Simcha writes: “The things they found most objectionable are some of the things which I find most appealing about the Church…”

Here! Here!! When does the whining stop? If they don’t like BEING Catholic and they can’t accept and/or believe the Teachings of the Church then WHY are they Catholic to begin with?  No one is forcing them to be Catholic, why are they trying to force the Church to NOT be Catholic?

Makes no sense to this Catholic. I wish they’d all stop whining- they give me a headache.

But they always drift back.  Without even thinking about it, they instinctively like to be in the place where they get fed.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/simcha-fisher/why-are-they-here/#ixzz1nrsmFHR5

Ah, darn it! Im the kid responsible for cleaning the kitchen! Now I can’t complain anymore because now I know that it is merely the manifestation of a desire that is created, facilitated, taught and perpetuated by the Holy Eucharist Itself! WHY DO YOU PEOPLE ALWAYS HAVE TO SHOW HOW GOD MADE THE SMALLEST REALITIES IN THE WORLD TO BE INTERCONNED AND INTERGRATED WITH HIS OWN DEEPST TRUTHS??????

Eh, I just find some other time to yell at my siblings. Great article, Fisher!

I loved the comment about your children shuffling out to pick cheerios off their socks in a place they feel more affirmed.  I literally laughed out loud, and my toddler couldn’t figure out what was so funny.  Thank you for your work, it is priceless.

I am a reformed Jezzie Catholic, and I can tell you this: the only thing that kept me from leaving the Church forever is that I knew deep in my bones that Christ is present in the Eucharist. There was a period of time where nothing else about being Catholic. But of course, if someone really believes that Christ is there, and has enough people praying for them, then they’re bound to come back.

I recently ended a 15 year friendship with another Jezzie Catholic, though I think she’s stopped practicing. Her mother used to be my CCD teacher, and now she works at Planned Parenthood. The hatred that comes out of her directed at the Church and at any pro-lifers (especially pro-life women) is truly disturbing to behold. If you can, please spare a prayer for her. She’s so lost.

The Catholic Church is a safe refuge.

I needed this.  Just fresh off a non-Catholic friend’s Facebook status about the mean priest in DC who denied a lesbian Communion at her own mother’s funeral.  Because with the unrest in Afghanistan, the brewing conflict between Israel and Iran, rising gas prices, a presidential primary, etc., an internal church matter is front page news.  Regardless of how one feels about the priest’s actions, it was readily apparent everyone jumping on my friend’s bandwagon had no clue what “Communion” means to Catholics.  Or should mean, anyway.

Don’t you think the kids congregate in the kitchen to be near their mother?  Food is the excuse! :)

All I can say is that Catholicism is a life long process of the Incarnation.  At some point in the process you gotta buy into that and let go.  Grace makes it easier, so fill up!

I came into the Church last Easter and I am perhaps even more baffled than you about these Catholics who aren’t Catholic but still call themselves Catholic.  I was a worldling in every sense of the word (altho I think that word evokes images of elflings and dragonlings and so don’t find it as toothsome as I would like).  I was, before my conversion, an out and proud lesbian feminist; I am no longer those things and am in full and complete, hook, line and sinker, agreement with the Church, the teachings, the Magisterium.  I’m in love with Jesus and it just makes my blood boil when I hear people like Jezzie Catholics denigrate the Church.  I figure if God can bring someone like me into the Church, and show me the Truth that She teaches, then some people are just being willfully hard-headed.

Simcha, your post here has made me think of this in a different light.  It is surely the Eucharist, as you say, so powerful, so beautiful, bringing them back, in spite of themselves.

I love being Catholic!  My story is at http://newbcatholic.blogspot.com/

YEP. Exactly! I grew up in the Church, but in all honesty I have to consider myself a convert because I knew NOTHING about Catholicism until several years ago. It was “like, um, Jesus and stuff. He was cool.”  The Pope was an Old White Guy whose statements and actions were informed by his status as such. The Blessed Eucharist was snack time, Confession was wholly unnecessary (and I don’t think I went even once apart from preparing for First Communion at age 7). All of us were just roaming around, calling ourselves Catholic, wondering when “the Pope” and “the Establishment” were going to get with the program and follow in our enlightened footsteps.

