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Post by Cepha on Jun 8, 2008 19:18:07 GMT -5
Over the past 12 months or so, I've been a lapsed Catholic. There've been somethings going on in my life that have taken me off of the path I was once on where I strove to be close to God's Church. I think I've only received communion 2 times this year. I've maybe attended Mass that many times. I didn't go to Christmas Mass or Easter Mass.  But I sure could yap my mouth off defending practices I haven't even been practicing haven't I? What a bum I've been. But, what's between myself and God are the circumstances that have been instrumental in my being how I am today (which I won't reveal here) and my reasons still aren't a valid excuse or reason. God has been merciful to me. He's blessed my mouth and I've said some pretty spiritually cool things lately and they've made me reflect on the "not so cool" things I've said and have brought me shame. |
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Post by Cepha on Jun 8, 2008 19:24:48 GMT -5
Lately, I've been called "back" home. God has really and truly reached out to me beyond my deservance and I turned my face back to Him and stopped clutching my shame.
I love my Church...I really and truly love my Church. I've said this before and I'll say it for the rest of my days...I love my Church. I see, hear, taste, smell and touch The Word of God in my Church. The Holy Bible comes alive in my Church.
I mean really...we have it all. Catholics are the luckiest of all religioiusly established Christian Churches.
Now, I am in no way denigrating any other Christian church. I don't have to. Christ is there too. But, I just love my Church just as I'm sure that there are others who love their churches too.
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Post by Cepha on Jun 8, 2008 19:25:08 GMT -5
God bless us all, those who fight to stay close to Him, God bless us all, those who struggle with ourselves and our weaknesses, God bless us all those who love Him, but continue to do things that He dissapproves of. God help us come closer to Him.
God bless the world, those who Believe and those who don't.
God bless those who curse Him that He might turn their hearts against their own will for their own benefits.
God bless those who curse us and that falsely slander us.
God bless those who are just plain wrong about us.
____________________________________________________
I am so lucky to be a universal Christian...I know this.
Now...if I could just live up to that title, I'd be alright.
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Post by redsoxfan on Jun 10, 2008 12:07:57 GMT -5
anything else bothering you? Cause usually life gets in the way of church...
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Post by Cepha on Jun 10, 2008 14:53:38 GMT -5
anything else bothering you? Cause usually life gets in the way of church... Yeah, that was exactly it RSF...life definately got in the way. But I'm in the right direction though. Thank God.  |
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Post by alfie on Jun 10, 2008 17:56:30 GMT -5
anything else bothering you? Cause usually life gets in the way of church... My guess is it has something to do with sex. |
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Post by Cepha on Jun 10, 2008 18:46:51 GMT -5
anything else bothering you? Cause usually life gets in the way of church... My guess is it has something to do with sex. Close...I'm living with my girlfriend out of wedlock. We're working on it and are both going back to Church. She's Orthodox, so technically, we can either get married at her Church or mine and both would be valid. We also share The Sacraments and I can attend her Mass and commune with her Priest. Because she belongs to an Apostolic Church (a Church actually founded by one of The Apostles of Christ...Saint Andrew who is Saint Peter's little brother) our faiths are basically interchangeable. There's very little that separates us. But...we're going back into The Church together. And that's the important part. She told me she'd convert to Catholicism for me, but I told her that she didn't have to. Even my Priest told her she didn't have to...she's already a baptized Christian. She will however be coming with me to Mass and I will be going with her to her Mass. Gosh I love my Church! I have tears in my eyes right now thinking about how generous The Church is towards others of different faiths. She reminds me of Christ as His words so much. I also have a great love for The Orthodox Church. It is an amazing institution with an incredible history and beautiful traditions.  |
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Post by alfie on Jun 16, 2008 22:37:07 GMT -5
My guess is it has something to do with sex. Close...I'm living with my girlfriend out of wedlock. We're working on it and are both going back to Church. She's Orthodox, so technically, we can either get married at her Church or mine and both would be valid. We also share The Sacraments and I can attend her Mass and commune with her Priest. Because she belongs to an Apostolic Church (a Church actually founded by one of The Apostles of Christ...Saint Andrew who is Saint Peter's little brother) our faiths are basically interchangeable. There's very little that separates us. But...we're going back into The Church together. And that's the important part. She told me she'd convert to Catholicism for me, but I told her that she didn't have to. Even my Priest told her she didn't have to...she's already a baptized Christian. She will however be coming with me to Mass and I will be going with her to her Mass. Gosh I love my Church! I have tears in my eyes right now thinking about how generous The Church is towards others of different faiths. She reminds me of Christ as His words so much. I also have a great love for The Orthodox Church. It is an amazing institution with an incredible history and beautiful traditions. The Bible says to repent. You have had a year to do so. |
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Post by yarddog on Jul 14, 2008 7:05:09 GMT -5
Hello Cepha,
I, too, went through a time when I stopped going to Mass. My son had started High School and things got busier, It seems that I had started finding excuses.
Before, God had been very active in my life. I spent hours a day in prayer and many things were revealed about my life in Christ. I felt so alive.
But slowly, after I stopped going to Mass as much (almost every Sunday), I begin to pray less and less. I would try but the Spirit wasn't there in the same manner. I didn't understand why God wasn't talking to me.
Then earlier this year, God revealed to me that all of my healings had occurred at Mass or was revealed by the Holy Spirit while going to Mass. I saw where I had been failing.
I felt such a draw to go to Mass and that Sunday was such a great blessing. The Spirit was flowing and the Homily truely inspiring. (Our Church is in the midst of being combined into a larger one and we have a new group of priests.)
I have been back to attending regularly and feel great.
