I think you missed the point of Petrosius' post. He is explaining the true meaning of the Mass, not lecturing you. Mass is the wedding feast of the Lamb, being there is EVERYTHING, whether one partakes of Communion or not. Even the excommunicated are still required to attend each Sunday and holy days of obligation.
I am a convert, and the church where I joined messed up my confirmation process (may have been a very liberal priest, I don't know exactly how this happened) by confirming me and giving me Communion but not first con-validating my marriage to my cradle Catholic husband. Low and behold, four years later my new parish figured out what happened and let me know I had been receiving illicitly all that time! So now I have to wait while hubby and I go through the process before I can take Communion again. Could take 6 months. But I am still required, and am going, and tremendously ENJOYING the Mass, because He is still there, and I can still be a part of that miraculous sacrifice each week. Sometimes twice if I sit in with my kids' all-school Mass on Fridays. :)
Mass, for me anyway, is as much about GIVING as it is about RECEIVING.
And as for the article, whatever crap comes down the pike, Christ in the Eucharist brought me to the Catholic Church and that is who will keep me there. :)
Odd that you pretty cavalierly dismissed your Confirmation process: (may have been a very liberal priest, I don't know exactly how this happened) .
MOST people wouldn't have left it at that. HOW IN THE WORLD CAN A PRIEST "MESS UP" a confirmation process? That is UNHEARD of.
Now, we will have a BARRAGE of examples of "messes" from those anti-Catholic feelings that abound here.
And as for the article, whatever crap comes down the pike, Christ in the Eucharist brought me to the Catholic Church and that is who will keep me there. :)
Odd that you can even mention CHRIST and "crap" even in the same sentence.
Ni modo. Welcome to the Catholic Church. We are JUST like all the humans on the planet, behavior-wise. We just believe that WE have the true Church. I don't denigrate other churches, though. Why would I? They are also Christian...just not Catholic Christans.
However, you WILL see much anti-Catholic rhetoric here.
The MORE the non-Catholic words denigrate, belittle, snap and snarl, the MORE I believe HOW right we are. After all, Father Martin Luther and his incipient Protestant movement didn't begin until the 16th century so the Church (the only "church" that is recognized by the mere use of The Church.) MUST have done SOMETHING right for the FIRST 1500 years.