Trouble Discerning this issue

[Dave_in_Dallas]

I’ve been having some trouble discerning the issue of whether to pursue eastern orthodoxy or continue in Roman Catholicism.

Long story short:
– cradle catholic, left for methodism 7 years., recently came back in last spring
– wife is not ob board with catholic church, BUT not going anywhere else yet except to mass with me
– recently discovered orthodoxy when i was coming back into church
– i seemed to have struggle and a lot of literally sleepless nights discerning this issue
– rest of my family is catholic
– in the past week i have decided to put away all orthodox books and focus on getting involved in my local catholic church

then today i get an email from the local orthodox priest who saw my name on an orthodox web forum and invited to visit… which was just weird timing because I have been thinking about orthodoxy for several months and visited a couple of services but the local one (it just opened up). Then at lunch I see an orthodox priest or deacon (not the same one who sent me the letter)… when I say “see” i mean we were in the same lunch establishment but didn’t converse…

OK it sounds silly now that I’m typing it… but it’s confusing to me… I keep praying and asking what God wants me to do…

 

[JRKH]

Are you going to visit with the orthodox priest?? Might be a good idea.

Have you considered moving from a Latin rite to an Eastern rite Church that is in communion with Rome?

If it would help, I guess you could let us know what you see as reasons to change from the Roman Church to the Orhodox.

Peace
James

 

[Dave_in_Dallas]

Well I think my wife would hate the orthodox as it is even more liturgical and strict than the catholic church in some sense.

What I like about the orthodox is the reliance on the fathers and the aesthetic quality and it doesn’t appear to be as in flux as the RC but on the other hand there is such a small community here in the US and the different jurisdictions don’t really appear as a unified church.

 

[Barbkw]

You might sit in on RCIA classes or if it’s available a CCC course.

I’m also a revert and attended RCIA last year. I was asked to fill in as a Confirmation sponsor last year and am doing it again this year.

Classes are starting in our area tonight, but I joined half way through last year.

 

[Lancer]

For your consideration:

Like others…I strongly recommend that you go to an Eastern Rite Catholic Church vice Orthodox, but be advised for both Eastern Rite Catholic Churches and the Orthodox Churches…even with their beautiful liturgy, spirituality and ascetics…you will be entering a cultural/ethnic/(likely)National community…that will be a predominate surrounding and backdrop…as a parish/Church family/community…you should not underestimate or gloss over this (in my opinion) significant factor.

I have attended Latin Rite Catholic Churches in many different cultures and countries…and I always felt at home…even with the local vernacular Novus Ordo Mass. The Eastern Rite Catholic Churches…and the (few) Orthodox Churches that I have attended abroad and here in the USA…are welcoming but you cannot escape the dominating cultural/ethnic/National backdrop.

My strongest suggestion to stay in the Catholic Church is scriptural…that the Catholic Church…and only the Catholic Church is carrying out the Lord’s Great Commission to the Eleven Apostles:

Matthew 28: 16-20 (ESV)
The Great Commission

16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19** Go therefore and make disciples of all nations**, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The essence of the Church that Christ established is that it is: “one”…
“holy”…“catholic” (universal & missionary)…“apostolic”…! The Orthodox Churches are in many places in the World…but they are not catholic – they are not universal and not missionary in essence or nature…they are ethnic/cultural/National Churches

Lastly, you might want to listen to two Catholic answers Radio shows with James Likoudis a former Orthodox and…“get it from the horse’s mouth!” This link should get you to the search link for his Q&A interviews (one in Sept 1999 & one in Dec 2009). I found him very objective, informative and less opinionated and more about facts and history. catholic.com/radio/calendar_search.php

As I said…offered for your consideration.

Pax Christi

 

[Dave_in_Dallas]

Thank you for the posts.

I have been wondering if this is not someway for the devil to keep from furthering in my spiritual journey – i.e. choosing/confusing between two good things.

 

[yosephdaviyd]

I’ve been having some trouble discerning the issue of whether to pursue eastern orthodoxy or continue in Roman Catholicism.

Long story short:
– cradle catholic, left for methodism 7 years., recently came back in last spring
– wife is not ob board with catholic church, BUT not going anywhere else yet except to mass with me
– recently discovered orthodoxy when i was coming back into church
– i seemed to have struggle and a lot of literally sleepless nights discerning this issue
– rest of my family is catholic
– in the past week i have decided to put away all orthodox books and focus on getting involved in my local catholic church

then today i get an email from the local orthodox priest who saw my name on an orthodox web forum and invited to visit… which was just weird timing because I have been thinking about orthodoxy for several months and visited a couple of services but the local one (it just opened up). Then at lunch I see an orthodox priest or deacon (not the same one who sent me the letter)… when I say “see” i mean we were in the same lunch establishment but didn’t converse…

OK it sounds silly now that I’m typing it… but it’s confusing to me… I keep praying and asking what God wants me to do…

Dave,

Well, like any discernment, I would just suggest that you TAKE YOUR TIME - God is patient and takes His time to work things out, so be cautious on moving fast. Our impatience is one of the things that the Devil loves to take advangtage of.

