I asked a question on a social media site about what if you don’t like your priest and you refuse Eucharist from him. I got a lot answers.
This is what I replied: START
I feel like it is silly to respond to each of you individually with a copy and paste “thank you.”
So I just chose the first answer to reply to all of you.
I thank you for your time, honesty, compassion, and effort you put into all your answers.
Maybe I shouldn’t have become Catholic at all. The Parish into which I was initiated—St. Marys, Albany, NY—I had never felt such a connection to a Church as I did to St. Mary’s. The Peoria, Illinois Diocese is very conservative. Even if the message was read word for word from an online article I never heard to criticism in NY and PA that I hear in Ill.
I love Saint Mary’s and Saint Patrick’s in Milford, PA. I did not have issues any of the priests there.
I want to be a good Catholic, but maybe it’s in vain. And, no I am not going to be born again. I have been pulled toward Catholicism since I was a child.
It’s not just a matter of hearing things I don’t agree with—it’s the tone, attitude, and…
The first reason I walked out was because the substitute priest made a joke about a using a dead woman to fish for lobster. Last Saturday I walked out because I was told by the priest “in persona Christi” that the only place one could worship God was in a church with other people. You cannot worship God in the woods or anywhere else. And, he basically said that we should be in Mass every Sunday because that is the only time worshipping God works. You can pray, but not worship God alone. He also felt he had the right to replace the Nicene/Apostles’ Creed with a two verse song that I think he wrote.
I don’t take the Eucharist from a Eucharistic minister. Only from an ordained priest. I wear a veil to Mass. I believe every word of the Nicene and Apostles’ creed. I believe in transubstantiation. I don’t believe in the entire catechism. I wish I could but I don’t. I am part of the Eastern Star Masonic Order. I grew up with the Masons (my father is one) and I KNOW there is nothing anathema to the Catholic Church in Mason. Technically, I should be excommunicated. I can’t be 100% prof-life. I know priests are people who sin and makes mistakes. Hell, I make them all the time. Like every 15 minutes.
In my heart I can’t accept that missing Mass is a mortal sin. I value the sacraments. I value Mother Mary. I value the Saints. I value Pope Francis.
But, I cannot abide by the constant negativity that I here in this diocese. No where else, and I also went to a Catholic college, have I heard this kind of ”fire and brimstone.”
When I was 30 and at my Sister-in-Law’s funeral, I swore I would never attend a Mass again. The priest talked only about sin and the consequences of a life not lived according to all the rules.
I have had epiphanies in Mass. In this diocese, I met with the usual priest and I don’t agree with him on everything—but I respect him. He doesn’t spew “fire and brimstone.”
At 37 I was initiated and confirmed into the Catholic church. I felt so wonderful to be a part of something so great and true.
I left the Protestant Church as a teenager because of the “YOU WILL GO TO HELL” if you…
I love confession--it's a precious sacrament as long as you are not made to feel worse about yourself. Confession is supposed to be healing.
Those priests who did molest children…were they “in persona Christi” during Mass? I am NOT comparing the priests I have dealt with to child molesters. NOT AT ALL. And I DO NOT believe the Catholic Church is filled with molesters. There are child molesters in every organization.
I have done Catholic Bible Studies and I am enlightened! Amazed!
But, I don’t believe that you can’t worship God outside of a Church building. That goes against my fundamental belief of God. When my Dad is in the woods “hunting,” really he goes to the woods not to hunt but to think and pray. Don’t tell him his worshipping God doesn’t count there.
I know I am a sinner. I just in my heart of hearts—believe that Christ and Pope Francis would NOT tell my other sister-in-law, who after several attempts finally took her own life—that she is an adulterer and fornicator in the confessional when her marriage wasn’t even in the Catholic Church.
In my heart of hearts I can’t believe Pope Francis and Christ would say you cannot worship God outside a community church building.
Maybe, I’m not really a Catholic. Maybe I am a fraud. I am not giving up on all that I believe—but maybe the Catholic Church would be better off without me “pretending” to be on of Her own.
Maybe I will just have to hope for God’s mercy.
Thank you again.
END
Smoke ‘em if ya’ got ‘em. God Bless
In the name of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Mother Mary, Saint Brigid; Saint Jude; Saint Therese Lisieux; Saint Peter; Archangel Michael, and my Guardian Angel, Jed.
Grateful For:
Health
Oreo pie
Angel
Time
Mom’s lasagna
Great iced coffee
Reading and smoking quietly without a timer on
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