Help Wanted!!!! My mother is Protestant.

[salt_of_the_earth]

I need help.

My father and I are both Catholic. My mom however is Protestant. This has never been a problem until lately.

She sometimes says many horrible things about the Church and I try to be respectful but some of the things are really not nice.

Then she will start crying that I have followed by father and did not choose to be Protestant.

I don't know what to do. I tried talking to her about the Church and her beliefs but she just doesn't want to listen.

She will not step foot near a Catholic Church because she finds mass "boring". Meanwhile I never hestitate to attend her church even though I don't agree with its theology.

However, last week at her church they starting speaking very fundamentalist and in the newsletter there was a section about missions. It went on to talk about missions in the Arab world and it said in bold large letters that were printed inside a box "Arab are very dedicated to their Muslim faith and making money".

I thought that was just horrible to put down ANY religion and stereotype like this. They also went on to hold a presentation that said that only 10% of the world were "real" CHristians who had "really" accepted Jesus into their heart and all the others were just CHristians in name.

After I had heard this I told her to stop attending such a fundamentalist church because it sounded unCHristian and dangerous.

Well... she is angry at me now.. and I don't know how to coexist with her.

Any suggestions???

Thanks.

 

[CrystalBrooke]

My mother is Protestant too, my whole family is actually, so it's my husband and I against them..only I'm not Catholic *yet*. No advice, if she's as stubborn as my mom then you're just gonna have to move out.

 

[salt_of_the_earth]

LOL... Although that may solve it I don't plan on moving out.

But its so hard. My mom starts crying when she thinks about me Catholic.

That is annoying.

When are you planning on joining the Church?

 

[CrystalBrooke]

Whenever I can finish RCIA I went for a few weeks and just quit, I wasn't learning anything and I was having to get up early so I could go not learn anything. I'm going to try to stick with it in the coming year.

But yeah, my mom doesn't cry about me going to Mass with my husband, but she does make rude comments like "that's not what you believe" or "you know that's wrong"..because I was raised baptist. So I know it's hard, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I always keep my PM box clean

 

[Look Homeward Anglican]

This is a prime example of why a mixed marriage is not the best idea. It's not fair for you to be dragged through the middle of this, yet there you are. Keep praying for her, keep being generous with your time and attention, and do the best you can. You have some powerful allies among the saints and angels and our Blessed Mother. Your mom may come around later, just don't give up.

 

[Ave Maria]

My mother is also Protestant. But so is my entire family but me. I am a Catholic and am glad that I converted to Catholicism. What you can do is pray for her. Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for her.

 

[salt_of_the_earth]

Thanks for your help. I will be praying. I have been.

It's so hard though.

And I agree though, mixed marriages i STRONGLY STRONGLY advise against them. Unless one partner is not too much into their faith, it is a diaster.

 

[CrystalBrooke]

Oh, one piece of advice is when she says rude, hurtful things, don't let her know that it bothers you..that only feeds into her attitude. My mother made a horrid comment about Ben and I having our daughter Baptised but I ignored it and never said anything rude back to her, and she hasn't made a rude comment since.

 

[salt_of_the_earth]

Good point. She continuously talks about how she thinks all priest are child molesters. It's rude.

 

[churchmilitant]

I need help.

My father and I are both Catholic. My mom however is Protestant. This has never been a problem until lately.

She sometimes says many horrible things about the Church and I try to be respectful but some of the things are really not nice.

Then she will start crying that I have followed by father and did not choose to be Protestant.

I don't know what to do. I tried talking to her about the Church and her beliefs but she just doesn't want to listen.

She will not step foot near a Catholic Church because she finds mass "boring". Meanwhile I never hestitate to attend her church even though I don't agree with its theology.

However, last week at her church they starting speaking very fundamentalist and in the newsletter there was a section about missions. It went on to talk about missions in the Arab world and it said in bold large letters that were printed inside a box "Arab are very dedicated to their Muslim faith and making money".

I thought that was just horrible to put down ANY religion and stereotype like this. They also went on to hold a presentation that said that only 10% of the world were "real" CHristians who had "really" accepted Jesus into their heart and all the others were just CHristians in name.

After I had heard this I told her to stop attending such a fundamentalist church because it sounded unCHristian and dangerous.

Well... she is angry at me now.. and I don't know how to coexist with her.

Any suggestions???

Thanks.

That's a hard situation. First of all let me say i'll pray for you and your mom. If I might ask how did you come to the Catholic Church? Was your mom formerly a Catholic? At any rate, just hang in there it's very hard most of my family is Protestant also. And sometimes we have to just agree to dissagree. I try to keep the conversation when it comes to faith issues to things we can all agree on. And remember no one is called unless God first call him. So at this point prayer, penance and patience is perhaps your best bet.

