What kind of Catholic are you?

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tbcrawford

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I am interested in your thoughts.It appears to me some people on these forums and that i see at Masses perhaps think themselves to be “better catholics than others”.It is certainly apparent to me when i read some posts that there are those that feel this way.Should we feel this way?
I notice some people who attend Mass arrive late/leave early,dont make the responses during the mass,dont dress in Sunday best,give to the collection so on and so on…

Surely it is better these people attend Mass at all than not attend and we lose more souls to Almighty God?
Surely it is not for us to judge/look down on people we should be praying for them befriending them and helping them.Lead by good example but be humble and kind and helpful.God alone knows what is in the hearts and minds of us all.No-one should judge another but Him.
How do we know for example if some people could be suffering depression?It is a terrible condition to suffer from and potentially deadly!
Would God want us to be humble and kind? i think so Jesus while he lived here on earth befriended prostitutes,lepers and so forth
Should we not be following this example?Please give me your thoughts.Thanks
God Bless
 
I am a bad Catholic, but I pray I become a saint.

We must be humble, because Jesus is humble.
 
“Practicing.” I practice and practice and practice, and never get it quite right. But hope God appreciates the effort and guides me and strengthens me and is patient with me . . . :o
 
Thankyou Eucharisted and IrishAm
You are both clearly humble and decent people and in my opinion what a catholic should be like.Thankyou for your responses.Do you pray for those in our church who may need "help"i.e those who appear to judge others?
May God bless you both
 
I volunteer many hours at my parish in the religious education area of ministry. Many times I hear what a great Catholic I am or how I am going straight to heaven. The kids think that I am holy and their parents do as well. Funny thing about that is that I feel like the most unworthy servant. The more that I appreciate my Catholic faith, the more I realize how uncharitable I am and how much room there is for improvement.

What kind of Catholic am I? Find someone who might be thought of as being the worst Catholic and I will have him pray for me…teachccd
 
teachccd said:
I volunteer many hours at my parish in the religious education area of ministry. Many times I hear what a great Catholic I am or how I am going straight to heaven. The kids think that I am holy and their parents do as well. Funny thing about that is that I feel like the most unworthy servant. The more that I appreciate my Catholic faith, the more I realize how uncharitable I am and how much room there is for improvement.

What kind of Catholic am I? Find someone who might be thought of as being the worst Catholic and I will have him pray for me…teachccd
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Teachccd;

I know you from your words and you are not what you think of yourself. But, humility is always a good thing. 🙂

jd
 
teachccd said:
I volunteer many hours at my parish in the religious education area of ministry. Many times I hear what a great Catholic I am or how I am going straight to heaven. The kids think that I am holy and their parents do as well. Funny thing about that is that I feel like the most unworthy servant. The more that I appreciate my Catholic faith, the more I realize how uncharitable I am and how much room there is for improvement.
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Its important to not be carried away by compliment, even if its true that you are a saint. Its a virtue of sainthood. No saint has ever boasted about being a saint, so i think you are on the right path. You are certainly better then me. I haven’t been to church for years. I also know exactly what you mean about feeling unworthy. When you truly meditate on the glory of God through the scriptures, you come to realize a gigantic gulf lies between your goodness and the will and good of God. Its as if, nothing we ever do will ever be truly worthy of the glory God. Thats very scary and humbling; but at the same time its reassuring, for if good was nothing more then my self, this world would have ended a long time ago.
 
MindOverMatter said:
Its important to not be carried away by compliment, even if its true that you are a saint. Its a virtue of sainthood. No saint has ever boasted about being a saint, so i think you are on the right path. You are certainly better then me. I haven’t been to church for years. I also know exactly what you mean about feeling unworthy. When you truly meditate on the glory of God through the scriptures, you come to realize a gigantic gulf lies between your goodness and the will and good of God. Its as if, nothing we ever do will ever be truly worthy of the glory God. Thats very scary and humbling; but at the same time its reassuring, for if good was nothing more then my self, this world would have ended a long time ago.
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You hit the nail on the head. I am not certainly better than you, however. In this valley of tears we march hand in hand, If we stay connected with each other and Christ, He will give us the strength to pick each other up as we fall…God bless…teachccd
 
I am a human one. An all too hapless and human one.
And very blessed and grateful to be so,

Peace
 
THANKYOU EVERYONE so far, i would like to elaborate further…

Is someone who attends daily mass and is involved in the parish in some extra way a better catholic than one who attends mass occasionally?

