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ReVert
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 |
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| Posts: | 4 |
| First Name: | Patty | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Unknowledgeable (nominal) Catholic - married Southern Baptist - Desperately Running ... |
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Posted: Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 11:50 am |
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Friends please help;
This may be lengthy and I apologize.
I am a cradle Catholic who, not being well catechized, chose to marry a Southern Baptist in a Southern Baptist church. For the past 12 years (up until about a year ago) I was actively involved and very happy. Then God did a remarkable thing. He seperately sent 2 anti-catholics may way in the span of about 2 months. Though I wasn't a practicing Catholic I had great affection for Catholics and wasn't about to let anybody bad talk them. I mentioned this to my sister (who a few years earlier returned to the Church with gusto (as did several other of my 8 brothers and sisters)), and she gave me Suprised By Truth. To make a long story short I'm hooked!! I have read so much (Keating, Hahn, Staples, Ray, Shea, Grodi etc...) and understand so much more than 8 years in Catholic School ever taught me!
I am married and I do have 3 children. My husband is a very good Christian man and of course my children are perfect (hee hee). Since we have moved and are looking for a church my husband has agreed to attend Catholic Mass with me. It was a long process, filled with tears and prayers, but we are going. It's not as joyous as I would like it to be but it is a start. My husband has a lot of misgivings and complaints. So much so that I recently told him I could see he was unhappy and missed his Baptist folks. I offered that we go to Baptist Church together and I go to Catholic Mass on my own EARLY Sunday. I wanted to have our marraige convalidated so I could participate in sacraments. I did not want to force him to be or do something against his will (no way to get a convert there). He said no that we would go as a family together and not 2 different churches. At that point I told him I didn't just want to attend I wanted to fully participate (as we did in the Baptist church) and raise our family Catholic.
I do no wish to overwhelm my husband and so I am taking things slowly. Nothing would thrill me more than to get those kids baptized, marriage convalidated, kids in CCD classes (or at least that is what they used to call it) all next week. My husband does not understand his Baptist roots well. (Just as I hadn't pondered my Catholic faith well) When I first tried talking to him about why I was Catholic and not Baptist he had never heard of the Scripture alone, Faith Alone theories. He does not believe 'once saved always saved' and was irritated when he found out our Baptist church subscribes to that.
The help part: After Mass yesterday he says "I liked that sermon. If only we could get the priest to double the sermon and not do 'The Lord's Supper' every week it would be a good service". He went on about people don't appreciate "The Lord's Supper" when it is done every week and that every month or once a quarter is all you need. (by the way we don't take the Eucharist for those of you holding your breath). When I tried to explain that that was the heart of worship he said. "I know it is but it shouldn't be. We are there to learn something". Obviously we have a way to go. I would like to get him something to read but am not sure where to start. . There is so much to cover and I don't know where to start. RCIA is not going to happen right now for him (I've suggested it). I have read that a lot of converts fall in love with the Mass the first time they go. Not my husband.
Any help would be appreciated.
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japhy
Member
| Joined: | Thu Apr 26th, 2007 |
| Location: | Princeton, New Jersey USA |
| Posts: | 179 |
| First Name: | Jeff / japhy | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | (Roman) Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 01:24 pm |
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ReVert wrote: After Mass yesterday he says "I liked that sermon. If only we could get the priest to double the sermon and not do 'The Lord's Supper' every week it would be a good service". He went on about people don't appreciate "The Lord's Supper" when it is done every week and that every month or once a quarter is all you need. When I tried to explain that that was the heart of worship he said. "I know it is but it shouldn't be. We are there to learn something". I don't know what books would be good reading on the matter, but I would like to address the "too frequent" argument your husband brought up.
First, why is it only "the Lord's Supper" which suffers from being done frequently? Why don't people get bored of hearing sermons and singing songs? Why don't they get bored of praying every day?
Second, the Eucharist, which is more than just a "supper", is far more important than the singing and the sermon. It is not just a memorial, it is our partaking in the Sacrifice that Jesus offered, because the Eucharist and the crucifixion are one in the same.
Third, while we do go to Mass and learn, we don't primarily go to Mass to learn. We go to worship God and, if we are prepared properly, to receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ into our very bodies.
Finally, what makes people not appreciate the Eucharist is not regularly receiving it, it's receiving it without knowing what it is, as if it were just a "supper" or just a "communion", when it is, in reality, infinitely more than that.