Lord have mercy!

Here’s a question though (related to the main subject of the usual criticisms of Catholicism). How can the modern view of sex be so schizophrenic?  It’s like - “Hey, lighten up guys, sex is no big deal!” and simultaneously “Don’t question the morality of sex - we will DIE without having sex whenever and however we want, with no restrictions! It’s like AIR, dudes!” I feel a lot more sane since I joined the Catholic view of sex, that it IS a really big deal, but it’s not the ONLY deal. And while as a species, we would certainly die if nobody had sex, I personally would not die if I could never have sex again. But, me being a stubborn nerd, I could never have bought into this view if it didn’t make complete sense, from top to bottom and inside-out. 

Thank God for the Catholic Church, she’s the only one who gets me.  :-)

I know it is your “job” to read some of these sites but I honestly don’t know how you do it without yelling at your computer or coming away feeling more than slightly frustrated.  This reader comment made me laugh, however:

Also, I think things will make big changes again when we have a more “liberal” Pope (as far as Popes can be) like John Paul the Second and realize that things are going to have to change.

So JP2 was liberal?  If he was so liberal, why, in his 26 year pontificate, did we not have women ordained, contraception approved and encouraged, and homosexual marriage revered?

I really had to laugh at that one.  They don’t get it. When we do have another pope, and he isn’t the liberal that these jezzies are expecting, they may well attribute it to old men overriding the will of the Holy Spirit.

I left because of the liberal nature of the Church. I left because my children felt about as loved in their parish as a large infestation of cockroaches. I left because I was tired of being told to stop teaching the Rosary to my CCD students. I left because I had a suspicion that conservative and/or liberal politics had no place in the Liturgy via the homilies. I left because I wanted more of the Liturgy and less of the basket bingo events. Because my beautiful cradle Catholicism (which is pretty much unrecognizable at most of the parishes I have attended in five states and on two continents) led me to Eastern Orthodoxy. I love the Sacraments, the Pope (he’s cool and the world needs his intercession and guidance) I hate abortion, and need the fasting of Great Lent. Fish Filet lunches on Friday were not enough to draw me deeper anymore, but the Eucharist was and is. There are a lot of Catholics like me who leave the Church for more of the Sacraments, which are whole and valid in Orthodoxy. Though now, “valid” by Catholic standards carries much less weight for me. Being Catholic all my life had a lot to do with that. But God bless the righteousness of those who remain. I am sure their fortitude outweighs mine.

If you are a former Catholic who is now an Episcopalian, you get no attention.  But calling yourself a Catholic and vocally decrying what the Church stands for and demanding she step into the 21st century gets you a lot of attention.  From all the wrong folks, I might add.  Really, who is going to care that she USED to be a Catholic?  Snarkiness aside, I do think that they are here for what they cannot understand.  A love that changes human beings at the core; that gives and gives and gives. A “piece of bread” that holds in it the entire and best example of Love that ever lived.  Maybe if they could turn off the voices in their heads, they could hear the still, small sound in their souls.  And that’s why they stay.

“the howling gibberish which passes for modern public discourse on human sexuality”

Oh, how I aspire to your way with words, Simcha. I think I’ll have stickers that say “howling gibberish” made up to paste over editorials, magazine articles, and often on the TV screen as a handy response to, well, howling gibberish.

I abs. love that second to the last paragraph. The best part of the piece, said in such a fun understandable way. Totally the truth. We’re drawn to Christ’s kitchen.

I left because I was tired of the liberal nature of the Church. I left because it hurt to see my children loved by their parish and priest about as much as a large infestation of cockroaches. I left because I was sick of being told not to waste my time teaching the Rosary to CCD students or trying to encourage the youth into meeting regularly to attend Mass together and learn about their faith beyond Confirmation. I left because I do love the Sacraments and I did grow up attending good Catholic schools and hanging on the words of John Paul II. I left because I no longer recognized the beautiful cradle Catholicism of my youth. In five states and on two continents, I could no longer find it, though I hear that in the American West there is a great regrowth of Catholicism, thanks to immigration. I left because the Eucharist drew me East and I became Orthodox.

