Why Are you still a Catholic?

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Sy_Noe said:
I hear you.
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Thank you! But then I lived way away from the Church geographically that I am unused to it and happy where I am at. I feel smothered by the Church here in it present form and condition… too much of the world .too many people and I am old and tired now and seek peace and solitude. and to use my limited strength for prayer and for small works for needy folk for I have all I need and more and am deeply thankful. Just relief that I can set the physical church aside
 
Because I believe the Marks of the Church; there is only One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic Church. I believe that the bread & wine become the Eucharistic Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Sacrafice of the Mass.
 
schaeffer said:
I think some people leave because being Catholic in a predominantly non Catholic area or culture sometimes feels like it doesn’t make sense.

The traditions, calendar, etc make sense, and feel fulfilling when there is family and community around participating in the same things, but if that falls away I think a lot of people find themselves thinking “Why am I doing this? What does any of this mean? Does this even make sense?”

Lack of a peer group that understands and takes part. It can feel lonely and out of context.

You mentions ethnic groups. I see that where I live as well. The parish and faith are part of the family and culture. It helps people keep it all together. When groups of immigrants or refugees come to a new country, they gather in their faith communities and from there build larger community, offer support etc.

But for others THAT is exactly what is on it’s way out. Often other family members have quite practicing the faith, or a move has caused a person to lose contact with friends and family in the Church, rather than it making them feel more a part of something it leads them to feel more alienated.
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I think this hits the nail on the head. This isn’t to say that people remain Catholic (or adhering to any particular church) because of social and cultural tradition and quasi-obligation - but I think it’s a significant part of it. When your faith ends up just being “something you do” because you’ve been told to (because missing the Sunday mass without good reason is a mortal sin, etc), and not something you feel - it’s very much harder to keep going I think. And I think it’s much easier to feel something when you share it with people with whom you have a strong bond (family members, neighbours, people with the same ethnicity sometimes perhaps). All religions probably work better in communities where many people attend the same church and I think it’s especially true with Catholicism.

Speaking personally, I’d probably have fallen away from the Church (for a while anyway) several times but for the strong community I live in. I’m sure that is at least part of the answer.
 
Sy_Noe said:
I know not being properly catechized is a prominent go to reason the faithful on CAF like to give. But it runs much deeper than that. I actually think they know what the Church teaches about the RP and learned that from being properly catechized. If they ever went to Mass at all and received, they heard “The Body of Christ” every time. So for those who leave solely due to that reason, they simply no longer believe what they were catechized in.
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To a proper catechism belongs a strong philosophical foundation and apologetic. Today even if a parish does teach the faith, they teach it like fairy tales. So that when the young person gets out in the real world confronted with people who want to see prove and have millions of arguments why the Catholic faith must be false, they cannot defend the Catholic faith and soon lose it too. Yes they hear “The Body of Christ” every Sunday, but when someone ask “Why do you believe that?” the only answer they have “because my pastor said so”. This is not a good foundation.
 
Andre1000 said:
To a proper catechism belongs a strong philosophical foundation and apologetic. Today even if a parish does teach the faith, they teach it like fairy tales. So that when the young person gets out in the real world confronted with people who want to see prove and have millions of arguments why the Catholic faith must be false, they cannot defend the Catholic faith and soon lose it too. Yes they hear “The Body of Christ” every Sunday, but when someone ask “Why do you believe that?” the only answer they have “because my pastor said so”. This is not a good foundation.
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I am indebted to the priest who baptized me, I am indebted to the nuns that taught our first communion class that instilled in me faith in God, faith in His written word and unwavering faith in the Eucharist. I do believe it was God that sent me wandering, a lost sheep amongst those fleeing what they no longer recognized. Those priests are even rarer today, who will baptize an infant in the hands of a loving aunt/godmother despite what rules have been established to keep the infant unbaptized. I do not see nuns anywhere that teach children. I see legions of insipid catechists discouraging young minds. They follow rigid schedules and rigid rules and do not teach God, His word or the preciousness of communion.

