Home › Forums › All Things Catholic › A baptism class
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July 3, 2007 at 5:59 pm #1713AnonymousInactive
[color=darkblue:u2lxu1oj]So I was in the process of setting up my son Austin’s baptism and my priest asks me if my wife and I would like to participate in a baptism class. I said yes, and later found out that the class was a “get together” with another family from our church. I thought it was going to be with either the priest, deacon, or sister from our church, but this was fine with me. So we met the family at their house and once the introductions were done, we started with the class, which went over all the basics of baptism. The husband was the one that was going over everything, and we got to a point where he said, ” I am in communion with both the Catholic and Lutheran Church”. I just about sharded my shorts when heard him say this. I figured this was no place for a debate, and I should probably just ignore the comment and keep on with the baptism talk. But of course if you know me, I just could not let him get away with saying that without me responding to it, respectfully I might add. So anyways, after he said this, he looked me and my wife and had this refreshing/glowing smile on his face that said, “look at me, I’m mister church guy, I go to TWO churches, na nana na nana”. So I replied with, “do you receive communion in both churches”? He said he did, and started swaying his head a bit saying that some people say it’s right and some people say it’s wrong, but that he would rather play it safe and receive both because he doesn’t really know the difference. So I started talking to him about the difference between Catholic Communion and Protestant Communion. Every time I would give him some valuable information on the differences, he kept stonewalling me and started saying things like, “well every Catholic Church is different, one says you can do this and another one says you can’t”. It looked like the conversation was going from a baptism class, to a heated debate on Communion. So I ended it and kept on with the baptism talk because this “get together ” was about my son’s baptism, and not about some guys justification of receiving two entirely different Communion’s. Anyways, my question to you all here on the forum is, are you at all surprised that my church would designate a family who is not in full communion with the church, to teach baptism classes to other Catholic families? Also, should I inform my priest about this or should I just let it go, not a big deal kind of thing? [/color:u2lxu1oj]
July 3, 2007 at 7:19 pm #8522About Catholics TeamKeymasterYes, I am very surprised actually. I know in my ministry I would never allow something like that to happen. However, people aren’t always as revealing about themselves as you would like them to be. In other words, during the screening process, whoever is responsible for organizing baptism classes at your church may not have been told by this family that they are going to disseminate heretical beliefs. Then again, the staff at your church might be heretics too.
Definitely bring it up with the pastor. That might help clue you in on what kind of parish staff you have.
I think it’s a huge deal.
July 3, 2007 at 9:49 pm #8523AnonymousInactiveBring it up, you betcha. The priest may or may not know about the situation. Unfortunatly what he said is true. From one parish to the next, you don’t know what you are going to get nowadays.
There are formal and material heretics out there, that is some who fall into heresy by their own ignorance of the Faith, and others who knowingly espouse heresy and hope to influence others. This is evident in both the clergy and the laity. Arguments usually don’t convince people, just look at Ron K who used to dive bomb this board. Prayer and honest dialogue does work. Emphasis on the prayer. You can add to that study from good solid Catholic resources.
I know I’ve seen priests invite non-catholics and even non-christians to communion with comments like, “Everyone here is invited to come up to communion, you don’t have to be Catholic or even Christian, what communion is, is a symbol of our love for each other.” To a wedding for a woman I knew who attended a schismatic Latin Mass, the priest told the congregation that communion would not be destributed except to the couple, and anyone who came back to the Chapel would have to be screened by him as people who believed that Popes John XXIII through John Paul II where valid Popes would be excluded from the altar rail. (This was a few years back) So it is true that from parish to parish, and even among the Traditional Latin Mass crowd, (Both those loyal to the Pope and those in schism) you may here things that do not agree with what the Church teaches. Another important reason to learn ones Faith well.
July 4, 2007 at 3:57 pm #8524AnonymousInactiveI would definitely check this couple out(I hope they don’t teach Sunday school also),tell your priest about him and I hope he has a good talk with him and if nothing changes them I would select another parrish.He for SURE isn’t a devout Catholic.
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