Why do Protestants convert Catholics?

[Cat]

Yes, we do have a problem on our hands.

You are right about everything you say here.

What strikes me is that many of the converts I meet {myself included} come to the Catholic Church based on Scripture AND the actual teachings of the Church.

But once in the Church it is so easy to find deadness everywhere. Somehow a generation of leaders has ignored or pretended the teachings are “already known” by the faithful {I don’t like that term…} when in reality most cradle Catholics I meet really do not know their faith and many are simply horrified to share it. Remember Cardinal Dolan’s statement about how you won’t hear a priest preach on contraception and abortion, etc? AS IF THAT IS A GOOD THING??

Look at the issues we have to conquer. It’s like “What happened to the Catholic Church since V2?” Even look at the selection of the Bible translation used in Mass! The USCCB approved the NAB and NABRE and just take a look at the commentary and text notes in that thing. You’d think we were run by Liberal Protestant academics.

THIS is why many of us have found solace in the TLM congregations. I live in a remote area and am active with our wonderful African Priest in the rebirth and rebuilding {what else to call it?} of our Novus Ordo parish, BUT I am also a member of an FSSP parish 75 miles away and thank God for the FSSP! I joined the Confraternity some time back to prop up this ministry.

Where we have to daily deal with half-baked Catholics in the novus ordo parish who don’t want to do this or run down that about Catholic Tradition and teaching and where the hair color is solid gray, in the FSSP parish there is LIFE. FAMILIES, CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE, YOUTH, YOUNG FAMILIES. Growing and active ministry. And ALL of it holding to the SOLID TRADITION AND TEACHING of the ONE Church of Christ, the Catholic Church.

That FSSP parish has I am told produced more priests since it opened than the ENTIRE DIOCESE OF BOISE!

As for poaching members of the FSSP parish to Protestantism, well, good luck.

On Christ the King Sunday {’'62 Missal date/schedule} we had a procession of the Blessed Sacrament down thru town and out to Lake Coeur d’Alene where an altar was set up. There we had a short adoration service. Police escort, streets blocked, people on the sidewalks kneeled down as we passed. On the way, we prayed the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet while the Choir sang. It was unreal. Really unreal. It was supernatural.

And then, after that mountain top experience, I returned to my novus ordo parish where the I got a platefull of whining and fussing about the fact that the Priest ditched the hippydippy Woodstock long haired pothead music of the OCP in favor of actual hymns with bold, CATHOLIC theology in them and ordered the “choir” from front stage to the choir loft {they all then quit as they were no longer front and center…}, etc, etc, etc…

Tonite?

We have a parish dinner at the novus ordo parish. Yeah, I actually have to ask if the leaders will take into account the penitential rule of the Church and respect a meatless Friday…

I doubt it. It isn’t Lent you know and “we don’t have to do that stuff anymore!” as if all of this is just such a pain in the butt why don’t we just become Protestants since we don’t know and don’t care what penance means anyolehow.

My mind goes back to the Israelites and the challenge Moses gave to the men assembled for battle. Got a new wife? Go home. Afraid to fight? Go home. The Lord doesn’t need a massive army. He needs only those devoted to His will and his way to win His fight. Whiners and those who look back behind the plow need not apply.

Sorry for the rant, but seriously is there any doubt why Protestants with their easy-listening message poach Catholics? It isn’t even shooting fish in a barrel. It is shooting fish on your plate.

I agree with some of what you say, but I object to your condemnation of things that Holy Mother Church has not condemned.

E.g., yes, it’s really true, there is no “meatless Friday” anymore, other than during Lent. This isn’t something that “liberal Catholics” made up, but it’s the declaration of Holy Mother Church . We are supposed to do a “penitential act” on Friday, and if your penitential act is avoiding meat, fine. But don’t berate the rest of us because we choose, with the full approval of Holy Mother Church, a different way to show our repentance.

Also, if you don’t like contemporary Christian music (40-year-old music), fine. But many of us do find great solace in these hymns, and your description of “hippydippy Woodstock long-haired pothead” music is simply beyond the pale, hurtful and insulting to those Catholics like myself who love all kinds of hymns, songs, and spiritual songs.

Perhaps you should no longer attend your OF Mass parish. When someone with this much vitriol is sitting in the congregation, it’s possible that the work of the Holy Spirit is quenched. Why not simply attend Mass where you are most edified?

