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To: sionnsar

There is an approach in this posting by Alice Lindsey that I find alien to the Catholic (and Orthodox) mind. To me it seems Protestant. It is the idea that one shops around for a Church that is most congenial to one, that suits one's predilections, and has the best mix of ingredients or combination of accessories. Some mysticism, Sunday morning Matins, Easter eggs for the children, and a pinch of "saltiness". The traditional Catholic (and I suspect Orthodox) does not ask, "what Church do I like best?" He says, "Christ founded one Church, and this is it. So it is the Church to which I am bound by the will of Christ to belong. There is no choice in the matter once I recognize that it has the marks of Christ's Church: one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. I take delight in the beauty, holiness, and truth that I find therein. I feel sorrow for those things that mar or obscure her beauty. But it is not a matter of choice once one realizes what she is. The Church has a claim on me; I do not select her." I have no doubt that Alice Lindsey is indeed choosing on the basis of what she sincerely believes to be the true Church of Christ, and not on the basis of her "religious preference" as they say. But she has an odd way of saying it.


15 posted on 07/13/2006 7:02:48 AM PDT by smpb (smb)
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To: smpb

I got that feeling as well.

I always joke with my friends that after going to work for a Protestant organization I suddenly became a Roman Catholic instead of just an ordinary old Catholic, the Lords Prayer got longer and the Bible got shorter.

I've always been taught that "Roman Catholic" is a reformation slur and that I should identify myself as "Latin Rite Catholic" (which I do).

I also got the impression from seeing their Liturgy (I think they would be called High Church) that the focus was very horizontal instead of the verticle I was used to as a Catholic (I'm sure our Orthodox brethren would agree)...though in bad Catholic Masses you get the same thing.


16 posted on 07/13/2006 7:25:38 AM PDT by Cheverus
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To: smpb
"Christ founded one Church, and this is it.

And this is why I remain Catholic, in spite of having lived through some of the worst abuses of the post V-II modernist revolution.

Where shall I go, Lord? You have the words of eternal life."

17 posted on 07/13/2006 7:33:31 AM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: smpb; Cheverus
To me it seems Protestant.

And it may well be. She does not talk of her history prior to becoming Episcopalian. My limited experience of cradle Anglicans who leave Anglicanism (and all of them went either Orthodox or Roman Catholic) is more along the lines of what you describe.

18 posted on 07/13/2006 7:43:08 AM PDT by sionnsar (†trad-anglican.faithweb.com† | Iran Azadi | SONY: 5yst3m 0wn3d, N0t Y0urs | NYT:Jihadi Journal)
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To: smpb

Christ did found one Church. It is the body of Christ, all true believers.


31 posted on 07/13/2006 5:04:11 PM PDT by ladyinred (The NYTimes, hang 'em high!)
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