Help With My Evangelism

[cathoholic_anonymous]

I have a young Jewish friend who has been seriously trying to develop her spirituality over the past year or so. She came to celebrate the Easter Triduum with my family and now describes herself as 'halfway to Judaism and part-time Roman Catholic'.

Today she sent me this e-mail:

[quote]Now I would like you to do something you might not want to do. So far when we’ve been talking about religion we’ve been scratching the surface. We can’t go on like that. I want a list of ten Roman Catholic beliefs that are unpleasant but are seen as necessary. I’ve had enough of the love and the forgiveness and the ‘living water.’ I want to see the edge of reason – the stuff people twist around to call you guys heretics. The nasty things. Bring it! That is if you dare to…[/quote]

But I love my faith. I can't think of ten unpleasant beliefs that are seen as necessary. I like them all. The only belief that I find really unpleasant is not eating meat on a Friday (my college invariably has great chicken on this day) but that's just because I'm a rampant carnivore. And my friend's a vegetarian, so it's not as if she would mind this anyway. Going to Reconciliation can be tough, but that's [i]good[/i] tough. And I can't really think of anything else.

Thoughts?

[Era Might]

1. We are called to forgive. To love. Without measure. When someone blows up our family we have to forgive. If we do not forgive, we cannot be saved. This is one of the most uncomfortable truths for people to accept, because the world feeds off hate.

2. We eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God. Every day. Not a symbol, but his true flesh and true blood, present in a substantial way under the appearance of bread and wine.

3. We must be pure in life, in all ways appropriate to our vocation. Without purity of heart we cannot see God. This includes no contraception, no divorce and remarriage, and celibacy for some, depending where God calls them.

4. We must be detached from riches. Many young men and women go away sad because they have many riches, but it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

5. We must stand up for truth in season and out of season, when it is comfortable and when it is not. We must give our lives to torture and death if someone asks us to deny our faith.

6. We must confess our grave sins to a Priest. It is always liberating, but it is where we find forgiveness, and to find forgiveness we must bring to light every dark and evil place within our souls, and be healed. This brings temporary embrassment and shame, but it is necessary. Then we must make restitution and do penance for our sins, in different ways depending on what they are.

7. We must attend Mass every week, whether we feel like it or not. We must express the unity of the universal Church in a formal way every Sunday.

8. We must honor the Blessed Virgin Mary as our mother and the Saints as our examples and brothers in faith who have received the crown of life. We must take seriously the communion of Saints, and live it in real life.

9. We must oppose attacks on the truth in society, such as abortion and same-sex marriage, and we must stand up for life. We must accept and obey the teaching of the Church when she teaches on faith and morals, especially when she teaches solemnly from the chair of St. Peter or in Ecumenical Council.

10. We must take up our cross every day and follow Jesus Christ. The road is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and few are those who find it. This is the plain and honest truth, and if you become a Christian you are entering a life of sacrifice.

[Budge]

One thing I have pointed out to a Jewish friend is the prophecies in the OT that have been fulfilled by Jesus.

There are 300 of tem.

I of course preach the gospel of grace to my Jewish friend.

[Starets]

That was a good and thoughtful list, Era Might

[kenrockthefirst]

[quote name='Era Might' post='1251689' date='Apr 21 2007, 12:13 PM']1. We are called to forgive. To love. Without measure. When someone blows up our family we have to forgive. If we do not forgive, we cannot be saved. This is one of the most uncomfortable truths for people to accept, because the world feeds off hate.

2. We eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God. Every day. Not a symbol, but his true flesh and true blood, present in a substantial way under the appearance of bread and wine.

3. We must be pure in life, in all ways appropriate to our vocation. Without purity of heart we cannot see God. This includes no contraception, no divorce and remarriage, and celibacy for some, depending where God calls them.

4. We must be detached from riches. Many young men and women go away sad because they have many riches, but it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

5. We must stand up for truth in season and out of season, when it is comfortable and when it is not. We must give our lives to torture and death if someone asks us to deny our faith.

6. We must confess our grave sins to a Priest. It is always liberating, but it is where we find forgiveness, and to find forgiveness we must bring to light every dark and evil place within our souls, and be healed. This brings temporary embrassment and shame, but it is necessary. Then we must make restitution and do penance for our sins, in different ways depending on what they are.

7. We must attend Mass every week, whether we feel like it or not. We must express the unity of the universal Church in a formal way every Sunday.

8. We must honor the Blessed Virgin Mary as our mother and the Saints as our examples and brothers in faith who have received the crown of life. We must take seriously the communion of Saints, and live it in real life.

9. We must oppose attacks on the truth in society, such as abortion and same-sex marriage, and we must stand up for life. We must accept and obey the teaching of the Church when she teaches on faith and morals, especially when she teaches solemnly from the chair of St. Peter or in Ecumenical Council.

10. We must take up our cross every day and follow Jesus Christ. The road is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and few are those who find it. This is the plain and honest truth, and if you become a Christian you are entering a life of sacrifice.[/quote]

Wow. The Rule of Era Might.

Thanks for your thoughtfulness.

[cathoholic_anonymous]

It was very helpful indeed.

[mariahLVzJP2]

what about purgatory? some see that as unpleasant yet good and necessary.

[jeffpugh]

There is no way I can match Era Might... that was wholesome... but I would recommend that you (*sigh*, this might hurt some people, even awe others... ) listen to Budge and mention the fulfillment of Christ, example the new manna (His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity), the new Temple... etc...

[LouisvilleFan]

I'd say the most "unpleasant" things about being Catholic aren't the beliefs themselves, but the Church's past, including some of the popes who were anything but spiritual leaders, the negative effects of politics getting too entangled with the Church, the behavior of many Catholic laypeople, lack of respect for the Eucharist and liturgy (especially when that disrespect comes from priests), picnics that make us look like unashamed hypocrites... you get the idea.

Ya know, even some things like Eucharistic miracles could be perceived as unpleasant because they are so strange compared to most miraculous events (at least the kinds of miracles I knew as a Protestant). On the outside looking in, there was no doubt that some supernatural was behind Catholicism... I just wasn't sure if it was God or Satan, and that's an intimidating judgement call to make. When you think about it, we do some pretty strange stuff, like staring at a conscecrated host for an hour.

Edited May 1, 2007 by LouisvilleFan