What causes some but not all to search for Truth?

[seabird3579]

Jeanette L:

II know a lot of Christians who are very committed to Christ, who live faithful lives to Christ, but don’t seem to have a need or desire to know the complete truth, or to reconcile what they are taught, with what the Scriptures themselves present. What causes this spiritual “comfortableness” in some or most as opposed to a spiritual “restlessness” in others?

Any thoughts, anyone?

I would say that many have been able to connect the dots and are now at Peace. I hope the same for you someday.

For me, connecting the dots meant quite a spiritual journey in my younger life – only to be led back to the Church I was ‘born into.’

I’m very much at Peace, there are no missing pieces in my puzzle and I enjoy every day more and more. I enjoy learning more and more about the roots of Catholicism and how Christ’s plan for His Church and His Bride continue to unfold and fulfill the Divine Plan. Very exciting, but very comforting.

Peace.

 

[Jeanette_L]

seabird3579:

I would say that many have been able to connect the dots and are now at Peace. I hope the same for you someday.

For me, connecting the dots meant quite a spiritual journey in my younger life – only to be led back to the Church I was ‘born into.’

I’m very much at Peace, there are no missing pieces in my puzzle and I enjoy every day more and more. I enjoy learning more and more about the roots of Catholicism and how Christ’s plan for His Church and His Bride continue to unfold and fulfill the Divine Plan. Very exciting, but very comforting.

Peace.

One thing that puzzles me. I found as an Evangelical that a lot of cradle Catholics were leaving the Church and moving into the Evangelical world, in droves it seems. I just got an email from a rather large Evangelical ministry, which I still support because they have a truly wonderful minister (who I’ve never heard anything anti-catholic coming from him) and has great missions works, which is the heart and soul of their ministry but the email was about the testimony of a woman who is a well known Christian singer. Anyway, she was saying how she grew up in an Italian Catholic home filled with crucifixes and never knew Jesus, she never got the sense that He was even real. It wasn’t until she was given a New Testament by an aquaintance and told how much Jesus loved her, and that she could have an abundant life in Him, that she had a spiritual conversion.

So she left Catholicism and has become a vibrant, spirit filled Christian, and she truly is. And her story is just typical of what I have found through out my life experience with most Catholics I have been aquainted with through work or friendships. Why does this experience seem to be so common in Catholicism, and here I am, just the opposite, coming from Evangelicalism into the Catholic Church to find what I know to be the “fullness of Truth”. It’s almost as if the Catholic experience doesn’t coincide with the Truth found in the Faith itself.

Is it just something that has happened to one generation within Catholicism, the sixties generation, so to speak? But then, I didn’t notice the same problem within the Evangelical world, that people were leaving their faith in the same proportion during this difficult cultural upheaval.

Sometimes I question whether I am making the right decision, and then I think about what brought me to this place and I know that I can’t go back to the Evangelical world. It just seem so ironic to me.

Can you shed any light on this from your own experience?

Thanks,
Jeanette

 

[maryj]

Jeanette L:

One thing that puzzles me. I found as an Evangelical that a lot of cradle Catholics were leaving the Church and moving into the Evangelical world, in droves it seems. I just got an email from a rather large Evangelical ministry, which I still support because they have a truly wonderful minister (who I’ve never heard anything anti-catholic coming from him) and has great missions works, which is the heart and soul of their ministry but the email was about the testimony of a woman who is a well known Christian singer. Anyway, she was saying how she grew up in an Italian Catholic home filled with crucifixes and never knew Jesus, she never got the sense that He was even real. It wasn’t until she was given a New Testament by an aquaintance and told how much Jesus loved her, and that she could have an abundant life in Him, that she had a spiritual conversion.

So she left Catholicism and has become a vibrant, spirit filled Christian, and she truly is. And her story is just typical of what I have found through out my life experience with most Catholics I have been aquainted with through work or friendships. Why does this experience seem to be so common in Catholicism, and here I am, just the opposite, coming from Evangelicalism into the Catholic Church to find what I know to be the “fullness of Truth”. It’s almost as if the Catholic experience doesn’t coincide with the Truth found in the Faith itself.

