Thank You

[MDK]

I promise you that the Holy Spirit will not ultimately take one who is truly seeking God, and lead him/her away from the Catholic Church. This is the Church built by Christ, and the Holy Spirit does not compete with Christ, and does not lead people away from Christ. The Holy Spirit may lead us to help others, but will not lead us away from the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, which is the home for God’s New Covenant family. Will the Holy Spirit lead one away from the Church that teaches true salvation, and into a man-made church that teaches falsely (and all churches other than the Catholic Church are built on false teaching)? No, the Holy Spirit will not, although He may let you go away of your own free will. To lead one who is seeking God away from the Catholic Church would be incompatible with God’s nature.

 

[Carjack1]

well, could you give an example of a restriction from the Catholic school where you attended that made you feel miserable and want to cry when you attend mass?

Making me go to Mass. It is a very horrid experience. We had to go one day a week. The kids didn’t like me, when peace time came, they shook my hand with the fakest smile on their faces

You are looking for feeling as an indicator of your faith. What you

need to look for is the understanding.
I understand that I do not belong in Mass.
I am glad that you are comfortable in your faith

 

[Carjack1]

I promise you that the Holy Spirit will not ultimately take one who is truly seeking God, and lead him/her away from the Catholic Church. I promise you that it has This is the Church built by Christ, and the Holy Spirit does not compete with Christ, and does not lead people away from ChristI am not being led from Christ, so I am not sure what point you are trying to make. The Holy Spirit may lead us to help others, but will not lead us away from the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, which is the home for God’s New Covenant familyThat is a view in which I don’t agree with. Will the Holy Spirit lead one away from the Church that teaches true salvation, and into a man-made church that teaches falsely (and all churches other than the Catholic Church are built on false teaching)?I am glad that you are comfortable enough in the Catholic Church to feel this way, I disagree No, the Holy Spirit will not, although He may let you go away of your own free willThe HS is not letting me go on my free will, it is leading me. . To lead one who is seeking God away from the Catholic Church would be incompatible with God’s natureAgain, I disagree, but thank you for your point of view.

 

[SavedByHim]

hey carjack,
after reading some of your other posts, i am sorry to read this one. it seems to me that you have stuff from your past that hasn’t been resolved yet. i am sad for your suffering.

i will keep you in prayer and hope that while right now, you feel the Catholic church is not for you, i would encourage you to “never say never”.

don’t know if you’re a “huggy” person, but i’m sending you one anyways. :hug1:

take care and feel free to stick around!

 

[ajcoley1]

Carjack1:

Can I share?? I’m a cradle Catholic who left for awhile when I met my (now) x. I was looking for some kind of understanding, I guess. I found a Bible study group & read & learned how to pray for the 1st time.
And I had that question: these people only believe what the bible says, what about the 200+ years before it was written??
After H got tired of church-hopping & picked up on the church of Drugs & Alcohol, which led to Church of Abuse-Those-YOu-Love, I started going to church & reading these posts. I know that the Catholic church, because of its laws that are often hard to absorb, is not a do-what-you-feel church, but a GUIDE in how we should all strive to live up to God’s potential lfor us.
You see, during my childhood I practiced that 8th Sacrament, of Absorption. (Send the kid to CCD, Mass every Sunday except when I nearly died of Pneumonia)
During this time, I knew I was a Cristian, and I’ve realized that the Holy Spirit has been with me always. And I am finally beginning to catch on to some of the reasons Why. (I am too analytical for my own good sometimes.) And I am STILL that person who prefers to be alone & people really don’t want to share the sign of Peace with me; I now have it in my heart. I’d love to share.

And no, Mass doesn’t bring me joy always either; it’s more of a routine, sometimes, to help my week begin on a Positive note. I wish my children will join me someday.

And I get some questionable looks from people because I cannot take Communionas I have Celiac disease & even that tiny amt of wheat will knock me out for 2 days.
Or maybe the looks are just that catholic guilt my History proffesor talked about. Keep in touch and be with the Holy Spirit.

 

[PazFeAmor]

Originally Posted by water
well, could you give an example of a restriction from the Catholic school where you attended that made you feel miserable and want to cry when you attend mass?

