Why be Catholic? With all the corruption in the Catholic Church.........

"Chrisis".... what a cute freudian slip.

It's such a difficult subject.

I was raised in a Catholic family and went through all of the sacraments myself.

I believe truly in a spiritual higher power and in the "do unto others" approach to life.

I just have a hard time when certain religions attempt to isolate people.

Freedom is a wonderful thing as you state in this article.

Freedom to marry regardless of orientation is the same freedom is it not?  To be recognized by our consitution and having the rights to the benefits of marriage is a freedom and right to all is it not?

Or is that a "selective" freedom?  Or is it the case where that one doesn't count because it doesn't follow Catholic doctrine?

Think about it.  A freedom is only a freedom if it is acceptable by Catholics?

Alice, I respect your freedom and ability to post your beliefs and opinions.  I hepe you will extend that respect to me also.

And I admire your ability to have spiritual guidance in your life.  It is truly a blessing.

I am a firm believer in having no fear of making your spiritual beliefs your own, without having some one or some group tell you what to believe.

I know that my higher power has given me that ability - to feel, to rationalize, and to follow my heart with respect to all the beautiful people around me.

Alice,

I too was raised in the catholic church but started searching after seeing our priest do things a christian should not do. I appreciate your stand on christian principals and I will stand right there beside you as we stand up for Jesus Christ and his teachings. Jesus said, No one comes to the father except through me. Jesus has told us his expectations for us and that can be found in the Bible.

My brother is catholic, my mother was catholic and all of us kids were raised catholic. Now I am just a Christian and go to a bible believing church. I do however respect any Catholic that is spiritual and follows God's Word.

Alice - I too went to Catholic schools and was brought up Catholic with all the traditions and so forth, but did not find Christ in all of those rituals. When I looked to the Christ in the Word of God and asked him to be the Lord and Savior of my life did I truly become a Christian.

We are not born Christians, we are born "born again" Christians as Jesus said in John 3:3 which changed my life and beliefs forever. There is a resurrection in our inward man in the new birth of a Christian and it is missing from the Catholic doctrines of the church.

When you truly read what Jesus said there is no denying what He meant.

Catholics as well as all people need to call upon the Lord and confess that he was raised from the dead when they are at the responsible age of accountability, not when they are born.

These are the reasons I have chosen to leave the Catholic church and seek a Bible believing church, but there are many Catholics which I believe are born again but choose to stay within the Catholic Church.

The Catholic church has and still doing great things in the world today, but the message of being born again by Christ Himself has been lost to the Catholic doctrine.

I applaud your faith and desire for all to share in your appreciation to your faith and America.

Alice - I thought you did that on purpose!!  I truly thought it was cute.

Alice,

Thank you for sharing such a beautiful story from your family's history!!  What a wonderful testimony to your parents' faith.  I have a dear friend who has 9 children. Her oldest has Downs Syndrome...yet they continued to have more and more blessings...each one so precious!

I echo the sentiment of Mike F. and Nicholas G. above.  My mom grew up in the Methodist church and went to a Catholic girls school.  She said she never had a peace that she was "good enough" to get into heaven.  The verse she said that was an epiphany for her was Eph. 2:8,9 For by grace you have been saved through faith and that (the faith) not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." The very next verse says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  When we have faith in Him and a relationship with Him, our lives will automatically produce good works.  It is par for the course.

Alice,

Great post! You don't find Christ until you see Him in others...!!! When we are baptized, it is not we who choose Christ, it is Christ who chooses us...That is why the Church puts so much emphasis on Baptism...and why there is only ONE Church...ONE body of Christ...!!! Thanks,   Fran

Alice

I have been thinking more about this post and have one more observation. I believe many of the bishops are siding with the democrats because traditionally they are the ones more accepting of the hispanics(both legal and especially illegal). This is probable where I agree with the bishops in that we need to be more understanding and compassionate of these illegals who just want a better place to raise their families.