Is it just something that has happened to one generation within Catholicism, the sixties generation, so to speak? But then, I didn’t notice the same problem within the Evangelical world, that people were leaving their faith in the same proportion during this difficult cultural upheaval.

Sometimes I question whether I am making the right decision, and then I think about what brought me to this place and I know that I can’t go back to the Evangelical world. It just seem so ironic to me.

Can you shed any light on this from your own experience?

Thanks,
Jeanette

Just a couple of thoughts… You say she left Catholicism and is now a vibrant,spirit filled Christian. It is obvious to me that she (or I believe anyone who leaves the Catholic church) never studied her own faith, or asked questions about, or read the catechism of, or dug into her catholicism…do you get my drift. I have a friend who’s husband was a non-practicing catholic and then something happened, an awakening I’ll call it. “Someone gave him a new testament” and some videos ,ever so cleverly hiding the anti-catholic sentiment in them, you know the "oh didn’t you know your church worships idols and worse yet they worship that woman Mary, let us show you the whore of Babylon, and Priests that molest children and that Pope who turns a blind eye to it. Let us show you the riches in the Vatican and the back turned on all the poor, let us show you how we can take a verse out of context from the bible and then tell you that your church is not Biblical. And many shall believe this, I almost did…but then I started to ask the questions and read and dig, and research and talk to a Priest, and asked him questions.Wanna talk about Grace, it is all about grace. Rest assured I can say without any hesitation…Seek and you will find the truth, and that doesn’t mean it will come in the blink of an eye. sometimes it takes a whole lifetime for our eyes to be opened!! The gospel today was about Christ healing all kinds of sickness and casting out deamons from “most” of the people. why didn’t He heal “All”?? Here’s one of those patented answers, The Lord works in mysterious ways. Just because we look outside and see that it is winter, and the snow and the ice make everything look dead, doesn’t mean it is dead. Are the trees not just resting, waiting for warmer weather and more sunlight to burst forth once again into something that looks alive. Are the seeds from last years flowers laying on frozen ground unable to burst forth until the rain and warmth of the Son(pun intended) bring them “back” to life. Ah so many questions and so much time… I’m just rambling. Hope that made some sense.

 

[seabird3579]

Jeanette L:

Is it just something that has happened to one generation within Catholicism, the sixties generation, so to speak? But then, I didn’t notice the same problem within the Evangelical world, that people were leaving their faith in the same proportion during this difficult cultural upheaval.

Sometimes I question whether I am making the right decision, and then I think about what brought me to this place and I know that I can’t go back to the Evangelical world. It just seem so ironic to me.

Can you shed any light on this from your own experience?

Jeanette L, I think you may be onto something when you mentioned about it possibly being a sixties generation thing. Catholicism is a very deep and often complex religion, with good reason of course. Many Catholics of this past generation, myself included, were never really catechized correctly. We weren’t taught the “fullness” of the Faith. Many of our pastors and religious educators didn’t have sure footing themselves and failed to pass on to parishioners any deep convictions.

You may have realized by now that there seems to be a conflict going on within the Church and its members. Two ideologies are vying for top spot, and the internal division mimics much of modern day society.

The Catholic Church is not a democracy, it is a theocracy, with the Pope as the Vicar of Christ. He upholds and explains the Truths as passed down from one generation to the next. As you know Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He does not change and His teachings do not change. The Church’s magisterium is necessary to help us understand His Truths through the generations, like a flower that starts as a seed and unfolds to a full bloom. His teachings never change, but the Church’s understanding of His teachings has developed through the years. In the beginning, we saw a seed, today we see a flower. Same teaching, in fuller bloom.

This is quite different than those that would come along and attempt to “change” the original teachings altogether. And so, there is an internal struggle going on for Truth to prevail. And, as Christ promised, the Holy Spirit will guide the Church into all Truth and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.