Did she register in time? Did she fill out the paperwork? Did she complete all assignments?

Does she love the Lord, with all her mind, body, soul, spirit? Who instills this in the children now? Lord, have mercy.
 
bitterhope said:
I am Catholic because of the Eucharist, Mary, tradition, and because I know the teachings are truth. I struggle with attending Mass because I find it difficult to associate with the parishioners and the parish staff. I get tired of the gossip and the favoritism so I understand why so many abandon the Church. It’s a shame when I can trust my pagan neighbor with my kids but not the people that run our mom group. The two times my kids stayed with either of the ladies horrible things happened (domestic violence–ending in the arrest of one lady for trying to run her husband over in front of my kids and her kids after she had already pushed him from a moving vehicle, and the other lady was arrested on drug charges while my kids were at her house). They are both still in charge of the mom group and also involved in the youth group and Sunday school. The parish staff and priest all know the histories. Apparently my kids have not been the only children to have been witnesses to similar things, but whenever anyone complains it is called gossip and we are chastised. I now drive an extra 45 mins to a different county to attend church. I love the Catholic faith but have not had much luck in friendships with fellow Catholics. I completely get it why so many leave. People grow tired of hypocrisy. And they grow tired of pastors and staff playing favorites
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That is so sad and so hard for you… Bless you!
 
bitterhope said:
I understand. I too focus on God but community situations matter.
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er I did say that BUT I am severely limited healthwise and disabled. My few “up” hours in the day end often before 4 pm when I go to bed for the night… added is that I have no immune system so social and other events are dangerous… there are gentler and more hidden ways of being part of the community… I can still manage my own shopping etc AND of course there is my market day…Which I am trying to keep going for my sanity… Prayer is mighty. Time will come when I will need help but am fighting that off…I am also by nature a solitary and by calling… The one social event i would love to see is for there to be tea etc erved after mass… The few times I get there there are so many lonely ones and I want to sit them down with a cuppa and a nice piece of home made cake!
 
Interesting as one of the things that hit me when I came to Ireland is that people do not relate to each other. Lines for communion and you know no one and no one speaks to you. There was one Sunday I was at Mass in a church new to me and the priest preached a long homily on welcoming the stranger in our midst… Afterwards no one person spoke to me…
 
Cath4life said:
This is why I’m a Catholic:

Jesus = Son of God
Jesus= Truth
Jesus= Eucharist
No other religion has Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. he promised he would ALWAYS be with us and we can receive him daily in Holy Communion at mass and see him in the blessed sacrament. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL GIFT!!!

We also have the celestial court that includes Mary The Queen, the saints and the angels. To Whom else shall we go??? not even worth searching…👍

People are leaving because they don’t know about the Real Presence and are not catechized 😦
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This.
 
Rosebud77 said:
Interesting as one of the things that hit me when I came to Ireland is that people do not relate to each other. Lines for communion and you know no one and no one speaks to you. There was one Sunday I was at Mass in a church new to me and the priest preached a long homily on welcoming the stranger in our midst… Afterwards no one person spoke to me…
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This is what I meant by community is important. People are so lonely and ignored while the favorites are given a free pass. It makes it very hard to continue going to Mass when the community is so cold, or worse than the secular one in terms of morals, or full of gossip, or made up of middle school cliques. I am often embarrassed to be among a group of people that are very vocal about morals in public and then do the complete opposite of what they preach. That is what hypocrisy is. All are welcomed, but then you aren’t. Birth control is wrong yet most use it. Marriage is sacred but divorce keeps rising. Child abuse is evil…And everyone goes to communion no matter what.

