This was definitely my experience at my Grandsons first holy communion yesterday, needing to say the right thing at the right time but not having the door opened to do so. I trust the time will come, very soon. I will be calling my children and asking for an explanation, please pray for me
This is hilarious Padraig! I was agreeing with Brian's evaluation, until you noted the snoring! This brings us to the absolute physical reality of our being. May God be praised I could say, accept the card in humility Or do as you are lead, because God often leads us by our humanness, to attain greater heights! Still it is hilarious Thank you for the laugh
It might be hard to have this conversation, and even if they argue, you’ll be planting seeds they will consider…or awaken their own awareness of what they already know to be the truth. At Latin mass yesterday, the entire homily was based on just this…I wish every catholic could have heard it. It wasn’t harsh, but it was truth. You might want to be prepared to bring along a copy of the catechism to leave with them. Highlight the section referencing receiving the Holy Eucharist. Who knows, it might bring them back to the fullness of the faith….
You are right I shouldn't have flipped the card at the poor man's head, most especially not during mass. But I just saw red and away it flew.
Clare A I realise I have been a token icon in my family as a kind of fuddy duddy, a person to be made fun of in a polite and acceptable way. But as time rolls on I am happy with this analogy because the alternative to reality has now reared its ugly head and my position is seemingly much more plausible and palatable than those in opposition to Gods laws! the alternatives are hard and stark and much more egregious to humanity. May humankind continue to wake up and be drawn to the fullness of truth in Jesus, which is His Holy Catholic Church. Amen
Did you ever notice that most Catholic today who ever truly practice the Faith are either converts or reverts? Pope Benedict prophesied this many years ago when he was just a priest. He said the Church of the future would be much, much smaller but that it would be composed of mystics. In others of souls who had a living breathing Faith or I suppose you could describe it as, 'Born again'. And authentic, living relationship with Jesus Christ. A faith that lives and breathes the Holy Spirit, rather than a dead cold Faith of form. A truly holy Church. When Father Joseph Ratzinger Predicted the Future of the Church Laying it out in a 1969 broadcast on German radio ... He didn’t pretend he could tell the future. No. He was much too wise for that. As a matter of fact, he tempered his initial remarks with this disclaimer: “Let us, therefore, be cautious in our prognostications. What St. Augustine said is still true: man is an abyss; what will rise out of these depths, no one can see in advance. And whoever believes that the Church is not only determined by the abyss that is man, but reaches down into the greater, infinite abyss that is God, will be the first to hesitate with his predictions, for this naïve desire to know for sure could only be the announcement of his own historical ineptitude.” But his era, brimming with existential danger, political cynicism and moral waywardness, hungered for an answer. The Catholic Church, a moral beacon in the turbulent waters of its time, had recently experienced certain changes of its own with adherents and dissenters alike wondering, “What will become of the Church in the future?” 10 Pithy and Potent Quotes from Pope Benedict And so, in a 1969 German radio broadcast, Father Joseph Ratzinger would offer his thoughtfully considered answer. Here are his concluding remarks, “The future of the Church can and will issue from those whose roots are deep and who live from the pure fullness of their faith. It will not issue from those who accommodate themselves merely to the passing moment or from those who merely criticize others and assume that they themselves are infallible measuring rods; nor will it issue from those who take the easier road, who sidestep the passion of faith, declaring false and obsolete, tyrannous and legalistic, all that makes demands upon men, that hurts them and compels them to sacrifice themselves. To put this more positively: The future of the Church, once again as always, will be reshaped by saints, by men, that is, whose minds probe deeper than the slogans of the day, who see more than others see, because their lives embrace a wider reality. Unselfishness, which makes men free, is attained only through the patience of small daily acts of self-denial. By this daily passion, which alone reveals to a man in how many ways he is enslaved by his own ego, by this daily passion and by it alone, a man’s eyes are slowly opened. He sees only to the extent that he has lived and suffered. If today we are scarcely able any longer to become aware of God, that is because we find it so easy to evade ourselves, to flee from the depths of our being by means of the narcotic of some pleasure or other. Thus our own interior depths remain closed to us. If it is true that a man can see only with his heart, then how blind we are! “How does all this affect the problem we are examining? It means that the big talk of those who prophesy a Church without God and without faith is all empty chatter. We have no need of a Church that celebrates the cult of action in political prayers. It is utterly superfluous. Therefore, it will destroy itself. What will remain is the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church that believes in the God who has become man and promises us life beyond death. The kind of priest who is no more than a social worker can be replaced by the psychotherapist and other specialists; but the priest who is no specialist, who does not stand on the [sidelines], watching the game, giving official advice, but in the name of God places himself at the disposal of man, who is beside them in their sorrows, in their joys, in their hope and in their fear, such a priest will certainly be needed in the future. “Let us go a step farther. From the crisis of today the Church of tomorrow will emerge — a Church that has lost much. She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes, so it will lose many of her social privileges. In contrast to an earlier age, it will be seen much more as a voluntary society, entered only by free decision. As a small society, it will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members. Undoubtedly it will discover new forms of ministry and will ordain to the priesthood approved Christians who pursue some profession. In many smaller congregations or in self-contained social groups, pastoral care will normally be provided in this fashion. Along-side this, the full-time ministry of the priesthood will be indispensable as formerly. But in all of the changes at which one might guess, the Church will find her essence afresh and with full conviction in that which was always at her center: faith in the triune God, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, in the presence of the Spirit until the end of the world. In faith and prayer she will again recognize the sacraments as the worship of God and not as a subject for liturgical scholarship. “The Church will be a more spiritual Church, not presuming upon a political mandate, flirting as little with the Left as with the Right. It will be hard going for the Church, for the process of crystallization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek. The process will be all the more arduous, for sectarian narrow-mindedness as well as pompous self-will will have to be shed. One may predict that all of this will take time. The process will be long and wearisome as was the road from the false progressivism on the eve of the French Revolution — when a bishop might be thought smart if he made fun of dogmas and even insinuated that the existence of God was by no means certain — to the renewal of the nineteenth century. But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the whole horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as something wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret. “And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already, but the Church of faith. It may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but it will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death. The Catholic Church will survive in spite of men and women, not necessarily because of them. And yet, we still have our part to do. We must pray for and cultivate unselfishness, self-denial, faithfulness, Sacramental devotion and a life centered on Christ. In 2009 Ignatius Press released Father Joseph Ratzinger’s speech “What Will the Church Look Like in 2000” in full, in a book entitled Faith and the Future.
