Why are you a Catholic?

[RGCheek]

My mother drilled it into my head when I was a child. If I wasn’t Catholic, I’d probably be agnostic.

I see you describe yourself as a ‘struggling Catholic’.

There are a lot of resources here for you to fertilize your faith with reason, fact and experience.

 

[fhansen]

Thank you for sharing your perspective on this topic.

How do you distinguish this from “2. Intellectual pursuit of Truth”?

Don’t mean to pin you down or anything, just curious.

As an example, I can study systematic theology, or I can read C.S. Lewis, the summa, or the Bhagavad Gita. These would be considered intellectual pursuits. Or, I can simply observe nature, with its beauty and order, and conclude that there must be a creator-God to have caused it. This would be an instance of deductive reasoning.

 

[RGCheek]

Quote:
6. Moment of Epiphany - A specific moment in time or a collection of them led your thoughts to believe that God exists and the Church is His best expression of His Will for you.
7. Spiritual experience - a miracle or emotional religious experience brought you home.

I put these two together, as they’re both “spiritual”. I’ve had some very distinct spiritual expenences.

With #6 I was trying to get at a thought process that was sparked by events to a moment of realization, and not so much the spiritual/mystical like #7.

I had a friend who came to a faith in God due to what he said was “the gift of the Holy Spirit coming on” him and it filled him with a sweeping sense of peace and God’s presence. He had been a Marxist before that and this made him abandon atheism and believe in God.

I don’t think that such a feeling could ever have an impact on me like that.

 

[RGCheek]

As an example, I can study systematic theology, or I can read C.S. Lewis, the summa, or the Bhagavad Gita. These would be considered intellectual pursuits. Or, I can simply observe nature, with its beauty and order, and conclude that there must be a creator-God to have caused it. This would be an instance of deductive reasoning.

OK, I understand you. What you call “intellectual pursuits” I would call “academic pursuits”.

There is a great deal of intellectual growth and development going on today outside of academic circles.

Almost all of LENR for the past 20 years has been highly effective and I would say intellectual, though none of it was published academically. The effectiveness of acupuncture, chiropractic medicine and the Atkins diet fly into the teeth of establishment academic authority and yet I know these work through experience and their practitioners are not just tossing darts on my body, so to speak, and they are quite intellectual in their specialization.

The academies of the various sciences seem to have fossilized into opposition to nontraditional fields of knowledge or things that are too ‘disruptive’ to their paradigms.

Meanwhile knowledge moves on around them where they will not open up.

 

[Memaw]

This is really directed at Catholics here, as implied by the nature of the question, but you never know.

It would seem we believe complex systems of concepts based on a number of things;

1. Nurture - how we were raised at home - Dad told me and that is good enough, thank you!
2. Intellectual pursuit - Searched for Truth willing to go where the evidence led you and it took you here to the Bride of Christ.
3. Iconic - You came to respect a religious authority or icon, say a great saint or a very persuasive priest
4. Intuition - life just makes more sense from a Catholic perspective
5. Schooled - attended Catholic school and what you learned there was affirmed by family and friends.
6. Moment of Epiphany - A specific moment in time or a collection of them led your thoughts to believe that God exists and the Church is His best expression of His Will for you.
7. Spiritual experience - a miracle or emotional religious experience brought you home.
8. Something I left out; can you please share?

Actually All of the above fit into my life.

1. In my case it was my Mom that told me. We moved when I was very young to a small town in Iowa, no Catholic Church and we had no car to go to the closes town that did. So everything I learned from my Mom. I realized later how very much I had learned from her.
2. When my first husband took instructions I took them with him and the doors opened wide and I have never lost my desire to learn and grow in my Catholic faith. He announced at the Baptism of our 3rd child that he was interested in becoming Catholic.

3.My Mom sent me books about the saints and I learned to love and appreciate their lives of Heroic Faith.

