So you wanna talk about Constantine and Catholics NOT being Christian? What my friend is your position on that issue?This.
Taboo topic that never gets talked about because it’s erroneously believed to have been beaten to death, yet nobody bats an eye when someone wants to talk about Mary - again.
I dunno.
I don’t think this misconception is talked about enough either (The Catholics are not Christian part), but I think the population of those who hold to the misconception is rather small because…Originally Posted by boomerang View Post
The worst false belief is that Catholics aren’t Christian and aren’t saved; that it is a pagan religion invented by Emperor Constantine. Now, THAT is ignorant. Everything else is small potatoes compared to that one.
This.
Taboo topic that never gets talked about because it’s erroneously believed to have been beaten to death, yet nobody bats an eye when someone wants to talk about Mary - again.
I dunno.
, “That’s because they read it for you.”Good one, on_the_hill.One I heard from a friend of mine, who is Evangelical Free Church of America.
I made the old joke about being Catholic and not reading the Bible. She replied with a
A necessary clarification here
**IN a case of uncontrollable circumstances; commonly but not always related to WORK; a dispensation being SOUGHT is not necessary.
When one DESIRES to fulfill sincerely their Sunday Obligation [a Mortal sin] BUT for reasons BEYOND their control arises; NO sin is attached to this event.**
**HOWEVER an effort ought to be made to attend a DAILY Mass in place of this IF at ALL possible [NOT EASY: Possible:thumbsup:]
If this is also NOT a REAL possibility; then some quiet time with God in Prayer [like a Rosary for example] will do.**
IF ever in doubt, discuss your circumstances with your Confessor priest.
Thanks for clarifying the bolded, Patrick.
If I understood you correctly, no special dispensation is needed for a Catholic who either can’t go due to work obligations like I described in my earlier post (post #69). Is that correct? If so, that is good to know and makes me feel like it wouldn’t be an issue if I were Catholic.
I am on-call one week out of the month where I can get called in at any time of day or night, especially on the weekend, and I have had to occasionally miss church from time to time or sometimes I have gotten a page during church, at which time I have to discreetly leave. That is why I try to sit in the back or side where I can get away without disturbing too many people.
On weekends when I am not on-call, I can relax more and sit closer to the front and focus on the proceedings and on the Lord, knowing I won’t be disturbed or that I won’t disturb anyone else, except with my singing during the hymns
I should hope so!Good one, on_the_hill.
The readings from scripture was one of my favorite parts of the Mass I went to in person.
Since I have a knee issue, all the bending and kneeling left me a bit lame the next day, but a Catholic I know at work said you don’t have to do all that if you are unable. You just have to show reverence, I believe he said, like a small bow – if I recall.
To quote Tommy999, “One I heard from a friend of mine, who is Evangelical Free Church of America.
I made the old joke about being Catholic and not reading the Bible. She replied with a
”.So “discuss” doesn’t mean share insights, but “share disagreements” and “agree to disagree”?To quote Tommy999, “
But also, this reminds me of something else, relating to how Protestants blow the “monolithic” thing way out of proportion.
It was something a Protestant friend of mine said. This isn’t someone who was into weird notions of Catholics worshipping idols or anything (in fact, sometimes he would ask me an insightful “Why do Catholics …” question that got me thinking about something in a new way). But one Time I mentioned that I was joining a Catholic bible study / discussion group that had just been formed. This is the one time I recall him being baffled by something a Catholic said: he couldn’t understand how such a group could discuss a bible passage, since there wouldn’t be any differing views in the group!
Apparently so, but then many Protestants know very little about Catholic insights/spiritualities, so that’s really no surprise.So “discuss” doesn’t mean share insights, but “share disagreements” and “agree to disagree”?
Well, I really tend to think that Protestants come here with the best of intentions. I think they just don’t realize how much they stereotype us.
Lots of stereotyping arround, yep.
I wasn’t aware that I did this, but perhaps I do without realizing it. I hope I don’t offend anyone. I respect Catholics and Catholicism a lot or else I would’ve dropped out of CAF a long time ago.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I can understand why Protestants apply the term “monolithic” to us. The problem is that it’s greatly exaggerated sometimes.I wasn’t aware that I did this, but perhaps I do without realizing it. I hope I don’t offend anyone. I respect Catholics and Catholicism a lot or else I would’ve dropped out of CAF a long time ago.
Monolithic in the dictionary:
" .…Of an organization or system: large, powerful, and intractably indivisible and uniform"
Is the Catholic Church large? Check. It is the largest Christian faith tradition with the most members in the world.
Is it powerful? Check. Arguably it is still very powerful, although not nearly as politically powerful as it was 500 or 600 years ago. The pope is still very influential. For example, Pope Francis played a key role in re-establishing diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba. A Presbyterian or a Baptist didn’t do that.
I’ll skip “intractably indivisible” because I’m not sure what that means.
Uniform? Possibly. When I went to a Catholic Mass, everyone seemed to stand and kneel at the same moment, make the same responsive replies at the same moment, signed at the same time. and did a lot of the same things at the same times at Mass. It was like a close-order drill.
In contrast, at an evangelical church service you might see some folks raising their hands in praise, a few saying “Amen” during the sermon, others quietly taking sermon notes, while a few doze off, and that might even be within the same family
In other words, I think Catholics are more monolithic than Protestants, but I would view that as a compliment, because Catholics seem to be more in one accord, and I am not speaking of the automobile made by Honda.
For example:
If you had a Protestant Bible study made up of a Baptist, a Methodist, Assembly of God, a Presbyterian, a Lutheran, and Church of Christ person, you would probably get a wide variety of interpretations regarding such topics as the meaning of baptism and how to do it (sprinkling or immersion), speaking in tongues, social dancing and drinking alcohol, music in church, predestination or not, the significance of communion, and a lot of other things.
I would expect a group of Catholics in a Bible study to be more uniform in their thinking, which is a reflection of a higher level teaching authority (magisterium) and a more organized and unified structure. I consider that to be a compliment to Catholics for teaching doctrinal consistency.
I realize there is a variety of expression and flexibility within the different Catholic religious orders and worship styles at Mass (Contemporary, traditional, Latin, etc), but I can see why Protestants may think Catholics are more similar, and I don’t necessarily view that as a bad thing.
If I am missing the point you were making about being monolithic, please correct me.
Good point, Peter. It would be a misrepresentation or a distortion, although it might not be intentional in nature.Oh don’t get me wrong, I can understand why Protestants apply the term “monolithic” to us. The problem is that it’s greatly exaggerated sometimes.
Consider: if I envisioned all Protestants as Fundamentalists, what kind of impression would I have of Protestantism?
Over the years I’ve seen people come here with every intention imaginable.
But, those whose intentions were to simply denigrate Catholicism have dropped off dramatically in recent years because 1) it’s against forum rules, and 2) it gets them nowhere. If there weren’t some people whose only intention is to denigrate the Church no anti-Catholic websites would exist. I wasn’t talking about CAF alone, but in general, you see. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Emperor Constantine founded our religion.
I wouldn’t worry about this. I don’t think there is anything someone could point out that would offend anyone here. I think the offense would only occur if someone made a false accusation knowing full well that there was no Catholic response that they would be willing to accept or try to understand.
