What is the Catholic "religious" experience?

[KathleenGee]

Thanks again!

I guess the real experience for me is in the Eucharist, absolution, and before the Blessed Sacrament.

It was not until my mid 30’s that I began to experience the mind of Christ in doctrine, catechism, the religious life…reading about it that is as a married woman.

The state of being…why not just go into a nearby Catholic church and sit before the tabernacle? It is identified by the lit sanctuary light.

What is more important is that as Catholics we find our self-esteem not in our works but in the reality that Christ loves us. It is good to just be, and live in the awareness that Christ is loving me right now with all my inclinations, excesses, and inclination to sin.

“Living in the Presence of God”, by Brother Lawrence would be good.

And about truth: it is morality…but it can’t be found in a set of rules or regulations…they are actually projections of our inner being. Our inner being is the temple of God, and at the very essence is our spirit and God’s spirit…and our conscience. Our conscience must be followed, and it must be cultivated to grow more in the truth and in knowing good from wrong.

But true morality, not found in a code…but in person, can’t be a sinner…is indeed Jesus Christ. John Paul II wrote a beautiful encyclical, ‘Veritatis Splendor’…‘Splendor of Truth’ that talks about the nature of truth found alone in Jesus Christ, the inner sanctuary of our being, our conscience, and the virtue of detachment which we Catholics uphold in contradiction to feelings.

God bless you and thank you…yours is the best post I have ever read by a Mormon and it is so sincere!

Kathleen

 

[Telstar]

There are so many excellent replies in this thread, and I just want to thank everyone for taking time to help me understand your faith. The most persuasive of you have shared with me some glimpse of what your Church means to you. Your sincerity and faith, together with your love for the Church, do you great credit. I apologize if my agnosticism is offensive or troubling to anyone.

The reason that the Church means so much to Catholics, is because it’s not so much about following all of the rules and regulations, or in believing all of the Dogma and Doctrines of the Faith. It’s all about following Jesus, who founded it 2000 years ago. It’s that certainty that we can trace our history all the way back to Jesus, with no breaks in that entire history. We’re so willing to follow all of its rules and regulations because we love Him, more than anything else in this world. When you can focus yourself on that love, then His “yoke is gentle” and His “burden is light”. It takes the weight of the burdens of this life (our own cross) off of our shoulders, because He’s always there to help us carry it.

Pilate once asked Jesus, “What is Truth?” No answer to this question is recorded. But Jesus had said that those on the side of truth would hear his voice. They would know it when they heard it. I am only a weak-minded fool; a disappointment to those who think I should be a greater champion of the truth; in bearing witness to what I ought to know already.

Jesus didn’t answer the question because Jesus is the only Truth. If Pilate really had to ask that question when looking into the face of Jesus, then he never would have been able to understand the answer.

It’s just that I see so many competing truths in this world, and so many who are certain of them. The certain have little need for faith or trust in anyone or anything, because they already know. Certainty is the destroyer of hope, for what need is there for courage where certainty prevails? And the certain can be so cruel to each other–cruel to their corrupt, errant, lost neighbors. Certainty, then, is often a preventer of love. Certainty and Truth are part of the language of determinism, that awful doctrine of John Calvin that teaches us that the moment a man is born, it is already too late to save him.

I think you might be right to have questions about what it really means to be ‘certain’ about ones beliefs. Although lots of people might claim to be certain, I don’t really believe all of them truly are. In fact, I seriously doubt that there are many people that never have any doubts at all. The ones that aren’t certain will sometimes try to put on that mask, that facade, in front of other people because they don’t want to admit, even to themselves, that they ever have doubts. I’m not sure what you mean by “certainty is the destroyer of hope”, unless you’re referring to those that teach ‘there’s no reason to question anything about what we believe, because if you do, it just means you’re unworthy and have no faith’. In that instance, I would have to completely agree. Anyone that tells you that you should never question what you’re told or it somehow makes you a ‘bad person’, is most likely lying to you.

But I need faith and hope and love, and I found that I couldn’t have them so long as I knew (or thought I knew). Perhaps I am not seeking the truth, that elusive Mystery, after all. Maybe I am interested in the Catholic experience to see if there is faith, or hope, or even any love for those who, by some standard or judgment, don’t deserve it. I get enough truth from my fellow LDS neighbors; could it be that I am tired of looking after it?

None of us deserve God’s love. We’re all unworthy of the salvation that He offers us, but He still offers it to us because He loves us so much, even with all of our imperfections. All He wants is for us to love Him and try to do better, a little bit at a time. God is the only source of faith, hope and love. As long as He exists, they will always be within our grasp. We just need to keep looking until we find Him.

I’m tired of those who “know.” Among the Catholic, I am finding those who simply “are.” Not provisionally or trivially or mechanically, but brilliantly and passionately and humbly. I wish we were all that way. I find it refreshing.

Whenever people look at themselves and think that they’re ‘destined for greatness’ because of who or what they are, then they have no idea who, or what, they really are. They tend to think they can do no wrong because of that ‘destiny’ that they’ve convinced themselves that they already possess. Humility is found in recognizing and understanding who we really are, and hoping that with some significant effort on our part, and a lot of help from God, we can get better tomorrow, than we are, today.