I Love Being Catholic

What this means is that we share in Gods divine life not just as a by stander that has been forgiven and imputed with Christ’s righteousness by as a participant that has been transformed as true sons and daughter’s of God. We are “partaker’s in the divine nature.” This is not a easy thing to grasp I know but to think of how we are the closet thing to God with out being God is the mystery.

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Whoa!  That would explain Col 1:24!! =)

Suddenly the idea of Christians being the body of Christ as well as participating in the Eucharist looks to be more related that I first imagined.

Thanks for sharing chelcb =)

But can some converts share their experiences?

-Jason

I'm not a Protestant convert to Catholicism, but I am a Protestant convert to Orthodoxy (which the Catholic Church recognizes to have the same Sacraments). I was Baptist/Pentecostal. For them Communion is just a thing they do to remind them about the crucifixion. They don't think they receive any grace from it, other than from thinking about Christ's sacrifice. It's also an act of obedience to them, since Christ said to do it. They do it once a month usually, although there's no rule. This is normal for all Evangelicals

At the opposite end of the Protestant spectrum are the Lutherans and some Anglicans, who believe in Consubstantiation. This is believing that the Body and Blood are really there, but under the bread, and at the end of the service it goes back into being bread and wine. There are some high-church Anglicans who believe in Transubstantion, or just the it becomes the Body and Blood without the details of the Transubstantiation doctrine, but they're pretty much extinct now.

In between these two extremes are others like the Presbyterians. They traditionally believe that it is just bread and wine, nothing special about it, but by going through the motions that Christ said to they actually receive grace, not through the bread or wine, but directly from God for doing it. The current trend is for them to move more towards the Evengelical ideas.

For the traditional Lutherans and Anglicans, it can look a lot like a Catholic Mass. For Protestants more towards the Evenglical end of the spectrum, basically the pastory repeats the institution naritave, and then they pass around trays with the bread and the grape juice (they generally do not use wine).

Reformed Churches generally have the same beliefs here as the Evangelicals, but use wine and not grape juice.

To Jason:

When I first heard a priest explain EXACTLY what the Catholic Communion was, that the Bread and Wine BECOME the Body and Blood of Jesus, I was dumbfounded. Because I thought that is what it was for EVERYONE, not just Catholics. The kid who had received the little pieces of saltine and the thimbleful of grape juice at an Assembly of God Church thought that Communion WAS the Body and Blood of Jesus. I remember picking up the BIGGEST piece of cracker and looking for the little glass that had the MOST grape juice in it!

But at the priest's explanation, that the Catholic Church teaches an actual MIRACLE occurs so that the Eucharist becomes the true, real, actual Body of Jesus, and it is through the authority of the Apostolic succession that this miracle is able to occur, I was blown away.

I thought then, and I feel now, that Protestants are RIPPED OFF. [disclaimer: my opinion, folks...] And once I understood that the entire FOCUS of Mass was the consecration of the Eucharist, my entire being was centered on that part of Mass.

I CRAVED JESUS.

No harps, no angels singing, no single sunbeam breaking through the clouds to shine on me when I received the Eucharist for the first time.

Just a sense of completion.



Peace be with you,
~VOW

because the Church is all about JESUS!  And to experience Him in the Eucharist, well, there's no words able to describe the feeling.  Walking into any Catholic church (and I've been in several of them), well, there's just this silent, holy feeling that I haven't found anywhere else.  Find any Catholic church, walk into it and just sit.  You will feel His presence. 

Today at 03:19 PM jukesk9 said this in Post #24

because the Church is all about JESUS!  And to experience Him in the Eucharist, well, there's no words able to describe the feeling.  Walking into any Catholic church (and I've been in several of them), well, there's just this silent, holy feeling that I haven't found anywhere else.  Find any Catholic church, walk into it and just sit.  You will feel His presence. 

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What I don't understand, is that if Jesus is really physically present, then why don't I see people stumbling over themselves to go to Mass, Communion Services, Eucharistic Adoration, and the like? Why aren't people packing the pews? Where's the passion? I don't see it.

Today at 04:13 PM humblejoe said this in Post #25



What I don't understand, is that if Jesus is really physically present, then why don't I see people stumbling over themselves to go to Mass, Communion Services, Eucharistic Adoration, and the like? Why aren't people packing the pews? Where's the passion? I don't see it.

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....because ol' Satan Claws is at work, my friend.  And that is my honest, heartfelt belief.  The Father of Lies does what he can to disrupt the Church. 

Today at 05:43 PM jukesk9 said this in Post #26




....because ol' Satan Claws is at work, my friend.  And that is my honest, heartfelt belief.  The Father of Lies does what he can to disrupt the Church. 