1. When my first husband died in an accident I found out how dearly I need our Faith. Thank God!
2. Only went to the 3rd grade but I remember the kindness of the Nuns. I loved coloring the pictures of our Lord and Blessed Mother.
3. Many moments, I lost my Mother, a baby and my husband in just over a year. I was devastated. Thank God our priest, my Catholic Dr. and our Holy Faith carried me through and helped me to help my 4 small children with the loss of their beloved Dad.
4. The conversion of my second husband and dealing with his illness, (Heart) for 15 of our 18 years together. And his holy death. So many its difficult to condense it.
5. Finding and getting to know my Dad again many years after he quit drinking. (My folks were divorced when I was young.) And helping him back into the faith after sooo many years of not practicing it. He died with a priest by his side. How many of us pray for that privilege!! Thank you and God Bless, Memaw

 

[RGCheek]

Actually All of the above fit into my life.

1. In my case it was my Mom that told me. We moved when I was very young to a small town in Iowa, no Catholic Church and we had no car to go to the closes town that did. So everything I learned from my Mom. I realized later how very much I had learned from her.
2. When my first husband took instructions I took them with him and the doors opened wide and I have never lost my desire to learn and grow in my Catholic faith. He announced at the Baptism of our 3rd child that he was interested in becoming Catholic.

3.My Mom sent me books about the saints and I learned to love and appreciate their lives of Heroic Faith.

1. When my first husband died in an accident I found out how dearly I need our Faith. Thank God!
2. Only went to the 3rd grade but I remember the kindness of the Nuns. I loved coloring the pictures of our Lord and Blessed Mother.
3. Many moments, I lost my Mother, a baby and my husband in just over a year. I was devastated. Thank God our priest, my Catholic Dr. and our Holy Faith carried me through and helped me to help my 4 small children with the loss of their beloved Dad.
4. The conversion of my second husband and dealing with his illness, (Heart) for 15 of our 18 years together. And his holy death. So many its difficult to condense it.
5. Finding and getting to know my Dad again many years after he quit drinking. (My folks were divorced when I was young.) And helping him back into the faith after sooo many years of not practicing it. He died with a priest by his side. How many of us pray for that privilege!! Thank you and God Bless, Memaw

Thank you.

My life has not been as blessed as your is. You know that if you persevere your reward in Heaven is very great.

I almost envy you. God bless.

 

[10gr8kids]

I was raised very strong Catholic by my parents, no Catholic schooling; taught that the one true church was the Catholic Church and she was/is protected from error by the Holy Spirit. I misunderstood this to mean that the church/church leaders were perfect, not really, I knew that they were mere men and still sinned, I just expected that they would be a lot less sinful than some have been. In High school I took a middle ages history class that had a lot of church history which made the Catholic Church and church leaders to look very evil to me. I couldn’t reconcile how the Catholic church could be the true church and it’s leaders to have been so evil. After that I basically became agnostic for 3 or 4 years. I was never really sure what I believed, but I still had the fear of Hell if God did exist and I was wrong. I decided to pray about it, figuring if God was real He’d lead me to the truth, and if He wasn’t, nothing would happen. I thought that since it was the middle ages that had caused me to doubt in the first place I would re-study them. I went to the library and found a book on Church history. As I was reading this book, I came to realize that although some church leaders had done things that I consider to be evil, the Church never taught these things. This is what started bringing me back to believe in God, Jesus, and His Church.
I now consider this time of doubting to have been a great grace given to me by God. A few years later I met my husband to be. He was raised very conservative Church of Christ, and had a lot of anti-Catholic beliefs. If I had not already reconciled how the Church can be protected by the Holy Spirit from teaching errors, while still having leaders that aren’t always the most Christ-like, I would have easily been led away by my then boyfriend’s arguments against the Catholic church. As it was, I still had a lot of studying to do, both Bible and Church History, ECF and such, so I would know that I was submitting to Christ and His Church, and not a ‘man made church’ as many call it.

 

[Beryllos]

I like to joke that it’s because I love horror movies (and that was the beginning of my journey) and, “No one calls a Baptist preacher when someone gets possessed!”

 

[7_Sorrows]

Actually All of the above fit into my life.

