That's a good way to burn in hell forever.
Thats quite an imflammatory post......
That's a good way to burn in hell forever.
Are you saying that only Catholics go to heaven and that everyone else is going to burn in hell forever?
Well, that's always a good way to start a fight. But since I was whisper-pinged to a Protestant, allow me to say this:
On the one hand, this is not a Protestant, brought up with all sorts of (false) teachings to close her mind to Catholicism. This is not schism, this is simply apostasy. She is not saying, "wow, I found a way God speaks to me at this church, so I'm going to follow it." This is, "I am going to judge my church unworthy of having me, so I'll go elsewhere where I can continue to play Christian because it makes me feel good."
On the other hand, the diocese of Richmond has long been a nest of heresy, sin, and corruption. The state of affairs is depsicable. Bishop Lorenzo was actually known in Honolulu as being quite liberal; the fact he seems conservative to anyone tells us all that the last bishop was so liberal he was probably to the left of ELCA. I've been in two churches in Richmond; both had literally dozens of flat-out, obvious to any 8th-grade catechumen, canon abominations going on. I can only hope Lorenzo was just playing it cautiously slow.
The pastor has acted in a way to deliberately subject one of his own lambs to the threat of Hell, with, unless there were huge omissions in the article, no basis whatsoever. Unless this woman somehow disrupted the mass, or somehow desecrated the procedings, by denying the woman of access to the Eucharist, he bore unto his own soul fantastically grave consequences.
The Bishop should not rest; he should immediately take action to mediate the situation. Doing so would also help others in the diocese have comfort in knowing that they have an attentive bishop; ignoring the situation makes it seem only more likely that if something were going on, the bishop would not know of it or would look the other way.
Hey, shepherd... time to leave the flock and tend to the lost sheep. She may currently have a very weak faith, but there may be a good reason it is so badly shaken. And don't ask, "what, is the bishop supposed to scramble after every situation where a layperson suspects something's fishy?" The answer, after all we've been through, is "yes." The fact that priest (if the report is at all fair) acted so abominally, however, highlights this instance.
But again, for the sake of all lurkers, let me emphasize that we don't know if there are other episodes which prompted the priest to act so harshly; and any church that does not believe that apostasy from its own sect does not jeopardize the soul does not believe in anything at all. She is not searching for something new; she is quitting (if she does quit). If she sticks it out as a Catholic, her reward in Heaven may be great.
Do you really believe that?
"She is considering attending a church that is not Catholic, she said.
That's a good way to burn in hell forever."
Why would you want to be on a thread, for that matter a website, where probably 80% plus of the people on it are, under your definition, going to burn in hell forever. Seems like you wouldn't want to associate with the rest of your fellow Freepers who aren't Catholics and/or don't hold your beliefs. You want to be pals with those that are condemned to hell(unless, of course, they start believing as you do)?