There is no comfort in deception and that's why millions have left. It's those that remain that find comfort in deception. Don't call what is evil, good because you lack understanding of what is good - GOD'S WORD ONLY.Here are a few reasons (from our personal accounting) as to why some have left the Catholic Church.
1. The priest gives boring homilies and my wife's Lutheran church has a pastor that is exciting ...
2. My parents were Catholic and they got divorced and left the Church, setting a bad example ...
3. I want to divorce but I cannot get an annulment because nothing is really all that wrong with my husband, it's just that I like and click with "Norm" (from work) so much better ...
4. I can't get married as a priest, but I can as an Assemblies of God minister [in fact he not only married after becoming the head pastor, but divorced and remarried again] ...
5. The priest explained partial-birth abortion at one of the Masses, and that's just wrong to talk about that. He also said we weren't supposed to use artificial birth control. I can't stand Fr. John.
6. There is livelier music at the mega-church down the street (Nate rocks!), and the girls are much hotter ...
7. I don't really see much difference between Catholicism and any other faith ...
Now, this is just a sampling, but only one of the above was a daily-Mass Catholic, and my husband and I saw him back in the pews receiving the Eucharist a few months ago.
The rest of the group were Sunday-only (and not always on Sundays either) Catholics, and most belonged to a spiritually-weak parish, however, some just didn't like the "rules" of Catholicism. I realize it is the fault at times of the priest or pastor of a particular parish that his flock is not hearing the correct messages frequently (thus confusing them), but parishioners must pray for their priests, too.
However, I have no idea how a Catholic can remain strong in their faith by attending only on Sundays. (Can a runner win a marathon who jogs but once a week, or will they tucker out midway or before?) I've been a daily Mass Catholic for 26 years now, my husband, for almost double that amount, and the people who we attend daily Mass with (who are for the most part also avid Rosary-reciters and Adoration-attenders and even go to Confession:)) are not only married to the same person they were 26 years ago, but they have remained calm and at peace in their daily lives, even in the throes of adversity. This, in and of itself, is explanation enough (for many who are paying attention), as to what is missing in the Protestant or other non-Catholic denominations.
What's missing along with Confession/Adoration/intercessory prayers to Christ's mother and His saints, etc., is Jesus, His True Body, the Eucharistic Lord, and without it one cannot grow completely or find this peace. (I've read a number of comments from non-Catholics on this thread and others, and many do not come across as peaceful. Instead they are filled with sarcasm, misunderstanding, mockery, ignorance, anger, outright lies or deceiving half-truths, regarding the Catholic Church.)
A non-Catholic's poor interpretation of Scripture has dismissed the Body of Jesus, Our Risen Lord. What kind of horrible man would the Son of God be, to die on the Cross (after 33 years of teaching, loving, healing) and just split?
Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." --Jn 6:53-56Catholics, please come home.