Be Proud of Being Catholic

[cradlecathlic27]

I got this in m email and figured i would pass it on.

Be Proud of Being a Catholic


> Be Proud of Being a Catholic (Excerpts of an article written by Sam Miller, a prominent Cleveland Jewish businessman and not a Catholic) Submitted by Dee Lynd

> "Why would newspapers carry on a vendetta on one of the most important institutions that we have today in the United States, namely the Catholic Church?
Do you know that the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday at the cost to your Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. Your graduates go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%, all at a cost to you. To the rest of the Americans it's free.

> The Catholic Church has 230 colleges and universities all over the U.S. with an enrollment of 700,000 students.

> The Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital system of 637 hospitals, which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people - not just Catholics - in the United States today.
But the press is vindictive and trying to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. They have blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage.

> Let me give you some figures that you as Catholics should know and remember. For example, 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual
contact in a study by the United Methodist Church, 41.8 % of clergywomen reported unwanted sexual behavior; 17% of laywomen have been sexually harassed. Meanwhile, 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia. 10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia. This is not a Catholic Problem.

> A study of American priests showed that most are happy in the priesthood and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given the choice, would choose to be priests again in face of all this obnoxious PR the church has been receiving.

> The Catholic Church is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by a small number of wayward priests that have probably been totally weeded out by now.

> Walk with your shoulders high and your head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non-governmental agency in the United States. Then remember what Jeremiah said: 'Stand by the roads, and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest for your souls'. Be proud to speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions. Be proud that you're a Catholic."


> Reprinted excerpts with permission of the Buckeye Bulletin - courtesy of
> Brookside Council #3297, Cleveland Diocese.

[righteousone]

I wouldn't want to be anything else EVER. I live as a Catholic and I will die as one.

[Cepha]

I feel more like this...I feel "fortunate" to be a Catholic.
I mean really and truly lucky.
I thank God that He revealed His Church to me and that I wasn't tricked by The World.
Actually, when I used to be an Anti-Catholic, it was the worst time of my life.
Now, no matter what happens, nothing is as bad as when I was an Anti-Catholic.
I was filled and fueled by nothing but human pride.

My Prayer:

"Thank You Father for knocking me down to my knees and for stipping me of my ignorance.

I don't know what I did right (maybe it was that night I took off all of my clothes in my house and dropped down on the floor flat on my face crying tears of anguish naked as the day you brought me into this world begging for you to forgive me of my pride and of my sins and to bring me home...which led to me going to Church the next day).

Or maybe I didn't do anything right at all.

But I thank You for taking me out of that darkness of hatred and of me "thinking" I was doing the right thing when I was 100% wrong."

Amen.

[righteousone]

Cepha, you were an anti-Catholic? But you are very learned in the Catholic faith. (great picture)

[Cepha]

Thank you.

The main thing I've learned is that the more I learn,
the more I realize I don't know.

Imagine that...me being as anti-Catholic then,
as I am pro-Catholic today?

God turned me from Saul to Paul.

[teresahrc]

Every time I see an ordination picture like that it does make me proud to be Catholic.

[redsoxfan]

Great article.

[Cepha]

I was at Mass Sunday and tears came to my eyes.

I love being Catholic.

I love the artwork of the Church, the fact that I can go into any Catholic Church in the world and be "at home", that I can worship with persons of a literal "universal" nature of all races and creeds and colors and nationalities...it's just so beautiful.

We have Eastern Indian Priest, Vietnamese Eucharist Ministers, an Irish Monsignor, African Deacons, Hispanic Chorus...what was it that He said?

"...make disciples of all nations."

I love The Church.

I love it, I love it, I love it.

I love The Eucharist. I love The Priesthood. I love The Sacraments.

I am sooooooo blessed to be Catholic.

Thank you Father for choosing me and bringing me back home.

I need to be a better Christian. I really do. I need to represent our Faith for what it really is.

The message I got from Mass this Sunday was meekness and humility.

Ok, stop laughing! LOL!

But, thank God for The Saints for me to follow.

Amen.

[teresahrc]

I love being Catholic.

I love the artwork of the Church, the fact that I can go into any Catholic Church in the world and be "at home", that I can worship with persons of a literal "universal" nature of all races and creeds and colors and nationalities...it's just so beautiful.

We have Eastern Indian Priest, Vietnamese Eucharist Ministers, an Irish Monsignor, African Deacons, Hispanic Chorus...what was it that He said?

"...make disciples of all nations."

I love The Church.

I love it, I love it, I love it.

I love The Eucharist. I love The Priesthood. I love The Sacraments.

I am sooooooo blessed to be Catholic.

Thank you Father for choosing me and bringing me back home.

I need to be a better Christian. I really do. I need to represent our Faith for what it really is.

The message I got from Mass this Sunday was meekness and humility.

Ok, stop laughing! LOL!

But, thank God for The Saints for me to follow.

Amen.

