The Pull Towards Catholicism Keeps Getting Stronger

  • Thread starter Thread starter MatthaiosX
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They wouldn’t be in heaven if they didn’t repent of their sin.
 
I can understand where you are coming from and no need to apologize for the bluntness because I would rather someone be truthful with me than just tell me what I want to hear. So, thank you. Yes, I am in the Greek church and have spent much time in the Antiochian church as well, but yeah maybe it would be beneficial for me to start going to a ROCOR or OCA parish for awhile, as you say. I honestly still don’t know if it would be any better though. I have visited those churches and it doesn’t seem that much different than where I am now, but maybe I will give your suggestion a try.

Another problem I am running into (on top of the cultural thing) is a feeling of not getting spiritually fed in the Church right now. However, this could just be a personal problem and maybe not reflective of the Church as a whole. And yeah I guess who is to say that the Roman Catholic Church would fill this spiritual hole in me? Maybe it would be worse, as you say. But maybe it wouldn’t. I think it deserves me giving it a shot at least. I feel very close to many Roman Catholic devotions so I think I should at least give it a try since I have never even been to a Roman Catholic church before. Now, I definitely have a lot of former Roman Catholic friends in the Orthodox Church who are warning me not to leave Orthodoxy. I am trying to be very careful and heed their warnings, but I also want to be in a place where I don’t feel so “cut off” from the rest of the Christian world and from my Christian neighbors which are currently surrounding me on all sides. Also, I like that the Catholics are at least accepting of Orthodox practice whereas the Orthodox hardly even want to talk to our Catholic Christian brothers. As you stated, many people are calling Patriarch Bartholomew a sinful man because he is talking to the Roman Catholic Church. Is this right to say though? It feels really hardline and fundamental and not loving. It is so divisive. Right now I feel like I am just being Orthodox to say that I am following the correct Christian tradition instead of actually having a relationship with Christ and all of my Christian brethren surrounding me here on all sides in the USA. I am working on this as best I can, but it is difficult.

I don’t want to be Orthodox just for intellectual and aesthetic reasons, but unfortunately right now that’s what it feels like I am doing. Again, becoming Roman Catholic may not fix this, but I cannot help but feel a strong pull towards the Roman Catholic Church right now. At my current church I just feel spiritually dead and I don’t know if it’s just an individual church thing, an Orthodox thing or a strictly personal thing. Maybe it is a mixture of all of these things? I just feel a great divide between Christ and “His Church” (wherever that is) right now and it feels this is due to the spiritually dead practices of the Orthodox and the lack of being able to connect with most of the Christians around me in the USA. Again, I could be totally deluded though. I just want the Holy Spirit to guide me to the Truth here. Please pray for me. Lord have mercy on me.
 
I know exactly what you mean. I am in a city that only has one Greek Orthodox Church, and knowing that Christians from the RCC and Protestant Churches are doing a better job of living Christian lives and loving, and teaching and learning, etc. makes me want to visit other Churches to make friendships with others that are trying to live Christian lives, not trying to keep a cultural community going. It can get very depressing, but you can’t give away the faith of the Orthodox Church because of the lack of a thriving parish life. And in reality the grass is always greener on the other side. I have to remember how frustrating it was at the RCC before we finally left.

If you can visit a really great Priest and his Parish every once and a while, it could be enough to keep you motivated. And maybe you can help with a mission Church or something if the need is there. If you don’t read the writings of the Early Fathers, especially St. John Chrysostom and maybe St. Gregory of Nyssa, begin to read them. You will see that only the Orthodox Church has continued in the teachings of the Early Church, you can’t give it away for anything, no matter how unpleasant the experience is at the local parishes.
 
And it is not that the Ecumenical Patriarch talks to the RCC that is the problem, but that he is pushing for the idea that the Orthodox Church was just as much at fault for the split and that the RCC is part of the “Church”. Pretty much teaching what the RCC teaches about the Orthodox Church, but the Orthodox Church does not buy into this, not because we are trying to be mean or trying to distance ourselves from people, but because it creates problems with the teachings of Christ about the Church. The whole definition of the Church and her role would be compromised, leading to what Protestantism teaches about an invisible church made up all kinds of religions.
 
I just don’t think you should be giving out advice so matter of factly when you are not a great example of Catholicity yourself.
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Oh, so are you God now?

Can you peak into my soul? Can you judge my state of grace?
I’m not saying you are a wicked sinner, but from what I remember in other threads, you have some serious issues.
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LOL I love it. Keep it coming.
 
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pacloc said:
It’s not really important. I just don’t think you should be giving out advice so matter of factly when you are not a great example of Catholicity yourself.
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Neither is your opinion against Catholic1 seeks.
Read community guidelines,please.
Flagged.
 
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@MatthaiosX

Certainly a Catholic would not consider anything to be inherently wrong with Orthodox liturgical or spiritual practice, since many of these same traditions are found in Catholicism. But I think you are correct that Catholicism tends to be more welcoming of other Christian traditions, in the sense that the Catholic Church has a fullness that includes all legitimate Christian expression.
 
graciew said:
Neither is your opinion against Catholic1 seeks.
Read community guidelines,please.
Flagged.
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What does this mean? Do you even know what I am talking about with Catholic1seeks?
catholic1seeks said:
Oh, so are you God now?
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I hope you get the gist of what I was trying to say instead of lolling it off. I even gave an example of what I meant. That you jump to the whole “are you God now” thing just shows how little you care about the point I was trying to make.
 
