| Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
|---|---|---|
| false teaching? | Phoenix | Monday, April 11, 2011 |
Question: I want to go back to the Catholic Church but things have not gone right for a couple of years. I am getting very discouraged. Went to Catholic Mass today. Priest was teaching on Love and with all his teaching he implied God is Love only. OK, he focused only on the love part, which is alright but not balanced; I would have liked to see it more balanced. But, I can live with that. Then he said "the Old Testament God (the punitive God) was an imagination of the people at that time. First time listening to this priest, I became upset and confronted him at the exit about his false gospel. He denied that he said that, and I repeated what he said and said that he was lying. I was so angry. Then he said that “there is a saying in Philosophy that just because you make one statement, it does not exclude the other.” Well, I should have said, that if you tell half the truth, then you are telling a lie. I could not pursue it further as lots of people were vying for his attention and congratulated him on his “love” talk. In this church the parishioners have said “the Muslims pray to the same God (implying they are saved), “ and “all people will go to heaven.” This is not the church I grew up with. I feel like locking myself away from the church and just staying with God by myself and that’s it. I know we are not supposed to do that. Am I wrong? What’s wrong? At least I got the communion, though I almost ran away. |
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| Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r)
Dear Phoenix: Sorry for the delay in responding. There is no excuse for locking yourself away from the Church. There is no excuse for not celebrating the Holy Mass (unless one is genuinely sick, infirmed, or has employment that prevents it). You are not going to Mass for the priest or the people. You are going to Mass to worship God. Even if the priest and all around you are a bunch of liberal loons, so what? You are not there for them; you are there for our Lord. It is a sad thing when our parishes are intertwined, or even overrun, with liberalism. Sadder still is when there are no other parishes in the area to attend that may be more orthodox. But, none of this excuses abandoning Jesus to the abusive liberals. If you leave the Church, or stop going to Church, then you are not abandoning a liberal priest or liberal congregation, you are abandoning Christ. In doing so, you are risking your soul. Even if the parish is so loony that you cannot in good conscience participate in parish activities, that does not matter. You can, should, and better attend the Holy Mass anyway to receive the Blessed Sacrament (and go to the parish to receive the Sacrament of Confession). You can receive the Sacraments and leave after Mass. You are not required to fellowship, eat donuts in the the Fellowship Hall, or anything else. When you said that you received communion the other day, I hope you were properly disposed. If you have been missing Mass over these issues, then you would not have been in a state of grace and would need Confession before receiving. We are required to celebrate Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation (unless properly indisposed) upon pain of grave sin. I know that many good and loyal sons and daughters of the Church feel and perhaps are isolated, like the Church has left them. But, the Church (which is the Bride of Christ) never abandons us, even if her servants are loons, the Church herself never abandons us. If we abandon her then we risk our souls to hell. Instead, attend the parish for the Sacraments only, if needed, and seek the fellowship and support in the Faith from other sources. There are many other ways to get this support. For example, we have a discussion group, linked below, and there are other Internet discussion groups that are loyal to the Church. You may have a local chapter of a Third Order. Check that out. But, under no circumstances abandon Jesus in the Sacrament because the Homilies are frivolous or even incorrect in its teaching, or that congregants think things that are contrary to the faith. Your soul depends upon it. God Bless,
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