Posted on 03/20/2015 9:46:29 AM PDT by NYer
Welcome home, ping!
Outstanding testimony!
“To paraphrase St. Francis de Sales to the early Protestants: If you’d known what the Catholic Church really taught you’d never have left.”
Right, because it’s not as if the early Protestants were actually Catholics, including Catholic priests and theologians, or anything like that. /sarc
Great story! It’s similar to mine. I was raised in a Baptist church. I join the Church on Easter.
Beautifully written and well reasoned. I’m pleased to be a practicioner of the faith that the author describes.
But in response to the Protestant pastors query, “What is more important, the Bible or tradition?”
The life of Christ, his words, and love and actions, are our tradition. Welcome. Feel free to bring your friends.
Lovely!
Congratulations, Michael Cavins!!!
Sounds par for the course among those wanting more than they have, and thanks to the techy revolution, the Church is attracting younger converts who are able to share the faith.
The one caveat is the quality of the catechesis offered. In some regions, it is a scandal how poor the formation can be and yet these candidates are received into the Church anyway. Pray for us.
I didn’t know that there were more women saints than men saints.
Good article, well written.
I've been a Catholic for over 70 years, and have practiced the Faith for probably 25% of that time.
It is not an easy religion and it puts a strain on the believer, but if you have found the Faith, work to keep it.
“a Protestant pastor asked me what’s more important, the Bible or tradition. I didn’t have an answer”
well, at least he knows where things went wrong. . .
Welcome home!
Partly rebutting as a Catholic:
“If you’d known what the Catholic Church really taught you’d never have left.”
I think this is a true and fair statement. Problem is, at various times in its history the Catholic Church was not really sure what it taught. Or was not able to express what it taught clearly. Or had deliberately turned its back on what it taught (i.e. the selling of indulgences)
The people who left when they left often had good reasons.
“Catholics Don’t Worship Mary”
You don’t have to work too hard to find many “old school” Catholics who DO. And though that is not exactly what the Church teaches, the Church has not exactly been energetic in its efforts to dissuade this or correct the misunderstandings. At some level I’m sure Mary must be mortified at her treatment as Divine by so many Catholics.
“Catholics Don’t Worship the Saints”
Same as above. You will find many old-time Catholics who do, and the Church has not done nearly enough to correct this. Years of being told that you had to pray to the right patron saint for your particular issue reinforced this.
The observation that Catholics believe that the Eucharist becomes the Literal Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass is an important distinction, and one that keeps many of us in the Faith. Most of my Protestant friends are very open about the fact that their churches do not agree with us on this.
Welcome
The Catholic Church doesn’t teach the worship of Mary. Worship (and adoration) are for God alone.
As a Protestant I thought, for a long time, that Catholics worshipped Mary alongside her son, Jesus. There are plenty of churches named in her honoured, Catholics seemed obsessed with statues of the Virgin, and the Rosary, of all things, seemed to be nothing more than vain repetition of praise for Jesus’s mother.
The reality, I’ve learned, is much different. Catholics don’t worship Mary but, because of her special role in salvation history, she is venerated. How is that different? In Catholic theology, which, remember, was the theology of the whole Christian Church for 1,500 years, we ask Mary to pray for us.
Sorry, catholics do worship Mary. Catholicism can redefine words and actions all they want but it doesn't change the fact they worship Mary....in some cases more than Christ.
Mary, outside of giving birth to Jesus and raising Him, plays ZERO role in our salvation. Rather, it is the Holy Spirit that plays a role in our salvation.
Catholics pray directly to Mary. They don't merely ask her to pray for them. There are some many writings that point out that they do pray to Mary.
And now, if the fifth marian dogma is passed, mary will officially be a co-redemtrix, advocate and helper.....replacing what Jesus and the Holy Spirit are currently doing on behalf of the believer.
Repeating falsity will NEVER make it true.
Oh please! Could this be a little more contrived.
That doesn't seem to align with the words of Jesus: "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Which early Protestants do you assert were bona fide Catholic Theologians ?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.