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Thanks very much for your reply.

The same way I enjoy having a poker game as well, weightlifting with friends etc...

You can do these, and many many similar activities, without going against the authority of your Church. Your Church is saying quite clearly, you must choose.

What would your fellow masons think if you were consciously continuing in an activity that was against the express teachings of Freemasonry?

Again, I hope take your questions to the Church; I believe you do not fully understand, and hope, again, the result will be a very beneficial one for you and the Church. I am a convert, I converted in middle age. I had many questions and have had since. When I do I discuss them with priests, educational ministers; I read more and look deeper into the teachings of the Church.

This is what I'm suggesting you do. I think, like me, you'll will find many, most or all of your disagreements are based on lack of knowledge of the fullness of the Church's teaching proclaiming Jesus Christ.

After a thorough effort here, I think the honest thing to do would be to choose either the Church or Freemasonry.

This is my opinion of course, I think it's worth considering.

I wish you the very best; may God bless you.

MAK1179,
I believe that you feel you’re doing no wrong, and I likewise believe that you feel we’re making a mountain out of a molehill. Please, try to understand in the context of this, taken from one of Salvation’s pre-Lenten threads from last year:

“Continuing with our series on The Eternal Sevens we move on to The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy.

1. To Admonish the Sinner

One cannot perform the the works of mercy without being willing to admonish the sinner and warn them out of true charity for the sake of their soul. Of course, one must do this with compassion and love, but one cannot let that compassion and love be seen as the drivel of tolerance that is preached today. Christ did not hug those seeking to stone Mary Magdalene nor joke around with the money peddlers in the Temple. Likewise, despite what twisted Catholics would like to believe, He did not wink at Mary Magdalene and tell her to just be herself either. Too often we are told that we are not fit to judge others and this is true, but this does not mean that we cannot warn them, teach them and guide them and leave the judging to God. Beware anyone who tells you not to judge when you try to help another return on the path to salvation, for he who warns you is working on a commission from the devil.

2. To Instruct the Ignorant

Given the premise of the first work described above, it becomes evident that in watching each other’s back we must become teachers for each other. One of the greatest lies perpetuated by this lost society is the notion that tolerance is a virtue and therefore one cannot respect others if one does not accept them as they are and condone what they do. In the footsteps of Christ and Saint John The Baptist, we each have a duty to speak out against wrong and evil. Sometimes we will need to use gentle tact and other times a loud yell will be needed, but in both cases the objective will be to instruct.

Our own salvation may very well be judged by how many people we brought with us to Paradise. By our actions and words, we will either bring many to salvation or to perdition. The third possibility is that we will only bring ourselves to the Feast offered by God, in which case we will surely have ignored love of others in the exclusive service of love of self. Simply put, we must see our role as salespeople for God and our own merit may be judged by how many customers we sell on Christ. Unlike the perverted education of this society, our lessons must be firm guides toward God and salvation and not diluted aberrations justifying a move away from God and toward self.

3. To Counsel the Doubtful

If there is one given in this world, it is that we as imperfect humans will from time to time experience doubt and confusion. We will all get lost on the road and need directions and guidance. True Catholicism requires that we watch each other’s back and help each other back on the road to salvation. It is in this regard that most of today’s clergy is seriously lacking, for they not only have relinquished their role as guides to salvation, but have become purveyors or perdition instead. In so doing they place the faithful in a precarious position of either seeking salvation “solo” or following the wolf to grandma’s house. When nuns and priests distort social justice into promotion and tolerance of evil and sin, they become the wolves instead of the shepherds.

Your fellow Catholics here are not trying to embarrass you or tweak you, but trying to help, and to be good Catholics, as the Church instructs us we should be. It is said with love, and I say that not having met you, but caring all the same. I was once at arm’s length from the Church. It was on me. And while I won’t share details here, you may freepmail if you wish. But all I’m getting at is that, at first, I didn’t want to fix what I had done, for reasons that I would have difficulty recounting well now. It took the Holy Spirit’s influence. I changed. It took a LONG time, in my case. I will pray for you, not because my opinion matters, but because whether my opinion matches yours or not, the Church has a genuine, official position directly contrary to your current one. It may be that some clergy are, or have, chosen to “miss” this. And that may be out of concern for your feelings, a not inconsiderate thing, in intention if nowhere else. But please, look up the Church’s position. Not for me. Not for the rest of us here. For yourself. I promise you, as surely as I know my own name, that I will not here, nor ever, bring the subject up with you again. I trust that you either will, or won’t, look. It’s obvious that you’re intelligent, based upon your words here. Please, look for yourself. And pray, regardless of what you do or don’t decide to do. I will pray for you, not because of my opinion, but because friends do that for one another.

Dave