What to do with unapologetic "Cafeteria Catholics?"

[MikeK]

It seems nobody is interested in telling me in clear language weather they feel I should abstain from the Eucharist or not. PMs would be appreciated if you don't want to say in here.

 

[Fantine]

It seems nobody is interested in telling me in clear language weather they feel I should abstain from the Eucharist or not. PMs would be appreciated if you don't want to say in here.

According to the article, which is all we have, only you, the individual, can determine that for yourself.

It pretty much says that if people with doubts are praying for wisdom they should still receive Communion.

BTW, I've never seen anyone get "bullied" into wisdom yet......

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

It seems nobody is interested in telling me in clear language weather they feel I should abstain from the Eucharist or not. PMs would be appreciated if you don't want to say in here.

Exactly, it is entirely up to you, the Church can't see into people's souls, but only offer guidelines.

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

What the heck is 'obstinate doubt'. If it's doubt it's doubt. If it's obstinate it's pride.
According to you I would not be able to go to communion. I agree with you and haven't gone.
It seems I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I sure as heck don't want to be doubting.

Then keep on praying! As long as you don't willfully reject the magisterium you're in the clear to receive the Eucharist. Everyone struggles with doubts occasionly, everyone.

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

Taken from earlier posts on this thread:

"Hang 'em from the yardarm"

"Send them back to the lunchline"

"They're like 'traitors in the White House.'"

Well, it took me less than a minute to find those sterling examples of orthodox charity.....

And you were saying?

Don't forget CC's nastly little song.

We all know he's our ringleader.

 

[Miss Shelby]

It seems nobody is interested in telling me in clear language weather they feel I should abstain from the Eucharist or not. PMs would be appreciated if you don't want to say in here.

ask your priest.

 

[Miss Shelby]

Instead of spending so much time worrying about the obstinatley wayward Catholics, I think we'd do better to align ourselves with more orthodox Protestants. Many Protestant Christians believe what Catholics believe about a lot of things, and where we disagree we need work towards a resolve. We need to seek out more common ground with them, instead of alienating them. (my opinion, of course)

And, pray for those who purosefully rebel.

Michelle

 

[Caedmon]

ask your priest.

I have a love/hate relationship with this option. One time when I was in confession, I asked the priest, "should I abstain from Eucharist after committing this [habitual] sin [of grave matter]?" His answer? "It's a matter of personal conscience."

 

[gentlestorm]

Instead of spending so much time worrying about the obstinatley wayward Catholics, I think we'd do better to align ourselves with more orthodox Protestants. Many Protestant Christians believe what Catholics believe about a lot of things, and where we disagree we need work towards a resolve. We need to seek out more common ground with them, instead of alienating them. (my opinion, of course)

And, pray for those who purosefully rebel.

Michelle

How can one "purposefully rebel"? One rebels because one sincerely sees a problem. Who rebels for the fun of it?

 

[Miss Shelby]

I have a love/hate relationship with this option. One time when I was in confession, I asked the priest, "should I abstain from Eucharist after committing this [habitual] sin [of grave matter]?" His answer? "It's a matter of personal conscience."

i suppose that's valid. And I see Mike has already expressed the same concern, so scratch my last advice on that I guess. OR pray for solid spiritual counsel. I TRULY believe God will open a door if one is truly seeking.

 

[Miss Shelby]

How can one "purposefully rebel"? One rebels because one sincerely sees a problem. Who rebels for the fun of it?

Or they rebel because they refuse to see that God's way is better. Some also rebel because they want to and for no other reason. People don't ONLY rebel because they think they're 'fixing the problem'.

I am not talking about those who seriously struggle. (of which I am one)--I am talking about those who refuse to hear.

 

[RedTulipMom]

i have only read through bits and pieces of this very long thread so i am only commenting on the opening post.

In my world almost EVERYONE is a Cafeteria Catholic..its mostly on the internet where real Catholics are found..lol..i know that sounds silly..but its true.

I was raised CAtholic. My hubby was raised Catholic. I have tons of relatives, aunts, grandmas, cousins, brothers etc that are all Catholic. They ALL call themselves Catholic! they all baptize their children Catholic. MOST of them send their children to either Catholic school or CAtechism Classes where they make their First communion, REconciliation and Confirmation. All of them get married in Catholic Churches to Catholic spouses. AND 99% of them use birth control! 99% of them dont believe in MANY of the Catholic doctrines. BUT..they all are Catholic! Most of them don't even go to mass except maybe for Christmas or Easter! But they Are Catholic! Thats the REAL World..there are WAY more Cafeteria Catholics out there than Catholics who follow the magesterium and BELIEVE what the church teaches..

 

[Caedmon]

i have only read through bits and pieces of this very long thread so i am only commenting on the opening post.

In my world almost EVERYONE is a Cafeteria Catholic..its mostly on the internet where real Catholics are found..lol..i know that sounds silly..but its true.

I was raised CAtholic. My hubby was raised Catholic. I have tons of relatives, aunts, grandmas, cousins, brothers etc that are all Catholic. They ALL call themselves Catholic! they all baptize their children Catholic. MOST of them send their children to either Catholic school or CAtechism Classes where they make their First communion, REconciliation and Confirmation. All of them get married in Catholic Churches to Catholic spouses. AND 99% of them use birth control! 99% of them dont believe in MANY of the Catholic doctrines. BUT..they all are Catholic! Most of them don't even go to mass except maybe for Christmas or Easter! But they Are Catholic! Thats the REAL World..there are WAY more Cafeteria Catholics out there than Catholics who follow the magesterium and BELIEVE what the church teaches..