 

[Valdemar]

I agree with some of what you say, but I object to your condemnation of things that Holy Mother Church has not condemned.

E.g., yes, it’s really true, there is no “meatless Friday” anymore, other than during Lent. This isn’t something that “liberal Catholics” made up, but it’s the declaration of Holy Mother Church . We are supposed to do a “penitential act” on Friday, and if your penitential act is avoiding meat, fine. But don’t berate the rest of us because we choose, with the full approval of Holy Mother Church, a different way to show our repentance.

Also, if you don’t like contemporary Christian music (40-year-old music), fine. But many of us do find great solace in these hymns, and your description of “hippydippy Woodstock long-haired pothead” music is simply beyond the pale, hurtful and insulting to those Catholics like myself who love all kinds of hymns, songs, and spiritual songs.

Perhaps you should no longer attend your OF Mass parish. When someone with this much vitriol is sitting in the congregation, it’s possible that the work of the Holy Spirit is quenched. Why not simply attend Mass where you are most edified?

Sorry but my point about the meatless Friday thing is simple; there is no regard for those that DO choose that method. I don’t mean to berate the specific choice but rather the lack of unify that has created a lack of teaching on the whole topic,

As for music; The Priest has the right and is the authority to make decisions for the Parish. Berating HIM for his decisions is wholly unacceptable, especially since some of that music simply does not exhibit Catholic theology which is part of the reason the changes were made, the other part being the publishing company requires by contract the disposal of the missal and music every year. There’s a fine thing to do with God’s word, huh? Toss it in the garbage.

All of which goes to the point. In American Catholicsm today we see rampant a flippant attitude of more or less {searching for the right term here} desecration of the sacred. Everybody has an idea of what should be. The membership rolls show us that the changes adopted after V2 do not seem to be drawing people in, do they?

Not every novus ordo parish exhibits this, but MANY do. You watch the reverence toward the Eucharist and see if it exists. If it does, great. See the locations of choirs, the use of instruments that are not even approved in the rubrics and then…everybody has an opinion of what is right “according to the spirit of Vatican 2”.

 

[Leo2014]

“hippydippy Woodstock long-haired pothead” music…

I would not want the Mass to turn into a Led Zeppelin concert. But, I think the underlining message is the lack of communication with young people. The attempt to change the music to something more contemporary is to attract a young crowd. That in itself is noble but we need to be conscience to not isolate those that already attending Church.

Growing up Catholic, I know that Church was not an exciting place for a young person. It was not welcoming on the level as some of my Protestant friends churches appeared. Also, their congregation seemed a lot friendlier. As a kid, the last thing I wanted to experience was something negative on a Sunday morning. Even Coffee & Donuts at the Parish Hall was not the grand social club that it could have been and did nothing to attract the young.

When I got to college, I stopped going to Church for years. Not because I lost my faith, but life gets busy and it just wasn’t inviting.

However, the experience taught me many lessons. Foremost, to be a good communicator with my own son that is now off to college. I share my passion for music, arts, architecture and of course, my faith. It is a joy for me to encounter the reciprocal from a young person that is eager to share their passions with me. As a Church community we need to be accessible to the younger generations. It’s important that we share our convictions but it is also important we listen to theirs.

 

[Valdemar]

However, the experience taught me many lessons. Foremost, to be a good communicator with my own son that is now off to college. I share my passion for music, arts, architecture and of course, my faith. It is a joy for me to encounter the reciprocal from a young person that is eager to share their passions with me. As a Church community we need to be accessible to the younger generations. It’s important that we share our convictions but it is also important we listen to theirs.

This is KEY. And also, NOT dumbing down the message or the service in a pellmell race to make it “cool”.

Kids are amazingly hungry for CONTENT. Real, true content. You do not have to be “cool” to get to them.

We give our kids mush and they become mush.

We are in a time of war; military and spiritual. The faithful in other lands are being butchered by heathens. Face it guys. Old concept such as courage, strength, dedication, sacrifice and hard and tough work need to be REinstilled into our Catholic culture and Catholic youth Where that happens, watch the growth in those who are seeking God.

My kids find the MESSAGE of Jesus Christ and His Church powerful but unfortunately IN SPITE OF the poorly sung '70’s music and the sacrilege they see around them. It wasn’t always so.

Because they are seeing the reality that the world is in a shambles and only the Church has the answer.

