Very Disturbed & Confused

[Rachel_1]

Hi all,
I’ve been commenting on a recent thread in the news section about a parish taking part in a gay pride march. Some of you may know that I’m a fairly new Catholic, so all this could just be my newness ~shrug~
Here’s the situation, I was looking into this parish more and found all sorts of things that bother me about the parish, besides the fact that it appears that they may be supportive of the LGBT lifestyle (not just trying to get the gay community back into the Church).
I think what bothers me the most is the lack of obedience that seems is going on at this parish. Now, I thought to be fair to the parish I would start checking out some others here and there. I started with one of the programs that this parish has going on-zen meditation.
Ok, back in my non Church days I did all sorts of meditation etc and I know that zen meditation is Buddist in nature… although some want to make it more innocent and call it a philosophy instead… but it is what it is. I, myself, after knowing what I know about this stuff would not do zen meditation, so I figured maybe that it was just this parish and so I looked it up with other parishes and found that A LOT of parishes practice this. WHY?
If that’s the case, maybe this one parish isn’t so much the ‘odd one out’ so to speak, maybe other parishes out there are supportive of the gay lifestyle as well, and other things. I thought all this stuff was against Church teachings?
There is a huge part of me really disturbed and confused by finding multiple parishes doing these things. I CAN NOT believe that this stuff would be acceptable to God.
One more thing, before anyone decides to try and accuse me of being homophobic or gay bashing, I want everyone to know I have multiple gay friends. I try to show the love of Christ to them while not accepting their lifestyle.

 

[Edward_H]

Rachel,

Very understandable your concern.

Is this your parish? Or nearby? You’ll find parishes around like this, not all that many…and you might find some clustering.

I’ve noticed (probably a coincidence) that some of the parishes most distant from the “flag” are sometimes ones that get confused.

Seems like some dioceses were run for years by Bishops who were very loose. Most of those Bishops are nearing retirement, or have recently retired.

“Pruned, it grows again” (St Benedict, I think)

We don’t need to be disturbed/confused. Let’s pray for greater docility and love, and focus on our own parish close by. If we focus on the big problems, all distant from us all the time, we might miss many little opportunities to give and to be grateful nearby.

 

[Claire_from_DE]

Not all Catholics, and I suppose that includes pastors, follow church teaching. There’s little you can do about other parishes where there are dissidents except pray for them. Hopefully their bishops will set them straight.

 

[Edward_H]

That’s a great one.

 

[JaredR]

That’s really unfortunate! Maybe you could keep these parishes in your prayers and make spiritual sacrifices for them. Hopefully God will correct them.

 

[Berean2]

[Snipped]I CAN NOT believe that this stuff would be acceptable to God.

You’re spot on, Rachel, it’s DEFinitely not. Stay strong in your convictions and in walking in the right path.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

I can’t say much about the LGBT because I think that’s pretty self-evident.

As far as the Buddha stuff, I think the Buddhist religion has some interesting philosophy, but I don’t practice it and have no plans to. I don’t necessarily agree with their outlook on life (I probably wouldn’t growing up in this culture) but I did get to enjoy some of their philosophy by a guy who used to be a priest (Anglican) then a Buddhist, then just a plain ol’ philosopher who liked to teach Eastern thought to Western audiences. Anyway in case somebody is interested he is Alan Watts; you can find a few of his lectures on YouTube.

Alan

 

[Major_Minor]

so I figured maybe that it was just this parish and so I looked it up with other parishes and found that A LOT of parishes practice this.

I’m curious… could you give us a number? What do you mean by a lot? I’m not aware of any doing this in my area (Northwest USA) at least specific to Zen.

I would agree with you though that it is inappropriate for Catholic churches to sponsor this and feel that praying for -as well as contacting said parishes and speaking against it- would be the way to go.

I only encountered one thing like what you described and it was also when i was going through RCIA. I went to a retreat set up by two local nuns at my church and discovered much of what they were talking about/doing was actually very New Age. Well, I had just come out of the desert with New Age garbage and wanted nothing more to do with it. So I left a very plain message on the sheet I was supposed to leave my thoughts on for this retreat that I thought what they were teaching was highly inappropriate for a Catholic Church and left.

I contacted my parish priest (Who is very conservative) and once he discovered what they were doing got a hold of them and they haven’t come back. So I think praying for -as well as- standing up against it however you can is appropriate.

 

[Major_Minor]

I would also advise strongly -against- anything related to Alan Watts.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

I would also advise strongly -against- anything related to Alan Watts.