1. In my case it was my Mom that told me. We moved when I was very young to a small town in Iowa, no Catholic Church and we had no car to go to the closes town that did. So everything I learned from my Mom. I realized later how very much I had learned from her.
2. When my first husband took instructions I took them with him and the doors opened wide and I have never lost my desire to learn and grow in my Catholic faith. He announced at the Baptism of our 3rd child that he was interested in becoming Catholic.

3.My Mom sent me books about the saints and I learned to love and appreciate their lives of Heroic Faith.

1. When my first husband died in an accident I found out how dearly I need our Faith. Thank God!
2. Only went to the 3rd grade but I remember the kindness of the Nuns. I loved coloring the pictures of our Lord and Blessed Mother.
3. Many moments, I lost my Mother, a baby and my husband in just over a year. I was devastated. Thank God our priest, my Catholic Dr. and our Holy Faith carried me through and helped me to help my 4 small children with the loss of their beloved Dad.
4. The conversion of my second husband and dealing with his illness, (Heart) for 15 of our 18 years together. And his holy death. So many its difficult to condense it.
5. Finding and getting to know my Dad again many years after he quit drinking. (My folks were divorced when I was young.) And helping him back into the faith after sooo many years of not practicing it. He died with a priest by his side. How many of us pray for that privilege!! Thank you and God Bless, Memaw

Your story proves how important mothers are for passing on the Catholic faith. I am sorry you had so many losses, but inspired how your Catholic faith helped you perservere.

 

[RGCheek]

I was raised very strong Catholic by my parents, no Catholic schooling; taught that the one true church was the Catholic Church and she was/is protected from error by the Holy Spirit. I misunderstood this to mean that the church/church leaders were perfect, not really, I knew that they were mere men and still sinned, I just expected that they would be a lot less sinful than some have been. In High school I took a middle ages history class that had a lot of church history which made the Catholic Church and church leaders to look very evil to me. I couldn’t reconcile how the Catholic church could be the true church and it’s leaders to have been so evil. After that I basically became agnostic for 3 or 4 years. I was never really sure what I believed, but I still had the fear of Hell if God did exist and I was wrong. I decided to pray about it, figuring if God was real He’d lead me to the truth, and if He wasn’t, nothing would happen. I thought that since it was the middle ages that had caused me to doubt in the first place I would re-study them. I went to the library and found a book on Church history. As I was reading this book, I came to realize that although some church leaders had done things that I consider to be evil, the Church never taught these things. This is what started bringing me back to believe in God, Jesus, and His Church.
I now consider this time of doubting to have been a great grace given to me by God. A few years later I met my husband to be. He was raised very conservative Church of Christ, and had a lot of anti-Catholic beliefs. If I had not already reconciled how the Church can be protected by the Holy Spirit from teaching errors, while still having leaders that aren’t always the most Christ-like, I would have easily been led away by my then boyfriend’s arguments against the Catholic church. As it was, I still had a lot of studying to do, both Bible and Church History, ECF and such, so I would know that I was submitting to Christ and His Church, and not a ‘man made church’ as many call it.

Doubts when confronted with faith and reason can make the faith stronger and deeper, like drought makes the roots of a plant run deeper.

God will not put us through what we cannot endure, so we are challenged to find the door and knock on it and there is our escape.

 

[Convert1]

First of all, I love this question. Secondly, I get this question a great deal from my devout Southern Baptist family members. (I was baptized into a Southern Baptist fundamentalist church) Although, I never quite felt comfortable there.

I converted to Catholicism after visiting numerous churches during a trip to Ireland several years ago. In Galway, I experienced an overwhelming emotional reaction to the statute of the Holy Mother. Most of which, I cannot explain. All I know is the feeling was the most powerful spiritual energy I had ever felt in my life. It took me days after to fully feel “myself” again. I am not sure where this falls in the list, I just know this experience was life-changing.

Shortly afterward, I entered RCIA and began to truly learn the history and background of the Catholic Church. The Mass, the rituals, the Holy Days, the true relationship to Christ, that all go back centuries were comforting and uplifting to me. I always wondered who made up the protestant religions and how was it possible that someone could just randomly decide “this is how it should be”.