You're right, and I think it stems from a couple of things. First of all, their formation probably stunk. Second, these days, most priests will tell you "follow your conscience" on just about any question you ask them. There's a disconnect, esp. among American Catholics, between what the Church "teaches" and what people "do," as if the Church teaches an impossibly high standard that we are incapable of assimilating, pursuing and reflecting in our daily lives, and that since "everybody" does it anyway, it's "OK."

 

[Fantine]

i have only read through bits and pieces of this very long thread so i am only commenting on the opening post.

In my world almost EVERYONE is a Cafeteria Catholic..its mostly on the internet where real Catholics are found..lol..i know that sounds silly..but its true.

I was raised CAtholic. My hubby was raised Catholic. I have tons of relatives, aunts, grandmas, cousins, brothers etc that are all Catholic. They ALL call themselves Catholic! they all baptize their children Catholic. MOST of them send their children to either Catholic school or CAtechism Classes where they make their First communion, REconciliation and Confirmation. All of them get married in Catholic Churches to Catholic spouses. AND 99% of them use birth control! 99% of them dont believe in MANY of the Catholic doctrines. BUT..they all are Catholic! Most of them don't even go to mass except maybe for Christmas or Easter! But they Are Catholic! Thats the REAL World..there are WAY more Cafeteria Catholics out there than Catholics who follow the magesterium and BELIEVE what the church teaches..

And if your relatives didn't find that the Catholic Church was helpful to them in their quest for holiness (no matter how woefully behind the orthodox would judge them to be.)

Life is a process. Life is a journey. And in some way the Church sustains them in that journey, and that's a good thing.

Everyone is born with different sets of challenges...
And God made the unorthodox the way they were for a reason--probably because most of the scientific, technical, and artistic advances this world has had have come from people who are unorthodox.

The Golden Age of the Catholic Church (Medieval Times) was marked by rigid social structures, no exploration, little art, literature, music, or invention.

If God didn't want civilization to progress, why did He create the unorthodox?

And if He wanted civilization to progress, why do the orthodox suggest that the unorthodox should change their basic natures?

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

Yeah, exactly. I really don't like the idea of having a "smaller, but purer" church. I suppose if that's the price we have to pay for actually preaching what the Church teaches, but I'd much rather people stayed in the Church if they didn't see the sense in something, rather than leaving.

 

[Metanoia02]

The Golden Age of the Catholic Church (Medieval Times) was marked by rigid social structures, no exploration, little art, literature, music, or invention.

Yes, that rigid social structure that brought you the Hospital, the University or the Bank. Guess we could have got by without them. Pretty meaningless institutions.

 

[Caedmon]

Well, I know that moral teachings, like the ones against abortion and artificial birth control, have always been, and are still, taught by the Church, and if they ever cease to be, then I will embrace atheism with enthusiasm, because without the constant moral teaching authority of the Church, there is no hope.

 

[NiteClerk]

Instead of spending so much time worrying about the obstinatley wayward Catholics, I think we'd do better to align ourselves with more orthodox Protestants. Many Protestant Christians believe what Catholics believe about a lot of things, and where we disagree we need work towards a resolve. We need to seek out more common ground with them, instead of alienating them. (my opinion, of course)

And, pray for those who purosefully rebel.

Michelle

I don't see how we can "work towards a resolve" when there are two main points separating the Catholic Church from Protestants.
One is faith and works vs faith alone. Until they admit they are wrong and use a faulty bible, we will never agree.
Two is the power of the Pope to set doctrine for the Church. (Whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loosen on Earth will be loosened in heaven.)
I for one, don't want the Catholic Church to compromise on these in an effort to find common ground.
Then there is the acceptance of homosexuality as a "normal" lifestyle, or female priests. What about abortion? A lot of protestant churches do not defend the sancity of human life like the Catholic Church does.
No. There is no need for us to compromise our faith just to reach an agreement with others.

 

[Fantine]

Well, I know that moral teachings, like the ones against abortion and artificial birth control, have always been, and are still, taught by the Church, and if they ever cease to be, then I will embrace atheism with enthusiasm, because without the constant moral teaching authority of the Church, there is no hope.

And that is the difference between you and the secular humanists.

They see mankind as good. They see human nature as noble. They have built societies in Europe where there is little crime, little poverty, universal health insurance, job security....clean streets, well-educated kids.

When you look at our "Christian" country, where we are one nation under God, all poor lost souls who need the "authoritative moral teaching" of organized religions to keep us from killing one another with all our second amendment rights....

Quite frankly, it seems as if those western European secular humanists are putting us to shame...

So where exactly has all this authoritative moral teaching us gotten us if the secular humanists are putting us to shame?

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

I dunno where you're getting those statistics from, but I would certainly be interested in looking at them.

As a sidenote, I know the welfare state, at least in the UK, was built primarily by Christians, not by "Secular Humanists"- even if the Christian faith has been kinda abandoned by a lot of the population.