This thread is going to be closed. No one likes to acknowledge the failings in the running of God’s church and that is why people continue to flee. My faith is strong and that is why I hold tight to Jesus, but many cannot get past the worldliness that is plaguing the Church. It won’t get better until people decide to fix these problems. Unfortunately no one seems interested in taking on that task. Yes, the church is run by humans and I’m thankful my heart belongs to God and so despite the problems I hold on tight. It is getting harder and harder to ignore the community problems though. And I do not fault anyone that can’t keep on going
 
Sy_Noe said:
I know not being properly catechized is a prominent go to reason the faithful on CAF like to give. But it runs much deeper than that. I actually think they know what the Church teaches about the RP and learned that from being properly catechized. If they ever went to Mass at all and received, they heard “The Body of Christ” every time. So for those who leave solely due to that reason, they simply no longer believe what they were catechized in.
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Yes… I agree with you. It does run deeper, but it all begins with the basic learning of our faith and why we believe in Jesus and his mystical body. We could list many reasons. However, if a person really understood that Jesus is ACTUALLY PRESENT to our praise, thanksgiving, petitions and repentance, more people would be there. If they actually felt the encounter of his presence. It all begins with being catechized as a child and then developing a spiritual relationship with Jesus, the church he established, the healing of the sacraments, etc. I’m a revert and so I went to church and did all that I was supposed to do as a Catholic. However, I was not catechized well and had to learn most faith tenets later in life. All in The Lord’s timing and for His Greater Glory!
 
I don’t know why people think Church should be a social club. If you go to worship God you won’t care what clubs that Church has. As our pastor said, “if you aren’t coming to Church to worship God, you are coming for the wrong reasons.”

I went to a Protestant Church before my hubby came back to the Catholic Church and they were always talking about how to get more people to join. They did get people but they never stayed. Plus, when they had a pastor start another church, some left to follow him, some stayed, and some went elsewhere. It all ended up in hurt feelings.

As a Catholic I am comfortable going to any Catholic church, on vacation or at home.
 
Rosebud77 said:
Interesting as one of the things that hit me when I came to Ireland is that people do not relate to each other. Lines for communion and you know no one and no one speaks to you. There was one Sunday I was at Mass in a church new to me and the priest preached a long homily on welcoming the stranger in our midst… Afterwards no one person spoke to me…
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This makes me so sad. I had a discussion about this at our bible study on Sunday night and the point was made, correctly, that it is the same 40 or 50 people who attend everything and who do the volunteering. I think the answer is that it is our duty, as Catholics who care, to make a point to reach out to each other. It takes so little effort to say hello (or even just look into someone’s eyes and SMILE) to people around us when we enter church or to squeeze someone’s arm as we walk by. It is those small things that develop a sense of belonging. I think that small random acts of kindness are more important than we think.
 
Antegin said:
Where else would I go Lord? :shrug:You alone have the words of life.
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^^^This.

Ten years after my conversion I still have questions and things that I find hard to understand. But in the final analysis, it all comes down to the statement above.
 
DaveBj said:
^^^This.

Ten years after my conversion I still have questions and things that I find hard to understand. But in the final analysis, it all comes down to the statement above.
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Yes. The words of Peter is burned in my memory.
 
dmftx said:
This makes me so sad. I had a discussion about this at our bible study on Sunday night and the point was made, correctly, that it is the same 40 or 50 people who attend everything and who do the volunteering. I think the answer is that it is our duty, as Catholics who care, to make a point to reach out to each other. It takes so little effort to say hello (or even just look into someone’s eyes and SMILE) to people around us when we enter church or to squeeze someone’s arm as we walk by. It is those small things that develop a sense of belonging. I think that small random acts of kindness are more important than we think.
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Thank you for this. When I am anywhere, I always smile and greet folk and meet some wonderful people that way. Used, when I was less ill, to go to midweek mass and sit on the aisle after communion to smile at the old wans and see their faces crack into a grin. Now it i folk in supermarkets or at our lovely wild places or my market stall. People matter so much. My prayer as I leave the house is. Lord help me to be as Thee to all I meet today.
 
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