Why do people leave the Church?

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undead_rat said:
As for the Holy Shroud, as you might know by now, my belief is that its importance and relevance for the 21st century cannot be overestimated.
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That is fine, and I believe in it too but it is not dogma, so it shouldn’t matter what others believe only that you believe in it. I have Protestant relatives who go into a frenzy when I tell them that I believe that Jesus after his resurrection first appeared to his mother Mary and yes, I don’t care that it is not explicitly stated in the Bible 🙂
 
tafan2 said:
Most replies are good, but at the heart of it, they don’t understand what they are leaving. If one understands the sacraments and has faith in Jesus Christ, it seems unfathomable that people would leave. But if one does not understand the sacraments it becomes easy to see, even with someone who has faith in Jesus.
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Gotta say, this is really insulting. it is like telling someone who says they don’t like cooked carrots that they taste just like candy and they don’t know what they’re missing.
 
JMMJ said:
it is like telling someone who says they don’t like cooked carrots that they taste just like candy and they don’t know what they’re missing.
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No it really is not.

Peace!!!
 
Looking through the previous posts, I can’t help but wonder if some of it boredom. Sometimes it’s difficult for me taking all the kids and wondering who’s going to misbehave, will more than one act up and whether it’s myself or my wife that will have to haul the offender to the back of the church for the remainder of mass. I really like the readings, the gospel and the homily as that’s where the lesson is, the rest is largely going through the same motions week in and week out, that’s not necessarily a bad thing but it is monotonous. Especially when trying to reign in young children who are completely disinterested in being there in the first place. My maternal grandma was Methodist and when the church was full, it was more upbeat, and more involved, especially for children, this was my observation during and after the service. We don’t have coffee and donuts once a month at our current church as we did at our previous parish before we moved but I think that would be a great change. Our interim parish between houses when we lived with my parents for a few months is our current sister parish and they didn’t have coffee and donuts following mass either. Involvement, especially for those families with young children and the children themselves needs to be captivating and enjoyable to make weekly mass something to look forward to instead of something to be loathed. More than once, I’ve had to threaten attending mass multiple times throughout the week if everyone can’t obey while in the pews. I would far prefer them to view that as a blessing rather than punishment.
 
Having a really hard time mapping your analogy onto what I wrote.

I don’t know if the carrots represent the Church or the sacraments. Either way I did not write anything false about it, ie a carrot tasting like candy.
 
I suppose so, if they join the Orthodox. Other than that, if someone knows how important these sacraments are to our lives and our ultimate salvation I can’t see it.
 
You would have to begin with the acceptance of the Church’s human element, which includes sin.
And you won’t find a sinless human element of the Church anywhere, whether it be Catholic Church itself, or denominations of it, or any individual Christian. The Church is in a state of journeying. Starting with Peter and all other disciples, the body of Christ is composed of sinners working together.
Why would you expect to find a spotless Church?

You might say that human sin negates the institutional character of the Church.
Sinners should not work together? Sin tries to isolate us. We sinners should not buy into that. We should work together in a visible body as Christ called us to do.
 
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I was referring to your statement that people “don’t understand” if they leave. Catholics have a way of saying this a lot, and it is truly insulting to those who understand just fine. Many “understand” even better than those who stay, beacuse they have put in the time, energy and effort to learn as much as possible before making up their mind to leave.

Yes, the carrots are the Church, in my analogy. I trust someone knows their mind and understands what carrots are, where they come from, and how they are prepared when they say they don’t like them. I also trust that they really just don’t like them. I never assume that if only they understood the carrots, they would then love them.

Same things as someone saying “You are crazy! How can you not like chocolate? You don’t know what you are missing!”
 
