And you and many others here do hew to the principles so well. You ARE the congregants Peter called to Mass. Bless you all.
That is a humbling statement; I confess, however, that there were times in my life when I stepped away from the Church. Ironically, it was the anti-catholic comments on FR that drew me back. Moreover, these same comments enticed me to delve deeper into scripture and the catechism, which only served to deepen my faith.
God often uses painful situations as a means to draw us to Himself. Consider the parable of the sower.
God bless you on your faith journey! I look forward to learning more about it from you.
>> Ironically, it was the anti-catholic comments on FR that drew me back. Moreover, these same comments enticed me to delve deeper into scripture and the catechism, which only served to deepen my faith.<<
I am sort of walking that same road (to Demascus?). My separation from the RCC is structural: the God who loves me so much doesn’t want a lot of intervening ritual.
But the RCC is correct on so many issues and a certain amount of ritual helps those who need support and succor “hang their hat” on these tenants.
My wife and I decided many years ago that no matter what we will adhere to rituals since they provide “grounding.”
I do in my heart of hearts understand that Jesus named (and frankly with some humor) Peter as His first Pope. And the Catholic bashing is more from ignorance although there is a bit of malice from those who know they are a step away from God’s church and can’t identify why that leaves them yearning.
Most importantly, you, NYr and Sal and others in the RCC threads are always kind and thoughtful. I wish I could always be so, but that is a wrestling match (backtrack to the Road to Damascus hehe) God, Jesus and I need to work out...
We know our actions cannot get us into heaven. But by our actions do we influence others and demonstrates our faith.