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LOL Satan Claws =P

-Jason

Today at 11:27 AM CopticOrthodox said this in Post #22

I'm not a Protestant convert to Catholicism, but I am a Protestant convert to Orthodoxy (which the Catholic Church recognizes to have the same Sacraments). I was Baptist/Pentecostal. For them Communion is just a thing they do to remind them about the crucifixion. They don't think they receive any grace from it, other than from thinking about Christ's sacrifice. It's also an act of obedience to them, since Christ said to do it. They do it once a month usually, although there's no rule. This is normal for all Evangelicals

At the opposite end of the Protestant spectrum are the Lutherans and some Anglicans, who believe in Consubstantiation. This is believing that the Body and Blood are really there, but under the bread, and at the end of the service it goes back into being bread and wine. There are some high-church Anglicans who believe in Transubstantion, or just the it becomes the Body and Blood without the details of the Transubstantiation doctrine, but they're pretty much extinct now.

In between these two extremes are others like the Presbyterians. They traditionally believe that it is just bread and wine, nothing special about it, but by going through the motions that Christ said to they actually receive grace, not through the bread or wine, but directly from God for doing it. The current trend is for them to move more towards the Evengelical ideas.

For the traditional Lutherans and Anglicans, it can look a lot like a Catholic Mass. For Protestants more towards the Evenglical end of the spectrum, basically the pastory repeats the institution naritave, and then they pass around trays with the bread and the grape juice (they generally do not use wine).

Reformed Churches generally have the same beliefs here as the Evangelicals, but use wine and not grape juice.

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Hi CopticOrthodox,

Thanks for sharing!  I was for the most part already aware of the differences in how denominations understood the Lord's Supper.  But I'm particularly curious about your 'before/after' experience:  What was it like to partake in the Lord's Supper before you turned Orthodox?  And what was like afterwards?

Here's an interesting scenario:

Let's assume this Catholic knows nothing about protestantism, and that the Catholic recognizes the body and blood of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.  Hypothetically, if a Catholic took Communion at a protestant church and then took Communion at Mass, would there be a big difference? 

By the way, I'm fully aware of that fact that Catholics are not permitted to partake in protestant Communions.

-Jason

Today at 12:02 PM VOW said this in Post #23

To Jason:

When I first heard a priest explain EXACTLY what the Catholic Communion was, that the Bread and Wine BECOME the Body and Blood of Jesus, I was dumbfounded. Because I thought that is what it was for EVERYONE, not just Catholics. The kid who had received the little pieces of saltine and the thimbleful of grape juice at an Assembly of God Church thought that Communion WAS the Body and Blood of Jesus. I remember picking up the BIGGEST piece of cracker and looking for the little glass that had the MOST grape juice in it!

But at the priest's explanation, that the Catholic Church teaches an actual MIRACLE occurs so that the Eucharist becomes the true, real, actual Body of Jesus, and it is through the authority of the Apostolic succession that this miracle is able to occur, I was blown away.

I thought then, and I feel now, that Protestants are RIPPED OFF. [disclaimer: my opinion, folks...] And once I understood that the entire FOCUS of Mass was the consecration of the Eucharist, my entire being was centered on that part of Mass.

I CRAVED JESUS.

No harps, no angels singing, no single sunbeam breaking through the clouds to shine on me when I received the Eucharist for the first time.

Just a sense of completion.



Peace be with you,
~VOW

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To be real honest:  I feel ripped off too....or at least when I took communion the other day, I felt like I had a cheap imitation (of course this is also my opinion), so I felt it was almost meaningless.  Thanks for sharing Vow =)

-Jason

Oh, sorry for misunderstanding. Yes, there was a big difference for me. There was absolutely no reverence in the Protestant Church, it was like reading the passage in the Bible and acting it out as a way to focus on it, not actually doing it. The youth group once used coke and a stale hot dog bun because the didn't have bread & grape juice.

There were sins in my life that I fought with and fought with, and could never be free of them. When I finally confessed for the first time and received Communion, I physically felt free. There's real grace from the Sacraments, and not just from our belief in them. You don't get that kind of power from bread and grape juice.

