Was wondering if we could actually get through this thread without someone crapping in it. Oh, well.
Got to 39 posts before someone was even a little rude. That’s doing pretty well, I think.
The church isn’t going anywhere, even if you work on it another year.
Alternatively, I suspect that with the amount of reading you’ve done, you might even be able to make a case that you have a head start on the process anyway. (Frankly, how much does anyone really learn in 26 two-hour sessions, what with clarifications for those who do not understrand a point, discussions/arguments among people who disagree on points, a bit of witnessing, and the occasional missed evening because of work, weather, or illness?) Don’t get me wrong: I think the process is wonderful and I really enjoy participating, but moving into communion with the church is a life-long process and you probably already understand more than most kids receiving their first Communion. We encourage people to come to our RCIA to discover whether they wish to become Catholic and if they want or feel a need to spend more than one year considering it or ultimately choose to not join, there are no recriminations or hard feelings. I would hope that if you had your heart set on the Easter Vigil for 2007, either your pastor or RCIA coordinator could make provisions to aid you. Alternatively, you might just aim for 2008 or ask about continuing the education and being initiated at another time of year. (I’m just throwing out lots of considerations and I am not trying to tell you to pick a specific plan.)
Actually, I agree. I’ve rather enjoyed the thread, myself.
tom, we think we’ve got a head start on the process as well, and we’re trying not to be spiritually prideful about it. We both really want to be able to undergo the Sacrament of Reconciliation and be received so that we can participate fully in the Eucharist, but if we can’t for another year, I guess it’s a marvellous opportunity to work on patience and obedience.
Two things it’s not good to pray for, along with humility and suffering.
I’m glad there are at least two of us enjoying this thread. Everyone’s stories are interesting.
Isn’t it odd how people who were brought up Catholic can’t seem to get away from it? I have several friends who no longer go to Mass or actively practice Catholicism in any shape or form, yet when asked about their religion they will say something about being Catholic, even if it is “former Catholic” or “fallen away Catholic.”
Anyway, another cradle Catholic here. My mom converted when she married my dad, but since then she’s become much more devout than he ever was. When I lived with my parents the whole family went to church every Sunday, went to confession twice a year, fasted on Fridays during Lent, etc, etc. Now that I’m by myself I’m much more lax - I’ll go to Mass once a month, tops.
I went through a major crisis of faith during my teenage years and even had what I call my “dark Pagan” phase, in which I became convinced my personal beliefs were much closer to branches of Paganism than they were to Catholicism. I grew out of that near the end of high school, but I don’t consider myself a proper Catholic anymore - when people ask I say I’m a fallen-away Catholic. To me that means that I can see myself reaffirming my faith in the future, but for now, I’m, well, fallen.
Sorry I’m late to your thread, LiLi.
I’m a cradle Catholic, too. I went to a parochial school until 8th grade, and am not anywhere near as well-read in Catholic writings as you and Mr. Lissar.
Not really a traditional Catholic. I have major disagreements with official stances on women’s issues, but figure that’s one of the human elements that the Church will get past eventually, even if it’s not in my lifetime. I like to think I’m working for change from within. The church I attend gives women as much opportunity as possible to participate and the community members I interact with the most share my opinions.
For about 10 years, I rarely went to church and tried attending other similar churches (Lutheran and Episcopal), but nothing else felt right. I think it just has to do with being at home. For some people home is where they grew up; others find home somewhere else. As far as my spiritual home, I’ve decided (for the moment, at any rate) that the Catholic Church, warts and all, is where mine is.
I’ve become more and more active over the past 10 years. Much of it has to do with being part of a specific parish where I feel at home both spiritually and emotionally. Some of it has to do with being at a point in my life where it’s what I need. I’m more comfortable with service ministries (garden, food preparation, social justice), but am slowly able to include more intellectual aspects.
For me, belief and faith are constant struggles, but the church gives me a context for them.
Really interesting thread - I’ve loved reading about everyone’s experiences. That’s a really neat take on the rosary, WhyNot.
GT
I was born Catholic. Then during college I left the Church, largely because my childish concept of God and religion and Christianity had not yet caught up with my adult mind in toher things. Later I started attending again, and reading the works of the great theologians (very slowly, mind). Now it’s like a whole new world opened up, which I couldn’t even conceive of before.
I’m still a jerk, though. But I try harder not to be.
Evelyn Waugh was asked how he, a prominent Catholic convert, could be so rude, and he replied, “Madame, were it not for the Faith, I should scarcely be human.”
The guy who’s supposed to be doing the process with us just called, and he’s coming over tomorrow to meet us. He hasn’t done RCIA before, so this should be interesting. I’m going out clubbing tonight- I’ll try to hide the goth stuff before he arrives. No blasting Assemblage 23 and NIN tomorrow afternoon.
