- Status
P
paarsurrey
Guest
Hi
Kindly quote as to how you succeeded having established a better personal relationship with Jesus than what our other Catholic friends here could not. Was it through the HolySpirit, any intercessor or a direct one? Do you receive ,benefitting from such personal relationship, truthful dreams like the ProphetMessenger Joseph, or visions as the say Paul saw, or direct dialogue like Moses did have with GodAllahYHWH. Your personal relationship is with the GodFather or GodSon or GodSpirit; Could you specify anone of them, please?
This is only that we may share your experience for our good understanding.
No offence intended, this is only if you opt to reply, otherwise please ignore, no compulsion.
Thanks
U
Uncle_Norbert
Guest
My wife converted about two years after we married. She grew up Baptist, while I am Cradle Catholic (with two priests in my extended family).
She liked the structure of the Church. At her church, she felt like she was getting yelled at and condemned by her preacher every Sunday.
She liked the structure of the Church. At her church, she felt like she was getting yelled at and condemned by her preacher every Sunday.
C
Claire_from_DE
Guest
I assume that most of the other Catholic and Protestant posters here do have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As a child I learned about God as being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but I learned the most about the Son who became man for us. I thought about how he lived and died for us and rose from the dead. The way he acted and the parables he told helped me understand what the Father is like. He is like a shepherd who goes looking for the lost lamb. He is like a father who welcomes a son back home. He wants us to love each other. The way Jesus healed people showed me the Father cares about us.
Knowing that God made us and loves us made me want to thank and praise Him and do what He wants. So as a child I would try to be kind to other people and not cheat on tests in school and not steal things. I would also talk to God about my problems. Sometimes I would talk to Jesus like a big brother or to the Father like a father. For many many years I did not have a feeling for what the Holy Spirit is like but I adored Him as God.
Now I am much closer to the Holy Spirit than I used to be. I know He is with me. Paul writes that our bodies are temples of the Spirit. I do not have dreams or visions. Sometimes I have a very strong feeling that I should do or say something that I would never have thought of by myself. Sometimes it’s even something I don’t particularly want to do. I know it is my choice to do it, I am not forced to do it. But, when I follow this inspiration, God always brings good out of it for me or for someone else. If I’m not sure that what I’m thinking of doing is from God, I talk to someone wiser than I am.
Another thing the Spirit does is to make what I read in the bible much more full of meaning for me, sometimes like He is talking to me through the bible.
So I relate to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit in different ways. But I know they are one God. If I praise the Father for creation, or tell the Son I love him for taking on a human nature and dying for me, or thank the Spirit for guiding me, I am praising, loving, and thanking all the persons at the same time really because they are one God, not three Gods.
Sometimes when I receive Jesus(the Son) in the Eucharist, I am aware that in being united with Him I am also united to the Father and the Holy Spirit. This is something I understand and feel at the same time but I don’t see visions or hear voices.
I hope this helps to answer your question. I think I started thinking about God when I was very young because my grandparents died and I was very sad. When the teachers in school told me God knew me and loved me, I listened and prayed and I started to know God. Some people start thinking about God when they are older.
When I said I think some Catholics leave the church because they don’t have a relationship with Jesus yet, I am not criticizing them. People come to know God in different ways and at different times. Some people leave the Catholic church and encounter Jesus in another church. They might have gone to mass for years but it was just a habit or an obligation. They never really thought deeply about God or didn’t understand the reasons for what the church teaches. Therefore they never had a relationship with Jesus/God the Son. A relationship with God is a blessing and a gift from Him; He reaches out to people wherever they are.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
M
MarcoPolo
Guest
O
oneGODoneCHURCH
Guest
C
ckonrad
Guest
The reason why i became Christian is because i had a religious epiphany, it was a “wow its true” kind of experience. I had always disliked christianity and even that easter day when i woke up i was lost yet seeking for the truth. A few hours later i was sitting in my chair saying to myself “wow its true, i am a christian, this is so strange, i dont know how i know its true but it is” it was a moment of complete certainty. I went out to check my mail and there was a little silver cross on my doorstep that said “God loves you” on it, and i have it to this day. It was a the turning point of my life and it has been wonderful the amount of healing i have experienced in my life so far, my reasons for becoming catholic is simply because i felt pulled towards it i couldnt deny it to myself although i tried, i tried every way to avoid and was very anti-catholic for awhile but realized the reasons for my not entering it was just fear of my own sins.
N
Nancyannheath
Guest
Claire, I thought I wrote this. This is EXACTLY how it happened with me…it isnt a loud big bang or revelation, you just KNOW, especially when you are quiet and empty your head. When I see decorative signs that say “be still and know that I AM” I fully agree. It’s a gentle thing, and especially when you read scriptures from the Bible, whether Old Testatment or New Testament, it’s like dialing up the Holy Spirit on a cell phone. You dont hear words, but you just KNOW.