 

[Valdemar]

I would not want the Mass to turn into a Led Zeppelin concert. But, I think the underlining message is the lack of communication with young people. The attempt to change the music to something more contemporary is to attract a young crowd. That in itself is noble but we need to be conscience to not isolate those that already attending Church.

One additional point.

The music I referred to is NOT contemporary to today’s youth. It WAS contemporary to a now-grayhaired and dying-off generation. It exhibits the classic tone of the era in which it was written. It is funny, yeah, funny, that the generation that most loudly squawked about the Generation Gap was the one given the dubious “honor” of saddling the Church with music bound in time to that generation.

And nowhere is the Church prevented from reaching youth with appropriate contemporary music. But the MASS is not the place for fads.

Check out the growth of the St Michael hymnal for example and you will see a trend {is it a fad if many of the songs are 200 years old and drawn direct from Church teaching…?} that seems to be drifting away from the Kumbaya-era of musicology.

Does anyone here think the '70’s era stuff will come back some day as “Classic” Catholic hymnody?

It is all irrelevant anyhow. We are not raising children. We are raising adults. We need to prepare them for the spiritual war they will face. Yeah, that’s tough luck.

And remember, “evangelicals” outreach to youth doesn’t have the great longterm results many evangelicals want, either. Face it, our culture is in the process of rejecting God, not seeking him.

Best yet to give our youth the rock solid teaching and stop candycoating the toughness of the Gospel. Ultimately such an approach doesn’t work anyhow.

 

[JustaServant]

I thought the Protestants get a lot of their members converting people from the Catholic church. Why is that? Why not convert more people from other religions? Or from a different Protestant church?

I’m not well informed in this matter so you could explain to me what is the truth.

Not all Protestants wish to ‘convert’ Catholics. What exactly would they be converting them to? Another form of Christianity?
On the other hand, fundamentalist Christians do not consider Catholics to be Christians at all so they are fair game.

 

[Cat]

One additional point.

The music I referred to is NOT contemporary to today’s youth. It WAS contemporary to a now-grayhaired and dying-off generation. It exhibits the classic tone of the era in which it was written. It is funny, yeah, funny, that the generation that most loudly squawked about the Generation Gap was the one given the dubious “honor” of saddling the Church with music bound in time to that generation.

And nowhere is the Church prevented from reaching youth with appropriate contemporary music. But the MASS is not the place for fads.

Check out the growth of the St Michael hymnal for example and you will see a trend {is it a fad if many of the songs are 200 years old and drawn direct from Church teaching…?} that seems to be drifting away from the Kumbaya-era of musicology.

Does anyone here think the '70’s era stuff will come back some day as “Classic” Catholic hymnody?

It is all irrelevant anyhow. We are not raising children. We are raising adults. We need to prepare them for the spiritual war they will face. Yeah, that’s tough luck.

And remember, “evangelicals” outreach to youth doesn’t have the great longterm results many evangelicals want, either. Face it, our culture is in the process of rejecting God, not seeking him.

Best yet to give our youth the rock solid teaching and stop candycoating the toughness of the Gospel. Ultimately such an approach doesn’t work anyhow.

Do you work with youth? Do you work with music with the young people in your parishes?

 

[Valdemar]

Do you work with youth? Do you work with music with the young people in your parishes?

Well…not so much as a Catholic. LOL.

In Protestant churches, yes, quite successfully if by successfully it means they came and listened and altered their lives due fro their own words at least partially to my work with them. I only wish I could track them all down and tell them about the Church! I also served in a ministry to multiracial youth in my younger years in South Africa during the unrest. Multiracial, multilingual, and under very tense circumstances.

Much of what has come to be known as youth work is ridiculous and silly. Really silly. Heck, I felt that way when I was young myself, and vowed not to go that direction when I had children of my own or taught youth later. What goes for “youth outreach” so very often is embarrassing and if you don’t believe me just study the material and you will find I am no sage. My best friend is a protestant pastor and he has been successful in not following the nonsensical trends. Much of what passes as “youth ministry” is really just an attempt to sort of moralize American pop-culture anyhow.

Beyond that, among young men and women since I have converted to the Church I have found the same yearning for serious and relevant teaching and guidance. So many are quite embarrassed about what goes for “youth work” and really want something real, tough, to the point and life-changing. Holding hands and babysitting not so much.

For me to try to compete with the secular world in music, speech or dress is stupid. Very few kids expect a middle aged guy to “appeal” to them the way a friend of their own age would. Sure, the fluffy approach appeals to some but being honest and real and knowledgeable about the doctrines of the faith means far more. WE can reach a few. They go reach many.

