The Catholic Church Is Not Attractive

Crossed the Tiber ^ | 9/17/2010

[markomalley]

As Pope Benedict was heading to the British Isles he was asked if he thinks the Catholic Church needs to change to be more attractive to an increasingly secular British culture.
This is what he said:

“A Church that seeks to be particularly attractive is already on the wrong path.”

I appreciate these words of the holy father as he states very clearly what Jesus had told the disciples. You will be hated for my name sake and persecuted. The church that seeks to become more attractive to present itself in a "new and different" light to be more acceptable to the changing society is not what Jesus had in mind. The early church was cursed and persecuted and thought to be cannabalistic because of its strange and counter-culture beliefs. The early church fathers didn't change their theology or practices to fit into the secular culture of the Roman world. The modern Catholic Church continues to be maligned because of its counter-culture beliefs and practices such as anti-abortion, anti-contraception and hetero-sexual marriage.
I think of the seeker-friendly churches and the mega-churches in our country that have done everything they can to emulate the high-octane, American entertainment industry in an effort to make their churches more "relevant."
I'm sorry but I don't want to go to a "relevant" church.

As GK Chesterton has said: "I don't want to go to a church that changes with the culture. I want a Church that changes the culture."

He also said :

The Catholic Church is the only thing which saves a man
from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age."

[Grunthor]

“Non-liturgical is much less structured, it means a pastor getting up and just winging it week to week, without really any sense of a yearly calendar or anything.”

I would take exception to the “winging-it” statement. I’ve never known a Pastor to approach a service without much prayer and much study. It might be different that you are used to, but there is actually a lot of hard work that goes into it rather than just doing what the calendar tells you to.

[Grunthor]

I do not need to go to the Catholic church for Jesus. I have Him at all times.

[paterfamilias]

“I do not need to go to the Catholic church for Jesus. I have Him at all times.”

Then you are truly blessed.

[Grunthor]

“the Sacrifice is why we attend Mass.”

While in my experience we (protestants) focus more on the resurrection.

[mlizzy]

It reminds me of a debate going on in my family right now.

A couple days ago, my husband and I attended the funeral service of my Sunday school teacher's husband. He was in his 80s, and his wife, Caroline, has always remained an integral part of their Missouri-Synod Lutheran church. My husband, a Roman Catholic (and I now one too since my conversion 26 years ago), kidded Caroline a little as she had seven readings for her husband's service. She's a beautiful Christian woman with a splendid sense of humor as well, and she said, "I just couldn't narrow them down. I actually wanted so many more." So while we were all brought the Word of God quite sufficiently at Vic's service, none of us was able to leave the church *literally* with Christ.

I welcome you to look into the Catholic Church where we consume the "actual" Body of Christ through the Eucharist (the reception of the Host at communion).

Whether the Mass is said in Latin, or English, celebrated by a dynamic young priest or a stodgy old boring one, whether the parishioners are blue-haired ladies, or families, or teens, and so on, the end result "always" remains the same. We, as Catholics, receive both the Word and the Body of Jesus at Mass ... a "completeness" currently not received by you ...

Pictured is from a Latin Mass at St. John Cantius, Chicago. Click for more images.

[Grunthor]

As are you I am sure.

:o)

[Grunthor]

I am sorry but I do not and cannot believe that you consume the actual body of Christ. One of, I am sure the many hurdles that I would have to get over in order to become a Catholic. The way that you worship works for you and I will not denigrate it. I would only ask the same of anyone else.

[ichabod1]

It’s not a class, it’s a mass. They re-read the lessons in English, if that’s what you mean. For the rest, you read along in the multi-lingual missal, and you study and learn it. Once you know it, you can go to Timbuktu, and you’ll understand the latin mass. Without, what would you do if you had to go to Vietnam?

[annalex]

I do not and cannot believe that you consume the actual body of Christ.

Then you lack the Christian faith in the gospel, which tells you so.

[Grunthor]

No, I believe that when Christ held up the piece of bread....he did it for a reason.

[Grunthor]

I do not go to church with the idea that I am going to travel the planet. I go to church, we worship, the Pastor teaches a sermon.

[mlizzy]

I am sorry but I do not and cannot believe that you consume the actual body of Christ. One of, I am sure the many hurdles that I would have to get over in order to become a Catholic.

Yes, it was a 33-year hurdle for me, so I understand. As I sat in the MS-Synod church for the funeral (and it was a nice service in a pretty church that didn't appear all that different from a Catholic one), there was still a profound emptiness that surrounded me because of the absence of Christ in the Eucharist ... something that can only be seen or felt, I would imagine, "after" one has been introduced to (and believes in) the Eucharistic Lord ...

[annalex]

You have a belief in some parts of the gospel, I am sure, but not that part where Jesus said “this is my body”.

[ichabod1]

You have to remember that man does not convert, but only the Holy Spirit, so if Catholic Church is where your man needs to be, the HS is not going to allow a little thing like tongues to get in the way.

[Grunthor]

Jesus spoke often in parables. I do not believe that our Lord was saying that He was literally made of bread, or that bread was made of human flesh.

[Grunthor]

Very well said, thank you.

[annalex]

So Christ speaks to you through the gospel and you refuse to listen. You do not have faith.

[Grunthor]

So Jesus was made of crackers?(sarc)

Come on, you don’t believe that anymore than I do. I WOULD like to know what you believe He mean’t. Unlike you, I won’t presume to know your mind or heart when it comes to what you believe. So please, do tell.

[Natural Law]

"Please jump in and help explain the enduring nature of the Latin Mass."

The main benefit is that it is constant. Languages evolve and meanings of words change over time. Latin, a so-called dead language has stopped evolving.

The Latin Mass therefore remains a constant and a common unifying experience for all Catholics world wide, conveying a timeless message and uniting us not just with each other, but with all Catholics of all times.

[annalex]

I beleive that the words “this is my body” were not spoken as a parable. Christ meant it literally. Why do I believe so? Because there is nothing to indicate a figure of speech in the sense of the Last Supper; St Luke even records that Christ proclaimed the bread to be His body, and then told the Apostles “do it” (Luke 22:19). How can one tell someone to “do” a parable?

In John 6 Jesus spends half of the chapter driving down the point that the bread is His real flesh, and that eating it is necessary for salvation: “Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you”. His detractors not suprisingly do not believe him and leave Him over this point. You, had you been there, would have left as well. This episode is in the Gospel so that you may believe.

The Holy Apostles understood Him literally. St, Paul, for example, teaches that he who does not realize that he is eating Christ’s body is condemned to hell (1 Cor 11:29)

Now, can I explain it? No. If I could explain any of the miracles of the gospel: the virgin birth, the water becoming wine, man walking on water, dead people rising up to life, the Eucharist, the Transfiguration, the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Pentecost then that would no longer be faith; but Christ taught us that it is important for our salvatin to have precisely that, faith.

With God it is possible to have faith. It is possible that you have faith as well, but you won’t be able to get there by rejecting what is written in the Bible.