Crippleman Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Hello everyone, I am new to this whole religious business so please bear with me. I am in my early fifties and I have been searching for a sense of belonging and faith for years. I am a Roman Catholic from birth and am proud of that in as much as it was the faith given to me by my father. Explanation time: - My father, Pat O'Callaghan was a troubled man, he was a British Parachute Regiment Officer who saw and did some things that haunted his soul. He was captured in WWII and in POW camp he examined his faith and all World religions but decided that his faith is what worked for him. When I was born in 1961, he passed that faith on to me and the died when I was six months old. He had PTSD until the day he died so his name and faith is all he could give me. I find now that there are some great parts to being a Catholic but there are also to parts that I cannot in all good conscience adhere to. I feel that the leadership of the Church is becoming increasing isolated and out of touch with 21st Century Earth and the present Pope is not far short of a disappointing joke. I struggle to believe that I have written that. Many of the bible's teachings seem problematic to me but as a code to live by, it is a pretty good tool. I personally believe that one must accept that the bible was written for an audience of people who by and large had an extremely limited perspective on the World due entirely to their circumstances at the time. The various writers of the bible knew this and so tailored their lessons to be understandable to the audiences back then. How do you explain evolution and basic astronomy to people who only understand seasonal crop rotation and animal husbandry? You tell them in the simplest terms possible, highlighting the power of God. Hence the creation story. God is still everything to do with evolution it's just that the whole creation process is somewhat difficult to explain in one book of the bible! Because my first marriage failed (I am still on excellent terms with my ex-wife but we just realised we were not right for each other), I am not allowed to take a full part in Catholic mass and my second marriage is not recognised by the Church. Why should true love that has produced a beautiful and extremely gifted little girl into the World be regarded as null and void? I have never believed in heaven and hell because according to my faith, I was damned to hell when I was seven years old because I told a nun to f**k off after she slapped me for about the twentieth time in three days for incorrectly reciting some doctrine or other that at that age I didn't understand anyway. What I have heard the Bishop say so far has me excited, perhaps I have found a place to hang my spiritual hat? Is a man like me welcome here? Seán O'Callaghan PS I am wheelchair bound due to an automobile accident, hence the screen name 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvtosew Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Sean, Hi, I'm new also, and I was born and raised a RC, and was one for well over 50 years. I am non practicing now, I can say I don't know anymore. Its very difficult I know, I became home bound due to illness and joined a RC message forum and after two years I said this is not what I believe, and so then I went to regular Christian forums and well I no longer believe in the virgin birth or trinity, or a God that destroys, I now believe the killing in the Bible was man, and man saying it was God. I feel it was wrote by man and their views of God and is full of stories, myths and fables. My whole family is Rc and I have no one to talk to so I'm here. I think this is a good place as we can believe but not believe all the stuff, like transubstantiation and all the Marian dogmas. I believe in God, and we all worship him differently, and I do believe in an afterlife. All ancients people believed in a God or Gods. I have been able to tell no one how I feel, and its been a very difficult few years for me, its been hard realizing all this stuff and I just thought everything the RCC taught was truth. So your not alone, I understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephM Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Sean, You are welcome here as anyone. I am also of the Roman Catholic background back when Latin was the language of Mass. Spiritually speaking, it seems to me best to take one step at a time and allow that which is in you to do the leading. Glad to have you here. Joseph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulS Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Sean, You are most welcome here. All of us carry baggage of one kind or another. It's always thrilling for me to read of other people joining here so that they can share, where otherwise they wouldn't be able to. I am glad that so many of us are receiving healing of sorts. I hope you enjoy participating here. Cheers Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romansh Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Baggage? He ain't heavy he's my brother Welcome Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soma Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Sean and Cripleman welcome, I am now reading the Catholic mystics. They seem to have been pushed in a closet and kept a secret because their experience was far beyond the Catholic institution. At their time there was not science or psycology so they express their spiritual experience using flowery language and many metaphors. I liked the mass when it was in latin, no meat on Fridays and you had to fast all day before communion because it seemed to alter the consciousness, but they have gone away from that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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