Making me go to Mass. It is a very horrid experience. We had to go one day a week. The kids didn’t like me, when peace time came, they shook my hand with the fakest smile on their faces

To be honest that doesn’t sound bad to me. I have yet to meet a person who didn’t have some horrible stories about school (being bullied, humiliated by the other kids, made fun of…etc). As a kid you are made to do alot of things you don’t like in school and by your family **but I am not about to disown my family or school or anything else for making me do things I didn’t like (within reason). **

The Catholic faith is not about feelings or making you feel good. To follow the faith is hard and a narrow road and personally I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s the narrow way that leads to heaven and there’s just so much evidence that **Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church **(ex. letters written by the disciples of some of the Apostles who followed Our Lord, the writings of early Christians dating within 50 to 60 years after Christ’s death and the Christian underground Catacombs).

When I was younger before I came back to the Catholic Church I did whatever I pleased and felt comfortable with but anything done easy in the end just doesn’t give one the satisfaction that working hard for something does. I respect that you don’t feel comfortable right now in the Catholic Church but you have to really reflect on whether what’s leading you away from the church is truly the HS or just feeling the Catholic church’s teachings are too hard to follow. Remember, to follow Christ you have to carry your cross and it is indeed heavy at times but with God’s grace he is right beside you the whole time.

Peace.

 

[water]

Making me go to Mass. It is a very horrid experience. We had to go one day a week. The kids didn’t like me, when peace time came, they shook my hand with the fakest smile on their faces
I understand that I do not belong in Mass.
I am glad that you are comfortable in your faith*

This doesn’t sound horrible as I thought it was. Any kid wouldn’t want to go to a certain place; when they had to go, they cried. That’s all kids do. Most parents made their kids go to church whether it is Catholic or a protestant church.

It seems to me that you were very shy when you were a kid; the example above had nothing to do with what the Catholic Church had done something wrong to you.

 

[ajcoley1]

Learning the Catholic Tradition takes time and patience. I pray that you continue letting the Holy Spirit to guide you and learn one thing at a time about the CAtholic Tradition.

Boy, you got THAT right!

 

[Carjack1]

hey carjack,
after reading some of your other posts, i am sorry to read this one. it seems to me that you have stuff from your past that hasn’t been resolved yet. i am sad for your suffering. Don’t be sad. I am starting feel a bit bettr

i will keep you in prayer and hope that while right now, you feel the Catholic church is not for you, i would encourage you to “never say never”. Fair enough

don’t know if you’re a “huggy” person, but i’m sending you one anyways. :hug1:

take care and feel free to stick around!

Thank You. I am not conservative like some other the other people who post. I stick out. Catholic religion is a nice religion and i don’t believe all of the doctrines. I know that if I were to join and not agree with some of the doctrine/or practice the stuff that I do agree with, I will be labled a Cafeteria Catholic or even be told not to consider myself Catholic. That is a lot of pressure!

 

[mercygate]

Thank You. I am not conservative like some other the other people who post. I stick out. Catholic religion is a nice religion and i don’t believe all of the doctrines. I know that if I were to join and not agree with some of the doctrine/or practice the stuff that I do agree with, I will be labled a Cafeteria Catholic or even be told not to consider myself Catholic. That is a lot of pressure!

I wouldn’t call it “pressure”. I think you are demonstrating a level of integrity. You KNOW that the Catholic faith is not just some “nice religion” but really claims to hold out the truth – and even uncomfortable, unpopular truths – as the Way and the Life of Christ Himself. You are not willing to put yourself in a place where you would be equivocating about it.

Nobody is holding a gun to your head. As I said earlier: Door’s open; lights are on.

 

[Carjack1]

Carjack1:

Can I share?? I’m a cradle Catholic who left for awhile when I met my (now) x. I was looking for some kind of understanding, I guess. I found a Bible study group & read & learned how to pray for the 1st time.
And I had that question: these people only believe what the bible says, what about the 200+ years before it was written??
After H got tired of church-hopping & picked up on the church of Drugs & Alcohol, which led to Church of Abuse-Those-YOu-Love, Sorry you went through that. That is a very painful life for the family members involved.I started going to church & reading these posts. I know that the Catholic church, because of its laws that are often hard to absorb, is not a do-what-you-feel church, but a GUIDE in how we should all strive to live up to God’s potential lfor us.
You see, during my childhood I practiced that 8th Sacrament, of Absorption. (Send the kid to CCD, Mass every Sunday except when I nearly died of Pneumonia)
During this time, I knew I was a Cristian, and I’ve realized that the Holy Spirit has been with me always. And I am finally beginning to catch on to some of the reasons Why. (I am too analytical for my own good sometimes.)I understand that And I am STILL that person who prefers to be alone & people really don’t want to share the sign of Peace with meThat is awful; I now have it in my heart. I’d love to share.