I am infinitely grateful for the Roman Catholicism that led me further into the Sacraments. I would not have missed so much of the Liturgy and the traditions of the Church if I had not known it while growing up in a large immigrant parish in the Los Angeles area. If I had not seen that sort of deep faith in my youth, I would not have known to miss it in my adulthood. However, I wanted this for my children and I no longer see it much of America’s version of Catholicism, at least not in the Northeast. I left because Fish Filets during Lent did not have the same depth of conviction for my soul as Great Lent did.

And one cannot underestimate the profound impact and damage of the sex abuse scandal on so many people. In every parish in which I have attended as an adult in my part of the country, there has been more than one admitted and convicted child molesting priest. This does matter (as I know you definitely acknowledge, Simcha). My family was deeply traumatized by devout Catholics who we once trusted. This is important and to overlook it (as some are in the habit of doing, both in Church leadership and in membership) is to hurt the already wounded even more deeply. Sexual abuse is a reason for seeking another route of faith. It is a casualty, but it is a legitimate reason, especially for children and their parents. Not every victim is now a 40 year old man who is remembering. Many, especially in my part of the country, are still children and their wounds are very fresh. The faith of my children has been saved through Orthodoxy when their Roman Catholic parishes (two in their lifetime) have openly rejected them and encouraged us East.

I did not leave because I wanted anything additional from my Church. I just wanted my Church back. It’s there in the Sacraments, but it’s a hard and difficult strain to see it anymore. It has lost much of itself already, and there are many who like it this way. God bless those who remain. Their righteousness is greater than mine, I am sure. Their fortitude definitely is. But I could not take it anymore.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God
Have mercy on me, a sinner.

But I am completely fulfilled in Eastern Orthodoxy.

Amen, Simcha, Amen!!

I don’t know why any self-respecting, informed Catholic would be hanging out at a site purportedly for women that calls itself “Jezebel.”  Whoever had that idea probably thought she was misunderstood or something.  I’m happy that we are hearing from FORMER Jezebel readers! You are not unwelcome here. :)
-
I was a Mass-going cradle Catholic for 18 or so years before I discovered that the Church and I both coincidentally disagreed with abortion (although at that time I still held, weakly, the appalling idea that one could have a ‘replacement’ baby to make up for it!).  I don’t remember ever having a conversation about it before then.  I eventually came around to the rest, because it occurred to me that if She could be right on one thing that really counted, and be very unpopular for it, maybe the whole shebang was worth taking a look at.  As I often say, realizing that so many issues are connected and related is like having looked at your fingers for years and seeing for the first time that they belong to the same hand.

Tara, you had such a great post, but I must say it is a pet peeve of mine when people use the word ‘schizophrenic’ when they mean ‘contradictory’ (I was just thinking about this the other day, so you’re the first recipient…sorry).  These folks may seem delusional, but they don’t actually have a devastating disease.

Oh, this is perfect.  The last part, with the analogy re: the kids wandering into the kitchen during dinner prep, is perfect. My husband and I did leave the Catholic Church for a brief time, partly because of the scandals, but came back because guess what? Those problems are everywhere, and at the church we attended, it was worse.

We returned to the Catholic Church, which like a kind Mother, always welcomes back her children, via the Eastern Rite. Christ’s kitchen is the best place to be.

To answer your question seriously, I was raised what you would call a Cafeteria Catholic.  I believed in the Eucharist and was pro-life, but I also thought women should be priests, didn’t see any problem with birth control, etc.  I stayed with the church because I identified with Catholicism as sort of my ethnic group.  I liked the distinctive practices like Ash Wednesday and nativity scenes (although now I know many other churches use these).  I liked having a visible head of the church, although I probably thought the Pope should be more of a symbolic office like the queen of England.

