What makes someone a "Good Catholic"?

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St_Francis said:
So I would suggest that a “good Catholic” is one who accepts the authority of the Church and who *works with God *to grow in virtue. Each of us fails at this from time to time, so God gave us Cinfession; in addition, knowing ourselves to be weak, we refrain from discussing the failures of others without sufficient reason.
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This.
👍👍

It would be both convenient if we could each be our own magisterium, deciding which teachings are correct and that we should follow, and which teachings are not correct and wr can ignore, but doing that would be to claim authority which we have mot been given. It would also create many different conflicting views of what is right and what is wrong, resulting in truth contradicting truth.

As Catholics we should accept all of what the Church teaches and strive to follow all of what the Church teaches.
 
johnnyc176 said:
In regards to this of course attending Mass and receiving the Sacraments are necessary to being a good Catholic. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. You should be thankful for that priest. He is doing his job which is to help get you to Heaven. A true personal relationship with Jesus must include the Church that He founded, the Catholic Church, the Sacraments He instituted for us (I will be with you always) and His teachings (Doctrine…If you love me you will obey my commandments).
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Agreed. Not every priest is a good homilist, we all have different talents. But regardless, he is able to make the sacraments available to his flock and that’s what counts in the end.

As to the OPs question, I can only answer: we can never be a good enough Catholic. We must continue to work on our conversion 24/7. We must conform to Christ’s Bride, and when through our own weakness we cannot or fail in some way, we must ask for forgiveness through the beautiful and holy sacrament of reconciliation.
 
Jesus makes us good Catholics. He takes away our sins, and gives us new life through the sacraments.
 
johnnyc176 said:
Actually to be a good Catholic might require that you check your mind at the door.and trust Jesus and His Church, the Catholic Church. Maybe not so much as checking your mind at the door but conforming it to Jesus and His Church.
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While I might agree that one is required to trust the Catholic Church, what would be the difference between “checking your mind at the door” and conforming your mind if one is required to conform anyway?
 
I am aware of only one body of Christ. All who believe that Jesus is the Christ is of that same (spiritual) body. 1st John 4:2,3
 
St_Francis said:
Yes, I remember a couple of little old ladies admonishing a young mother… as they left before Mass was finished :rolleyes:

Anyway, everyone seems to be focusing on your tagline (eta) as an intro to my answer to your original question. Do Catholics have to check their mind at the door? I think not, and as an analogy, I will bring up climate change *as an example, not a topic for discussion. *Barb agrees that CC is happening, and is the result of human activity. Has she checked her mind at the door?

I would say no. She considered the evidence and concluded that the scientists are believable authorities. She believes the issue is important enough that she (and others) ought to rally round and do things to reduce the factors which lead to CC. When scientists suggest that a certain course of action would reduce CC, she tries to follow that. Has she checked her mind at the door because she believes in the authority of these well-trained scientists who spend their work hours studying the phemonena while she works at something else?

In the same way, Catholics are supposed to accept the teaching authority of the Church. We as a whole received our instructions from the Ultimate Authority, Christ. We have maintained those teachings with the help of the Holy Spirit. There are regular human beings who have spent their “working hours” considering God’s teachings and how they function and work in our lives, and how we ought to live.

Does the fact that we made the initial determination that the Catholic Church is right mean that we checked our minds at the door? I would say no. And I would say that all the arguments on CAF prove it, as we tug each other back and forth over various issues: How can this be, considering … ?

So I would suggest that a “good Catholic” is one who accepts the authority of the Church and who *works with God *to grow in virtue. Each of us fails at this from time to time, so God gave us Cinfession; in addition, knowing ourselves to be weak, we refrain from discussing the failures of others without sufficient reason.
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There is no such thing as a “Good Catholic.”

A Good Catholic is not something that you are. A Good Catholic is something you strive to be.
 
This reminds me of the bible story of the rich young ruler who asked a primary question, “good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18) Jesus’ answer was unique. Why do you call me GOOD?.. NO ONE IS GOOD BUT ONE, only God is good." Whether or not this rich young ruler saw Jesus as God mattered immensely. Unfortunately he did not. But the ruler’s question was flawed from the beginning. What must I DO to inherit eternal life? Jesus immediately pointed him to the law, not because keeping the law would save him. The Law had no power to save him.

All the Law could do is convict and condemn him. But the ruler was raised with the understanding that salvation came from keeping the LAW. So Jesus used the Law only to help him realize how he fell short every time. The Rich ruler said, I have kept all these things since my youth."(v21) No he hadn’t!!. He lied.

