The point I was making is that people leave the Church not because of doctrinal disagreements, but because of "personal issues" - which would include a lack of being fed at a particular parish. There are, indeed, many parishes filled with the Spirit, having Bible studies, retreats, etc.. It is up to the laity to bring such ministries to the table. The priest will not have the time to do all of this. The parish priest is spending half his time just with the upkeep and administration functions. Thus, it is up to us to shine our lights to the world. The days are long past where the laity just sits back in the pews.
I followed the only light I saw. For me, it was that simple, and that honest.
Fair enough. I just fell away for 20 years. God has a plan for all of us. In retrospect, I often wonder what would have happened if I hadn't fallen away. But would I have been as strong of a Catholic as I am now? We trust in God's Providence.
Alas, I live in Cardinal Mahoney's jurisdiction
There are conservative parishes, even in LA. One can even considering going to an Eastern Rites Catholic Church, which recognizes the Bishop of Rome as the earthly leader of the Church.
I wrote : As to the "Mary/saints/statue" business, one does not have to reconcile every belief completely before entering the Church.
You responded : Now this is quite significant. I thought exactly the opposite: that one must affirm that the Catholic Church is true and correct in all it teaches, in order to be received into it. Are you saying this isn't the case?
Ah...Well, let me try to explain this, as I think I didn't do a very good job the first time...
I am an RCIA (Rites of Christian Initiation of Adults) instructor. When people begin to consider the Catholic faith, they are not REQUIRED to buy what the Church teaches. It begins as a period of inquiry. The candidates/catechumens (the former are baptized Christians, the latter were never baptized) ask questions and learn about the Catholic point of view on Christian questions. With an open mind and accepting heart, they use their intellect and their heart to determine if God is calling them to Catholicism. Along the process (which varies from parish to parish, but ours lasts about 8 months), the person CAN decide it isn't for him/her. Some people drop out, for their own reasons. God bless them. But those that DO - they have made a crucial decision. They have decided that the Church REALLY IS the continuation of Christ's incarnation - the visible presence of Christ on the earth today. The come to believe that the Church REALLY HAS the teaching authority given to them by God. This is vital - as without it, how can we submit our will to teachings that our intellect is not sure on? Only when we truly believe that the Catholic Church is the Church established by Jesus Christ for all time to teach the faith as given by the Apostles and guided by God - only then can a non-conformist like myself bow down to the Church's decision regarding Mary, the saints, and so forth. I submit my will as if to God - since it is God's will that He teach through the Church.
In the Ritual for the Reception of Baptized Christians into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church, the candidate recites the Nicene Creed. The candidate then proclaims, one at a time, “I believe and profess all that the Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God”. Thus, one must hold to what the Church teaches, when it comes time to be accepted into the Church. However, it is NOT unusual for people to say "I am NOT ready yet, I still have questions", and put off their entrance into the Church. So in a sense, you are correct - at the time of entrance, you must accept the teachings of the Catholic church. But not when you first are coming to the faith while inquiring.
We believe, infallibly, that the Catholic Church is guided by the Holy Spirit. Even when it teaches items of the faith that are not infallible defined, we are held bound to believe them as part of our obedience to Christ’s visible representative. We are not required to fully understand the reasons behind the teaching – God may allow “doubt” to occur within us specifically as a test of our faith. But we are certainly not allowed to pick and choose which items of the faith to discard or believe in.
Faith is not based on our selection of what is true or not true. It is based on the Divine Authority of Christ to preach and teach the Gospel of Truth – through an organization that would be guided by Truth Himself. If we believe and understand this concept, it is not necessary to come to full understanding before becoming Catholic. If we believe the above concept, doesn’t it follow that the Church is teaching what God wants us to know for this particular time in history?
So when I said a person could be at least neutral or open to the Church's teaching on Mary and so forth, this was meant to be taken as part of the process of entering the Church. If we come to believe that the Church is divinely instituted and guided, the rest will follow, correct?
I am sorry if I caused you confusion, and I appreciate that you caught this and brought it up to me. I wouldn't want to give you false impressions about the Church
Brother in Christ
In order for the laity to do so, they must first be educated well enough to know their need for such things. For example, only someone who already knows the value of the Bible, would even think about initiating a Bible study group. It's possible to be so ignorant that you don't even know what you don't know.
If I returned to Catholicism, I would NOW have that knowledge as a result of 20+ years in Evangelicalism, and would probably be as active a layman in the Catholic church as I have been in the Evangelical world. But I wouldn't have ever got that idea from the Catholicism that I knew (which, admittedly, was neither optimal nor complete.)
One can even considering going to an Eastern Rites Catholic Church, which recognizes the Bishop of Rome as the earthly leader of the Church.
There's a couple of them in the area. One is actually just about around the corner from my job. I hear they use the beautiful Orthodox liturgy and rituals. That would be cool.
In the Ritual for the Reception of Baptized Christians into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church, the candidate recites the Nicene Creed
With or without the filoque? :-) Just messin' with ya...