Why Are You Catholic?

[Lil Red]

i grew up Catholic, but fell away after high school. not to another church, but just fell away from religion in general. i came back when i started volunteering with the high school youth group. the more they asked questions, and i didn't know the answer, the more i became involved. i truly believe that it was the prayers of a special friend that brought me back into everything the Church teaches.

I love the Eucharist!!!

[ilovechrist]

i was born Catholic.

from the beginning, i have been educated in my faith well. looking back... why NOT be Catholic? it's obvious that the whole Truth is here. this IS the one true Church that Jesus Christ made!

[CreepyCrawler]

Truth, logic, history, and above all LOVE!

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

Becuase in the Catholic Church I participate in God's loving plan for the salvation of all people.

[Moosey]

[quote name='ilovechrist' date='Jul 27 2004, 02:48 PM'] i was born Catholic.

from the beginning, i have been educated in my faith well. looking back... why NOT be Catholic? it's obvious that the whole Truth is here. this IS the one true Church that Jesus Christ made! [/quote]
Same here. I look at all the other religions and they dont satisfy me as much as Catholicism does.

[Philippe]

apostolic succession

[curtins]

I was born and raised Catholic- have been and will be goin to all Catholic schooling (idk about college) but I was never really INTO my religion probably because I was so young and didnt really understand somethings. Id go to church etc etc but not really be INTO things. I would say that starting this past lent I REALLY got into Catholocism(sp?!???!) and really CARED about it. Part because of Lent being- well LENT-between stations(I LOVE stations!!! they transform me and make me see Jesus's love for us- I say they should have them yearround!) and operation rice bowl- praying, fasting- i think i really got into things- then I read about how the church is reachin out to Young ppl through the internet. in this article from fox news [quote]Today’s hip, young things — make that hip, young, Christian things — are surfing the Net in search of God … and finding Him.

A gaggle of ministries have taken their biblical messages down unconventional paths to appeal to 20- and 30-somethings.

Using Web sites, multi-media, pop culture and edgy language, organizations like www.relevantmagazine.com and Fireproof Ministries (and its anti-pornography Web site www.XXXchurch.com) are reaching out to young Christians in more modern ways than established organized religion ever has.

“We take a different approach to the traditional preacher role,” said Fireproof Ministries founder Craig Gross, a 28-year-old ordained minister and former youth pastor. "We use comedy and video and real-life experiences. It's not just one of us up there with a Bible."

The Web sites are a virtual meeting place where Fireproof followers can be informed about the ministries' schedule of events, monthly newsletters and overall mission. On its anti-porn site, XXXchurch.com (co-founded by Mike Foster), there's a "prayer wall" where people post questions, topics for discussion or prayers; the site also sells trinkets like XXXchurch trucker hats and Jesus action figures.

The hipster, Webby Christian movement is part of the larger trend of getting online to stir up excitement about a cause and capture the interest of the easily distracted youth. (Think of former presidential candidate Howard Dean's (search) grassroots Internet campaign made up largely of loyal, young supporters.)

The Web's activist role, especially among the 18-to-34 set, isn't surprising considering that more than half of homes in America have Internet access.

“If you want to reach them, you’ve got to speak their language,” said Paul Boutin, contributing editor at Wired magazine. “It makes perfect sense to take the ministry in that direction. I really think that if Jesus were around today, he would have a blog.”

In addition to its online endeavors, the 5-year-old Fireproof Ministries holds summer youth Christian camps, works alongside churches and visits colleges. The nonprofit has worked with everyone from porn film director "Jimmy D" (James DiGiorgio) on a recent anti-porn public service announcement to Jon Stewart (search) in an appearance on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."

Relevant Media Group, based in Orlando, Fla., is a publishing company founded by 28-year-old Evangelical Christian Cameron Strang. It began with the 2002 launch of www.relevantmagazine.com, then added the print version of the magazine and a book imprint with such titles as "The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash," "The Gospel According to Tony Soprano" and "Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2."

“We wanted to create stuff that was well-written, relevant, but wasn't afraid to grapple with the spiritual questions our generation is asking," Strang said. "It's different from other Christian media — it's not overtly evangelist. We're trying to challenge the church and culture at the same time."