Me too

[alfie]

Just be glad you were fortunate enough to have been born in a Protestant country. The late Pope John Paul couldn't understand why the United States (being Protestant in nature) had been so blessed by God and why so many Catholic countries were third world countries. He couldn't understand why so many Catholics were living under dictatorships in South American and why America was a democracy.

[emily445455]

May 16, 2009 10:58:54 GMT -5 alfie said:

Just be glad you were fortunate enough to have been born in a Protestant country. The late Pope John Paul couldn't understand why the United States (being Protestant in nature) had been so blessed by God and why so many Catholic countries were third world countries. He couldn't understand why so many Catholics were living under dictatorships in South American and why America was a democracy.

Interesting.

[teresahrc]

When did Pope John Paul II say all that?

The dictators in those countries are usually atheists taking advantage of the masses. Here in USA has gone nutzo. But the individualist nature of Protestanism is really good for a country so diverse as ours. It has also allowed for a lot of other good things but a lot of bad too. Many Protestant Missionaries that I know are completely ashamed to admit they are Americans, but the ones from Latin America are more accepted in the Middle East.

peace

[alfie]

May 16, 2009 16:21:05 GMT -5 @teresahrc said:

When did Pope John Paul II say all that?

The dictators in those countries are usually atheists taking advantage of the masses. Here in USA has gone nutzo. But the individualist nature of Protestanism is really good for a country so diverse as ours. It has also allowed for a lot of other good things but a lot of bad too. Many Protestant Missionaries that I know are completely ashamed to admit they are Americans, but the ones from Latin America are more accepted in the Middle East.

peace

The Catholic church has a long record of being in cahoots with dictatorships in Spanish America. Just like in France up until the French Revolution when the French put an end to church oppression of the common folk.

Since there have been so many Catholics in Spanish America you would think there would be enough good Catholics to rule these countries. Tradionally there have been hundreds of revolutions in Spanish America but not in Canada or the U.S.

The caste system is one big factor in why there is great poverty and inequality between people in Latin America. Yeah, blacks have been held down in the U.S. but they still had higher living standards than Indians in South America.

I find it hard to believe that Protestant Missionaries are ashamed to admit they are American except maybe because of political policies of the U.S. government.

Protestantism is still growing in Latin America even though most Latin American countries have Catholicism for their state religion.

[Cepha]

May 16, 2009 10:58:54 GMT -5 alfie said:

Just be glad you were fortunate enough to have been born in a Protestant country.

Why?

The late Pope John Paul couldn't understand why the United States (being Protestant in nature) had been so blessed by God and why so many Catholic countries were third world countries.

How do you know it's not blessed by Satan?

How could God bless a country that allows abortion and gay marriage and unjust war and unequitable distribution of the country's wealth and legal prostitution?

He couldn't understand why so many Catholics were living under dictatorships in South American and why America was a democracy.

"He" couldn't understand this?

Where did you get this information from?

Could you cite a source for this statement?

[Cepha]

May 17, 2009 11:22:32 GMT -5 alfie said:

The Catholic church has a long record of being in cahoots with dictatorships in Spanish America. Just like in France up until the French Revolution when the French put an end to church oppression of the common folk.

Really?

Where?

(Last I checked, Vatican City was in Italy, not France or Spain)

Since there have been so many Catholics in Spanish America you would think there would be enough good Catholics to rule these countries. Tradionally there have been hundreds of revolutions in Spanish America but not in Canada or the U.S.

Render unto Ceasar what is Ceasars.

Besides, "Spanish America" as you put it was doing pretty alright until "other" religions started popping up there.

Perhaps you should do some studies into when all these problems started happening and when the Catholic population began to drop in "Spanish America".

As for Canada and The US, it's just over 200 years old.
Barely anything to call "stable".
Don't forget the "good old days" (good for who?).
Slavery, Woman's Sufferage, Jim Crowe, The Guilded Age.
We're babies still as a country.

Still, in my opinion, God would not approve of our immoral laws.

The caste system is one big factor in why there is great poverty and inequality between people in Latin America. Yeah, blacks have been held down in the U.S. but they still had higher living standards than Indians in South America.

The cast system doesn't exist in Latin America.

We have no cast system here and we still have poor we ignore while we reward the wealthy with generous tax breaks.

I find it hard to believe that Protestant Missionaries are ashamed to admit they are American except maybe because of political policies of the U.S. government.

Protestant Missionaries in my opinion are the salt of the earth.
Good people. God bless them.

Protestantism is still growing in Latin America even though most Latin American countries have Catholicism for their state religion.

The only country with an official "Catholic" religion is Vatican City.

Latin America is also going downhill with the shrinking of The Catholic majority. Look at Brazil. Look at Mexico. Sad. As Catholicism shrinks, those countries fall deeper and deeper into the devil's snares.

Even in the Far East (Phillipines, Vietnam, etc...) where Catholicism was once strong and other religions and the persecution of Catholicism has taken place, now Muslims are having a strong hold.

Sad.