And no, Mass doesn’t bring me joy always either; it’s more of a routine, sometimes, to help my week begin on a Positive note. I wish my children will join me someday.

And I get some questionable looks from people because I cannot take Communionas I have Celiac disease & even that tiny amt of wheat will knock me out for 2 days. People shouldn’t assume
Or maybe the looks are just that catholic guilt my History proffesor talked about. Keep in touch and be with the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[Carjack1]

To be honest that doesn’t sound bad to me. I have yet to meet a person who didn’t have some horrible stories about school (being bullied, humiliated by the other kids, made fun of…etc). As a kid you are made to do alot of things you don’t like in school and by your family **but I am not about to disown my family or school or anything else for making me do things I didn’t like (within reason). **

The Catholic faith is not about feelings or making you feel good.I understand that To follow the faith is hard and a narrow road and personally I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s the narrow way that leads to heaven and there’s just so much evidence that **Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church **(ex. letters written by the disciples of some of the Apostles who followed Our Lord, the writings of early Christians dating within 50 to 60 years after Christ’s death and the Christian underground Catacombs). I respect that you believe that, I don’t

When I was younger before I came back to the Catholic Church I did whatever I pleased and felt comfortable with but anything done easy in the end just doesn’t give one the satisfaction that working hard for something does. I respect that you don’t feel comfortable right now in the Catholic Church **but you have to really reflect on whether what’s leading you away from the church is truly the HS or just feeling the Catholic church’s teachings are too hard to follow.I don’t feel they are too hard. I just don’t believe in all of them. If I were to try and follow all the teachings I would lose my mind. I need my sanity a little to much. I do not need to be part of a religion that I would resent being a part of. That would be counterproductive to my spiritual growth. ** Remember, to follow Christ you have to carry your cross and it is indeed heavy at times but with God’s grace he is right beside you the whole time.I know. I do not need the Catholic Church to carry the cross

Peace.

Peace to you as well

 

[Carjack1]

I wouldn’t call it “pressure”. I think you are demonstrating a level of integrity. You KNOW that the Catholic faith is not just some “nice religion” but really claims to hold out the truth – and even uncomfortable, unpopular truths – as the Way and the Life of Christ Himself. You are not willing to put yourself in a place where you would be equivocating about it.

Nobody is holding a gun to your head. As I said earlier: Door’s open; lights are on.

LOL. I am sorry. I didn’t mean to make it seemt that someone is putting a gun to my head. I do take religion and my relationship with Jesus very seriously. I do not know what the word equivocating is. What does that mean? There are doctrines I don’t agree with, and I would say I am not completely certain that the CC is the full truth

 

[mercygate]

LOL. I am sorry. I didn’t mean to make it seemt that someone is putting a gun to my head. I do take religion and my relationship with Jesus very seriously. I do not know what the word equivocating is. What does that mean? There are doctrines I don’t agree with, and I would say I am not completely certain that the CC is the full truth

Equivocating is quibbling – to say one thing and mean another: “I’m Catholic but I believe in contraception.” “I’m Catholic, but I don’t believe Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.” “I’m Catholic, but I have my own idea of what it means to be faithful.”

You’re not taking that route. That is respectable. Not necessarily the most DESIRABLE position, but it is honest. That’s better than faking it.

 

[PazFeAmor]

I respect that you believe that, I don’t

Well, it would be nice to know why you don’t believe it. Have you studied the writings of the early church that date from 40 to 60 years after Christ’s birth? One of the first Pope’s of the Catholic Church who was martyred was a disciple of the Apostle John who walked with Our Lord, ate with Our Lord, believed with all his heart in Our Lord. He was Polycarp who lived between 69-155 AD and was martyred. You can read his writings online at ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.toc.html It’s a non-Catholic source.

It’s the Christian witness of the writings of the early Christians and even of non-Christians who wrote of Christ and the practices of early Christians together with the Holy Spirit that brought me back to the Catholic Church. In the Bible in the book of James its says that “faith without works is a dead faith”. It takes work to follow Christ and it is not easy no matter if you are Catholic or Protestant.

I just don’t believe in all of them. If I were to try and follow all the teachings I would lose my mind. I need my sanity a little to much. I do not need to be part of a religion that I would resent being a part of. That would be counterproductive to my spiritual growth.