When youth work becomes merely “popular”, track the members. Watch how many disappear into the secular fog 2 or three years after they leave the group.

On a personal note to the younger folks. My three kids are grown and gone now. All were very high achievers and have taken their drive and commitment to the Lord into their adult lives with them. None are as yet members of the Catholic Church but my son is due to be confirmed in December and my middle daughter is involved in premarriage counselling thru the Church and also is in RCIA. My middle daughter with her husband plans to take RCIA next year. I and my wife took alot of (name removed by moderator)ut from them as they grew up. We watched the emptiness of so many “youth programs” and frankkly, it didn’t matter much. I taught them the doctrines I knew and offered them the grace I had. It is the father’s responsibility to do it.

I challenge everyone out there who is a father to take the lead; teach your children as the Scriptures say. It is YOUR calling, it is only a job for the “youth minister”.

 

[Leo2014]

And remember, “evangelicals” outreach to youth doesn’t have the great longterm results many evangelicals want, either. Face it, our culture is in the process of rejecting God, not seeking him.

And Catholics have better luck?

I think we all take blame on this one. You know in my Grandparents generation, it was seen negatively if they were to divorce. Somewhere in time, we lost the nuclear family. Some of them still come to Church. But it is not uncommon to see many of these families missing Dad when attending Mass. You don’t think this is going to have ramifications on the next generation? How can we tell them about the “toughness” of the Gospel if we do not live it ourselves?

I would focus more on our secular friends that do not go to any church or wish to know the Gospel in any manner. People do not want to be told or manipulated. The church has just been presented as a bunch of folks that are judgmental and manipulative. That isn’t going to place any body in the pews.

We need to lead by example!

 

[JRRTFAN]

Yes, we do have a problem on our hands.

You are right about everything you say here.

Look at the issues we have to conquer. It’s like “What happened to the Catholic Church since V2?” Even look at the selection of the Bible translation used in Mass! The USCCB approved the NAB and NABRE and just take a look at the commentary and text notes in that thing. You’d think we were run by Liberal Protestant academics.

.

You hit that nail on the head. I bought an NABRE published by Oxford Press and the notes are at the end of each book so I am not led into Protestantism by the notes on the same page as the text as in the “St. Joseph” editions by CBP.

 

[JRRTFAN]

Do you work with youth? Do you work with music with the young people in your parishes?

When my Protestant son left the Church for Evangelical Mega world at 14, he came back to mass once. A baccalaureate when he was 18 and a graduate, just to humor me. The “youth” music was played by our aging “Contemporary ensemble” . On the way out his comment: “Thanks for inviting me, Dad. Wow! That music was really lame.” A comment echoed by his similarly situated 16 year old sister.

We just don’t do it well so we shouldn’t do it at all.

 

[Valdemar]

When my Protestant son left the Church for Evangelical Mega world at 14, he came back to mass once. A baccalaureate when he was 18 and a graduate, just to humor me. The “youth” music was played by our aging “Contemporary ensemble” . On the way out his comment: “Thanks for inviting me, Dad. Wow! That music was really lame.” A comment echoed by his similarly situated 16 year old sister.

We just don’t do it well so we shouldn’t do it at all.

I’ve read not too ,long ago about the trend in Eastern Europe and Russia in the liturgical churches where young people are coming to worship BECAUSE OF the gravity, solemnity, mystery and spirituality of the Mass IN ALL ITS LITURGICAL GLORY.

DITTO in the TLM.

Such beauty leading to inquiry and conversion can happen in novus oordo parishes as well, and does, but generally, well, you folks be the judges

As for the leading to Christ our Savior; Fathers take the lead. Again, it is the calling that accompanies the creative act. Don’t expect some Priest to do your job for you. Read the Bible. Read the catechsim. IT ISN’T THAT HARD. Kneel down to the level of your little ones and TEACH them.

And then live it as best you can.

 

[Leo2014]

When my Protestant son left the Church for Evangelical Mega world at 14, he came back to mass once. A baccalaureate when he was 18 and a graduate, just to humor me. The “youth” music was played by our aging “Contemporary ensemble” . On the way out his comment: “Thanks for inviting me, Dad. Wow! That music was really lame.” A comment echoed by his similarly situated 16 year old sister.

We just don’t do it well so we shouldn’t do it at all.

My office is down the block from a Mega church. For many years, I would work on Sunday mornings and the most frustrating encounters I had was fighting the traffic to get home. It was like a major sporting event as they had multiple services.

But I understand how they attracted more people because they do a better job interacting within the community; not only do they have events that are directed to their youth, they also sponsored events that helped people with the surrounding community. Examples; during the recession years - they had job fairs, food pantries and even supported political issues by encouraging their members to register to vote and support particular issues.

Unfortunately, there are those that would like to see Mass go back to being conducted in Latin. But, it also goes beyond the language or music style selected. I know vocations are a great challenge for the Church. But couldn’t they give the duties of presenting the homily to someone that has a good presentation. We at one time had a Deacon who was just great at reaching out to people. However, when it came time for the homily that rested on a Priest who was a terrible speakers who had a habit of mumbling with a drawl.

Many of the problems are more than dogma. People will leave a place where they feel unwelcomed. Church should be a place were sinners are welcomed because folks; you and I are just as much sinners as our kids - the only thing that has change is our inability to communicate with younger people and sadly - our apathy to the problem. It’s easy to blame liberals, protestants, commies and anyone else but ourselves.

 

[Thorolfr]

As for the leading to Christ our Savior; Fathers take the lead. Again, it is the calling that accompanies the creative act. Don’t expect some Priest to do your job for you. Read the Bible. Read the catechsim. IT ISN’T THAT HARD. Kneel down to the level of your little ones and TEACH them.

And then live it as best you can.

I don’t think that it has to be fathers and even if young adults do not come to church all the time or even at all, it does not mean that they won’t come later if they were taught the Bible and received good Christian role models as children.

My parents are mostly non-religious. It was my grandmother that took me to church as a child when I would go to stay with her during the summers, who bought me my first Bible, and was a good Christian role model for me. I didn’t go to any church as a young adult until my 30s, but something must have stuck from the exposure I received as a child that brought me back.

 

[Valdemar]

I don’t think that it has to be fathers and even if young adults do not come to church all the time or even at all, it does not mean that they won’t come later if they were taught the Bible and received good Christian role models as children.

My parents are mostly non-religious. It was my grandmother that took me to church as a child when I would go to stay with her during the summers, who bought me my first Bible, and was a good Christian role model for me. I didn’t go to any church as a young adult until my 30s, but something must have stuck from the exposure I received as a child that brought me back.

You are right it doesn’t HAVE to be. My grandmother after my grandfather dies raised 6 children alone thru the depths of the Great Depression to faith in Jesus.

God can speak wisdom using the mouth of an *** if He wants to. We are told in fact in the Scriptures, he did!

Indeed, at this point in our history in the USA we better hope God does because there are a lot of asses about and very few good fathers.

Having said that, we need FATHERS to rise up lead in their homes. As I said, it is ALL of their callings. If you are going to play you need to be willing to enter the fray.

Mass numbers do not always translate into powerful faiths. Strong faith is best formed in the “school” of God’s choosing; At home thru the guidance and teaching and modelling of a Father and Mother. It leads to the same for the next generation, and the next, and the next.

 

[Cat]

Do you work with youth? Do you work with music with the young people in your parishes?

Valdemar and others on this thread, I DO work with youth music.

I work with several groups of Catholic youth. One group is based at an OF parish, and the other group is based at an EF parish. They are both delightful groups of young people and I am very hopeful for the future of the American Catholic Church whenever I am around these teens.

I agree with everyone about “boomer rock.” Kids don’t like seeing or hearing middle aged amateur rockers doing praise and worship music. However, please keep in mind that many of us who are middle-aged DO like this, and we enjoy playing and singing. Just because someone is middle-aged doesn’t mean they have to close up the guitar, pack away the drum set, close their mouths, and sit in the pews and be quiet.

Yes, teens DO like “modern” music. The teens in the OF parish love Matt Maher, Audrey Assad, and the other musicians who write “rock” Catholic songs, and they love singing these songs. Not all teens…but many do.

Yes, teens DO like “ancient” music. The teens in the EF parish love Gregorian chant, Vierne, Gonoud, and other musicians who wrote “ancient” Catholic songs, and they love singing these songs. Not all teens…but many do.

Catholic youth teams make a mistake when they assume that all teens like the same kinds of music. What teens like is music that is done with excellence. It’s mediocrity that teens don’t like, and that’s why Catholic churches have so much trouble with music in general–because in many parishes, music is done as an afterthought.