I am so glad to hear that you are becoming Catholic!!! What a joy it is to embrace Catholicism!!! You said that you attend a Methodist Church and only go to Mass twice a month. I’m so sorry to tell you this, but Catholics aren’t allowed to go to a Protestant Church (I think, I’m not sure, but I highly recommend you stop attending the Methodist Church) :)Also, as a Catholic, you are required to go to Mass every Sunday (Or Saturday night instead, if you want) and on the Holy Days of Obligation. Missing Mass is a mortal sin. I don’t think it was mortal in your case, however, because, in order for a sin to be mortal, you have to know it’s wrong. I’m guessing you didn’t know any better. 🙂 Why don’t you read the Catechism of The Catholic Church? It will help you better understand Catholic teaching. Also, praying to Mary is not “cultish dealings” It’s a wonderful thing to do to pray to her. God wants us to pray to Mary in fact and to ask her to pray for us. I’m so glad you became Catholic!!! I’ll keep you in my prayers!!! God Bless!!! 🙂
 
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Nothing on earth is more important to one’s salvation then then acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Everything else God willing will work itself out.
 
Are you Catholic? The concept of “accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior” is a very protestant concept. Jesus come into our hearts at Baptism. He’s already our Lord & Savior whether we “accept” him as it or not. 🙂
 
I was baptized Catholic as an infant, it meant nothing to me, don’t even remember… but I said that because we can reject God at any time. When we accept Him as children, teenagers, adults, we do it willingly. When we do that, everything God willing works itself out.
 
Sorry my post is full of typos. Guess I’d better use of my pc instead of my tablet.
 
Living74 said:
I am Catholic but I question the validity of some of the churches believe which I believe to be self serving of the Church but our of touch with what God really teaches.
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You shouldn’t question the teachings of the Catholic Church. You just have to trust God that they are true!!! 🙂
Living74 said:
I totally reject not attending mass as a mortal sin.
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What do you mean you “reject” it? It is a mortal sin, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. As A Catholic, you are obligated to go. 🙂
Living74 said:
Whether or not I end up solely C or M, is up to God.
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God gives us free will, so, whether you want to be Catholic or Methodist is your choice. God wants you to be Catholic, but he won’t force you to remain Catholic or stop going to the Methodist Church. 🙂
Living74 said:
I find the Catholic church still deathly afraid of its own followers. I attend 2 different churches because together they provide the complete meal.
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You don’t need a Methodist Church. Catholocism is the only religion you’ll ever need. Why do you think the Catholic Church is afraid of it’s own followers?

I’m still going to pray for you!!! God Bless!!! 🙂
 
@aitapyh. Awww, thank You for your kind words!!! We must pray for those who leave the Church!!! 🙂
 
I will respond to you and @JMMJ in this post. I am not meaning to be insulting to anyone who has left the Church. If so I apologize. To that end, I will change what I said from “understanding the sacraments” to “understanding and believing in the sacraments”. I acknowledge that by changing my previous statement, @Living74 and @JMMJ may not have responded the same way. But, still, Living74’s response makes my point. You make clear that you do not believe in what the Church teaches, I would assume that includes the sacraments. You do not bbelieve the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian lives. You do not see the need for confession to absolve you from a sin where you turned away from God. You likely do not see the Eucharist as the actuall body, blood, sould and divinity of Jesus. You do not see the sacraments as a means of God’s grace being poured into our lives.

None of this is meant to disparage or insult you. Its simply part of what I think is your beliefs. Nor is it meant to try to persuade you. It is just a difference in our beliefs. But if you did see the extreme importance of the sacraments in our lives, then you would have a different attitude about the Church.
 
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All good. My point is that no one should assume that disbelief is equivalent to lack of understanding.
 
LovelyLadybug said:
The concept of “accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior” is a very protestant concept. Jesus come into our hearts at Baptism.
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That’s because, those of us who practice “believers baptism” that is literally the proclamation we make before being baptized. I had to listen to a Catholic speaker “make fun of” those who can remember they day they accepted Jesus as their personal savior". I’m not sure if he knew he was making fun of us remembering out baptismal date, but it drove me bananas anyway.
 
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