I really don't know how to describe it, Jason... When I first started going to church again, I went to an Episcopal service. The priest was wonderful, and I had a few friends that I had grown up with that went there, which was a nice surprise, but it didn't feel "right." I was wondering where to go next, and that's when I ended up in Saint Rose. From the minute I walked in, I felt "something." That is the only way to describe it. Saint Rose is pretty, but it is by no means a Church which will strike awe into the hearts of men. I loved watching the people kneeling in prayer, but more than that, I felt something greater than myself. I believe that I was feeling the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, which I knew nothing about at the time. Carole, a Baptist, used to ask me to take her to the Chapel and sit from time to time because she said she felt "at peace" there. Again, I feel it is the True Presence of Christ that comforted her, as it did me. I have cried before at the Consecration, when moments before I was mad at the lady letting her kid run in the pew behind me... Man, Jason, I really cannot describe it at all. When people ask a question like Joe's, I have to agree with Wols, it is the Devil.

Take marriage for example. It can be clearly understood from the Bible that two people, once married, become one flesh. They are united in union with eachother and with God in such a profound way that the three together can make a new life. This fact should be an amazing experience that we cannot wait to jump into, yet we see marriages fail each and every day. Does that mean that the Sacrament didn't work? No, Jesus says that once two are joined, they are joined forever, so we know that it worked, but why did it fail? Because appreciating a husband or wife takes constant practice, and our Fallen Nature, provoked by our own shortcomings and those thrust upon us by Satan, wants to be selfish. It is a struggle, but one that bears good fruit. When we look at our families, which are one of the most beautiful gifts that we can be blessed with, do we always see a gift, or do we sometimes see a burden, and a curse?

Take this up a level... Now instead of a human marriage that will end at death, we partake in the Marriage Feast of the Lamb which will last for eternity. Instead of a divinely inspired human love, we can touch and embrace love itself in its most pure form. This is the Most Holy Eucharist. This is partaking of the divine nature, coming into a common union (communion) with our Lord. Like the love within a marriage, you cannot explain it, but it is there. We don't always appreciate it for what it is, but it is still the Body and Blood of our Lord. It is still Him reaching out for us, wanting nothing more than for us to come to Him and be united in perfect love. But we do not always see it for what it is.

God Bless,

Neal

To believe in God, Jesus, the Trinity; all that requires a certain leap of faith to believe it's not a psychological experience. To make the next leap of faith should not be difficult, but it seems to hang up so many.

I love the way the mass is structured; communion is the center of mass (pardon the pun). I've gone to protestant services with friends, and it seems to lack meaning without communion. It's a joke without a punchline, it's a story without an ending. It's listening to someone's opinions rather than experiencing God. (I apologize if I have offended my my protestant bretheren). The mass reminds us of what Jesus taught and then what Jesus did; what he sacrificed.

Just my $0.02

Today at 04:13 PM humblejoe said this in Post #25



What I don't understand, is that if Jesus is really physically present, then why don't I see people stumbling over themselves to go to Mass, Communion Services, Eucharistic Adoration, and the like? Why aren't people packing the pews? Where's the passion? I don't see it.

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Yes you are right Joe, and even Jesus himself says "can you not spend one hour with me?" I am afraid it is because it takes eyes to see him with and a heart to understand that he waits in the blessed sacrament of the altar just for us to come to him out of our own free choice. He could be glamorous and inviting that we would rush in but instead he comes as humble bread and wine so that we may love him for him. I guess some are to busy to take time out if their lives for Jesus. Just being "sunday Christians" is good enough for some.

Hoonbaba and Humblejoe,

I just want you to know that NO ONE is born a Catholic. We are ALL converts. All of us were baptized and all of us have had to be confirmed in the faith. Just thought I'd throw that in!

Edward

Today at 05:03 PM Hoonbaba said this in Post #28

By the way, I'm fully aware of that fact that Catholics are not permitted to partake in protestant Communions.

-Jason

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I read somewhere that for a Catholic to partake of Communion in a Protestant service would be akin to idolatry.  I'll have to dig but I think I can find that book where I read that.  Personally, if I were to attend a Protestant service and I was offered Communion, I would politely decline.

Today at 06:41 PM Loki said this in Post #32

The mass reminds us of what Jesus taught and then what Jesus did; what he sacrificed.

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What does nonCatholic communion do?

CopticOrthodox and Neal,

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing. I think I'm beginning to gain a better perspective on all this. I like the marriage analogy =)

-Jason

Today at 09:07 PM humblejoe said this in Post #36



What does nonCatholic communion do?

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The mass reminds us of what Jesus taught and then what Jesus did; what he sacrificed.

In the Protestant Churches unfortunatly that is where it's stops. The Catholic Church's belief goes a lot further than this.

You are welcome, Jason.

God bless,

Neal

I believe that it was Billy Graham (or another evangelist) who said:
"If I truly believed that Communion contained the Body and Blood of Jesus, I would crawl to the altar on my hands and knees."

We Catholics need to keep this in mind.