Who says you need to jump in all at once and start practicing the Catholic faith like right now? No one has said that, if anything you have been advised by others on this thread to take your time in studying the faith and by studying the faith you must look at its beginnings and that is the early Christian church.

I do not need the Catholic Church to carry the cross

There are many Protestants who carry their Cross with Christ, no one here would dare say that you will not find holy and saintly Protestants. Our Lord leads us to the truth and it is not through feelings alone or faith alone. It takes faith and works together. Any honest study of the Catholic faith must start with the early Christian church and its traditions then move on to the teachings of the Catholic church and compare everything that you have read to see what the Holy Spirit says to your heart.

As you can see, even if you say you are not looking for a debate or further discussion on a topic it just won’t happen on CAF. LOL We all love you and pray that you find the truth.

Peace.

***I am also Boricua **

 

[Carjack1]

PazFeAmor:
Thank You

 

[water]

well, now that I know a bit more about why you didn’t want to go to Mass when you were younger. How about Doctrines? what trouble you the most?

 

[Carjack1]

well, now that I know a bit more about why you didn’t want to go to Mass when you were younger. How about Doctrines? what trouble you the most?

The birth control factor. The part where I have to agree with EVERYTHING the CC teaches, otherwise I am not Catholic. The extreme conservatism.

 

[water]

The birth control factor. The part where I have to agree with EVERYTHING the CC teaches, otherwise I am not Catholic. The extreme conservatism.

Thanks, Carjack. The birth control issue is indeed one of issues where many have problem, but here is what you can find out.
Few realize that up until 1930, all Protestant denominations agreed with the Catholic Church’s teaching condemning contraception as sinful. t its 1930 Lambeth Conference, the Anglican church, swayed by growing social pressure, announced that contraception would be allowed in some circumstances. Soon the Anglican church completely caved in, allowing contraception across the board. Since then, all other Protestant denominations have followed suit. Today, the Catholic Church alone proclaims the historic Christian position on contraception.
…
The Bible mentions at least one form of contraception specifically and condemns it. Coitus interruptus, was used by Onan to avoid fulfilling his duty according to the ancient Jewish law of fathering children for one’s dead brother. “Judah said to Onan, ‘Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.’ But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother. And what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and he slew him also” (Gen. 38:8–10).

The biblical penalty for not giving your brother’s widow children was public humiliation, not death (Deut. 25:7–10). But Onan received death as punishment for his crime. This means his crime was more than simply not fulfilling the duty of a brother-in-law. He lost his life because he violated natural law, as Jewish and Christian commentators have always understood. For this reason, certain forms of contraception have historically been known as “Onanism,” after the man who practiced it, just as homosexuality has historically been known as “Sodomy,” after the men of Sodom, who practiced that vice (cf. Gen. 19).
*

source from: catholic.com/library/Birth_Control.asp

 

[Carjack1]

Thanks, Carjack. The birth control issue is indeed one of issues where many have problem, but here is what you can find out.
Few realize that up until 1930, all Protestant denominations agreed with the Catholic Church’s teaching* condemning contraception as sinful. t its 1930 Lambeth Conference, the Anglican church, swayed by growing social pressure, announced that contraception would be allowed in some circumstances. Soon the Anglican church completely caved in, allowing contraception across the board. Since then, all other Protestant denominations have followed suit. Today, the Catholic Church alone proclaims the historic Christian position on contraception.
I was aware of this conference. I agree with the other denominations on this issue
The Bible mentions at least one form of contraception specifically and condemns it. Coitus interruptus, was used by Onan to avoid fulfilling his duty according to the ancient Jewish law of fathering children for one’s dead brother. “Judah said to Onan, ‘Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.’ But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother. And what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and he slew him also” (Gen. 38:8–10).God wouldn’t want a brother-in-law having those kind of relations with their wife now. This is more Jewish. No other incident similar to this was mentioned in the New Testament.

The biblical penalty for not giving your brother’s widow children was public humiliation, not death (Deut. 25:7–10). But Onan received death as punishment for his crime. This means his crime was more than simply not fulfilling the duty of a brother-in-law. He lost his life because he violated natural law, as Jewish and Christian commentators have always understood. For this reason, certain forms of contraception have historically been known as “Onanism,” after the man who practiced it, just as homosexuality has historically been known as “Sodomy,” after the men of Sodom, who practiced that vice (cf. Gen. 19).

source from: catholic.com/library/Birth_Control.asp

i understand why the Catholic say no Birth Control, I just don’t agree with it.