This is how I understood it when I was reading about the Catholic Church and Her beliefs. I really prayed hard about converting as I wanted to genuinely understand and believe all that the Church professed. The Lord answered my prayers, I got answers and this year will mark 17 years as a Catholic.
I have since reconciled with the fact that the Holy Spirit will make right the uncharitable comment I made to those women. He uses all things for good in the end.Ultimately we need only to charitably present the truths the Church teaches and allow the Holy Spirit to do His job. Everything else is above my pay grade (as they say).
Will the people you speak of change? Who knows; but you might go to your pastor and recount what is going on as he may want to get with your parish DRE to get someone better in there in a teacher/leadership position. (NOTE: Be prepared to be asked to take up that mantle. No use complaining if we are unwilling to step up.)
You left out details that would help us understand your involvement with them. Is this a sanctioned group with a religious education coordinator, or is it just a bunch of ladies that decided to get together on their own to study the bible? You only identified this person as a “ringleader” which tells me she is self-appointed, and not an officially designated representative chosen to teach in the parish.
I think that would be a good idea. I think when one is zealous for the faith, it is easy to forget that there are others that might not be as interested or might not be as well informed etc and so. When one participates in Bible groups like this, you have to keep in mind that everyone there is not at the same level on their journey of faith. Of course this is Monday quarterbacking but I wonder if you said “well that’s too bad, I think we should all look at what the CCC says about purgatory. Maybe we should study why the Church might teach this and be open to changing our understanding”. In that way, you are redirecting the conversation back to looking at what the Church teaches instead of drawing lines in the sand with “you’re not Catholic” Sadly there are many other things to be concerned about with fellow Catholics such as the Eucharist than beliefs about purgatory. In a final thought, if one is zealous and well informed about the faith, prayer and Bible study groups might be a challenge because you do find out how poorly catechize Catholics are. If that is going to be a be challenge for you in trying to understand and help others in their faith then maybe your future participation needs to be looked at and prayed about.
BBM. You know, it’s this idea of “you can’t be Catholic and believe X or Y” that kept me away from the church for a long time. I didn’t even contact RCIA because I was left thinking there was no point, as I didn’t believe in a lot of the teachings of the Catholic church.
I have been in the same situations as you have a number of times. In one group there was a religious brother who was the leader. Whenever I said anything of substance everyone looked to the brother to confirm what I had said to see if he would disagree. I felt like I had no credibility except when he was not there. But that seems like a matter of lack of catechesis on the group’s part. In one instance an ex-sister talked about the ordination of woman and I gave the appropriate answers. Her face turned red and she was very angry that I did not agree with her. In another meeting with her I was explaining prayer and contemplation and she told everyone that what I was saying was bul*****. Knowing you are right is a blessing but everything must be tempered by love. I have walked in your shoes and have always wondered if I showed love in whatever I have said. I read the saints and always wonder how they would have acted and what they said. But I know that there are always other fields that need sewing and seeds to be scattered. Sometimes the seeds fall on barren ground but I always think that I can water and make things grow.
St. Faustina has always been helpful to me. In one instance, Our Lord warned her not to speak to a certain sister about either her views or her opinions. #1492 and 277.
I agree. My spirituality is a combo of Carmelite and Ignatian.
Don’t sell yourself short my friend. It has been my experience that sometimes less qualified people get these positions because no one else steps forward. God, in His grace, gives us all gifts and this is one way that we can use them …and He, us, for His kingdom.
I understand what you are saying and the example you gave would be correct, “stop listening to idiots” . But even if she was the lone ranger in this group which Op didn’t clarify as an official parish study group or an informal lady’s get together, telling others even if their beliefs are contrary to Church teaching as not real Catholics is uncharitable and cause more issues and draws battle lines than open doors and bridges. this is just looking back but it would have been better to say, maybe we don’t understand what the Church teaches but as Catholics maybe we can relook or restudy this and try to understand why instead of discounting it. This way, it doesn’t accuse anyone of anything but opens the door to education.
C.S. Lewis once lectured on the difficulties of presenting doctrine to non-Christian audiences; sometimes, presenting Catholic doctrine to purportedly Catholic audiences can be as difficult. A person saying that they don't "believe in" Purgatory might well mean that they don't accept the traditional picture of Purgatory as a place of scalding fires or terrible torments, since the Church doesn't teach what the exact mode of the temporal penalties is.
Often times, people, especially if they were young adults or adolescents in the immediate aftermath of Vatican II, were often told that "that doesn't matter anymore" and they may never have been re-catechized properly, or learned how intimately Purgatory and Jesus' sacrifice are related.
9 times out of 10 there is no winning course for such encounters and I hate them, but craziness and lies must be countered or else wickedness will certainly prevail. It’s a fine line and not easily walked.Yep, right there in James 3:1
Then I have to say that you weren’t uncharitable any more than Our Lord was in John 6 when He asked the apostles “Will you also go away?” (verse 68). In fact you probably handled that far better than I might have.
. As often happens in female groups, somebody will dominate the discussion and take it off track. At least it is not an official representative of the parish in the capacity of a Religious Ed. Coordinator.
I don’t know if this will be helpful, but it has been nagging at me to share it. Years ago, I had a dear friend that I took to daily mass. She had a most irritable problem of interrupting others, so much so, that I begged God to teach me how to deal with it before I lose my mind and become angry with her. Since she suffered from epilepsy, I believe she was on medication, which may have accounted for that bad habit.