Hello!

[Suudy]

I am a transplant from CAF. I've bounced around at other forums, but none have scratched the itch that CAF seemed to satisfy. I've run into some of the same folk from CAF.  But I've not run into a forum that feels like home yet.  I hope this one is!

As a little background, I am a convert. I was raised a None. My father was fairly anti-religious. When I was in high school, a group of buddies were all strong Christians attending an Assembly of God in town (one is now a pastor there!), so I tagged along. Even then it wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I was with my friends. My father started loading me up with chores to try and keep me from going, but I would get them all done. He and I got into a very big fight when I was a senior about it, and he backed down. Joining my friends, I got baptized. Well, off to college my faith was pretty wishy-washy. I didn't put a lot of effort into it. But then in '02 I got slammed by the dot-com bust and was laid off and looking for work for over a year. In my despair, the Holy Spirit moved me to rekindle my relationship, and I started a deep, honest search.

Frankly, the Catholic church wasn't anywhere on my radar. Perhaps it was some of that evangelical outlook that rubbed off on me, but I really didn't even consider the Catholic church. My father mentioned to me at some point that I was baptized in an Episcopal Church when I was a baby. So I thought, "Why not? I'll check it out." Well, I fell in love with the liturgy. It was amazing. This particular church still had the chancel rail, we'd all kneel to receive "communion". The Book of Common Prayer is filled with beautifully written prayers. So I started down the path of confirmation (as they call it), and in the classes I was confronted with, well, nothing. Seriously. There were no teachings. I remember asking the instructor, "What does the Episcopal Church believe?" The answer was, "You have to figure out your own relationship with God. The Episcopal Church is defined only by how we worship, not by what we believe." Flabbergasted, I went to the rector, and she confirmed this.

Well, that was deeply unsatisfying. So I bought this book called _Handbook of Denominations in the United States_. I wanted to find churches that had the liturgy. I found the Lutherans, Orthodox, and Catholic church. Of course the Catholic church was right off the list, you know, the whole "Whore of Babylon" and all that. So I started reading a lot about the Lutheran and Orthodox churches. I even started going to the local LCMS. But as +Newman said, "To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant." It started to dawn on me that the Catholic church isn't quite what I thought it was.

So, I joined the LCMS confirmation classes in parallel with RCIA at the local parish. The LCMS classes were going ok until we reached a point about discussion of the saints. I had read enough and asked the pastor (Yep! The pastor himself taught the class!) about if we'd pick a confirmation saint (as I had read about the Catholics doing). He replied that the saints were a nice piece of feel good imagery to remind and call us to holiness, but picking a saint's name wasn't necessary since they had no influence on us. This kicked off a discussion about prayers for the dead, asking the dead to pray for us, etc. None of the answers were satisfying, as I felt that certainly God would not cut us off from those that had come before us. This started me down the path of denying LCMS.

And in RCIA, I had an instructor that was pretty much exactly like the instructor at the Episcopal Church. When the issue of contraception came up--as it always does in RCIA--her answer was "That's between you and God." I spoke up saying, "That's true in a sense, but not what the Catechism says." She brushed me off we we continued. The next week I brought in photocopies of the Catechism specifically to that point, and she snatched them out of my hand saying, "When you have a masters degree in theology, you can teach the class!" Shocked, I sat silently through that class. Later I brought in some audio CD's I made with some talks from EWTN on a variety of topics, such as the sacraments, details on the Eucharist, praying for the dead, etc. She snatched these too saying, "ETWN is a far right, fringe group. They are not qualified to teach in the parish." After that, the priest started coming to the classes too, and it was clear it was to keep me in my place. I was done. I even called Catholic Answers and talked with Fr Pacwa, telling him these stories. He told me, "Keep your head down, get confirmed, get a degree in theology, and take her job."

Well, I ended up finishing RCIA at a different parish. And there too, I got the same kind of instruction. The old, retired priest said the same kind of things as the lady at my previous parish. But I kept my head down and got confirmed. I never got that degree in theology, but I have read quite a bit.

Anyway, I swam the Tiber in Easter '04, and think it has been the best decision I ever made in my entire life.

[Maximilian]

Fascinating story! Thanks for sharing.

Where are you today on the road to the Traditional Faith?

[mikemac]

Welcome.

[Christe Eleison]

Welcome to the forum!
May it be an edifying experience! May it help increase your prayer life!

