Why do Protestants become Catholic?

[valient_Lucy]

LRThunder:

I assume the PCUSA does, but the PCA definitely believes in both the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds.

I was a Protestant my whole life, and an Evangelical during my teenage years. I never heard the Nicene Creed. Most non-Catholic Christians have probably never heard it before either.

 

[jim1130]

valient Lucy:

I was a Protestant my whole life,

Is your life over already?

 

[sadie2723]

valient Lucy:

I was a Protestant my whole life, and an Evangelical during my teenage years. I never heard the Nicene Creed. Most non-Catholic Christians have probably never heard it before either.

I was in a Methodist Church where they did it at Easter only. Other than that, they never said it. All of the other Evangelical, Baptist, Pentacostal, and Non-Denominational churches that I went to did not recognize it.

 

[Ted_CharlotteNC]

Thirst4Him:

I’m not Catholic…Yet??

I fell in love with the Catholic church last year after 60 years of growing up in conservative Protestantism. My journey to the liturgy and then Catholic theology led began, unbeknownst to me, many years ago, when I adopted a verse from the 42nd (Protestant version) Psalm. I memorized in in King James and can’t seem to shake it. It says, “As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee O God.”
Nearly 8 years ago I was hungering for a deeper walk with God. I stumbled across Phyllis Tickle’s set of books called Praying the Hours. I became hooked. I fell in love with liturgical praying. Then a little over a year ago the Presbyterian church I attend studied the 40 Days of Purpose by Rick Warren. My hunger grew. One day after my second journey through his book I looked up some of the references he had and discovered a book by Gary Thomas called Sacred Pathways. It is a book about the traditions of the early church fathers. I began to learn about how God used the great saints of the early church. I happened to watch EWTN one night when Scott Hahn was speaking. I bought his book and my journey really began in earnest. I can’t get enough. I followed that up with Karl Keating’s great work on Catholicism and Fundamentalism. I snuck into a Catholic bookstore and found more literature. I bought the Magnificat and Rosary beads and have been daily praying with them ever since. The proprietor talked me into going to Ash Wednesday Mass. This timid Protestent went. Boy, did I feel out of place! I never endured so much confusion, noise and lousy singing and preaching. The homily sucked. At least to me it sucked. I actually allowed myself to be dusted, excuse me, ashed, and went away strangely moved.
Since then I’ve listened to as much of EWTN as possible, all the Catholic Answers broadcasts I can and divoured books galor.
Am I begoming a Catholic? I don’t know yet. There is much to learn and overcome. I’m not convinced yet. But I admit, I thirst.
I apologize for the lengthy testimony, but needed to share it.
I’m not hung up on the most popular issues most Protestants face. I’m more concerned is how does Catholicism affect my daily behavior toward God and my neighbor. One of my biggest criticisms at the moment is sometimes I get the feeling Catholics are more concerned about preserving the structure and polity of the church than ministering Christ to the general public. Also, driving through all the differing opinions of Catholic theology in the church is confusing. Sometimes I wonder if there aren’t as many schisms in the Catholic community as there is in the Protestant community. So that is where I am. I love you all and am head over heals in love with my Saviour. He is my all in all and I can’t get enough of Him.
Blessings to you.
Thirsty

Praise God for your desire. Don’t worry about the Homily. Just stay with it.

Ask God to give your priest an interesting topic that ties into the scripture of the day. Remember your priest may have just visited some very sick person in the hospice. Or he was tired or sick or worn out.

I remember the first time I spoke to my priest, he had just dealt with a difficult situation and I wrote him to tell him I was new and I was praying for him and I appreciated what he did for the parish. Since then we have become friends and I know he needs friends just like any other man.

 

[believers]

sadie2723:

Nope. Because, and I can’t believe that you missed this, the Catholic Church NEVER talks about Salvation. Never. We all just wander in there ever week and we have no idea what we are doing. What a load!

Sadie, Now is that worthy of praise? I was going to mention your sales pitch for $29.95 but someone has already commented on it. Walk in love every day in everything you think, say, feel, and do. There is a consequence for being lukewarm regardless of how much you defend your faith. Remember, we must behave like Christians evening when defending our faith.

 

[Mickey]

believers:

There is a consequence for being lukewarm regardless of how much you defend your faith.

I’m confused. Are you accussing someone of being lukewarm?

 

[believers]

jim1130:

Peace.

Personally, my interpretation of what you are getting at is this: “Why the Gospel of Catholics is a false Gospel.” Would this interpretation be accurate? That seems to be the gist of your posts.