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[Mary said,] "Do whatever he tells you." - John 2:5
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Credo Catholic
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| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1212 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 01:44 pm |
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Hi Patty! Welcome to the forum. I think it will take a little while for your husband to learn and fully understand what the sacraments are and what they do for us. He must have heard by now that the Holy Eucharist is the living Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ. By receiving Him we are physically receiving His grace. It takes time to adjust to that way of thinking after so many years of the protestant "symbolism." I have not read "The Lamb's Supper" by Scott Hahn, but I have heard that it is good and explains a lot about the mass and especially the Blessed Sacrament. You are doing well to have your husband attend mass! There are some of us here who haven't been able to accomplish that much yet. He will learn that mass is not where we go to learn, but where we go to worship and adore God. We give to Him at that time, not the other way around. Learning is done a little as we learn the prayers and the liturgy, but learning about mass and the church is done at RCIA, or CCD, or on our own by reading and listening to others who teach. You will have to be patient and loving about this, and let him see how much it means to you and why it is the sacraments that give us the grace to love and know God. Now that I am catholic, receiving the Eucharist once a week is not enough! God bless you on your journey and that of your family! 
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Intercessor
Member
| Joined: | Tue Sep 25th, 2007 |
| Location: | Southcentral, Kentucky USA |
| Posts: | 859 |
| First Name: | Becky | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Southern Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 02:06 pm |
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Hi, Patty,
Welcome to the Forum!
Your husband's journey is going to be very different from mine. I left the Southern Baptist Church because I was already convinced that the Catholic Church was the one true Church and had accepted the Authority of the Church.
Your husband is being exposed to many truths that he is not yet ready to accept because he has not come to that conclusion. I'm sure you realize the importance of bathing him in prayer while all these truths are being presented.
A priest gave me a little book called Little Catechism on the Eucharist by Fr. Roberto Coggi. Don't expect your husband to accept everything it says. If he is willing to read it, though, at least he will have an intellectual understanding of what is being celebrated, and the Holy Spirit will have opportunities to build on what he has read.
If you need a website for ordering Catholic books, holler.
Also, if your husband would prefer listening to a CD, there are places online like the Mary Foundation, offering a low-cost CD on the Mass. Here's one: http://www.catholicity.com/cds/mass.html
Last edited on Mon Nov 12th, 2007 04:17 am by Intercessor
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"If our charity is arrested by the difficulties encountered in dealing with our neighbor, . . . our relations with our brethren are not regulated by our love of God, but by our love of self." Divine Intimacy p. 781, Fr. Gabriel, O.C.D.
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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 4981 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 02:33 pm |
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Hi, Patty, welcome to our forum.
I would suggest two books for your husband to read. The first is The Mass of the Early Christians by Mike Aquilina. It does an excellent job of showing from scripture and the writings of the Fathers that the mass is how the early Church worshipped.
The second is Scott Hahn's The Lamb's Supper: The Mass As Heaven On Earth. Dr. Hahn explains the mass in the context of the Book of Revelation and demonstrates how many of the "prophecies" included in that book actually refer to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The mass must be understood in context to truly appreciate it. In the mass, heaven touches earth and Jesus becomes truly present. We are not there to learn; we are there to worship our Savior in person!
After he has a better understanding of the true meaning of the mass, it will be time for a book on what all the different symbols of the mass mean, but that would be premature at this time.
Please let us know if we can answer any questions or help in any other way.
PS: I moved this thread to a more appropriate topic area. I hope you don't mind.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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Ali
Member
| Joined: | Sat Jan 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 622 |
| First Name: | Ali | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | JW, finally fully Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 02:59 pm |
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Hi Patty,
I don't have time for a lengthy reply at the moment, but if it helps, I was your dh four years ago. Five years ago I was agreeing to be "anything but Catholic". Now here I am teaching CCD, my daughter attends a Catholic school, and I am waiting (not so patiently) to be baptised and welcomed into the Church. Our marriage will also be blessed in the Church, as dh's delcaration of nullity was recently granted. All this will happen at once for me -- my baptism, confirmation, first communion, and our marriage.
I actually said to my dh the same thing your's said after Mass when we first started going as a family. LOL Father was sick so he said abreviated Mass's for about 6 weeks when I first started, I kept going on to dh about how much better that was than all that "ritualized" worship.
ROFLOL Oh, how far I have come. So there is hope!
All my best,
Ali
Last edited on Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 03:00 pm by Ali
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