I don’t believe in all he says, but when I discovered his lectures, he helped me find peace with the Catholic Church when I was going through some serious spiritual warfare and severe mental illness. The pastor at my own church had more or less shunned me and asked me not to hang around the Church so much or talk to anybody there outside of Mass. Watts helped me see through Church hypocracy and find the “real” Jesus who is all about love and mercy, through some of his more obscure recordings about the merits of Christianity. He, along with activities my SD was having me do, helped me advance along the spiritual journey and literally helped restored my sanithy.

That said, I understand he isn’t for everyone. He does discuss prayer forms and exercises that aren’t Catholic. That said, what’s the harm in learning about other faiths and points of view? He didn’t come across to me as pushing conversions. I can sort of imagine what you might be thinking about him, especially based on some reactions to other non-Catholics I’ve heard from others on this forum, but I’d rather hear it from you.

Also, he has done one other thing that has helped my “Catholic attitude,” especially when it comes to Protestants bashing Catholics. That is, he speaks in no uncertain terms about how the only reason we even have a written Bible is that the Catholic Church wrote (the books of the NT), promulgated, and protected it.

I’m not pushing Watts, just witnessing some of the good his lectures did me (I can be much more detailed if you need) and asking why he’s such a concern?

Alan

 

[Student09]

I’m not pushing Watts, just witnessing some of the good his lectures did me (I can be much more detailed if you need) and asking why he’s such a concern?

Alan

I understand what you are saying, but I think we need to be careful recommending things from other religions - even if they helped us - to other people, especially people we don’t know. God leads people differently, and using whatever means He can. God can make good use of what is, in itself, neutral or even bad; this means that what is helpful to one person at one time in their life, and strengthens that person in their faith, may lead another person away from the faith and devastate their spiritual life. The only things that we know are good for everyone are those of the Catholic Church.

As an example, I heard an interview on EWTN with a woman who had left the Catholic Church (and later returned) because as a teenager she discovered yoga through a book that her mother had bought as an exercise program. The mother was Catholic and the book didn’t tempt her to leave her faith, so she wasn’t worried; but the daughter, who was impressionable and not well grounded in the faith, basically abandoned the Church for a New Age version of Hinduism. So we need to be very careful not to put stumbling blocks in the way of others.

God bless.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

I understand what you are saying, but I think we need to be careful recommending things from other religions - even if they helped us - to other people, especially people we don’t know. God leads people differently, and using whatever means He can. God can make good use of what is, in itself, neutral or even bad; this means that what is helpful to one person at one time in their life, and strengthens that person in their faith, may lead another person away from the faith and devastate their spiritual life. The only things that we know are good for everyone are those of the Catholic Church.

As an example, I heard an interview on EWTN with a woman who had left the Catholic Church (and later returned) because as a teenager she discovered yoga through a book that her mother had bought as an exercise program. The mother was Catholic and the book didn’t tempt her to leave her faith, so she wasn’t worried; but the daughter, who was impressionable and not well grounded in the faith, basically abandoned the Church for a New Age version of Hinduism. So we need to be very careful not to put stumbling blocks in the way of others.

God bless.

I hear what you are saying. This is probably the first time in all my posting that I’ve recommended him on this forum, partly because I saw some similarities between the OP’s story and my own, and saw that Watts could possibly help with the tie from the zen stuff back to Christianity. It’s funny like you said, how you never know how a person will react to someone. There are other spiritual leaders who have benefited me, but I don’t normally name them because they aren’t necessarily “liked” by some members of this forum.

Anyway no, I agree I should not put stumbling blocks in the way of others. One thing I learned when I was a Youth Crisis Hotline counselor, is that you just never know how you’re going to touch somebody. Especially somebody who is calling for help. We have to be very careful what we do and don’t say to minimize the chance of problems.

Alan

 

[Rachel_1]

Thanks for all the replies. I wrote this last night, when I was tired and stressed out. I’m not confused now but I am disturbed about some of the things I’m seeing happening in various parishes.
Today I think I’m more determined than confused.
Alan, as far as the guy you were talking about, I want no part of any zen meditation or eastern philosophy, thanks for offering, but I prefer to focus on Jesus.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Thanks for all the replies. I wrote this last night, when I was tired and stressed out. I’m not confused now but I am disturbed about some of the things I’m seeing happening in various parishes.
Today I think I’m more determined than confused.
Alan, as far as the guy you were talking about, I want no part of any zen meditation or eastern philosophy, thanks for offering, but I prefer to focus on Jesus.

That’s cool. I am pleased to withdraw my suggestion.

Alan