Would that be as opposed to those who know how to do it and dont need to practice anymore ?
Yeah, but doesn’t maintaining any skill require practice?
We met with the guy who’s doing the process with us, and he’s awesome, and somewhat appalled at our being told that we ought to wait until our lives were in the right shape for us to be able to attend the other course. He left us a bunch of reading, but it’s mostly basic, and he thinks we’ve covered lots of ground already, so we’ll probably going to get to talk about all sort of interesting stuff that we wouldn’t get to cover if there were any other people going through with us. We’re already familiar with a number of authors that he mentioned, and everything looks good.
He and his wife will be our guides/mentors/process leaders, and he volunteered to sponsor us, too. He gave us pretty rosaries.
Thank you, St. Jude, patron saint of hopeless causes. I thought I should update anyone who’s interested. I’m very excited.
That’s a question I’ve never understood. If you moved to another country as an adult, do you think you’d become “of” the new country completely, forget the language you grew up with, the assumtions you learned as a child, stop caring about the land you left behind? You think your stomach wouldn’t do a sommersault when you saw some food from the old country? Being Catholic is a whole way of being… I know many migrants who have tried to become of the new country, but all of them confess to tummy sommersaults
I was thinking something along those lines about my father lately. He goes to daily Mass and can still be something of a pill; imagine if he didn’t go! :eek:
OK, just for kicks let’s see…(please disregard spelling errors):
Ave Maria, Gratia plena
Dominus tecum
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Et benedicta fructus ventris tui Jesus
Sancta Maria, Mater dei
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae
Amen
As far as the Act of Contrition, the only one I remember by heart is the one from when I was little “Oh my God, I am sorry that I have sinned. Please forgive me. I know you love me and want to love you and be good to everyone. Help me to make up for my sins and try to do better from now on. Amen.” For the adult ones, I have to carry a card into the confessional!
The Jesus Prayer is always good- “Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. I don’t know any Acts of Contrition yet. And the Desert Fathers prayer, “Lord, as Thou wilt and as Thou knowest, have mercy.”
I can do the Anglican one at hyperspeed, though. “AlmightyandmostmercifulFatherwehaveerredandstrayedfromThywayslikelostsheep,wehavefollowedtoomuchthedevicesanddesiresofourownhearts…”
OMG! (sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
All confessionals I’ve been to have it taped to the wall inside. It’s pretty similar to the kiddy version, I think. “…In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you, whom I should love above all other things. I solemnly promise to sin no more…” That’s the only bit I remember.
The prayers that are done in usual Mass, I could probably recite in my sleep.
I was going to ask you in the MMP how the RCIA issues had played out, LiLi. Thanks for the update. Sounds like you finally met up with the right person. Yay!
GT
Lissla Lissar, another convert if you’re keeping a scorecard. Neither of my parents were churchgoers by the time I came along; my dad was from a generic protestant background, while my mom’s family was raised Pentecostal. I started attending the neighborhood United Methodist church when I was probably 10 or so, and had my first real religious awakening at the age of 15 while away at a youth conference. Throughout this I always found the occasional glimpses of liturgy in Methodist services to be fascinating (the hymnal had the slightly watered down Methodist version of a Church of England Eucharist.)
By the time I got to college I was actively looking for something with a higher liturgical content than most Protestant churches, and began attending a fairly High Church Episcopal parish (which also happened to have an active Charismatic community, but that’s a whole 'nother story.) When I started attending Mass with my future cradle Catholic wife, I was just about ready to finish the whole reverse-historical sequence (i.e., Methodist->Anglican->Roman.) I took individual instruction from a priest, and I think I was the last one in the parish to do so as the RCIA became mandatory in the diocese later that year. I made my profession, first confession and first communion on Mardi Gras in 1980.
Since then I’ve been a lector, extraordinary minister, parish council member, taught CCD, and been part of the pre-Cana team. And, as a faithful Catholic Liberal, I find myself at odds with the official stance of the Church at times, but on the whole find the good far outweighs the bad.
Hah! I knew there were still a couple of uncounted Catholic! Nice to meet you, John. My best friend’s husband did a slightly different reverse-historical conversion: Free Brethren->Anglican->Catholic.
We’re really glad to finally have someone IRL take us seriously. It’s quite marvellous. We’ve just got to come up with questions regarding the first section in the handbook. I hope he’s okay with being dragged off-topic a lot. I’m not sure about working up questions regarding “God created everything, and desires our love, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him” etc.
I think it’s going to be fun, and not a painful obligation. I’m so glad.