I hope you get the gist of what I was trying to say instead of lolling it off. I even gave an example of what I meant. That you jump to the whole “are you God now” thing just shows how little you care about the point I was trying to make.
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At worst, you’re calling me a sinner, which seems like an obvious interpretation of your post.

But even the most generous interpretation of your remarks is that you’re questioning my orthodoxy as a Catholic. If anyone wants to see whether or not I’m an orthodox Catholic, they can visit my personal faith blog smellysheep.wordpress.com. Or they can review my ~10 years CAF history.

In any case, maybe an Orthodox Christian is not the best person to review what the Catholic Church teaches??
 
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If you don’t think you’re a bad example of the RCC, I will take your word for it. I am sorry that I remembered you at odds with some of the issues surrounding gay marriage, it was probably more just thinking out loud about the possibility of having a gay relationship. I have seen some people on here that out of one side of their mouth preach “The RCC is the only real Church!” while also admitting to addictions to pornography and other serious sins. I don’t personally think that such people should be so bold in telling others what is what. I know that you struggle hard to follow Christ, but sometimes you show such disrespect and misunderstanding of the Orthodox Church (which ironically is usually in the form of claiming the Orthodox Church disrespects and misunderstands the RCC), that I feel obligated to respond. I’m really just trying to communicate with you openly. I find you’re scenario very interesting and am encouraged by some of what you say being so young and still trying to stay faithful to God while being SSA.

I’m sorry again, and will not use the same justification again.
 
Thanks for the apology!

I do not have any disrespect for the Orthodox Church.

See my blog post on the Orthodox Church.

If I ever do seem so, it’s usually because I’m defending the Catholic Church, especially with regards to its understanding of the papacy, since that is an academic interest of mine.
 
Yes, that is true. Maybe I will go to some other parishes and see what it is like there. Luckjily I live in a city that has many different options for Orthodox churches. However, I am also going to at least give the Roman Catholic Church a try. Again, I have never been to one, so we shall see how that goes.
 
And it is exactly this “fullness” and also the true catholicity of the RCC, extending to all corners of the Earth under the Bishop of Rome that is enticing, among other things. We shall see how this goes, I think it is about time I go check out a parish near me. By genuinely giving the RCC a chance, I am either going to realize that the Orthodox Church is the only way and go running back to it or I am going to find home. May the Holy Spirit guide me in all righteousness and truth.
 
By the way, catholic1seeks, you have a wonderful blog, thank you for sharing.
 
About not being spiritually fed, I will say that many RCC saints went through periods of feeling spiritually dry in their lives, and there are plenty of times where people in RCC churches look at Protestant churches and feel like they see more enthusiasm and joi de vivre over there. Maybe it’s “the grass is always greener,” or maybe there’s truth in some cases, but if not feeling fed is part of what’s driving you, that’ll come and go whether you join a different Orthodox Church, the RCC, or anything else. If you do cross the Tiber, I hope you are spiritually fed, but don’t do it just for that. You should believe the RCC has got it right, and finding the truth should be what motivates your inquiry.
 
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Yeah, I hear that and I do fear just going somewhere because of the grass being greener. But that is not the only reason, something inside me tells me Rome got it right, but I need to discover why this is and this will take some time for sure. Also, the sheer lack of Orthodox Christians is unrelenting. I can hardly fellowship with anyone because no one is Orthodox here. It gets nearly unbearable at times. I understand that this shouldn’t be my only reasoning though. Don’t get my wrong I have a good number of church friends and I am very involved in the life of my parish, but I have never felt spiritually fed in the Orthodox Church and I have always also felt like an alien to the rest of Christendom. I know not everything is about a feeling but at what point do you say enough is enough? I am trying to gauge my utterly empty feelings and understand where they are coming from though…pray for me.

Trust me, I don’t want some lively, rock concert type feel, but I also don’t want something that feels completely devoid of substance. This is how I have always felt in Orthodoxy. I feel like Christ is so far away from me it’s not even funny. And I have not been stuck in any habitual sin or anything so I am trying to figure out what my problem is.
 
Also, I am seeing that the Roman Catholic churches near me have mass times everyday. Is this the norm? If so that would be fantastic! Ever since I became Orthodox I always wished that the local Orthodox churches would have Liturgy everyday but none of them do that…
 
Depends on where you are and the resources they have. But in the places I’ve lived it’s mostly been the norm. Sometimes they’d just have a liturgy of the word (no Eucharist) on Mondays and masses on every other day of the week, but most RCC churches in the USA seem to have websites and they post their schedules there.
 
Well it’s time to go see what this will be like. It will be a bit nerve-racking going for the first time but I am ready. One thing I have noticed from looking at some online masses is that the homilies seem to be light years better, but this could just be me comparing my parish vs. the Roman Catholic parish I watched online and it may not be a true indication of the differences between the two churches as a whole. We shall see I guess.
 
Weekday masses tend to be smaller affairs. Less singing, maybe in a small side chapel or room. Keep that in mind.
 
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