Many, like myself, had tired of this constant struggle and tried to search for a place where Truth could reign and all would be peaceful with it. After trying a number of protestant churches for almost a decade, I knew the Catholic Church possessed the Truth and I needed to return. I studied and researched my Faith. I fell in love with my Faith, and hope to Never leave again. I don’t feel I ever will (but I never want to be presumptious) by God’s grace maybe I can help others.

So the Short Answer is, temporary comfort outside of the Church does not replace Truth itself, and *nothing * can take the place of the Real Presence in the Body and Blood of Christ.

 

[Doreen]

QUOTE=Jeanette L]Exactly! Sometimes I get so discouraged and begin to think I must be on the wrong track completely if the Lord is not showing everyone else around me the same things he’s showing me! Of course I don’t stay in that thought too long, but it is very puzzling.

I suggest you get a concordance and look up the word “peace” and then search the Bible for every Scripture that uses the word, and I will pray for you that the Lord will open the eyes of your heart that you will discern what it is to truly have peace with God.

Most of my family think I’m just going through mid-life crisis, and then I start to wonder if I am. But my whole spiritual life has been heading in this direction, it didn’t just start here in mid-life.

I can’t find the Scripture right now, but I know there’s a Word about the fact that the Lord does not bring a Spirit of confusion or of timidity or of fear, but of power (confidence) and a sound mind. I again will pray that you find that. If you’re not in the right place spiritually, you can thank God for keeping your heart stirred for true peace and joy. It is how He works in our hearts to bring us to Him.

So, you’re stuck, once the light goes on, you can’t just turn it off again, it’s there to stay, there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s hardwired, no manual switch to be found!

If the light you have found is the true light of life, you’ll not want to turn it off…and that doesn’t mean the path will be easy (because the devil doesn’t want to have you going around showing others the way, so you’ll feel all kinds of persecution/anxiety) … but you can know if your anxiety is from the devil, or from the Lord, in that, if you pray and sincerely desire in your heart for the Truth, the Lord will breathe on you a supernatural peace that goes beyond your ability to fathom.

A favorite Scripture: Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (I must tell you “give” means “show” or “reveal” or “implant” --so that your desires will be in line with His desires. An awesome place to be!)

God bless you on your journey!

One great book to consider: “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life” by Hannah Whitall Smith (it is about this very topic and it will show you how simple faith can be).

In Christ’s Love,
D.

 

[Viki59]

Jeanette L:

My question is, why do you suppose that some are perfectly content with whatever form of Christianity they find themselves in, whether by birth, or by conversion from a non-Christian worldview, and never seem to have that “burden” to search beyond the difficulties they are faced with in today’s Christian Theological environment?

I wasn’t a deep thinker, still am not. I attended Evangelical churches for years, and was busy trying to lead a Christ like life, raise children, provide for them – asking theological questions was not even on the horizon.
Fortunately, I married a nonpracticing Catholic man, and when he decided to return to his church, I went along thinking that “it’s the same God,” and not wanting a divided marriage like my parents had. Slowly, I began to see that the Catholic church is the one Christ founded.
Now when I read of the theological wrestlings of someone like Scott and Kimberly Hahn, I’m amazed at their intelligence, and grateful that God shoved me into the Catholic church. He knows he has to hit me on the head with a brick to get my attention, and he’s fully capable of doing so. Thanks be to God!
I’m not going to criticize anyone else’s journey. We are all different. I believe God expects us to walk by the light we have. Then he gives us more.

