NOT a pope thread, but a questions for DU Catholics

[youthere]

I don't want to talk about the pope. I want to know from the practicing Catholics here on DU:
What is it about the Catholic church that "feeds" you? I'm not being sarcastic I truly want to understand. I have been a protestant my entire life, and don't understand much about the Catholic church. Thanks!

[patrice]

1. The Mystical Body of Christ

to which all humans have a "right".

(re my use of " ", language can be a trap, i try not to mistake the word for the reality to which it REFERS.)

[rene moon]

2. Feeds me? Nothing really

I left the Church after my confirmation at age 16. Being considered a second-class citizen was enough to make me leave. I was confirmed at the request of my parents and then, that was it.

I do hold onto my faith in the Virgin of Guadalupe. She is a great comfort to me and she stands for peace and love---how can that be wrong?

I do miss the singing in Mass though---funny enough.

[elfin]

3. My "cafeteria Catholic" friends like the rituals

which hearken back to childhood. It gives them some sort of comfort that I (as a non-Catholic) have a hard time understanding.

[Kathryn7]

4. Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Body, blood, soul and divinity.

[Bridget Burke]

5. First, tell us what you get out of Protestantism.

There may not be as many differences as you think.

[youthere]

12. Mostly, I'm sad to say

it was to hate and/or fear Catholics, Jews, and basically anyone who was not a Missouri Synod Lutheran (and before I get flamed, I understand not all MSL churches are this way, but the church I was raised in was.) I left the MS and the church for a long time. I married a liberal Presbyterian and I find real purpose in the sainthood of all believers. I celebrate the Lords supper where everyone is welcome to partake, and there is no need for altars. In this particular faith tradition I love the fact that we celebrate the resurrection, the new life in Christ Jesus as opposed to some protestant traditions that remain fixed on the crucifixion. There's something communal about the protestant tradition in the way that each person becomes an integral part. It's hard to describe, but we nourish each other through our collective faith. I am fed through the idea that even though I am a wife and a mother that I am also a minister of the church and that if I felt called to do so, could become an ordained pastor (again, not all protestant traditions make this possible), and yet still, there is this underlying coldness within my tradition towards Catholicism. Even in this very liberal church there seems to be an unspoken understanding among many (not all) that they are superior spiritually to Catholics or that Catholicism cannot possibly be a sustaining faith. I never realized it until the death of the popes, and it became something of a "joke" within the church (I'm ashamed to admit, and not among all but many). Sneers, flip comments about making Joyce Meyer the new pope, and just stupid little asides injected into conversation. I'm sorry, I didn't plan on a rant.

[atreides1]

6. Good Question

I've been wondering that very same thing myself. I was a Catholic, baptized, and even went to cathechism. But I lost interest when I was about 12. Since then I've attended Baptist, Mormon, Muslim, and
even praticed Buddhism for awhile.

I finally found a place to belong, the Episcopalian church, so far they have been the most tolerant, at least the 2 churches that I've been a member of.

[mapatriot]

7. Catholic "nourishment".

I am nourished by the universality of the church. I can go to mass anywhere in the world and it is the same service with the same unique beliefs under the umbrella of the same leadership and doctrine.

I am nourished by how the church centers me. As I become "pulled" to differing views on morals and values, the church provides me with a clear course through the "mine field". Not an EASY course, but a well deliniated one.

I am nourished by the example of so many priests and religious who devote their lives to the service of God and who are always there for me as I've needed them over my 57 years.

I am nourished by the history of the church - a history which I can trace clearly back to Christ himself and to Peter, the first leader of the church.

I am nourished by the humanity of the church. With the many human failings of church leaders over the centuries, the church ALWAYS returns to it's roots and to it's divine mission.

I am nourished by a church that I know in my heart and mind is both a creation of and an instrumentality of Christ himself.

[napi21]

8. I would suspect most Catholics you meeet were raised Catholic.

I went to 12 years of Catholic school, and we had religion class evryday. We were all taught that the Catholic Church is the only TRUE church, and all other Christian religions were started by Catholics who left because of some dissagreement with the church teachings. Most things you are told you must accept on faith, and we do. I guess, after so many years, part of the reason I stay with the Catholic Church is the fear of the unknown.

Some say there is no heaven or hell, but what if they're wrong?

We're told we will spend eternity in hell if we do not repent for our sins before death.

I suppose I'm not the perfect example of a great Catholic, because I remember, when we were taught that all jews were going to hell because Jesus said follow me or you will not be saved. I just can't believe God created an entire group of people who he doesn;t care enough about to want them in heaven with him too. I still feel that way. I've had that argument with a protestant minister, and he told me I was wrong too!

All in all, I guess the Catholic faith gives me hope that if I am a good person who tries to treat others like I want to be treated, some day I will be rewarded with eternity in heaven too.

[liberal_in_GA]

9. I was raised Catholic

and even went to Catholic school for 16 years, college included. I don't practice today and my growing disenchantment with the church was solidified over how they handled the pedophilia problem. But I think for some Catholics (and this was certainly true in the town where I grew up) it's as much a culture as a religion (akin to Judaism or Islam, I guess) which makes it very difficult to break from entirely. My mother, for example, sprinkles holy water on my car every time I'm going on a long drive—a little extreme, I know, but these are the things that stay with you, even when belief in the doctrine and leaders is long gone.

[TheFarseer]

10. If you're a good person, try to do the right thing and believe

in Jesus, you will be rewarded with heaven. Isn't that a great message?

[Submariner]

11. "Fear of the Lord"

When I was a catholic, fear of the lord fed me to stay in line with the cult teachings. Fear of the lord was a very powerful driver that kept me as a believer in their teachings lest i stray and burn in hell for eternity. As a little kid fear of the lord is what fed my so-called soul.

I now see the fear of the lord business as brainwashing, or religious terrorism. Fortunately, since I have become a scientist and have realized that these gods are just figments of our barbarian history and fairy tales, that fear of the lord nonsense has left me and I am very comfortable realizing we are all just star stuff, as Carl Sagan so eloquently put it.

[Warpy]

13. By the age of 10, I had come to realize

that the only places for women in Mother church were as punching bags or cleaning ladies, and that includes the nuns. Nothing fed me spiritually, and the main thing I remember was boredom.

However, I do appreciate some of the ritual, which has an odd sort of beauty about it.

I know people from Europe who are as cynical as I am but who are regular churchgoers. They tell me it's their way of connecting to their past.

Perhaps this might be true here, too. Or perhaps not.