Concerning the move - as long as the Church is in union with the Church of Rome, then there does not seem to be any error here, but, again, be patient with yourself.

God Bless.

 

[Monica4316]

Concerning the move - as long as the Church is in union with the Church of Rome, then there does not seem to be any error here, but, again, be patient with yourself.

God Bless.

The Eastern Orthodox churches are not in union with Rome… only Eastern Catholic churches are.

Dave, what are your thoughts on the Papacy?

God bless

 

[philipmarie]

I already said this on another thread but I’m going to quote it for the OP:

Don’t join the Orthodox Church!

Seriously, there is only one Church and that is the Catholic Church, not the Schismatic Orthodox Church. Elizabeth Anne Seton was an ex-Episcopolian and, after a year of spiritual agony and uncertainity with her children saying “poor mama!”, she converted to Catholicism completely saying: “I will go peacebly and firmly to the Catholic Church: for if Faith is so important to our salvation, I will seek it where the true faith began and recieve it among those who recieved it from God Himself(and Mary too!)”.(From Modern Saints, their lives and faces, by Ann Ball. TAN.)

Is the Russian Orthodox Church a true Church? Does it have real valid sacraments? Does it have the true faith?

No, the Russian Orthodox Church is not a true Church because of the following reasons.

First, one has heard of the numerous Eastern Catholic Churches in Communion with Rome. These Eastern Churches(NOT including the Russian Orthodox Church) are not like Protestant denominations, set up without the permission of the Pope or some crazy churches which invent their own doctrnes… they are either large diocheses(such as the Greek Catholic Church) which have their own valid and holy rite, or a sort of branch of the Catholic Church which has it’s own rites and liturgy but which is always obedient to the Pope. If one becomes an eastern Catholic, he is still a Roman Catholic as he still remains faithful to Rome and will not believe a diffirent faith from what he was thaught.

But the Russian Orthodox church and it’s following churches are not like these pure, Eastern Churches… the Russian Orthodox Church WAS an Eastern Church dedicated to Rome. But it later revolted aginst the Church, it’s Patriarchs got excommunicated and remain schismatics to this day(the Eastern Schism. It was the Russian (**un!)**Orthodox Church that seperated from the Catholic Church, not the other way around). They even have their own anti-pope, Shenouda III.

It is not a true Church and neither is it a branch of the Catholic Church. Protestantism is not a branch of the Catholic Church as we all know and neither is the Orthodox church. See this quote:

St. Cyprian of Carthage: “There is one God, and one Christ, and there is one Church, and one Chair founded by the voice of the Lord upon a Rock. **Another altar cannot be constituted or a new priesthood be made, **beside the one altar and the one priesthood. Whosoever gathereth elswhere, scattereth. Whatsoever by *human *madness is instituted, so that the divine disposition is violated, is adulterous, is impious, is sacrilegious” (Epist. ad Pleb. xl. n. 5).

"We declare, say, define and proclaim to every human creature that they by necessity for salvation are entirelY subject to the Roman Pontiff."Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam, November 18, 1302, ex cathedra.

 

[philipmarie]

Neither do they have the true faith, obviously. They deny the Catholic Papacy, the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, and the Immaculate COnception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

History shows that it was not the Catholic Church that invented some heresy and then the Orthodox came and tried to ‘reform’ the Church like how Luther claimed a centuries later. it’s obvious that the orthodox invented their own lies. With Mary’s protection and help, the Church always preserved Her faith; and the gates of hell shall never prevail against it.

 

[philipmarie]

Dave,

Well, like any discernment, I would just suggest that you TAKE YOUR TIME - God is patient and takes His time to work things out, so be cautious on moving fast. Our impatience is one of the things that the Devil loves to take advangtage of.

Concerning the move - as long as the Church is in union with the Church of Rome, then there does not seem to be any error here, but, again, be patient with yourself.

God Bless.

Not all discernment takes time (necasserily). In alot of things, we obviously don’t have to spend days and days thinking about making this or that choice. If we had the temptation to enter a life of prostitution, we wouldn’t spend days and days thinking about whether or not to make this choice. We know prostitution is bad, why think about it?!

Neither God and Mary are telling the OP to enter the Orthodox church if he wishes. That ‘church’ is schismatic, as I have shown and which one can read about by reading true Church history. If God and Mary told us to become orthodox (that would be like God and Mary telling us to become Wiccans, another false religion), they would actually be willing that we go to hell, something they never will want.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Well I think my wife would hate the orthodox as it is even more liturgical and strict than the catholic church in some sense.

What I like about the orthodox is the reliance on the fathers and the aesthetic quality and it doesn’t appear to be as in flux as the RC but on the other hand there is such a small community here in the US and the different jurisdictions don’t really appear as a unified church.

Well remember right now, your first and most important vocation in life is your marriage.

If your wife could not handle the Orthodox Church, then don’t attempt to force her to come along, nor should you leave her behind.

You said she’s attending Mass with you now, so, for now, pray that God feeds her were she’s at. Your faith will grow more by walking side-by-side with your wife. Its what marriage is all about.

I’ve seen marriages destroyed over religion and the persons who followed religion without their spouse, eventually lost both their marriage and their faith in the end.

Jim