I stayed because I deeply believed in the Eucharist and knew that I wouldn’t have that if I joined the Episcopalian Church to be Catholic-lite.  I thought that most of us wanted moderate changes and maybe in a few years it would come along.  But over time I started to listen to the church more and more, and really considered the Church’s point of view instead of dismissing it out of hand.  And the next thing you know I was writing my college roommate ranty letters about how people like her who want to change everything about the church and can’t even be bothered to get out of bed and go to Mass every Sunday should just leave already!  No one has zeal like a new re-vert, huh?  Maybe she will comment here as well.  She came around despite my utter lack of humility and tact.  ;)

Oh, and this all reminds me of the time I visited a Unitarian church (I was babysitting overnight for the family attending, and the kids begged me to come along the next morning).  What struck me was, after the service, at the potluck lunch, everybody was introducing themselves like this: “Hi, I’m Mary. I’m Catholic.” “Hi, I’m James. I’m Lutheran.”  Or Jewish, or Hindu, or whatever.  They asked me what I was and I said, “Catholic,” and they said, “OH! You have to meet so-and-so, SHE’S Catholic too!”  Huh.

I think the problem is that for many, many Catholics it is about “me.”  What do I get out of it? They see Christ as that nice guy.  They go through the motions of faith (mass occasionally, or even every Sunday, sacraments for the kids, etc.) but really it is about them and what they want.  They want some “spirituality” to feel good.  They are really mostly secular and were not catechized properly, if at all.  They have not really been touched by the Holy Spirit, so Christ being their life is not on their radar screen.  They need prayers.  They may come around - I did.  I knew nothing about my faith and it was not until I had my son that I started to come back to Church.  These Catholics have been formed by the world, not the teachings of Christ and they need understanding and patience.  Unfortunately, they also do much damage to our faith and evangelization.

Karen - Funny post about the Unitarians!  I attended a meeting there once, and read their missal.  It was all ‘nature worship’, and other spirituality-lite.  It really depressed me to be there;  I found myself making shopping lists while in the un-wonder state in that flat, nothingness place.

I am enjoying all these posts, and consider myself a zealous Catholic revert who is trying very hard not to preach openly and indelicately to all my old secularized friends.  Simcha, can you write a column to help us evangelize with something lighter and more rapier-like than the broadax I have been using, so ineffectively?

You hit the nail on the head.  I have a sister who is a practicing lesbian, an ordained member of the “GLB Christian Community”, who about every 5 years picks up her CCC to see if maybe she should be Catholic.  She hasn’t yet, but maybe one of these years.  It’s the Eucharist.  Personally, I think that’s why there aren’t more renegade liturgical Catholics…every once in a while you hear of a woman’s ordination, but it’s not common.  And those who do usually change the name of their Church to something else.  Why doesn’t this happen more inside of the Church?  I think it’s because they ‘know’ something is missing.

‘pisky?  that’s a new one!

Hear, hear. And why would anyone want to be in a Church that (they believe) continuously and flagrantly teaches error?! If God means ANYTHING to [general] you, then you should be in a Church you firmly believe teaches the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, 100% of the time.

In other words, don’t be a Catholic Butt! http://a-star-of-hope.blogspot.com/2012/01/dont-be-catholic-butt.html

Yesssss! As a convert who researched my way into the Church, this stuff drives me crazy. I hope more and more people start to “get it.”

Simcha, you rock!  So does our mother, the Church!

I too was raised as a “cultural Catholic.” We maybe went to Mass on Christmas. I was genuinely not aware that the Church even still HAD reconciliation available. I had no idea I was supposed to REALLY believe that Christ was present in the Eucharist. I learned from my mother that the Pope was just some guy with control issues, that women couldn’t be respected if they weren’t priests, and that the Church’s views on sex, marriage, and divorce were absurd given that the people supposedly making these policies had no experience in that area. Even so, we were Catholics and that meant something special. No foreign guy in a tall hat was going to take it away from us - it was our church too!

I always had a sense that God was real, which I am so thankful for as I could very easily have dropped off the deep end into atheism. I also always felt, deep down, that the Catholic Church was the only one that really made sense. Protestantism seemed like a confusing and jumbled mess to me, and I understood on some level that a religion that simply conformed to my every wish was not really about finding Truth.