Is it right for us to criticise someone who attends mass but makes no responses during the mass?

To my mind it is better that the person is attending mass in their way than not attending at all do you agree?

God bless
 
tbcrawford said:
THANKYOU EVERYONE so far, i would like to elaborate further…

Is someone who attends daily mass and is involved in the parish in some extra way a better catholic than one who attends mass occasionally?

Is it right for us to criticise someone who attends mass but makes no responses during the mass?

To my mind it is better that the person is attending mass in their way than not attending at all do you agree?

God bless
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I attned Mass 4 to 5 times a week. i dont know if it makes me a “better” Catholic but it gives me great joy and serenity. I beleive that Catholocism is like anything else worthwhile-the more you put in it the more you get out of it.
 
I try my best to be a ‘good’ Catholic, although I am far from an ideal Catholic. I have been reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I suppose I am naturally inqusitive by nature, and there are certain issues in the Catechism where I often ask ‘how’ or ‘why’ type questions. I often wonder if there are Church leaders - or fellow Catholics - who feel that I am somehow a ‘bad’ Catholic for not immediately accepting everything in the Catechism at face value? I am always praying to become a ‘better’ Catholic.
 
Christopher68 said:
I try my best to be a ‘good’ Catholic, although I am far from an ideal Catholic. I have been reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I suppose I am naturally inqusitive by nature, and there are certain issues in the Catechism where I often ask ‘how’ or ‘why’ type questions. I often wonder if there are Church leaders - or fellow Catholics - who feel that I am somehow a ‘bad’ Catholic for not immediately accepting everything in the Catechism at face value? I am always praying to become a ‘better’ Catholic.
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I accpept & follow everything the Church Teaches. There are some issues I disagree with them on but believe that my disagreement is a lack of understanding on my part, not an error on their part
 
 
to whom much is given much is expected…

God has given me a lot, lead me to His Church, I go to Mass every week…

yet I feel like I do absolutely nothing for Him. 😦

Im not sure what kind of Catholic I am… I’m thankful to be Catholic… I’m thankful to know God. I don’t know why He lead me here, cause I have a lot of problems. But I do trust Him. 🙂 I trust Him to help me improve.
 
In the words of one of my favorite Catholics:

“Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
Saint Paul
 
I am a flawed Catholic. I am largely untested because I have not been asked to suffer greatly and have not been persecuted like the many saints and marytrs in the past. I pray I will not be tested because I fear I may not have the courage or determination to persevere in the face of great adversity.

I am constantly learning new things about myself and our faith, the more I learn the more I feel inadequate to meet the challenge. I have only one goal and that is Heaven for myself and for my family, friends and loved ones. It troubles and worries me greatly when I read that so few get to Heaven.

I have many faults, some of which I am aware of and others that are more subtle. I pray none of them are so serious that I would be unacceptable to the Lord. I believe I have overcome my bigger weaknesses but I fear there are many more that needs to be corrected. I trust that the Lord will be merciful and either give me time to correct them or overlook what I can not correct.

They say that we must love the Lord and place our complete trust in Him. I’m not certain I know how to do that. I am certainly grateful for His passion and suffering on our behalf. Sometimes I wonder which is greater, my fear of punishment or abandonment to nothingness, or my trust and faith in the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness.

I would love to go directly to Heaven but I seriously doubt I deserve such an honor. Suffering is not my cup of tea and I’ve accomplished nothing that merits such a reward. Purgatory would certainly be much better than the alternative, but since they say suffering there is just as bad as below, I don’t particularly want to visit there either even for a little while.

So my prayer is, Guardian Angel if I even so much as think of committing a sin, please give me a swift kick in the a*** to keep me out of trouble.
 
estesbob said:
I attned Mass 4 to 5 times a week. i dont know if it makes me a “better” Catholic but it gives me great joy and serenity. I beleive that Catholocism is like anything else worthwhile-the more you put in it the more you get out of it.
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Very good point.
 
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