Gross said Fireproof's base is the Bible as the word of God, but the group is non-denominational Christian. Its religious message hasn't exempted it from becoming inflammatory — among more traditional churchgoers, primarily.

“A lot of people don’t like it and don’t stand by it,” Gross said. "The main people who don't like us are from the church. It's a pretty mixed reaction. But we really believe this is what Jesus would be doing. Jesus was a controversial figure."

As for Strang, he said he hasn’t ruffled too many feathers yet.

“You’d think in a conservative Christian world, an issue with Bono (search) on the cover would cause some controversy, but it didn’t,” he said. “The people who get it, support it, and the people who don’t, don’t even know we exist.”

In that vein, the Christian Coalition’s national spokeswoman said she hadn’t heard of Relevant Media but didn’t love the idea of an issue featuring Bono — who last year caused a ruckus when he uttered the f-word on live television during the Golden Globes.

“I don’t agree with what Bono did — the language is terrible,” said the CC’s Michele Ammons. “We should not promote him. I don’t agree with putting Bono on the cover.”

But Ammons said she understands what groups like Relevant and Fireproof are trying to do.

“If that’s appealing to the young people and changing their lives and making them more spiritual, then it’s good,” she said. “Anytime you can make someone closer to God, that’s a good thing.”

There has, in fact, been a whole wave of Christianity-themed pop culture — from Mel Gibson’s (search) film “The Passion of the Christ” to pop music with Christian themes done by bands like Creed and POD (Gibson and POD have both been Relevant Magazine cover stories).

“We can look outside the four walls of church and see God in culture — in U2, Lauryn Hill (search), Creed,” Strang said. “It’s important that Christians wake up to that and understand the heartbeat of our country.”

And extending the biblical messages to the Web is like the 2000s version of folk-music church services that were common in the ‘70s, Boutin said.

“To kids today, the Internet is what rock ‘n’ roll was to another generation and TV was to the one before that and swing dancing was to the one before that,” said Boutin. “Kids aren't going to go to some stuffy church with stained-glass windows. They want to get online.”
[/quote]

so I researched "CAtholic forums" and found pm and this other Catholic forum (which i dont post anymore cuz i think its too stuffy and not as easy going or fun as pm! like if u started a game thread- ud get busted)

so That really got me into the church and then I started prayin daily again, really bein interested about the mass, learnin all about tons of diff stuff like chastity and grace etc etc

b4 I was a Catholic cuz thats what my mom told me to be cuz she brought me up a Catholic and id proly stick with my faith but very much on the surface and not be really into it like I am now

Im a Catholic cuz I always know and feell that I have some one to talk to and a "support system" weather its God, Mary, Guardian Angel, or you guys, my PHAM! and I dont wanna go to hell, and I wanna know God because I realize all he did for us and I want to thank him what ever way I can and just be part of the whole Catholic family its hard to explain but I love it- not to mention it makes me more punk cuz im going against this world of un purity and you know what I mean- im tellin all these ppl who call themselves "cool" cuz they sleep with 7 girls each nite and do countless other bad stuff to "shuv it" as taresa hienz kerry would say-not that I suport her i just thought it would be cool to use

wow thats a long post

[Brother Adam]

It's the Holy Spirit's fault. He's stronger than me.







:-D

[curtins]

bro adam i just realized that your a Catholic again!!!!!!!


congrats to u an mrs bro adam

[Spoken4byChrist]

[COLOR=green]Hey guys,
I registered here just today, and im so confused about how to do most things on here. so if im not doing something right(like posting where i shouldn't be)please tell me.
I was reading some of your posts, and MAN ARE YOU GUYS HOLY!lol!its great! Its SO hard to find other catholics who are totally on fire for their faith. And Im not saying im really holy but im on fire. i love being full out catholic. I love evangelizing the truth. I have a few friends who i can talk to about religion but, not that many. For most its more like a one or two time thing and then they just wanna get on with their life and live "normal".

[Brother Adam]

Welcome Spoken4byChrist! I love the screenname. I hope you will become a regular poster here with the rest of us. Tell us more about you!


curtins,

Man are you behind on the times. lol.

[Spoken4byChrist]

sorry, I don't quite understand. Im behind on the times?