Finding a Community
I consider myself to be a true Catholic. Baptized and Confirmed a Catholic, it is my faith. I have attended a few other churches with friends, but have found that the mass is my only true way of worshiping and hearing God's plan for me.
My problem has not to do with controversy or the often critized traditionalist nature of Catholicism. I simply can not find a spiritual home in my area. I have attended every church in my area and each has its own unignorable fault that impedes my spirituality.
One constantly warns of the damnation and horror of hell, and another has a speaker come each week to promote a voting agenda (hmmm, separation of church and state; "you've turned my Father's house into a marketplace").
I need the sound advise of a Catholic expert as to an alternative. I am not pleased to compromise, but I need to find the closest alternative to Catholic church so I may worship with a happy heart. Please advise!
QUESTION from Alicia on May 17, 2004
ANSWER by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM on May 21, 2004
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Dear Alicia: You may not like my advice. You say you want to find a place to worship "with a happy heart." Well, God does not promise us happiness. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, but happiness is never promised. Our Blessed Mother spoke to little Bernadette of Lourdes and told her that she could not promise happiness for Bernadette in this life, only in the next. The worship of God is not directly tied to entertainment, to comfort, to tranquility, or to happiness. We worship God for its own sake, not for our comfort and happiness. We worship God because He is God. It does not matter if the place we are in is a place of happiness or not. Since you are Catholic you MUST go to Mass each and every Sunday unless you are sick or have some other good reason. Not finding a parish to your liking is NOT a good reason. To fail in attending Mass each week is a grave sin. If there are no parishes around "to your liking" then just pick one and begin celebrating Mass, receive Confession, and go to adoration at that parish. If you suffer having to be in a parish you don't like then the mature thing to do is to offer that suffering up to God for the conversion of the priest and the people of that parish. If we accepted suffering more, and gripped less, and offered that suffering up to God, the whole world would be converted. A Catholic has no alternative than to attend a Catholic Mass. Thus the "alternative" for you is to pick a Catholic parish, any Catholic parish, and start attending the liturgies there. If the parish is half-dead, and the priest acts like death-warmed over, or whatever the problems might be, then offer all that up to God. If you do anything less than this then you really are compromising.
God Bless, For Assistance with Spiritual Warfare problems please go to our How We Can Help You page. For a direct link to sample Spiritual Warfare prayers see our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog |