Wife will start keeping the Sabbath

[Catolico_Romano]

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

My wife has been searching for God for the past year. But at the same time, she’s going the opposite direction of Catholicism (although we’re both cradle Catholics, married in the Church, and our children are baptized.). To her, the Church is the opposite of real Christianity.

She already stopped celebrating Christmas for its pagan origins. She’s also not even considering Protestant congregations anymore because she considers them too “Catholic.”

Today I invited her to dinner, and she said she couldn’t, because she’s going to start observing the Sabbath, which starts at 6 p.m. Friday. She says that she’s been in contact with Messianic Jews (or Jew-wannabes) who are teaching her to find Jesus’ (or Yeshua’s) Hebrew roots.

I don’t want to argue because of our beliefs anymore, so I told her she’s free to believe whatever she wants, and to praise the Lord in any way she wants. Hey, it’s a free country.

I guess I’m going to start attending Saturday afternoon Mass, in order to have Sundays completely free for family activities.

I just feel so confused, because it seems that she’s looking for every single belief the Church has to find the opposite and start following that.

 

[omegapd]

We’ll be praying for you and your family. We all have to follow our own path to God. There may be a lot of bumps in the road. It is up to you to stay faithful and help others. In the end, it will all work out.

God Bless!

 

[Auntie_A]

Maybe she is oppositional. When you stop reacting to her, she might cling less tight to her opposite beliefs. Adults do rebel, you know. And maybe you are not who she is truly rebelling against, maybe it’s old childhood stuff, but you are there so she transfers her arguments over to you.

Just a thought since I work with many oppositional people, some who are learning disabled, mood disordered. They just want to go to extremes rather than agree. It could be neurological. My sister frequently says to me, “How do YOU know?” and then she does the opposite of what I suggested. She has to touch the fire to know it burns. My aunt did the same with her family.

Your tactic to back off is good no matter what it is. Just quietly pray for her.

 

[Carolus_Martell]

Sounds like she’s on a religious pilgrimage of sorts. I suppose if it was my wife I’d be as accommodating as I could while still practicing the faith.

 

[po18guy]

I don’t want to argue because of our beliefs anymore, so I told her she’s free to believe whatever she wants, and to praise the Lord in any way she wants. Hey, it’s a free country.

I guess I’m going to start attending Saturday afternoon Mass, in order to have Sundays completely free for family activities.

I just feel so confused, because it seems that she’s looking for every single belief the Church has to find the opposite and start following that.

Her spirit is unsettled, so expect a bit of perhaps irrationality. She certainly would benefit from watching some of the videos done by Br. Bob Fishman, a rather Jewish convert to the faith. Or Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God (nee Rosalind Moskowitz), or one of the many other Jewish converts to the faith. There are videos on Marcus Grodi’s Coming Home Network which include conversion stories from nearly every religious and non-religious background. There are conversion stories from Judaism if you search.

As to the Sabbath versus the Lord’s day, here is a bit form the Wiki article on James Cardinal Gibbons:

“Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the Church outside the Bible.”[3] As it was the first day of the week and the day of the Resurrection, it symbolized the New Life in Christ. According to the Catholic Church and virtually all other Christian denominations - Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic - the ritual elements of the Mosaic law, such as observance of Sabbath or dietary laws, were abrogated by the coming of Christ and the New Covenant; St Thomas Aquinas went so far as to say practicing ritual elements of the Mosaic law was a mortal sin, as it was tantamount to denying that the Messiah had come."

You could tell her that you also went looking for the Jewish roots and, like the Jewish converts, found the Catholic Church. Perhaps this may cause her to think about why Jews are converting to the Catholicism. Although, this is a journey that she must make on her own.

Offer a Rosary a day. The Jewish mother of all Jewish mothers is a most powerful intercessor, and the spouse of the Holy Spirit, Who accomplishes all conversions.

Prayers ascending.