Home Forums Introductions Here To Learn…

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #2057
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hello, I’m Pumpkin!

    My Mother was raised a Catholic in Ireland in the 60s and 70s. She moved to England in 1980, where she met and married my Father. She’s told us (me, my sisters and brother) very little about her upbringing and we are always made to feel as though we shouldn’t ask. I have asked my Father, he doesn’t know much either.
    She gave us all traditional Irish names and sent us all to Catholic primary and secondary school however, she had none of us Baptised. When I was very young, I asked her why (since I was the only child in my my class who didn’t receive Holy Communion) and the answer I got has stayed with me: “I didn’t like the priest”. In addition to this, she seems to have a phobia of nuns. I put this down as something to do with her upbringing.
    These things (being none of my business and if she doesn’t want to tell me, I don’t want to know) have left me quite confused about my own religious beliefs. When I was very young, I was almost obsessive about Religious Studies at school. I would listen intently at Mass, I knew all the words to all our prayers and hymns but I started to lose interest when I realised that I wasn’t learning anything. I was just repeating words, I didn’t know what they meant. I wasn’t learning about religion, I was being told that I was bad.
    Now I pray in my own way, not just when I need help or strength but also to give thanks. I’d like to go to Mass but I don’t know if I’ll be accepted.

    I’m very confused! :/

    #10068

    Welcome, pumpkin! It sounds like you’ve made quite a journey. Was your father Catholic too?

    #10069
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    No, I think he’s Church of England but not very religious at all. There were prayers and hymns at his Mother’s funeral but it wasn’t in a church.

    #10072
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Welcome Pumkin:

    I’ve been away for a bit, and saw your posting this morning. First of all, yes you are welcome at Mass. Everyone is welcome to assist at Mass. Not just those who approach the altar for communion. By attending you may make yourself availible to the Graces God gives to each of us which strengthen our faith.

    Unfortunatly what your mother said about the priest and nuns is not clear. There are people who don’t like police, or people with long hair, sometimes it is because of something that happened in their past, other times there is no reason. An individual priest may have snapped at her once when she was a kid, who knows if she did not share it with you. But the reality is that the priest when he is preforming the rites that the Church gives us in the Sacraments is not acting on his own authority, it is Jesus who acts upon our souls through the Sacrament. It is Jesus who gave us the Sacrament, and His priesthood that the individual priest exercises, not the priest’s own personal posession. If the priest is a nice person, or an old grouch, it does not matter when it comes to the graces of Sacrament that he dispenses.

    I’d say, go to Mass, discover what it is that the Church teaches, remember that we are all humans, and one of the best things we can do for ourselves is to live each day with the intent of improving ourselves. Through our own personal prayer life, which can include prayers in our own words, Mass, and the other Sacraments, as well as any of the hundreds of approved devotions of the Church, we can do this. Don’t let the fact that not everyone puts an effort into changing and improving their lives through the Sacraments stop you from investigating how you can benefit from living life as a Catholic

    #10077
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thank you.
    I’ll go to Mass. I’ll let you know how it goes!

    #10078
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Welcome the forum.

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.