I'm joining the Catholic Church next month. Advice/Books/Etc.?

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Hello fellow Freepers. I believe this is my first post on the Religion forum.

Over the past week or so, I put some thought into something I've been pondering for a while; my spiritual welfare. As it was, I had been part of the 'Sola Scriptua' school of thought (Evangelical Christian). By the Bible and only the Bible. Sounded good enough.

Well...what about before the Bible was put into word? It stuck in my head when reading an article earlier on FR concerning a deconstruction of Sola Scriptura and its inherent weaknesses as a foundation for one's faith.

This, combined with a genuine lack of churchgoing (as a family, we've been uncertain about going to various churches, given that top-down problems with Episcopal/Methodist/etc. churches and their increasing liberalization are a genuine problem for one's spiritual welfare), compelled me to make a decision.

I don't know if my family will follow me, persay, but I'm going to go ahead and take the plunge.

Next month, I'm going to the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle near my home, and I'm joining the Roman Catholic Church.

As is, I have a few volumes of the Magnificat pamphlet and the Catechism of the Catholic Church to read.

Any other pointers from other Catholic Freepers?

[Antoninus]

Oh, and as for reading, I recommend The Confessions of St. Augustine. But, then again, I'm into early Church history.

Here's another book that's fiction, but it's a great one to get an idea of how Catholicism saved Westrn Civilization:

[DungeonMaster]

I'm joining the Catholic Church next month. Advice/Books/Etc.?

NOOOOOOOOO!!!

[Petronski]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

[dan1123]

And you are SERIOUSLY telling any of us that you would not be happy if a Catholic decided to start going to a ______(fill in the blank — where you attend church)___?

I would be curious to know why, but I don't think a soul gets any more saved from going to a Catholic church than any other Christian church. It would only be a curiosity to me. I don't really care how many people attend my particular church.

What would make me happy and joyous is for a non-believer in Jesus as God and our redeemer from our sins to come to belief.

[dan1123]

Why? The Catholic Church is the very first Church. Of course Catholics would treat a Christian coming into the fold as a homecoming of sorts.

Because the focus of such statements is on the human realm rather than the heavenly one. I don't object to you joining the Catholic church, and I would recommend you read/listen to Peter Kreeft for a solidly grounded Christian Catholic theology as some recommended before me. It just bothers me that the focus here is getting Christians to join the "One True" church rather than bringing lost souls in from our increasingly pagan world.

[Mad Dawg]

Yes. Sometimes the only winning move is not to play. And that's a win for both sides because the one who initiates the game is not free. In chemical dependency, it's important to understand that the sufferer's "drug of choice" is at once his medicine and his poison, while he seems to be feeding on it, it is in truth feeding on him.

Here, at one level the sufferer is feeding on the response elicited from others. But the darker reality is that sufferer is being devoured.

What is pathetic, heart-rending, is when what we might as well call "the demon" allows the person it is oppressing to "come to the surface", and you see there's a real person in there, a child of God, being assaulted.

God shield me from ever looking down on such a victim — and forgive me for those times when I have looked down on them. We should pray all the more fervently. He sets the captives free.

[Puddleglum]

I’d recommend “On Christan Doctrine” by St. Augustine.

Don’t listen to the boo-birds.

[dan1123]

Even if the lost or separated person is 55 when they return home after a long separation, the joy at their return home remains that- joy that the person has come home.

So all non-Catholics are lost then? That just confirms my point.

[Judith Anne]

It just bothers me that the focus here is getting Christians to join the "One True" church rather than bringing lost souls in from our increasingly pagan world.

That's what the thread is about: a new convert to the Catholic Church, asking other Catholics for input. Perhaps you could find an article about the topic you want to discuss, and post a thread of your own.

[Judith Anne]

Thanks. Stunningly true. God bless you.

[Petronski]

So all non-Catholics are lost then?

I'm not sure you two are speaking of the same sense of "lost."

[Petronski]

Very wise. Your words call for a lot of reflection.

[Mad Dawg]

The ecclesiology problem raises it's head. But also the focus problem. This is a thread about someone who is becoming a Catholic. How much time is okay to spend on it before we go spend time on bringing others into a relationship with Christ (to the extent that any of us can be said to do that)?

BUt our notion of the Church is that it "fully" subsists in those groups which are in communion with the See of Rome, and what what it IS is the body of Christ. And we think that there are graces, "assists", here which are good in every way. From our POV one cannot distinguish to broadly between someone entering into a relationship with Christ and "becoming a Catholic". In a certain way, and bearing in mind that we think that every baptized person is a member of the Catholic Church, it is very difficult to distinguish between them.

[fetal heart beats by 21st day]

If you would try to refrain from reading things into my words that are not there, we could communicate better- if you are interested in communicating.

[Romulus]

Look into the RCIA program

I wouldn't be too hasty about this. Some (too few) parish programs are good and nourishing. Others will destroy your faith if you let them. There's lots of good advice on this thread. My own counsel is to read the early fathers of the Church. And while EWTN is frequently corny or quirky, when it's at its best it's unsurpassed as a source of Catholic doctrine and culture.

God bless you for your honesty and courage.

[dan1123]

That's what the thread is about: a new convert to the Catholic Church, asking other Catholics for input. Perhaps you could find an article about the topic you want to discuss, and post a thread of your own.

So saying to a Christian: "Take the plunge. Jesus is waiting for you in the tabernacle.", and "Most Devout Evangelicals wind up being Catholics Ultimately!", and "welcome to the Church founded by Jesus Christ", and "As a Catholic, you're in for...the Real Thing", and "welcome to HIS one holy catholic and apostolic church" is not exclusionary and divisive?

[divine_moment_of_facts]

That's really interesting. I'm assuming you're basing it on Romans 1:19 and similar thoughts? I would disagree (surprise surprise) I think that without much training most of us learn that obeying our parents and keeping our promises is good. But when a promise and our duty to our parents conflict, then I think we are right to seek advice. So I'm certainly in the informed and educated school of thought.

I look at the Bible as a guide, not a literal manual to follow. There is no "learning". We already "know". That is were the phrase "Be Still and Know" came from. There is nothing wrong with being "informed and educated", but more important is our understanding aka conscience. We were born with it and from the day we are born it is tested.

[Antoninus]

when you say “Welcome home,” you’re confirming what many of us Evangelicals believe, that you see us as non-Christians, as apostate, as heretical, as anathema.

Whether you like it or not, ALL Protestant Churches are the offspring of the Catholic Church. Without the Catholic Church, none of the Protestant churches would exist.

And when we say "Welcome home!" it's in the same spirit that the father welcomed the Prodigal Son back. And we'll extend the same welcome to you when you come back.

May God bless you in your journey.

[dan1123]

Never visit any of the many “My Church is better than your Church threads.

Too late. This one became that type of thread by the 4th post.

[Mad Dawg]

The language was "lost or separated".

I'll say this: Yes, I think that a Christian, who may end up in eternal bliss with the other saints, nonetheless is probably passing up some helpful assists and graces and consolations and the rest if he persists in staying out of communion with the Holy See.

It is as though a member or friend of the family insisted on having his dinner among the garbage cans, with the bad smells and bugs and whatnot. YES he IS being nourished, but he is missing out on the conversation, the beauty, the fellowship, all those things which make a meal an occasion and not merely an ingestion.

IF a child or a friend of mine had insisted on doing that and one day decided to join us at the table where there is light and a fire in the stove (in the winter) and corny jokes told and laughed at for the twentieth time and thoughtful discussion of deep issues, yes, I'd rejoice that he came home.