums, to gain a better understanding of one another.
I have to rush because we have to leave for the airport in 4 hours and have still to attend Mass and…have not yet packed!!!
Happy Christmas everybody - enjoy your families - don’t let anybody spend Christmas alone (invite them to join your celebration)
Cinette
. :bible1:Imperfect though we are, God lives in us, and does His work through us. We are the living body-- the “church”–of Christ, so whatever happens to us, happens to Him. Consider the words of writer Frederick Buechner in, *“A Room Called Remember”: *God chooses “for his holy work in the world…lamebrains and misfits and nitpickers and holier-than-thous and stuffed shirts and odd ducks and egomaniacs and milquetoasts and closet sensualists.” We are no different today than those who denied, deserted and betrayed Christ in His own time. Yet now, as then, he entrusts His work to us! The book, *“Disappointment With God” * by Philip Yancey discusses this in greater detail. A great read!
:byzsoc: :takeoff:Laudetur Iesus Christus.
Maybe he was thinking good thoughts! He could have been trying to “figure you out” by categorizing you. One would have to read into the body language accompanying the “Hmmm.” Perhaps he even liked you?
Thank you so much for your response and you are absolutely one hundred percent correct. I should have clarified what I said. I’m not at all happy that they are not being raised in the “Church”, which you and I both agree upon which one is the “Church.”, however, I’m just grateful that they are getting to know Jesus at all. For this I am grateful. I have no say since my Daughter died, and these are her children and I cannot control what the father does concerning them, so what I really meant was I’m grateful that they are being taught Jesus at all. Praise God for this small comfort.