Peace be with you.

I’m basically saying that the message of salvation is not loud enough during mass. I’ve notice a shallow attitude towards salvation in my own family and long time Catholic friends. These people go to mass every Sunday and consider it good enough. Sometimes I wonder if salvation is even on their minds. Something needs to be done because I’m sure it’s not limited to them.

 

[valient_Lucy]

Thirst4Him:

Since then I’ve listened to as much of EWTN as possible, all the Catholic Answers broadcasts I can and divoured books galor.
Am I begoming a Catholic? I don’t know yet. There is much to learn and overcome. I’m not convinced yet. But I admit, I thirst.
I apologize for the lengthy testimony, but needed to share it.
I’m not hung up on the most popular issues most Protestants face. I’m more concerned is how does Catholicism affect my daily behavior toward God and my neighbor.

My advice is to keep doing what you’re doing. Allow God to work within you and keep praying constantly. Ask God to show you what he wants you to do. Be patient with Him, and yourself. He’ll guide you to the Truth, and to His path for you. As for your personal issues, keep praying about it. They’re valid concerns.

Thirst4Him:

One of my biggest criticisms at the moment is sometimes I get the feeling Catholics are more concerned about preserving the structure and polity of the church than ministering Christ to the general public. Also, driving through all the differing opinions of Catholic theology in the church is confusing. Sometimes I wonder if there aren’t as many schisms in the Catholic community as there is in the Protestant community. So that is where I am. I love you all and am head over heals in love with my Saviour. He is my all in all and I can’t get enough of Him.
Blessings to you.
Thirsty

The difference between the Catholic and Protestant differences of opinion, is anyone in the world can go to one sourse to know exactly what the Church teaches about something: The Catechism of the Catholic Church. There may be Catholics who disagree with what the Church says, and Catholics may have different styles of worship, but when it comes to Faith and Morals, anyone can know what the Magesterium (the teaching authority of the Church invested in the bishops) teaches. No such sourse exists for Protestants. Even the Bible can’t function the way the Catechism functions, since five people can (and usually will) interpret the same passage five different ways.
But just keep going, and do what you’ve been doing. Pray, pray a lot, and keep reading and studying. Check out stuff you don’t understand in the Catechism. The Catechism is also online.
But like I said, keep praying. Keep reading, and attend Mass when you can. I also advise a weekday Mass, since you can hear more of what the priest is saying. Be patient, with God and yourself. And have faith.

 

[Mickey]

believers:

I’m basically saying that the message of salvation is not loud enough during mass. I’ve notice a shallow attitude towards salvation in my own family and long time Catholic friends. These people go to mass every Sunday and consider it good enough. Sometimes I wonder if salvation is even on their minds. Something needs to be done because I’m sure it’s not limited to them.

Be careful not to judge. Only God knows the heart.

 

[sadie2723]

believers:

Sadie, Now is that worthy of praise? I was going to mention your sales pitch for $29.95 but someone has already commented on it. Walk in love every day in everything you think, say, feel, and do. There is a consequence for being lukewarm regardless of how much you defend your faith. Remember, we must behave like Christians evening when defending our faith.

Well am I missing something, or is that what you are saying? I thought that the central message in your posts today was that Salvation was not being properly covered in the Mass. Did I miss something here? I thought that all of your posts about obediance made it pretty clear.

And, I do walk in love. Still, I have to call it like I see it. The bottom line here is that you are attempting to make a point that the Catholic Church does not correctly teach salvation, and that is not true. In point of fact, we are teaching it as the Bible tells us.

So, when I read someone trying to subvert Catholic teaching and the Mass, I call them out on it. If that was offensive to you, or if it came off harsh, sorry.

 

[jim1130]

believers:

I’m basically saying that the message of salvation is not loud enough during mass. I’ve notice a shallow attitude towards salvation in my own family and long time Catholic friends. These people go to mass every Sunday and consider it good enough. Sometimes I wonder if salvation is even on their minds. Something needs to be done because I’m sure it’s not limited to them.

Peace.

Thank you for clarifying. I do not want to misrepresent someone’s position or misinterpret what they are actually saying.

Peace.

 

[believers]

Mickey:

I’m confused. Are you accussing someone of being lukewarm?

There’s no reason to be confused. That statement is meant for everyone… Catholics and Protestants alike. I don’t agree with any sort of condescending sarcasm either way. It is referring to myself and anyone who happens to read my post.

