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prayingforanswers
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| Joined: | Fri Jul 27th, 2007 |
| Location: | Missouri USA |
| Posts: | 4 |
| First Name: | Julie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Methodist/Assembly of God/attended Catholic church for 16 yrs. & thinking ... |
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Posted: Sat Jul 28th, 2007 12:17 am |
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This is my first post, and I'm not really sure how to explain all this. I've been married for 16 years and have attended the Catholic church with my husband, but never officially joined the church. This past Easter, my daughter received her first communion, and it brought up many issues for me. First of all, she wanted to know why I don't take communion in church and why I never go up for communion. Since Easter, I have begun going to the front but just being blessed by our priest since I cannot take communion. I've prayed for many, many years as to whether to join the church. I've been raised in Methodist (mom's church) and Assembly of God (dad's church) churches. I realize that many of my misconceptions about the Catholic faith have prevented me from joining, because I've always said I would join for me, not for my marriage or my husband's family. I've been researching and trying to find out more about the Catholic faith since I'm raising my children that way. There are still some things that I'm not sure I completely believe. Is this normal? I've waited so many years for God to point me in the right direction, and I wonder if maybe I've missed the signs! I am so confused as to what to do, so I could really use some prayer. Like I said, if I join the church, I want to do so because it is the right thing for me and not for someone else. (I think after 16 years people would realize that I'm not doing it for my marriage!) I am not baptized because my parents were different denominations and there were issues as to which church I should be baptized in. Any prayer or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
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Juan
Member
| Joined: | Tue Oct 17th, 2006 |
| Location: | Texas USA |
| Posts: | 247 |
| First Name: | unregister | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | unregister |
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Posted: Sat Jul 28th, 2007 01:20 am |
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Any prayer or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
I will certainly pray for you but get baptized immediately. Preferably in the Catholic Church:
Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Sincerely,
Juan
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David W. Emery
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 2429 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
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Posted: Sat Jul 28th, 2007 01:21 am |
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Welcome aboard, Julie. Perhaps your prayers for answers are themselves being answered, since they have led you to take the step of actually investigating what your family has been about all these years.
We’re all human beings, and we all have to live with the fact that we don’t know everything and can’t always see the whys and wherefores even of what we know. Religion is not just a convention; it’s the fountain of life. We begin with the fact of our existence and move, step by step, toward the creator who provided us that existence. Similarly, God is not just a “being out there”; he’s the goal of all being. So we agree that you owe it to yourself to follow the truth where you find it. This is a question of conscience.
Look around the forum, then. Judge for yourself if there is anything worthwhile here, and let us know what is on your mind.
David
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CajunRick
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Posted: Sat Jul 28th, 2007 01:55 am |
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prayingforanswers wrote:I've prayed for many, many years as to whether to join the church.
Julie, welcome to the Coming Home Network. We're happy to have you with us.
While you may think your story is unusual, in my small parish I have welcomed several people who have been members of our parish for years but never formally joined the Church. I stood as godfather for one man who attended for 35 years but had never been baptized, then as sponsor at his confirmation, and finally as best man at his marriage validation. In another case, the husband was a registered member of our parish for ten years when he was baptized, confirmed, and made his first communion at the Easter vigil on the same day that his wife made her first confession in a decade and they were remarried in front of friends and family. I could tell you other stories as well. There is one posted on the forum of a woman who attended for many years and was finally brought into the Church on her death bed, rallied enough to attend mass and receive communion once as a Catholic, and then went home and succumbed to breast cancer with a smile on her face.
We all have our own paths. Wherever yours might finally happen to lead you, we welcome you here and we hope we can help you on your journey. Then, at the end, we hope we can welcome you home.
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