Thankfully I found an amazing man from a wonderful Catholic family in high school. They were so kind to me, even though my views must have bordered on obnoxious to them. Watching them and learning from them has led me back to the Church. I was confirmed my senior year in college, married that man after graduation, and am now a very happy and orthodox Catholic.

I pray that the countless others who have lost their way find themselves back in the Church some day. The peace I have found is irreplaceable.

As someone who joined the Church, left the Church, and is gradually coming back to the Church, I am confused by the sense of entitlement. Perhaps I shouldn’t be given the general spoiled brattiness of the era, but I’ve never asked the Church to change the rules for me. I’ve never denounced her for the rules she had. I simply decided not to participate until I could accept the rules. And while I’ve committed some truly spectacular sins, I’ve never demanded that Catholicism magically turn them into non-sins. I don’t know what the point would be.

enness - That is true, and I have battled mental illness myself (though, luckily for me, not in so frightening a form). I am sorry, and the word (improperly used) is hereby exorcised from my vocabulary.  :-)

What I originally came back to say was: Bam! Rabbi Hirsch, I couldn’t have said it better myself…

(Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch commented in 1854 that, “It was not the ‘Orthodox’ Jews who introduced the word ‘orthodoxy’ into Jewish discussion. It was the modern ‘progressive’ Jews who first applied this name to ‘old’, ‘backward’ Jews as a derogatory term. This name was at first resented by ‘old’ Jews. And rightly so. ‘Orthodox’ Judaism does not know any varieties of Judaism. It conceives Judaism as one and indivisible. It does not know a Mosaic, prophetic and rabbinic Judaism, nor Orthodox and Liberal Judaism. It only knows Judaism and non-Judaism. It does not know Orthodox and Liberal Jews. It does indeed know conscientious and indifferent Jews, good Jews, bad Jews or baptised Jews; all, nevertheless, Jews with a mission which they cannot cast off. They are only distinguished accordingly as they fulfil or reject their mission.”)

@Julie: I think you’re right, it is about entitlement. I am entitled to have what I want, when I want it, how I want it, from whomever I decide should give it to me.

So if I want to be Catholic and pro-abort, nobody can stop me! And I get to be mad at the Church for making me feel bad about my choices!

Thanks for this post, Simcha. One blessing of the internet: it’s a reminder that there are still some sane people out there. (Or, perhaps, that if I’m insane, then at least there are people who suffer from the same kind of insanity! That’s some comfort, right?)

Julie, God bless you.  That’s an honesty and self-awareness that is rare in and out of the Church.

Several comments on the site mentioned the argument of “if we all leave the church will taken over by the fanatics!  So we’re doing good by staying in this place we despise!”.  Sigh.  Buffoonery coupled with smug arrogance is so last week.

Awesome piece, Simcha, and there are some awesome comments here.

For all of those who strayed and came back:  welcome home!  For those of you who have never been Catholic, but who have entered the Church:  welcome!

Sharon @ 9:20 and MightyMighty @ 11:56 raise good points:  who is really going to care if you “used to be” Catholic, and isn’t it really All About Me?  But if you are “Catholic, but…” you get to fit into the larger, long-standing narrative of American freedom that appeals to us:  we love dissidents who “question authority” (especially all that “Popery”;  the only unassailable authority in existence that may not be defied is my own).  That wasn’t meant to be mean or snarky;  but it does bear thinking about, because the issue of genuine freedom and how we understand it as per our history come up time and time again.

“And I get to be mad at the Church for making me feel bad about my choices!”

Indeed.  Everybody needs to be “nice.”  Which is all well and good until the person who exhorts that everybody needs to be nice doesn’t get their own way.  There was an article that got linked from NCRegister (I think, or was it IgnatiusInsight?) that discussed the link between sentimentalism and tyranny.  Pity I forgot the link.

Awesome piece, Simcha, and there are some awesome comments here.

