Thinking about coming back to Church

OutoftheDarkness said:

I've read a lot and have a sense of the odd things going on over the years. I have been away for ten years. Can anyone summarize what has transpired or what to expect? I have gone to Mass a few times.

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Welcome to CF and OBOB!

The Church remains the Church despite forces without and within that try to undermine and subvert it.

It sounds like you departed right around the time Benedict XVI resigned and Francis was elected. For the average everyday Catholic that doesn't tap too deeply into the affairs of the Church, I'm not sure they'd notice much has changed. But if you're someone who values understanding theology and Catholic doctrine quite a bit has gone on. Pope Francis has released a number of documents from Laudato Si' to Amoris Laetitia to Fratelli Tutti to his real wrecking ball: Traditionis Custodes (though if you're opposed to traditional Catholics then you would probably see it differently).

Within a lot of his documents he muddies the waters on issues of faith and morals. Then he adds more complexity when he does off-the-cuff in-flight interviews or when he would sit down with atheist journalist Eugenio Scalfari who was notorious for not taking notes in his interviews. Francis does a few things well here and there, but there's also a lot of bad mixed in.

He's also allowed "synodality" to rise in the Church which seems to be a veiled attempt to make the Church more democratic than monarchic. Which, if true, would be an egregious error. One atrocious example would be the Amazonian Synod held at the Vatican in the fall of 2019. It was held under the auspices of figuring out a solution to the dearth of priestly vocations in the remote regions of the Amazon, but what ended up happening is some sacrilege: idols (Pachamama) placed in sacred spaces and pagan rituals performed. Though some popesplainers try to argue that it's not an idol but just a unique depiction of Our Lady.

I'm a convert, so I'm not afraid to call a spade a spade and say he's a bad Pope because he's not the first bad Pope in Church history. Some Catholics refer to him and his allies in the Church as abusive fathers, which they are. But again, the faithful have endured abusive fathers and dark times before and the Church outlasts them all.

I became Catholic in spite of guys like him, not because of them. So I realize what I'm telling you is not selling the Church at all but I'll say that despite all the bad things happening in the Vatican right now, the Church and the community of the faithful, is still carrying on in devotion to Christ and the deposit of faith he left us. The Mass is still available, and [can be] still beautiful. The sacraments are real, they're effective, and they're not available anywhere else. The barque of Peter is where it's at.

That's why I'm still Catholic and why you should come back.

OutoftheDarkness said:

I've read a lot and have a sense of the odd things going on over the years. I have been away for ten years. Can anyone summarize what has transpired or what to expect? I have gone to Mass a few times.

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To come back you simply go to confession as your way of stepping back in. If you are out of practice tell the priest and he can guide you. For the most part what pope Francis is saying changes little to nothing on a day to day level in a parish. There are still sacraments and prayer warriors in the parishes and the Catechism is still authoritative. The era of John Paul II and Benedict XVI is over. The era of Francis will be over before too long. What happens after that depends on the cardinals, most of whom are kind of unknown quantities, and don't know each other well. We could get a Francis II or a John Paul III or something else. But whatever, the faith will not be upended because God will be sure of that.

These are interesting times to be Catholic. We were made for times like these. C'mon in. The water is ... well it has cold spots and warm spots but where else do you belong?

OutoftheDarkness said:

I've read a lot and have a sense of the odd things going on over the years. I have been away for ten years. Can anyone summarize what has transpired or what to expect? I have gone to Mass a few times.

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I can’t add anymore to all my friends have said here except to remind you the door is open and you are always welcome back home. God bless you!

chevyontheriver said:

warm spots

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I 'missed' [I really did] Mass for 7 years.
He called me back home. I LOVE MASS.
The Peace at Mass [literally Heaven on earth] is real.