I totally empathize--my son some years ago went up to receive without going to confession and I know he was living a less than stellar Catholic life. I mentioned to him he shouldn't do that without confession. He was angry and subsequently left the Church and married a Lutheran and joined her church. They left the Lutherans and now they don't go to church at all. Did I do wrong to speak?I am haunted by it. So so hard to know. Prayers ongoing for years. As Ellen said God has His reasons for not answering--in His own good time. I live in hope.
AED…I’ve had to do the same…but on a lifestyle issue…and why it is unacceptable in the eyes of God. I’ve lived with the most painful, horrendous consequences as a result, but I had no other choice. I’ll probably live with the loss and pain with this my whole life, but I have to hold firm to the truth. I pray that the suffering that this has caused will merit a conversion for his eternal life. I truly believe God will honor my defense of the faith and grace will enter into his heart before he dies. To do otherwise for a comfortable relationship in this life could cause both of us the loss of eternal life in heaven. When you know this, you know there is no other option if you truly love your child….at least for me.
Thank you Beth for your wise words. We must always speak truth even though it costs us everything....I know Our Lord will take care of it...but it is the day to day pain--especially seeing g grandchildren growing up as --for all intents and purposes--as pagans.
He just caught you off guard, you didn't have time to think it through so you reacted defensively. Okay I'm bad, I was secretly wishing I could see the look on his face when you flicked it back at him. I don't think that gentleman will be handing out holy cards anytime soon.
josephite, When I read what you had posted..." it was beautiful, but I witnessed two of my nonpracticing children go up and receive Holy communion, I believed all my children knew better! this has really shaken me!".... It must of felt like a SLAP in the face or a punch in the stomach! I get many of those painful "shots" from my family members... I consider those times as "lashes of the whip" and totally identify myself with Jesus as he withstood the torturous blows of the scourging!! Its as if Satan is gleefully showing me how he has totally taken over my loved ones!! It sounds to me like you ..as I am ... are traveling a personal Via Dolorosa! HANG TIGHT!!! and Pray.....pray......pray!!!
They stared rigidly ahead as though turned to stone and never moved a muscle, my half mad eyes glaring and bulging like lazor beams straight at them. No I think the card dropping days are over. I was just listening to, 'Tom Sawyer', there now and it reminds me of an episode in the book. Boys will be boys....
Thank you Ellen for your encouragement, Once in confession (about a year ago) I said to the priest... 'my children have been totally ravaged by satan!, and I am angry that he has been able to cause such destruction in their lives'. I was expressing my anger at satan and more or less pleading for an understanding and for help in the situation. The priest listened, he spoke insightfully, about how the world is and what the young are encountering today; he encouraged me not to give up in my prayers but basically he could not offer me any other remedy, other than prayer and sacrifice. So he, like the Blessed Mother and you, are saying the same thing..... HANG TIGHT and pray, pray, pray! Prayer seems to be our mission at the moment, May God continue to give us the graces and time for much prayer! May God bless you; I continue to pray for the conversion, of the forum members children, who are in need of conversion, with every rosary I pray. We must always remember that prayer is powerful no matter what the evil one counters about the inefficiency of our prayer!, especially in times of discouragement; because it is our tool, our sword, our ballistic missile, given by God to slay the dragon. God Bless us all. Amen
But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the whole horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as something wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret. Father Joseph Ratzinger words fill me with hope! May God Bless, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, now and through the church's ongoing crisis at this time. May God preserve him and give him life and deliver him not unto the will of his enemies. Amen
Sorry to hear of your struggle, Desert Star7. Prayers for you and your husband. May God and Our Lady grant he returns to the Church. One devotion you could try would be the Life Offering Devotion. It promises the Salvation of all our family members, at least at the last moment, if we make it. I pray it for many of my family members. My Mother is a Catholic but has Protestant tendencies. I pray for her devotion to the Blessed Mother to improve. Several of my relatives are nominal or non-practicing. I can only pray for them too. We who are practicing Catholics are called to pray and sacrifice for those who are not. I too have 100% trust, as other posters said, that God will answer prayers for the Salvation of loved ones. God bless your efforts to help save your husband. May He reward you with what you desire. Amen.
I know this is a tough situation to bear with someone you love. Has your husband ever told you what made him feel called to the Baptist church (versus the Catholic church)? If so, I may have some resources to recommend at some point in time, but I think prayer and love is really all you can give at this point. If he stays a protestant long enough, questions of authority and heresy always inevitably come up... When we converted, my wife was uncomfortable with the extreme silence in the church (compared to her Southern Baptist upbringing). (It makes complete since to us now... a Catholic Church is a house of prayer with the real presence of Christ in operation 7 days a week, and the silence helps with that prayer time.) A few resources I liked on my journey (other than the church fathers) were Rome Sweet Home (already mentioned), The Protestant's Dilemma (Devin Rose), and a film called Convinced (available on Formed or Amazon Video). The Coming Home Network with Marcus Grodi is also great as well.