 

[Jeanette_L]

maryj:

Just a couple of thoughts… You say she left Catholicism and is now a vibrant,spirit filled Christian. It is obvious to me that she (or I believe anyone who leaves the Catholic church) never studied her own faith, or asked questions about, or read the catechism of, or dug into her catholicism…do you get my drift. I have a friend who’s husband was a non-practicing catholic and then something happened, an awakening I’ll call it. “Someone gave him a new testament” and some videos ,ever so cleverly hiding the anti-catholic sentiment in them, you know the "oh didn’t you know your church worships idols and worse yet they worship that woman Mary, let us show you the whore of Babylon, and Priests that molest children and that Pope who turns a blind eye to it. Let us show you the riches in the Vatican and the back turned on all the poor, let us show you how we can take a verse out of context from the bible and then tell you that your church is not Biblical. And many shall believe this, I almost did…but then I started to ask the questions and read and dig, and research and talk to a Priest, and asked him questions.Wanna talk about Grace, it is all about grace. Rest assured I can say without any hesitation…Seek and you will find the truth, and that doesn’t mean it will come in the blink of an eye. sometimes it takes a whole lifetime for our eyes to be opened!! The gospel today was about Christ healing all kinds of sickness and casting out deamons from “most” of the people. why didn’t He heal “All”?? Here’s one of those patented answers, The Lord works in mysterious ways. Just because we look outside and see that it is winter, and the snow and the ice make everything look dead, doesn’t mean it is dead. Are the trees not just resting, waiting for warmer weather and more sunlight to burst forth once again into something that looks alive. Are the seeds from last years flowers laying on frozen ground unable to burst forth until the rain and warmth of the Son(pun intended) bring them “back” to life. Ah so many questions and so much time… I’m just rambling. Hope that made some sense.

You’re right, most of the time I have found that the Catholics I have known through the years were very ignorant about the faith. What a horrible scandal to the leaders of their generation. And some were just too embroiled in the world and the mess their lives ended up in, and I think, some just too overwhelmed by their burden of accumulated sin to want to acknowlege that they needed grace and forgiveness, and that it was just waiting there for them.

I have many former friends and co-workers that I have lost touch with who were non-practicing Catholics, and maybe I need to start praying for them specifically. The Lord does work in mysterious ways. If they find out the Catholic Church is now where I am, they’re going to be shocked, believe me!

This might end up being more interesting than I first imagined!

 

[Jeanette_L]

seabird3579:

Jeanette L, I think you may be onto something when you mentioned about it possibly being a sixties generation thing. Catholicism is a very deep and often complex religion, with good reason of course. Many Catholics of this past generation, myself included, were never really catechized correctly. We weren’t taught the “fullness” of the Faith. Many of our pastors and religious educators didn’t have sure footing themselves and failed to pass on to parishioners any deep convictions.

You may have realized by now that there seems to be a conflict going on within the Church and its members. Two ideologies are vying for top spot, and the internal division mimics much of modern day society.

The Catholic Church is not a democracy, it is a theocracy, with the Pope as the Vicar of Christ. He upholds and explains the Truths as passed down from one generation to the next. As you know Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He does not change and His teachings do not change. The Church’s magisterium is necessary to help us understand His Truths through the generations, like a flower that starts as a seed and unfolds to a full bloom. His teachings never change, but the Church’s understanding of His teachings has developed through the years. In the beginning, we saw a seed, today we see a flower. Same teaching, in fuller bloom.

This is quite different than those that would come along and attempt to “change” the original teachings altogether. And so, there is an internal struggle going on for Truth to prevail. And, as Christ promised, the Holy Spirit will guide the Church into all Truth and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.

Many, like myself, had tired of this constant struggle and tried to search for a place where Truth could reign and all would be peaceful with it. After trying a number of protestant churches for almost a decade, I knew the Catholic Church possessed the Truth and I needed to return. I studied and researched my Faith. I fell in love with my Faith, and hope to Never leave again. I don’t feel I ever will (but I never want to be presumptious) by God’s grace maybe I can help others.

So the Short Answer is, temporary comfort outside of the Church does not replace Truth itself, and *nothing * can take the place of the Real Presence in the Body and Blood of Christ.

This is one thing that I have noticed, that the liberals have been trying to make their inroads into the Catholic Church as they have in all the Protestant mainline denominations but I am happy to see there are a lot of orthodox catholics that are not going down! Fortunately for me I landed in a parish that is orthodox, so the Lord knew where to send me!