Even in this thread we see this attitude–“Music isn’t required for Mass, it’s just an “extra,” so it doesn’t really matter, and frankly, I would like to see the music eliminated so that we can really concentrate on the Mass.”

And that’s why Catholics can’t sing. They don’t want to.

I am getting over a bad cold and my voice is very hoarse at the moment. Last evening at Mass, I opened the hymnal and mouthed the words, even though nothing came out. We sang several of my favorite hymns (All Hail The Power of Jesus’ Name, I Will Raise You Up, etc.), and my heart was breaking that I couldn’t sing. But I could at least follow the words and offer them up as prayers.

The majority of people around me didn’t even bother to do that much. They stood there stone-faced and closed-mouthed. I wanted to give them all a good spanking. Even the babies in the crowd knew enough to sing (although it sounded like crying).

Valdemar and others, it is up to the parents to impart to their children a love for all kinds of music, not just the parents’ favorite styles. When children grow up in homes where “ancient music” is mocked and called “out of touch,” then they grow up with scorn for ancient music. And likewise in homes where modern music is labeled “pothead” music.

My husband and I raised our daughters to love and appreciate ALL kinds of music, and I am proud to say that my daughter have all kinds of music on their iPods, everything from opera to country. Both of them know how to read music; in fact, my older daughter got her first paying job in the theater because she could read music scores (she was a production stage manager for a ballet company).

Both of my daughters had lessons on various instruments, although both of them stopped the lessons when they were in 8tth grade. (They were skating on the elite synchro team by then and truly had no time). But now that my younger daughter has grown up, she has taken up the guitar, and occasionally gets out her violin or sits down at a piano. And my older daughter is still stage-managing musicals, ballets, and operas.

I challenge ALL Catholic parents to raise their children the way I raised my children–to love music, to READ music, and to make music with excellence every time they listen, sing, or play their instruments.

If you do this, they will not scorn ANY music in their parish, but love all of it and communicate a contagious enthusiasm and love to all the others who are sitting with them during the Mass. THIS enthusiasm and “zest for life” is what will attract non-Catholics and nominal Catholics back to the Catholic Church!

But when people just stand there stone-faced or even frowning with righteous disapproval, not even bothering to open a hymnal and pray the words to the hymns–THAT will turn young people (and old people) OFF to Christianity and drive them out into the world where they see people who appear to be truly living life to the full.

It shows a lack of understanding of various cultures to state the “Mass music isn’t important.” In the United States and in many other countries, MUSIC is the very heart of the culture, and people LOVE music. To eliminate it from Mass, or to make it an “afterthought” is a strategic error that will results in the attrition of people from the Mass and eventually from the Catholic Church.

(Continued next post)

 

[Cat]

(continued from last post)

The OP asks why Protestants convert Catholics? I’ve given my answer–because they think that Catholics aren’t Christians.

But one of the main reasons why Protestants have been able to convert Catholics over the centuries is because Protestant music is GOOD! Even back when Martin Luther first started his “church,” the music was GOOD! He brought hymn-singing into the worship service, and the Germans especially took to it with all their hearts. Even today, in Lutheran churches, the singing (at least in traditional services) is done with enthusiasm.

Whenever people ask me what I miss most about Protestantism, I say, “The music.” I really miss singing in a congregation that actually sings. I think it’s dreadful that Catholics don’t sing. For those of you who say, “Mass is not a show,” I agree. And neither is congregational singing.

Congregational singing is unique to church culture, at least at this time in American history. There was a time when people sang together in all kinds of venues, including work, but not nowadays. We just sit and listen to “professionals” singing instead of making our own music. No wonder we are such a sad, pessimistic nation, and no wonder people are not drawn to Catholicism.

I devoutly hope that this post will make people think about their attitudes towards “church” music. It is my hope and prayer that God will somehow use ME to help Catholics learn how to sing and make music in their hearts to God.

 

[Eric_Hilbert]

The topic please

 

[Valdemar]

The topic please

I apologize.

My position is that the essential reason Protestants pick off Catholics is that fathers and mothers aren’t doing their job at home, and the Church isn’t picking up the slack there.

 

[dronald]

I apologize.

My position is that the essential reason Protestants pick off Catholics is that fathers and mothers aren’t doing their job at home, and the Church isn’t picking up the slack there.

Good point. The only ‘Catholics’ I would wish to convert are the ones who have no relationship with God and are only Catholic by name.