Catholic Meet and Greet

[sciatica]

Yes it certainly does. It was my contact with Islam, and then visits to Buddhist temples in Thailand, that brought home to me how people of different religions can end up with very similar sentiments to the Christian ones as to how to live your life, the role of prayer, ritual and contemplation, and so on. So I found myself thinking that perhaps all of them are simply expressions of a religious impulse that is common to humanity.

a conservative Christian might suggest Buddhism is nowhere near the truth or even Satanic.

 

[exchemist]

a conservative Christian might suggest Buddhism is nowhere near the truth or even Satanic.

No doubt.

I was impressed by a policeman on the train to Chiang Mai, who dealt with an invasion of the slow-moving train by enormous flying ants, which he described as "very dangerous", by picking a couple of them up very gently by the wings and putting them out of the window. As he did so he smiled at me and said "my friend". I had not expected such gentleness from an armed man. It turned out he had been a monk for a couple of years before joining the cops. Apparently it is quite common - like military service. It was impossible to argue that Buddhism had not given something of value to this man.

 

[sciatica]

No doubt.

I was impressed by a policeman on the train to Chiang Mai, who dealt with an invasion of the slow-moving train by enormous flying ants, which he described as "very dangerous", by picking a couple of them up very gently by the wings and putting them out of the window. As he did so he smiled at me and said "my friend". I had not expected such gentleness from an armed man. It turned out he had been a monk for a couple of years before joining the cops. Apparently it is quite common - like military service. It was impossible to argue that Buddhism had not given something of value to this man.

gentleness and compassion are rare commodities these days. especially in the west

 

[Maximus]

Hi everyone..! if you're new to RF, or if you've been here for a while, this is the spot where we Catholics introduce ourselves and say hello to one another... Because I know a lot of us have never actually met, or at least don't know much about each other.

As for me, I'm a married father of four daughters, I'm 42 years old and have been Catholic since my early childhood. I attended Catholic grade school, where I served as an Altar Boy, and recieved some Catholic high school education in the greater Chicagoland area. I currently live in Orange County, California, where I've been now for the last 15 years.

So maybe just tell us a little about yourself, how long you've been Catholic, or anything at all you'd like to share. Thanks for your contributions and feel free to mingle.

Greetings brothers and sisters.

I am Catholic, though more Eastern in orientation.

Eastern Catholic Churches
Home - The Ecumenical Patriarchate

 

[Steven Merten]

Welcome sciatica and Maximus

 

[metis]

I am Catholic, though more Eastern in orientation.

Welcome!

 

[Quiddity]

How many active Catholics do we have right now?

 

[anna.]

Hello Catholic group.

I'm a cradle Catholic, backsliding for a number of years now. I struggle with believing what I was taught and what I taught my own children. And yet - if I was on my deathbed, I'd tell them to call a priest. So... that's about it I guess.

 

[exchemist]

Hello Catholic group.

I'm a cradle Catholic, backsliding for a number of years now. I struggle with believing what I was taught and what I taught my own children. And yet - if I was on my deathbed, I'd tell them to call a priest. So... that's about it I guess.

Ah, someone normal. How nice.

I think most of us struggle at least some of the time. I've gone through phases of belief and unbelief throughout my life, but, perhaps like you, I have never lost my basic love of the church and the Christian message, whether I take it literally or not. I'm an amateur choral singer, which helps me examine the ideas. But my time in the Middle East (and my Anglican mother) have made me question whether any one religion or denomination can claim to be the only true version - it's what they all say.

 

[anna.]

Ah, someone normal. How nice.

I think most of us struggle at least some of the time. I've gone through phases of belief and unbelief throughout my life, but, perhaps like you, I have never lost my basic love of the church and the Christian message, whether I take it literally or not. I'm an amateur choral singer, which helps me examine the ideas. But my time in the Middle East (and my Anglican mother) have made me question whether any one religion or denomination can claim to be the only true version - it's what they all say.

Thanks for the welcome. : )

You packed a lot into that paragraph, I definitely can relate to it. The struggle with belief, the strong pull of foundational Catholicism vs. an awareness or an openness to the idea that "the one true church" - isn't - but if not that, then what?

We've been dispensed from the Sunday Mass obligation since March, and I admit I've taken that one to the bank. I'm tired of being told that this is a sin, that is a sin, because I distrust the clerics who took it upon themselves to make those rules a millennium or more ago. Most of all, I doubt the power of prayer - if one asks for something and receives it, they thank God. If they don't receive it, they accept it was God's inscrutable will, who can know the wisdom of God?

 

[exchemist]

Thanks for the welcome. : )

You packed a lot into that paragraph, I definitely can relate to it. The struggle with belief, the strong pull of foundational Catholicism vs. an awareness or an openness to the idea that "the one true church" - isn't - but if not that, then what?

We've been dispensed from the Sunday Mass obligation since March, and I admit I've taken that one to the bank. I'm tired of being told that this is a sin, that is a sin, because I distrust the clerics who took it upon themselves to make those rules a millennium or more ago. Most of all, I doubt the power of prayer - if one asks for something and receives it, they thank God. If they don't receive it, they accept it was God's inscrutable will, who can know the wisdom of God?