And so, although I know that I am coming into a struggling Church, I also know that I can’t find this rich a faith anywhere apart from her, been there and done that!

I feel like Easter Vigil is just taking way too long to get here!

 

[Jeanette_L]

Doreen:

I suggest you get a concordance and look up the word “peace” and then search the Bible for every Scripture that uses the word, and I will pray for you that the Lord will open the eyes of your heart that you will discern what it is to truly have peace with God.

I can’t find the Scripture right now, but I know there’s a Word about the fact that the Lord does not bring a Spirit of confusion or of timidity or of fear, but of power (confidence) and a sound mind. I again will pray that you find that. If you’re not in the right place spiritually, you can thank God for keeping your heart stirred for true peace and joy. It is how He works in our hearts to bring us to Him.

If the light you have found is the true light of life, you’ll not want to turn it off…and that doesn’t mean the path will be easy (because the devil doesn’t want to have you going around showing others the way, so you’ll feel all kinds of persecution/anxiety) … but you can know if your anxiety is from the devil, or from the Lord, in that, if you pray and sincerely desire in your heart for the Truth, the Lord will breathe on you a supernatural peace that goes beyond your ability to fathom.

A favorite Scripture: Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (I must tell you “give” means “show” or “reveal” or “implant” --so that your desires will be in line with His desires. An awesome place to be!)

God bless you on your journey!

One great book to consider: “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life” by Hannah Whitall Smith (it is about this very topic and it will show you how simple faith can be).

In Christ’s Love,
D.

Doreen,

Thank you for the kind words of encouragement. I know that I sound confused, but I think that what seems like lack of peace isn’t really from not being sure about where I have been led, just the uneasiness of having been led here alone. It is the painful part of the journey, and I don’t like pain!

But I received a really good message yesterday watching Johnette Benkovitch give her testimony, and what it all came down to is this: HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR ME.

I will cling to that, because Christ did not promise an easy road or one free from pain, but that His grace would be sufficient to see me through! THAT IS WHERE MY PEACE IS FOUND! (can you tell I got excited about that word?)

So I will try to continue where He leads and hold on to Him tight!

Thanks & God Bless,
Jeanette

 

[Jeanette_L]

Viki59:

I wasn’t a deep thinker, still am not. I attended Evangelical churches for years, and was busy trying to lead a Christ like life, raise children, provide for them – asking theological questions was not even on the horizon.
Fortunately, I married a nonpracticing Catholic man, and when he decided to return to his church, I went along thinking that “it’s the same God,” and not wanting a divided marriage like my parents had. Slowly, I began to see that the Catholic church is the one Christ founded.
Now when I read of the theological wrestlings of someone like Scott and Kimberly Hahn, I’m amazed at their intelligence, and grateful that God shoved me into the Catholic church. He knows he has to hit me on the head with a brick to get my attention, and he’s fully capable of doing so. Thanks be to God!
I’m not going to criticize anyone else’s journey. We are all different. I believe God expects us to walk by the light we have. Then he gives us more.

Vicki59-

You are very blessed to have been led the way you were! It is harder when you have to struggle with the theology and knowing that if you keep going where the light is leading, there will be no turning back.

It’s almost like pulling on the string hanging from your hem. Once you do, your committed! When I saw that string just hanging there like that, I tried to ignore it for years, but eventually I just couldn’t bear it any longer, and when I tugged a little, the whole system my Christian faith had been built on came completely unraveled.

Now the Lord is trying to fashion a new garment for me, but it’s like when you just don’t quite want to get rid of the one that was so comfortable for so many years, but you know it’s time to give it up! But it’s like I said to a previous responder, His grace will be sufficient. My new garment will be perfect for me!

Anyway, thank you for sharing! It’s comforting to learn of other people’s journies. We’re all in this together, even if it looks like our paths are different!

God Bless.