Luther & the Reformation

Ligonier Ministries ^ | 10/31/2011 | R.C. Sproul

[paladinan]

RmMomof7 wrote:

I not only was educated in Catholic schools..including college..

I hate to sound glib about this, but: I'm afraid that any "Catholic" education in the United States has been a disaster for the better part of 50-60 years (with an especially horrific down-turn in the 1960's and beyond); I don't doubt that you assumed your education to be faithful and complete (and it should have been!), but the odds are wildly against it. I grieve the poor catechesis you received at the hands of those who should have known better!

but I lectored, was on the liturgy committee, taught CCD and gave talks on Catholic women's retreats..

(*sigh*) Those are good-hearted and generous, so far as they go... but I'm afraid they're not accurate barometers of your understanding of the Catholic Faith, of your training, or of anything else dealing with orthodoxy or orthopraxis. I personally know an uncomfortably large number of well-meaning, poorly-catechised, heterodox people who serve on liturgy committees (and do a great deal of damage to the Sacred Liturgy, often innocently), teach CCD (may God preserve the children from the drivel and morally incoherent fluff (which has virtually no resemblance to true Catholic teaching) that they're taught, and who give talks on retreats (which is more of a measure of rhetorical style and/or friendly audience, rather than orthodoxy. I hope you can see that none of these prove one's Catechesis to be satisfactory, much less exemplary.

as a good Catholic I had 7 children..

I'd add, gently, that there are good Protestants who have far more (e.g. the Duggar family, bless them... and the members of the Quiverfull Movement, and untold numbers of other good parents who seek to rebuke the contraceptive mentality which poisons out culture today). You insult them when you sneer at the alleged idea of "good Catholic = have many kids".

and then something wondrous happened.. I was saved by grace by my Lord and Savior..

That happened when you were Baptized, friend; what you had more recently was an emotional experience. God bless the experience, insofar as it led you to embrace Our Saviour more closely; but you erred in thinking that a fervent and passionate relationship with Jesus Christ is in any way incompatible with the Catholic Faith. Read any of the lives of the [canonized] Saints, and such an error will be dispelled quite quickly.

I pray that the same Holy Spirit that led me to repentance and that brought me to the cross for salvation..leads you there too...

That's a praiseworthy and generous wish; I personally wish only that you could see that your wish is in perfect harmony with the Catholic Faith, rightly lived.

Certainly, there are many apathetic, poorly-catechised, or even evil Catholics... just as there are many apathetic, poorly-catechised, or even evil Protestants, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Zoroastrians, etc. We are a fallen race, if you hadn't yet noticed... but we must judge a religion/belief-system by its own merits, not by those who fail to live up to it!

Speaking of which: are you planning to return to the Purgatory thread which you started? There are several comments which you've not yet answered... (A Catholic asked that I post my testimony on my home page..it is there to be read)

[paladinan]

Whoops... sorry about the formatting errors, in that previous comment (including some misplaced parentheses, and a quoted bit at the very end which I’d forgotten to delete)!