God Bless and Peace
L
lak611
Guest
This was true of me. I never joined another church, but I did leave the Catholic church for five years. I never had a real relationship with Jesus at the time. I just went to Mass out of a sense of obligation, and when I started living on my own in my twenties, I decided that I had enough of the rules and left. I was searching for meaning in my life, not knowing Whom I was looking for. I was always a music fan, and one of my friends, who happened to be a Catholic, had a friend who was Protestant and played bass in a local Christian rock band. The fellow in the band was playing at a Christian rock festival. I never heard any Christian rock at the time, but being the misic fan I have always been, I took my Catholic friend up on his offer to go. There were people from various churches at the festival: Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian. A man from the Baptist church gave me a Bible (KJV w/o Apocrypha). I had never read the Bible before, and I decided to actually read it. After reading it all the way through, I finally understood everything that I had been taught in CCD, Catholic high school and even Catholic college. I repented of my sin, first directly to God and then to my priest in confession. I finally understood what a personal relationship with Jesus was. Shortly afterwards, I joined a Bible study at my parish, which I have been attending ever since. I also read the Bible daily on my own. Now I own about 15 different translations, both Catholic and Protestant, and I read the Bible all the way through every year. If I am reading a Protestant translation that does not have all the books, I will read those books from one of my Catholic translations or from one of my Protestant translations that has them. The Holy Spirit used the Baptist church to bring me back home to the Catholic church!
:bible1:
N
Nancyannheath
Guest
Greetings Paarsurrey
It’s difficult to actually decide if God the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit is communicating with you, as they are all one. Do not ask me to explain how they are all one, the mystery remains a mystery, and when we have strong faith we dont really require an explanation, we just are full of grace and contentment. We know that when we pass on to the next life (with God) he will explain it to us then if we choose to ask him. I believe my first hand experience was with God the Father, because it felt like my Father was responding to my cry for help. I cannot confirm, I am just relaying that it felt like God the Father, not God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit. But I can say that in certain instances, God the Holy Spirit has nudged me to say things and do things I normally do not have the courage to do or say, as if He is strongly guiding me.
The encounter I experienced with who I believe was God the Father and was immediate and I knew I was heard because my prayers were answered within an hour. It is a long story. Will share if you wish.
P
paarsurrey
Guest
Hi
I thought that the Spanish Inquisition was more directed towards Muslim than the Jews.
For a large part it was against the Muslims. Isn’t it?
Thanks
P
paarsurrey
Guest
P
paarsurrey
Guest
Hi
It would be very nice of you if you share it with us. Since there is already one thread in my mind with this subject of the HolySpirit Experience, I would like you to do it there. I mean “The **Holy Spirit **will guide you when you read the bible” forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=212467
Thanks
R
rpp
Guest
Incorrect. The Spanish Inquisition, like all other inquisitions, did not deal with anyone who did not claim to be a Christian. If a person prefessed to be a Jew or a Moslem, they were exempt.
Now what the civil authorities did with Moslems and Jews is a separate matter. But it is so much more fun for people to (falsely) blame the Catholic Church.
O
oneGODoneCHURCH
Guest
From what I have read it really did not matter if you were Christian, Jewish, of Muslim. Everyone was a target for the Inquisitor. This was a example of the state using members of the church to do to keep the people in fear and in control. The Spanish monarch did have a hatred for Muslims but equal for Jews.
R
rpp
Guest
That is incorrect. This is a popular and common misconception.
The inquisition was established to “inquire” about heresy. A person can only be a heretic if they profess to be a Christian. Only Muslims and Jews who converted to Christianity could be brought before the inquisition. Muslims who remained Muslim and Jews who remain a Jewish never were.
It was, regrettably, used by the Spanish crown as a club, however. Many of the Spanish inquisitors ended up spending their lives in Church “prisons” because of their excesses.
B
bill_chatfield
Guest
Reason to become Protestant - If you honestly cannot in good conscience agree with some part of Catholic theology, like a priest cannot marry, priests have the power to forgive sins, or cursing (anathema) people who disagree. You can’t believe in a church that has committed grave sins in the past and refuses to repent from them, such as the crusades, which killed the people that Christ told his followers to save.
Reasons to become Catholic - Your church can’t make a decision or take a stance on important issues (homosexuality/abortion), your church makes obviously wrong decisions on important issues (homosexuality/just war doctrine), your church cannot provide reasonable answers to important personal spiritual questions (evolution/yoga/divorce), or you realize that your church is led by hateful greedy people claiming to be Christian. The Catholic Church has answers for everything and they are usually very reasonable and in agreement with generally accepted Christian theology (Catholic and non-Catholic).
Reasons to become Catholic - Your church can’t make a decision or take a stance on important issues (homosexuality/abortion), your church makes obviously wrong decisions on important issues (homosexuality/just war doctrine), your church cannot provide reasonable answers to important personal spiritual questions (evolution/yoga/divorce), or you realize that your church is led by hateful greedy people claiming to be Christian. The Catholic Church has answers for everything and they are usually very reasonable and in agreement with generally accepted Christian theology (Catholic and non-Catholic).
O
oneGODoneCHURCH
Guest
That may be true that only a person can only be a heretic if they profess to be a Christian. however people of all faiths found themselves subjected to the Inquisition. As much as we may wish that that was not true it is. Now it was under the orders of the Spanish monarch that these atrocities happened.
C
Crystal_H
Guest
- Status