I'm not attending mass either due to the restrictions. I intend to go back, at least once we can sing again. I'm afraid I find the services without singing a bit uninspiring. I used to be one of the lesson readers and I would quite like to do that again. It's sometimes a challenge trying to work out how to bring to life one of St Paul's more opaque pieces of verbiage. I find the people friendly and the priests fairly non-judgemental. I make up my own rules on what I regard as sinful: it's pretty clear from the words of Christ, I think. One thing I will not do is take any lectures from the church on sexual morality. It seems obvious that that topic has got hopelessly twisted - and has twisted a good number of priests into the bargain!

As for the power of prayer, well yes, as someone with science background I am sceptical that it changes the course of physical events, though it can have power to soothe the spirit, I think. (When my wife was dying, I felt I had to stop a faintly creepy Opus Dei guy in the choir from getting some nuns he knew to pray for her. I mean, she had advanced cancer and there was no way she was not going to die: that's just science. I saw no point in asking God for a preposterous miracle, especially us being comfortable middle-class Londoners, while thousands die in poverty and anguish every day. In the end I asked him that, if he wanted to pray for us, just to pray for us all to have the strength to get through it. Which we did, in the end.)

I do find it is helpful to have an hour in the week when I go to mass, put aside the details of my daily life and try to reorientate myself and put things into the broader perspective of humanity's 2000 year struggle to put into practice at least some of the teaching of Christ. But then, being retired, I perhaps have more time to reflect on my life than others do.

 

[metis]

I hope you don't mind me commenting on a few of your statements because they struck home with me.

As for the power of prayer, well yes, as someone with science background I am sceptical that it changes the course of physical events, though it can have power to soothe the spirit, I think.

This is exactly my position as well, but then what do I know. IOW, I'm even skeptical of my skepticism.

As Confucius supposedly said [paraphrased] "The more you know, the more you know you really don't know much".

When my wife was dying,

So sorry to read this, especially since I almost lost my wife last January to the type-B flu. My prayers are with her and you.

I do find it is helpful to have an hour in the week when I go to mass, put aside the details of my daily life and try to reorientate myself and put things into the broader perspective of humanity's 2000 year struggle to put into practice at least some of the teaching of Christ. But then, being retired, I perhaps have more time to reflect on my life than others do.

Again, it seems like we're kindred spirits. I use the mass as a weekly opportunity to meditate and contemplate on my spiritual life that includes some people who changed my life in ways that i never could have anticipated, and one of those is my wife of 53 years.

Take care, my friend.

 

[Stonetree]

I grew up with four nuns and a priest as aunts and uncle. I was an altar boy ( my voice would only poison the choir, so I never tried to join a choir) I suppose it's pragmatism that comes with older age but common sense and logic tells me not many miracles can happen even to the most pious of us. I have suffered some real painful trials and prayer was all I had. When prayer didn't seem to help I felt my problems had to be solved by myself....There was no solution except time and one doctor who prescribed a medicine for a brain chemistry problem two years into my illness. God the Creator and the carpenter's Son's compassion is imprinted on my heart. I just do not trust large institutions completely supported by funds of the middle and lower classes. My Church wants us to pledge how much we will donate each year. After my parish church the Archdiocese wants pledges. I did notice remarks about the Knights of Columbus. That name is used in my part of the world,east coast USA....St.Columba was mentioned in a Jeremy Wade episode (an entertaining British TV import)

 

[Stonetree]

Excuse me for failing to say 'hello' to our Catholic friends and I expect that we all will enjoy the RF membership. I am happy with the religious forums and hope we all can find new friends. I must say although prayers for personal and medical problems are not always answered; I believe in group prayer having actual power to influence world events. The fall of the Soviet Union I suggest may have been answered prayers.......

 

[Steven Merten]

Excuse me for failing to say 'hello' to our Catholic friends and I expect that we all will enjoy the RF membership. I am happy with the religious forums and hope we all can find new friends. I must say although prayers for personal and medical problems are not always answered; I believe in group prayer having actual power to influence world events. The fall of the Soviet Union I suggest may have been answered prayers.......

Hello Stonetree,

Welcome Brother Catholic!


I want to show you a path, or shall I say, the path, to heal your medical problems and change world events through Catholic prayer and group effort. Have you read St. Faustina’s, ‘Divine Mercy in My Soul’? It is a record of all the locations St. Faustina received it in the 1930’s. Through these locutions from Jesus and the Blessed Mother, Jesus has established Divine Mercy Sunday, as of the year 2000. In the book, Jesus has asked His Church, the Catholic Church, to marry Him. Divine Mercy Sunday, receiving the Sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation, is the Wedding Dress Jesus Wills His Church to be wearing upon His Return. In the book, Jesus instructs us to prepare the Earth for His ‘Final Coming’. I suggest that we all say, ‘Yes! Yes! Yes! To Jesus’ marriage proposal, through our work of preparing the earth for His Coming. Once Jesus is married to His Bride on earth, all the sick and lame, who reside in the body of Christ’s Bride, the Catholic Church, will be healed and there will be peace on earth.