Yarddog
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Post by Cepha on Jul 14, 2008 12:30:17 GMT -5
Hello Cepha, I, too, went through a time when I stopped going to Mass. My son had started High School and things got busier, It seems that I had started finding excuses. Before, God had been very active in my life. I spent hours a day in prayer and many things were revealed about my life in Christ. I felt so alive. But slowly, after I stopped going to Mass as much (almost every Sunday), I begin to pray less and less. I would try but the Spirit wasn't there in the same manner. I didn't understand why God wasn't talking to me. Then earlier this year, God revealed to me that all of my healings had occurred at Mass or was revealed by the Holy Spirit while going to Mass. I saw where I had been failing. I felt such a draw to go to Mass and that Sunday was such a great blessing. The Spirit was flowing and the Homily truely inspiring. (Our Church is in the midst of being combined into a larger one and we have a new group of priests.) I have been back to attending regularly and feel great. Yarddog The Mass is different from any other religious service around. It is the only Christian service that mimics Jesus' own acts. It is the only Christan service that reflects Christian history. |
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Post by Cepha on Apr 8, 2009 18:34:02 GMT -5
I went to confession today with a Franciscan Friar (monk) Priest.
I told him of my arrogance here from time to time (ok, "most of the time") and about how I'd take pride in taking apart Anti-Catholics.
So, he let me have "it" in a kind way and planted a seed within me that I hope will flourish.
I'm sorry to all those who've I purposely incited with my words. I'm sorry for the veiled insults and for the hidden jabs in my words. I'm sorry for hurting the feelings of those who've I debated on purpose and without intention.
Sometimes, I meant to hurt people, sometimes I did it without even knowing.
What brings me to this? A scene in a movie about Jesus where a Samaritan woman ran to Jesus and was embraced by a Jewish woman. Both came to Jesus. Thus their religious backgrounds were of no significance.
And I was overwhelmed with tears and my heart with joy when I saw this...two persons of two different religions who believed in the same Jesus. They instantly became sisters in Christ.
I felt so ashamed of my behavior and reflected upon those times that I, in defense of His Church, behaved in a poor manner...an "un-Christian" manner.
And I am truly sorry for my sins.
And I ask for the mercy of those that I've offended and for those who've witnessed my offending others.
Will I never do it again? I'd like to believe so, but in being honest with myself, I know that I cannot make that statement. All I know is that I am "changed" in my heart in that I will do my best to convert my pride into consideration...my arrogance into compassion...my wrath into mercy.
I wholeheartedly beseech your mercy.
Sincerely and with all my heart,
Cepha.
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Post by alfie on Apr 8, 2009 19:27:51 GMT -5
I went to confession today with a Franciscan Friar (monk) Priest. I told him of my arrogance here from time to time (ok, "most of the time") and about how I'd take pride in taking apart Anti-Catholics. So, he let me have "it" in a kind way and planted a seed within me that I hope will flourish. I'm sorry to all those who've I purposely incited with my words. I'm sorry for the veiled insults and for the hidden jabs in my words. I'm sorry for hurting the feelings of those who've I debated on purpose and without intention. Sometimes, I meant to hurt people, sometimes I did it without even knowing. What brings me to this? A scene in a movie about Jesus where a Samaritan woman ran to Jesus and was embraced by a Jewish woman. Both came to Jesus. Thus their religious backgrounds were of no significance. And I was overwhelmed with tears and my heart with joy when I saw this...two persons of two different religions who believed in the same Jesus. They instantly became sisters in Christ. I felt so ashamed of my behavior and reflected upon those times that I, in defense of His Church, behaved in a poor manner...an "un-Christian" manner. And I am truly sorry for my sins. And I ask for the mercy of those that I've offended and for those who've witnessed my offending others. Will I never do it again? I'd like to believe so, but in being honest with myself, I know that I cannot make that statement. All I know is that I am "changed" in my heart in that I will do my best to convert my pride into consideration...my arrogance into compassion...my wrath into mercy. I wholeheartedly beseech your mercy. Sincerely and with all my heart, Cepha. I really appreciate your honesty. I know where you are coming from brother except I have never had the ability to massacre any Catholic in an arguement. More than anything in the world I want to be able to love people the way God commands us to do. Love is the number one evidence that someone is a Christian and I fall way short of that command. Not only that but when I look at all of the other sin in my life I feel hopeless at times but then I have to remember that I am in Christ and saved by his blood. |
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Post by Cepha on Apr 8, 2009 19:39:46 GMT -5
I really appreciate your honesty. I know where you are coming from brother except I have never had the ability to massacre any Catholic in an arguement. Thanks Alfie.  Sometimes, in winning a debate, I've lost myself.  But, I'm going to try to do right. Anybody who knows me for more than a year knows that I've come a long way from the olden "slash & burn" apologetics of before, but I still have a long way to go and it's usually the last 10% of a total conversion that is the hardest to achieve. That's a hard thing to do. The first person we have to convert before we can convert others is ourselves. But, I'd say that with this post, you've shown the most love you can especially to me. So you're doing allllllright! For Catholics, we have this "once forgiven, always forgiven" theology. When you have confessed your sins to God, you have to believe that you are forgiven. You have to have that faith that He forgives you "if" your contritness it true. Once you believe that you are forgiven, then you need to pay God back for that mercy by being merciful to others and by treating them with the same compassion that He has shown you. This is for yor own good. Trust me, I'm no Priest, but I can tell that you are forgiven because you are contrite. I believe with all my heart that you are sorrowful. So now you believe with all your heart that if you've offered it up to God, He has heard your prayer and has forgiven you. |
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