We have a prayer section, that you could ask for prayers for yourself.
And you can also help out, by praying for others.

God Bless you!

[Christina_S]

Welcome to the forum! I'm also a former CAF member, and probably one of the very few on here who wasn't banned at CAF 

When I left, I found that CAF was allowing a lot of the dissent that you talked about experiencing in your RCIA class. Lately I've been seeing it in a Facebook group concerning Catholic NFP. There are quite a few people who claim certain things in marriage are perfectly okay to practice because their heterodox priest/Christopher West/Gregory Popcak said so...

Anyways, have you been to the Latin Mass?

[Aulef]

Welcome!

I too came from CAF, but, unlike @Christina_S, I was suspended a few times for saying things considered unsuitable by the moderators.

And this brings me to your story: to be Catholic is to be persecuted, especially those who hold firm to Tradition, Church perenial Magisterium and Sacred Scriptures.

So stand firm, have a decent prayer life and seek the Sacraments!

[Prayerful]

Welcome. Never was on CAF, which no longer is.

[red solo cup]

 

[Lynne]

Welcome to the forum! I'm also a former CAF member, and probably one of the very few on here who wasn't banned at CAF 

When I left, I found that CAF was allowing a lot of the dissent that you talked about experiencing in your RCIA class. Lately I've been seeing it in a Facebook group concerning Catholic NFP. There are quite a few people who claim certain things in marriage are perfectly okay to practice because their heterodox priest/Christopher West/Gregory Popcak said so...

Anyways, have you been to the Latin Mass?

I was at CAF for a while and survived the Trad purge of 2007!

Welcome Suudy!

[clau clau]

I am a transplant from CAF. I've bounced around at other forums, but none have scratched the itch that CAF seemed to satisfy. I've run into some of the same folk from CAF.  But I've not run into a forum that feels like home yet.  I hope this one is!
...

I reckon there are many here who have similar stories. I remember an RE* teacher, ex-nun who tried to claim Adam and Eve could have been a tribe of apes; and a priest at a retreat centre who laughed at me when I said I believed in the devil. That was in the late 1970s.

... for many are called, but few are chosen.  I suspect it was ever thus.

* - religious education

[ChairmanJoeAintMyPrez]

a priest at a retreat centre who laughed at me when I said I believed in the devil

Trad:  says anything orthodox

Modernist:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdd6_ZxX8c[/yt]

[Optatus]

Welcome! CAF is Catholic Answer Forums, at a guess?

[Lynne]

Welcome! CAF is Catholic Answer Forums, at a guess?

Yup!

[Michael Wilson]

Welcome to the Forum!
I liken this place to the description in "Lord of the Rings" of "Buck Hall", Where several generations of the Brandybuck family lived together in peace and harmony; more or less.
It is a good idea to "lurk" in this place and get to know the characters before posting; that way if one of our more "rambunctious" members gives you a tongue lashing, you wont take it personally. 
I posted once on C.A.F. A piece on the personal sanctity of General Franco; had a self described "angry atheist" attack me; and when I responded quite mildly, was accused by other members of being "uncharitable". I brushed the dust off my keyboard, and never posted anything again over there.

[Suudy]

Someone asked about my journey to traditional Catholicism.

Frankly, one of the draws for me was the liturgy.  It felt honest, sincere, reverent.  Even at that Episcopal church they at least were reverent.  The rock-n-roll type churches (especially AOG ones) never had that reverence.  And the more I dug into things, the more reverent--perhaps one might say somber--the liturgy, the more I feel God's presence.  And nothing expresses that more to me than the traditional settings, such as music, language, prayers, etc.  I find the EF the most compelling.

Unfortunately, I live in a part of Idaho that is hundreds of miles away from any EF masses.  I've been to one when traveling, and loved it, but there are no options here.  We were fortunate to have a young priest, right out of seminary, that was very traditionally minded.  He brought back Ember days, focused heavily in Advent on the penitential nature, used incense, more traditional music, even sprinkling a little Latin into the OF.  Sadly, he was transferred just about 18mo after that, and we are back to the standard secular priest.

As for my journey, I'm trying to figure out how to make my life with the Church more traditional despite the lack of resources here.  I do have a small shrine to the Holy Family, but it tends to get forgotten far more than it should.  And my work schedule doesn't let me get involved during the week with those like minded folk, nearly all of which are retired or homemakers and have time during the day.  It is a struggle and is a desire of mine, and prayers for an increase in faith and hope are appreciated.