Visiting services of other religions

[ethelzguy]

My traditional examination of conscience lists attending non-Catholic places of worship as a sin.

And, just how does a “traditional” examination of conscience differ from any other examination of conscience?

Sounds a bit elitist to me.

 

[ethelzguy]

Sounds like somebody needs to read the Bible. Among other things, instructions are offered on how to excommunicate a person so they don’t mislead the faithful, and admonitions are given to turn heretics away at the door.

Bad God! How dare you adopt a separatist, avoidance philosophy!

Extremist viewpoints do little to advance the faith.

 

[Cat]

Take it from a former protestant:

You’re not missing out on anything

I have quite a few practicing Catholic friends in college who think it would be “so interesting” to see a protestant service. There’s not much to it. You sing a bunch of trite songs with catchy tunes, everyone will be smiling and hugging, there will be free refreshments, the “minister” will get up and give an hour long sermon about the same topic he preached last week, and it will conclude with an invitation to say a magic prayer to Jesus that will keep you from ever going to hell and make all your problems go away.



Now as far as going to Jewish temple is concerned, you’re simply getting in touch with your roots. The Mass began as the synagogue liturgy with the Eucharist tacked on.

This is all so true!

Like I have said in other posts, though, many Catholics are very susceptible.

Catchy songs–if the music in your parish is either ancient or modern/dull, these catchy songs will “catch” you.

Smiling and hugging–if your parish is cold and unfriendly and no one ever speaks to you, your heart will be warmed by the friendliness of Protestants.

Hour-long sermon–if you are used to a three minute homily that’s full of fluff and stuff, this sermon will wake you up and challenge you.

Magic prayer to keep from going to hell–how many Catholic prayers, especially the very old ones, come with the “promise” that if the Catholic prays the prayer every day for X years, they will be guaranteed heaven?!! We shouldn’t criticize what we ourselves are guilty of. If you are afraid that you are going to hell, and a warm, huggy, friendly person who preaches good stuff from the Bible throws out what you see as a “lifeline,” you’re going to grab it.

My feeling is this–a good Protestant worship service can wake sleepy Catholics up and help them to get back into the Bible, back to the Sacraments (especially Reconciliation), back to the Catechism, back to volunteering for various ministries in their parish, back to solid theology, back to fighting injustice (e.g., abortion), and back to a serious study of apologetics. These are all good things.

But…a good Protestant worship service can also lure sleepy Catholics into the warm bed of Protestantism.

Be careful.