 

[salt_of_the_earth]

I have been Catholic my whole life. It was never an issue. My father was Catholic when he married my mom. But this year has been the hardest.

 

[salt_of_the_earth]

And I 100% believe in the Church and have no intenions of falling away so I wish my mother would just stop her hounding.

 

[2Cosmic2Charlie]

I've been running against the grain (in a well mannered respectful way) of this forum all day so what's one more streak ?

Take her to lunch. Someplace she likes. Just you and her. Talk about baseball, (my mom likes baseball, maybe yours like hockey or something). Pay some attention to her, act like a good, loving son (I'm not saynig you're not, calm down.)

This isn't about religion, the religion thing is just a symtom. This is about her sense of loss, she didn't get you to be like her and she's afraid its put distance between you and her.

Maybe it has. Act like it hasn't.

Maybe I'm wrong. But going to bat with a bad idea is better than no idea at all.

Beside its lunch, with your mother.

Cool, huh ?

 

[salt_of_the_earth]

sounds like it makes sense.

thanks

 

[Miss Shelby]

I've been running against the grain (in a well mannered respectful way) of this forum all day so what's one more streak ?

Take her to lunch. Someplace she likes. Just you and her. Talk about baseball, (my mom likes baseball, maybe yours like hockey or something). Pay some attention to her, act like a good, loving son (I'm not saynig you're not, calm down.)

This isn't about religion, the religion thing is just a symtom. This is about her sense of loss, she didn't get you to be like her and she's afraid its put distance between you and her.

Maybe it has. Act like it hasn't.

Maybe I'm wrong. But going to bat with a bad idea is better than no idea at all.

Beside its lunch, with your mother.

Cool, huh ?

very good advice, Charlie, in my opinion.

 

[Assisi]

I've been running against the grain (in a well mannered respectful way) of this forum all day so what's one more streak ?

Take her to lunch. Someplace she likes. Just you and her. Talk about baseball, (my mom likes baseball, maybe yours like hockey or something). Pay some attention to her, act like a good, loving son (I'm not saynig you're not, calm down.)

This isn't about religion, the religion thing is just a symtom. This is about her sense of loss, she didn't get you to be like her and she's afraid its put distance between you and her.

Maybe it has. Act like it hasn't.

Maybe I'm wrong. But going to bat with a bad idea is better than no idea at all.

Beside its lunch, with your mother.

Cool, huh ?

Great advice. I'd focus on the things you have in common and avoid discussion on faith where you disagree. I'm not saying avoid talking about faith. But when it comes to faith, talk about the things you agree on.

My father is an unbeliever and doesn't think I should be wasting so much of my time on the 'church thing'. So I make sure we can relate on other levels. Though I think a Protestant would be harder than an unbeliever...

 

[2Cosmic2Charlie]

very good advice, Charlie, in my opinion.

I know what you were thinking when you read my previous post:

"Wow, I didn't even know Charlie HAD a mother."

 

[Miss Shelby]

I know what you were thinking when you read my previous post:

"Wow, I didn't even know Charlie HAD a mother."

oh charlie, if only you knew.

 

[Kamtre]

Well, I think you did the right thing to voice your opinions. Stereotyping any religion is wrong, and even if the facts are right they shouldn't be said.. lol i'd extrapolate, but unfortunately, gotta go. lol

 

[Kamtre]

Ok, back again, lol.. Well, this isn't a nice subject, but I'd like to extrapolate more now. As catholics, we are subject to bigotry, just like other religions, but we are bigoted by those of our own faith. We worship mary, we bow down to statues of Mary, we worship saints, and so on. Thus we are evil. (I know this because I was quite against catholocism until a couple friends over the years were patient enough to explain this stuff) Anyways, because of this, we know what it is like to be stereotypes, and we thus aviod doing it. Christians at large aren't bigoted about, or if they are, they are too indulged in their firm belief that it doesn't affect them at all. It is pointless to argue with someone who is completely closed-minded. You may say you two are debating but it is really just arguing, because neither of you will change sides if the other makes a really good point. Lol, going off on a tangent here But basically all you can do is pray for her to be more open minded, and explain to her softly why being a bigot helps nobody. If you walk into a debate bigoted (because when you are bigoted, you tend to be very rude, without even knowing it sometimes) you have almost no chance of changing the other person's mind, and you will probably turn them right off of christianity permanately. Fundamentalism is for people who want to feel more secure by judging others and being Holier-than-thou. That's why they tend to judge everyone else.. Lol sometimes I think I should be a pastor for how many good ideas I come up with for sermons. I hope you will find a solution. I sent up a prayer for you