No one can keep the Law twenty-four-seven, no one. But he believed that he had kept it nonetheless. So Jesus added more load on to his rule-keeping-back, “You still lack one thing, sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow Me.” (v23) He went away sorrowful. If only this man had the same revelation that St. Peter had when he declared to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!!” In other words Peter saw that Jesus was divine. It was a revelation to him. Jesus responded by saying, “well done Peter, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven.” Peter had acceptance, while the Ruler would not.

The Ruler’s perception of what goodness is about was flawed with a huge misunderstanding to the purpose of the LAW. He thought that he could become good like the good teacher by keeping it. But he didn’t know why the teacher was good in the first place. He assumed the good teacher was good because He kept the Law. But the Law was given to sinners, to which Jesus was not. Therefore in the end, entering the Kingdom- way-of-doing-things for this Ruler was a missed opportunity. He needed to have what Peter had in order to be accepted. 1st. John 4:2,3
 
Sy_Noe said:
While I might agree that one is required to trust the bCatholic Church, what would be the difference between “checking your mind at the door” and conforming your mind if one is required to conform anyway?
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It is not “checking your mind at the door”, it is humbly admiting that the Church, created by God in person, with the authority to bind and loose, with all its 2000 years of accumulated knowledge, with all its saints and scholars actually knows better than you. Is that such a hard thing to admit?

I think it was Chesterton who said something along those lines.
 
Brendan_64 said:
It is not “checking your mind at the door”, it is humbly admiting that the Church, created by God in person, with the authority to bind and loose, with all its 2000 years of accumulayed knowledge, with all the saints and scholars actually knows better than you. Is that such a hard thing to admit?

I think it was Chesterton who said something along those lines.
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I wonder if Chesterton was at this mass: youtu.be/fgKweu0ZWVs
 
Brendan_64 said:
I would think not. That was just shocking.
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This, I would imagine, is the reason for the “not checking one’s mind at the church door” caveat. That was a pretty extreme example, but despite the 2000 years of “wisdom” that the Church claims, we always have to be on our guard against blindly accepting nonsense, whether it is as extreme as the video or something far more subtle. On this feast of St. Ignatius, it’s good to remember that we should strive to unconditionally submit our liberty, understanding, memory, will, and everything else to God. That is what makes a good Catholic. But we should remain wary of submitting all of those things to whoever/whatever might be presented to us as “The Church.”
 
1neophyte said:
This, I would imagine, is the reason for the “not checking one’s mind at the church door” caveat. That was a pretty extreme example, but despite the 2000 years of “wisdom” that the Church claims, we always have to be on our guard against blindly accepting nonsense, whether it is as extreme as the video or something far more subtle. On this feast of St. Ignatius, it’s good to remember that we should strive to unconditionally submit our liberty, understanding, memory, will, and everything else to God. That is what makes a good Catholic. But we should remain wary of submitting all of those things to whoever/whatever might be presented to us as “The Church.”
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Always look to Church teaching. Of course we should not accept anything and everything that is served up to us as Catholic, but we have our Church teachings to guide us. When what we are told by some Catholics (including sometimes some clergy) seems to veer off the path, we should turn to Church teachings. That is what is meant by submitting to the will of the Church (as opposed to submitting to our own will, or to the will of some other individual Catholics who might choose to serve up their own personal interpretations to us).

You make a good point in your post.
 
Brendan_64 said:
It is not “checking your mind at the door”, it is humbly admiting that the Church, created by God in person, with the authority to bind and loose, with all its 2000 years of accumulated knowledge, with all its saints and scholars actually knows better than you. Is that such a hard thing to admit?

I think it was Chesterton who said something along those lines.
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No I don’t find it hard to admit at all when one has faith in human writers who although perhaps inspired, might not have been inerrant in bringing themselves and their times into their writings, and faith in the Catholic Church and its interpretations.
 
Sy_Noe said:
No I don’t find it hard to admit at all when one has faith in human writers who although perhaps inspired, might not have been inerrant in bringing themselves and their times into their writings, and faith in the Catholic Church and its interpretations.
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Is truth absolute or is it relative and dependent on the time and context in which it exists? We all have our own individual contexts, so do we all have our own Truth which may contradict another person’s Truth? Are we all our own magisterium?
 
Brendan_64 said:
Always look to Church teaching. Of course we should not accept anything and everything that is served up to us as Catholic, but we have our Church teachings to guide us. When what we are told by some Catholics (including sometimes some clergy) seems to veer off the path, we should turn to Church teachings. That is what is meant by submitting to the will of the Church (as opposed to submitting to our own will, or to the will of some other individual Catholics who might choose to serve up their own personal interpretations to us).

You make a good point in your post.
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You make a great point. The Church teachings go all the way back to the Apostolic Church and Jesus Christ himself. Awesome.
 
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