abercius24 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I agree, the sacraments are the key. Its those personal "Sacred Moments" with Christ that keep one's Catholic faith strong. If you haven't let your relationship with Christ become intimate through the Sacraments, then you're missing out on the Big Picture of what it means to be Catholic. I find most who fall away (even more than once) do so for this reason. Steve S. -- abercius24 CatholicQandA.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2B3 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I am finding that there are more and more things that we did not cover in RCIA and the course that I had was quite short. There are things that come up now, that I struggle a lot with to accept. I love the sacraments, I have no problem there.. But I do struggle in a few other areas and I am wondering if I can stay feeling this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abercius24 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 [quote name='2B3' post='1361031' date='Aug 17 2007, 07:10 AM']I am finding that there are more and more things that we did not cover in RCIA and the course that I had was quite short. There are things that come up now, that I struggle a lot with to accept. I love the sacraments, I have no problem there.. But I do struggle in a few other areas and I am wondering if I can stay feeling this way.[/quote] It's never good for a Christian to 'stay' in one place. The life of a Christian is one of lifelong conversion. What particular issues do you struggle with (if its appropriate to ask here)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
journeyman Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 [quote name='Terra Firma' post='1360820' date='Aug 16 2007, 10:20 PM']Wow lots of good comments ... <snip> So if I came to a point that I didn't think I could be Catholic, I would probably be agnostic.[/quote] Eastern Orthodox? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercy me Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 When I struggled with some of the churches teachings I was fortunate enough to have a wise priest friend who made me read the church's teachings from the original encyclicals. The depth of the teachings blew me away. Naive me thought these teachings were rules but there was so much more. There was a beauty to the truths within them that no one had ever shared with me. I would encourage you to seek our the teachings of the church on the issues where there is disagreement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abercius24 Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 [quote name='Mercy me' post='1362589' date='Aug 19 2007, 01:42 AM']When I struggled with some of the churches teachings I was fortunate enough to have a wise priest friend who made me read the church's teachings from the original encyclicals. The depth of the teachings blew me away. Naive me thought these teachings were rules but there was so much more. There was a beauty to the truths within them that no one had ever shared with me. I would encourage you to seek our the teachings of the church on the issues where there is disagreement.[/quote] Very good idea. You can get some inexpensive paperback copies of the encyclicals now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sojourner Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 [quote name='journeyman' post='1361173' date='Aug 17 2007, 12:27 PM']Eastern Orthodox?[/quote] Maybe ... but I'd imagine that if there were something big enough for me to leave the Catholic Church either a) It would be a problem with Orthodoxy as well (they aren't THAT different) or b) I would be so disillusioned with Christianity in general that I would just want to wash my hands of it as a whole. Mind you, this is all hypotheticals. I'm nowhere near thinking I need to leave .... I love being Catholic because it brings me so much closer to Jesus. [quote name='Mercy me' post='1362589' date='Aug 19 2007, 12:42 AM']When I struggled with some of the churches teachings I was fortunate enough to have a wise priest friend who made me read the church's teachings from the original encyclicals. The depth of the teachings blew me away. Naive me thought these teachings were rules but there was so much more. There was a beauty to the truths within them that no one had ever shared with me. I would encourage you to seek our the teachings of the church on the issues where there is disagreement.[/quote] I totally agree. Like abercius said they are available in print (most of them) and also most are available online as well -- I think the Vatican site has almost all of them, at least the most recent ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resurrexi Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 [quote name='Terra Firma' post='1362699' date='Aug 19 2007, 08:16 AM']I totally agree. Like abercius said they are available in print (most of them) and also most are available online as well -- I think the Vatican site has almost all of them, at least the most recent ones.[/quote] Yeah the Vatican website has most of the authoritative Papal documents from the past century in Latin and several vernaculars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abercius24 Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 (edited) I got my paperback copies at the local Catholic bookstore. They sometimes have a little rack with a decent selection of the more popular ones. I like to keep them on the bookshelf so I can refer to them in the future. Edited August 19, 2007 by abercius24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sojourner Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 [quote name='abercius24' post='1362795' date='Aug 19 2007, 10:58 AM']I got my paperback copies at the local Catholic bookstore. They sometimes have a little rack with a decent selection of the more popular ones. I like to keep them on the bookshelf so I can refer to them in the future.[/quote] You mean after the Internet is destroyed and we no longer have access to the Vatican site? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddington Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 [quote name='Terra Firma' post='1362833' date='Aug 19 2007, 03:29 PM']You mean after the Internet is destroyed and we no longer have access to the Vatican site?[/quote] TF, Is the internet in danger? Pad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resurrexi Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 [quote name='Paddington' post='1363062' date='Aug 19 2007, 03:22 PM']TF, Is the internet in danger? Pad[/quote] It would be very sad if it were... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodChild Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 I was a convert to catholicism but I have since left (I'm not sure if there's a process you have to follow to leave) ... I left for many reasons but the main reasons were - (1) i found the catholic clergy to be very dangerous people, (2) catholics contradict each other - they speak of 'one' faith but they are divided between orthodox, novus ordo, St Pius X group, liberal, traditional - what one says is licit is heresy according to another and vice versa, (3) catholics are not very social people - the "catholic" community is a a very lonely place and the catholic faith is very miserable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeology cat Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 [quote name='Terra Firma' post='1360820' date='Aug 17 2007, 04:20 AM']Faith now is such a more full experience than what I had before. It's not just the sacrifice that keeps me from deconverting. It's the fullness of grace that I've experienced. I would forever miss it if I were to deconvert. Because it was such a big deal, I made sure that there was nothing I could not accept before taking the plunge. And the typical RCIA process is such that you would have plenty of time to re-think before it's final. And I think it's important to understand that there is a distinction between the things you HAVE to believe and the things with which you are free to have some measure of disagreement and still honestly consider yourself Catholic. Things you have to believe include the Creed, the Marian dogmas, etc. Things you're permitted diversity of opinion: political affiliation, social justice positions, etc.[/quote] Same here. Maybe it's partly because I'm very analytical, but I did a lot of research outside of what was covered in the classes. I think I actually had a mental list of the things I deemed most important to learn about first, to see if I could accept those teachings, and went through it like that. This involved one-on-one meetings with priests, talking to my husband, and talking to my aunt (she's also a convert, so a good source of info), as well as quite a bit of reading. [quote name='2B3' post='1361031' date='Aug 17 2007, 12:10 PM']I am finding that there are more and more things that we did not cover in RCIA and the course that I had was quite short. There are things that come up now, that I struggle a lot with to accept. I love the sacraments, I have no problem there.. But I do struggle in a few other areas and I am wondering if I can stay feeling this way.[/quote] Well, you do need to weigh these things, and see if they are indeed things that are required. Feel free to PM me about anything - chances are I've done some research on them during my conversion. Not saying I have all the answers, but I might be able to help. But if you love the Sacraments, I wouldn't leave. Not until you've examined everything. And talking to a priest one-on-one would be a good things to do, as well as more reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innocent Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 [quote name='abercius24' post='1362601' date='Aug 19 2007, 12:36 PM']Very good idea. You can get some inexpensive paperback copies of the encyclicals now.[/quote] Really? Can you please tell me from where I can get those? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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