 

[valient_Lucy]

believers:

I’m basically saying that the message of salvation is not loud enough during mass. I’ve notice a shallow attitude towards salvation in my own family and long time Catholic friends. These people go to mass every Sunday and consider it good enough. Sometimes I wonder if salvation is even on their minds. Something needs to be done because I’m sure it’s not limited to them.

I agree with you. In the past forty years or so, the Catholic Church has not placed a very high priority on chatechesis. The Catholics you’ve met are the results. (Believe me, I’ve met them too! WAY, WAY too many of them!)
In the Catholic Church, there needs to be a renewed importance made on educating Catholics on Catholic teachings. Believe me, if more Protestants were meeting Catholics who genuinely knew what their Faith taught, and could explain it, more Protestants would be coming home. I don’t know exactly how we can fix this, but I’m determined to do what I can to solve the problem.

 

[valient_Lucy]

jim1130:

Is your life over already?

I hope not. I’m only 22.
But I’ll be recived into the Church this Easter Vigil (10 more days!!!) so I really have been a Protestant my whole life.

 

[believers]

sadie2723:

Well am I missing something, or is that what you are saying? I thought that the central message in your posts today was that Salvation was not being properly covered in the Mass. Did I miss something here? I thought that all of your posts about obediance made it pretty clear.

And, I do walk in love. Still, I have to call it like I see it. The bottom line here is that you are attempting to make a point that the Catholic Church does not correctly teach salvation, and that is not true. In point of fact, we are teaching it as the Bible tells us.

So, when I read someone trying to subvert Catholic teaching and the Mass, I call them out on it. If that was offensive to you, or if it came off harsh, sorry.

No problem… I don’t take anything here personally. Anyway, I’m here saying that many Catholics devote only 1 hour on Sunday. If that’s the case, then something must be said in mass to wake them up about salvation. This is the only time they’ll ever hear it. They need to be told that Sunday mass is not a free ticket into Heaven. There’s more to it than just showing up on Sunday and receiving the Eucharist.

 

[djrakowski]

believers:

I’m basically saying that the message of salvation is not loud enough during mass. I’ve notice a shallow attitude towards salvation in my own family and long time Catholic friends. These people go to mass every Sunday and consider it good enough. Sometimes I wonder if salvation is even on their minds. Something needs to be done because I’m sure it’s not limited to them.

Now I understand more clearly (I think). You’re upset with the Church because some folks in your close circle of friends and family didn’t get what She was teaching?

By contrast, are there absolutely no ‘lukewarms’ in the pews of your new evangelical church? I new plenty of 'em in mine!

 

[stella95]

Ted Charlotte NC you’re right, we spent a few years in Virginia, and too many of the people we knew were extremely anti-Catholic.

I suppose some anti-Catholicism is racist. Most Mexicans, legal and illegal, are Catholic and let’s admit it there’s racism aimed at Mexicans whatever their citizenship status. And if you go back, many of the turn of the century immigrants–Italians, Poles etc were Catholic as well so that there was a great deal of anti-Catholic feeling aimed at them. The KKK’s creed is partially anti-Catholic, I believe.

 

[jim1130]

valient Lucy:

I hope not. I’m only 22.
But I’ll be recived into the Church this Easter Vigil (10 more days!!!) so I really have been a Protestant my whole life.

I was just trying to be funny.

Congratulations!

 

[djrakowski]

believers:

No problem… I don’t take anything here personally. Anyway, I’m here saying that many Catholics devote only 1 hour on Sunday. If that’s the case, then something must be said in mass to wake them up about salvation. This is the only time they’ll ever hear it. They need to be told that Sunday mass is not a free ticket into Heaven. There’s more to it than just showing up on Sunday and receiving the Eucharist.

In one of the evangelical churches I attended, we heard the salvation mesage in the way you’re referring nearly every single Sunday, and yet, I still knew quite a few ‘lukewarms.’ In another evangelical, ‘seeker-sensitive’ congregation, I NEVER heard ANY message about salvation - it was more like a ‘rah-rah Jesus can help you live a better life.’ No message of repentance, no message of obedience, NOTHING. So, again, you can’t possibly blame the problem of ‘lukewarms’ on a particular system, which you seem to be trying with the Catholic Church. It doesn’t wash.

 

[sadie2723]

believers:

No problem… I don’t take anything here personally. Anyway, I’m here saying that many Catholics devote only 1 hour on Sunday. If that’s the case, then something must be said in mass to wake them up about salvation. This is the only time they’ll ever hear it. They need to be told that Sunday mass is not a free ticket into Heaven. There’s more to it than just showing up on Sunday and receiving the Eucharist.

On that point I agree with you.