“Then don't be a Catholic.,” she says. “Why be something you're not?”
Aside from the response I gave her in the comments to this post, her comment to me demonstrates exactly what I mean about people who claim to be Christian but appear to be going completely off message.
Who did Jesus seek out? With whom did he take meals? Sinners. People who didn’t believe as he did. People who needed help. (Luke 15:2, Luke 19:7)
This lady, when she sees that I disagree with some of the man-made weirdness of the Catholic Church, wants me to LEAVE. “Don’t be a Catholic.”
And once again, she proves that not only is she not acting like a Catholic, but she’s specifically acting against the very basic teachings of Christ. Would Jesus ever have said “You are too sinful to follow me?” No, he said that these are the people whom he would seek. (Luke 5:31-32)
If she believes the the Catholic Church is the true apostolic Church, if she believes that she is following the faith and that I am misguided, then then she should embrace me, try to bring me into the Church, discuss things with me, and through her example of tolerance and kindness, try to show me the Way. No disciple of Jesus would try to convince someone to LEAVE the Church. That's madness.
But no: She thinks I should leave. And that, my friends, is antithetical to the Gospels.
It's also interesting how she completely ignored the whole condom thing. Why, I wonder?
Anyway, Tricia, I invite you to stay in the Church, even if you preach things that are entirely against what Jesus taught and did.
Love to all. Even you, the burly dude who, while bothering me with his loud-for-5am train conversations, has surprisingly lush hair.
12 comments:
Hmmm. Quit calling me a pronoun :)
Rich, read your Catechism...if you are receiving the body and blood of Christ at Mass, and not following the Catechism, the Commandments and the Magisterium, then you are in a state of mortal sin.
I'm a sinner, too, and am calling it as you display for the world to see...you know the teachings of the Church, yet you knowingly and willingly rebel against CERTAIN teachings because you deem them fallable. You're not God, your interpretation is not Catholic...that's all I'm saying...my personal belief has nothing to do with this, and you know it. It is the teaching of the church. Yes, leave if you don't want to be Catholic, to live the full truth (not only parts of it).
Or don't, and align your beliefs with the Church you claim as your own.
I read this with a different sort of view. I read it and was proud of you for following the words of Jesus, not the words of men. Not that Jesus wasn't a man, but he was a wise man and certainly had a lot of wise things to say. You can be Catholic, I think, and believe in the basics of the faith, without following blindly that which argues what you feel in your heart to be true.
I believe in my heart that the words of Jesus have been reinterpreted so many times that it is questionable whether Jesus really said half the stuff attributed to him. Even the gospels are "according to" whatever apostle happened to write it down, and they were men, and a woman I think, and certainly subject to their own interpretations of the things that happened during that dangerous and facinating time of Jesus. The Bible itself has been changed according to politics. New Testement? Old Testement? I know one of them says you should beat your wife, but not your slave. So did it say that thou shat not suffer a female soceress to live. But I certainly don't think that Jesus would have supported the witch hunts. I am thankful that they are over. I would have been burned at the stake long ago.
I agree with you, that the teachings of the Church and the teachings of Jesus do not always coincide I think that Jesus would have been proud of you for questioning the Monsigneur about the corvette, and for suggesting that perhaps abortion is an answer sometimes, but that birth control is a better answer. Jesus rebelled against the teachings of the faith he was brought up in, and started a 2000 year revolution.
I believe that true sin is not defined by man, but is in the act of denying our base nature. We are lustful creatures. During the time of Jesus there was a lot of sickness, you had to have 12 children because only a few of them would survive. We have a much higher survival rate now. Since we aren't likely to deny ourselves sex, we should at least be smart about it.
If everyone followed blindly and did not question, there would be no progress. Man was given free will by god so that he might question and do right by his own instincts.
Wow. you struck a nerve today. Have a good one. BTW, nice abs!
Tricia, your hypocrisy becomes painfully evident when you repeatedly fail to answer the questions:
1) What is your problem with condoms, when the Catholic Church allows other methods of birth control?
2) If the pope is infallible, why with the Church issue a formal apology for it's inaction during the Holocaust?
You quoting me the catechism is a little funny, after your inability to understand how the catechism defines the trinity.
You're telling me I'm not God is a little funny, when you place the Popes above Jesus.
Again you tell me to leave the Catholic Church. By your logic, you should leave Christianity completely, because you go directly against what Jesus taught.
Are you going to answer the question about the Holocaust? I doubt it.
But please, do.
Rich, I am also Catholic. I'm probably a pretty conservative Catholic - I get the no birth control, and some other things. I DO believe that abortion is wrong - but I also believe it would be socially irresponsible right now to make it illegal.
BUT - I want to say that I think it is AWESOME that you can disagree with some of the Church's teachings, and still love her enough to stay. so many people today disagree and walk away - looking for someone that they won't ever disagree with.
on a technical note - the catcheism does not say that the Pope is 100% infallible. There are certain declarations that a Pope makes that are specifically categorized as being "from God" - but the Pope is still man and not everything is the word of God. If that makes sense...
In my opinion, the catholic curch does not seek out people that have different beliefs than their own, far from it.
I know several people who were told flat out to leave the catholic church at once. Why? They were gay. Gays are not welcome in the catholic curch because they are sinners. They found other curches that did embrace diversity and are quite happy there.
My wife is (was) catholic, but the curch is so against people with other beliefs that we had a heck of a time even getting married there simply because I was presbyterian. That's just wrong...
You wanna experience intollerance and situational ethics? Live through the Mormon arm of Christianity, as my wife and I did (especially her; I'm a total newb compared to her). Now THERE's a following that long on opinion and short on solution.
Personally I think there are absolutely good people in every sect, but (and I don't wish to offend anyone here) I also tend to beleive organized religion has done as much to harm humanity as to benefit it. Still, I do beleive in God, but not as the "Big 3" religions see Him.
That's just my two cents, such as it is. :-)
Don't even get me started! Actually, I have to restrain myself for not writing something here right now. I'm going to take 10 deep breaths... .
As a non believer who prays and comes from a Catholic/Church of England family I think you hit the nail on the head about Christianity and how faith should be more personal based rather than following strict doctrines that appear to bury their heads in the sand when awkward questions are asked.
That's how I read it, I apologise if I'm way off the mark.
Catholic Church does NOT equal Christianity. I am little confused on wether or not you are trying to say this but I could be wrong. I am not harping on anyone just don't think Catholics have it right yet is all :-)
Great site by the way !!!
Hi there!
I realize that the Catholic Church and Christianity are not synonyms. I do believe in the Apostolic nature of the church, but I believe there are many valid paths to God.
This reminds me of a recent conversation I had with a woman in my writing group. We were talking about abolition, and she said "Gee, I wonder why blacks even WANT to live in this country? I mean, would you want to live someplace where you had been treated so badly for so many years?"
For me, I dropped out of the Catholic thing early on because I just didn't relate to any of it. Easy answers to impossible questions.
I always wanted Catechism class to go like this:
"Who made me?"
"We don't know. Class dismissed."
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