I actually enjoy the participation in Mass, rather than being “preached to”. it has been such a magnificent journey and I finally feel I am home. Again, I am not sure where it all falls in your categories, I just know this is why I am Catholic and proud to be so!

 

[Lost_Sheep]

I see you describe yourself as a ‘struggling Catholic’.

There are a lot of resources here for you to fertilize your faith with reason, fact and experience.

Yes there are. And if anything, it’s made things worse. I used to have a very simple and honest approach to my beliefs but all CAF has done is complicate things and cause me to have more self-doubt about whether or not I’m good enough. I’d prefer to be too stupid to know any better like I was before.

 

[10gr8kids]

Yes there are. And if anything, it’s made things worse. I used to have a very simple and honest approach to my beliefs but all CAF has done is complicate things and cause me to have more self-doubt about whether or not I’m good enough. I’d prefer to be too stupid to know any better like I was before.

If we have to be good enough, I’m lost for sure. This reminds me of something I read the other day. Can’t remember where i read it or who said it.

The closer we get to God, the more we see our sins. Not necessarily that our sins are worse, but they bother us more.

I hope this is me, but sometimes I feel like a lost cause when it comes to pleasing God.

 

[Lost_Sheep]

If we have to be good enough, I’m lost for sure. This reminds me of something I read the other day. Can’t remember where i read it or who said it.

The closer we get to God, the more we see our sins. Not necessarily that our sins are worse, but they bother us more.

I hope this is me, but sometimes I feel like a lost cause when it comes to pleasing God.

Yes. This sums me up very well also.

 

[RGCheek]

If we have to be good enough, I’m lost for sure. This reminds me of something I read the other day. Can’t remember where i read it or who said it.

The closer we get to God, the more we see our sins. Not necessarily that our sins are worse, but they bother us more.

I hope this is me, but sometimes I feel like a lost cause when it comes to pleasing God.

Jesus said that faith saves us, not scoring high on an IQ test.

Lucky me.

 

[RGCheek]

Yes there are. And if anything, it’s made things worse. I used to have a very simple and honest approach to my beliefs but all CAF has done is complicate things and cause me to have more self-doubt about whether or not I’m good enough.

You are good enough for God to love if you are penitent trying. That is why we have confession and the Eucharest, isn’t it?

I’d prefer to be too stupid to know any better like I was before.

Every time I have felt that way, and I have a whole lot, I found out later it is because I did not understand the situation completely or correctly.

Purgatory was my biggest emotional block, and what was bothering me about it was not something taught by the church but was not opposed by the church either. I feel like when I finally had a grasp on what Purgatory is, the part that bothered me about it went away.

But YMMV.

 

[Aloysium]

You are good enough for God to love if you are penitent trying. . . .

Yes, to the penitent, God’s blessings and the sharing in His love in paradise are our rewards
However, Jesus gave His life in trusting, filial love and obedience to God in order that all us sinners might be saved.
Clearly, God loves each of us as did the father, his absent prodigal son.
We need to come home; that’s where the rejoicing will be.

 

[RGCheek]

Yes, to the penitent, God’s blessings and the sharing in His love in paradise are our rewards
However, Jesus gave His life in trusting, filial love and obedience to God in order that all us sinners might be saved.
Clearly, God loves each of us as did the father, his absent prodigal son.
We need to come home; that’s where the rejoicing will be.

I agree with all that but feel confused as to why there is a ‘However’ in there…

 

[alphawoman]

#2. I sought to disprove the existence of God during grad school to confirm my agnosticism and, in the process, came to believe! The intellectual basis for our faith is strong, beautiful, and undeniable to anyone honestly seeking the truth.

I received more than my fair share of signal graces along the way. I like to think of them as little winks from God along the way to faith. Love you, God!

 

[Aloysium]

I agree with all that but feel confused as to why there is a ‘However’ in there…

Although the penitent shares His love, God loves us all, not just the penitent.