For all of those who strayed and came back:  welcome home!  For those of you who have never been Catholic, but who have entered the Church:  welcome!

Sharon @ 9:20, MightyMighty @ 11:56 and Elizabeth K. raise good points:  who is really going to care if you “used to be” Catholic, and isn’t it really All About Me?  But if you are “Catholic, but…” you get to fit into the larger, long-standing narrative of American freedom that appeals to us—something that Fr. Robert Barron alluded to in his discussion of that “Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus” video:  we love dissidents who “question authority” (especially all that “Popery”;  the only unassailable authority in existence that may not be defied is my own, and if I believe in the authority of Jesus, then it’s a Jesus of my own making).  That wasn’t meant to be mean or snarky;  but it does bear thinking about, because the issue of genuine freedom and how we understand it as per our history come up time and time again.

Elizabeth K. raises a good point about buffoonery and smug arrogance among the “reform minded” among the Jezzie Catholics.  But here’s the problem:  the source of reform and cleansing is not us and what we like to think of ourselves, but Christ.  Which brings us back to the Eucharist, which, as Simcha points out, nobody mentions.  The Eucharist is what being Catholic is all about.  What will “change things” for the better, both in the Church and in the world is the Eucharist acting within us;  grace building upon and perfecting nature.

“And I get to be mad at the Church for making me feel bad about my choices!”

Indeed.  Everybody needs to be “nice.”  Which is all well and good until the person who exhorts that everybody needs to be nice doesn’t get their own way.  There was an article that got linked from NCRegister (I think, or was it IgnatiusInsight?) that discussed the link between sentimentalism and tyranny.  Pity I forgot the link.

“Howling gibberish”—Perfect.  Love that kitchen analogy.  For the first time in seven years I have all eight of my kids back under one roof, and despite my smaller kitchen, (and my protests),they still all squeeze in AND drink my alcohol.  If the older ones don’t like what’s on the menu, they borrow my car (my gas is free) and mumble things like “registration expired” or “brake lights out”, and go have something like Sushi or Thai food.  Okay, so I know that there is a deeper analogy that can link this bad behavior to the Jezzie babes, but suffice to say that I hope some of these naughty and entitled Jezzies, manage to crowd into your already crowded kitchen, and get their dirty faces washed by you, so they can be presentable at the table.
GREAT COMMENTS IN THE COM BOX! High Fives to everyone who made it “Home” again. XO

I’m confused, actually.  It is indeed too bad that none of the commenters at Jezebel talked about the sacraments as a reason for remaining in the Church, but the first half of your post had me wondering if you’d forgotten about the sacraments, too, Simcha.  Whenever conservative Catholics ask folks like me—I won’t try to summarize my views here, but I fall somewhere between “bishops are a$$-hats” and the average NCR reader—why we don’t just leave, it seems to me an incredible slur on the essence of Church life.  I don’t leave because of the Eucharist, and because of Reconciliation, and the Annointing of the Sick; I don’t leave because of Teresa of Avila and Martin de Porres and Dorothy Day and Flannery O’Connor; I don’t leave because of the theology of the Incarnation.  I don’t feel entitled, I feel grateful—but I also don’t feel *less* entitled than I would if I found the Church’s teachings on homosexuality and contraception entirely persuasive.  It’s easy enough to pick over an internet comment-box and ridicule the inhabitants for their unexamined assumptions and apparent contradictions, but it makes me desperately sad to see any Catholic asking a fellow believer what’s in it for her.  What’s in it for her is, fundamentally, what’s in it for you: the crucified and risen Christ.  Don’t imagine that those of us who believe urgently that the Church has gotten certain sexual issues terribly wrong are too blind to see that.

@Tiffani/Once a Roman: was Eastern Catholicsm (esp. Byzantine Rite) not of interest to you, instead of going to Orthodoxy? You’d still have the Pope, but “more of the Liturgy and less of the basket bingo events.” I was also raised Roman, until I married a Byzantine Catholic.

Oh, and before I met my husband, I was a cradle cafeteria Catholic. His deep faith via Byzantine Rite helped to strengthen MY faith. Granted, we weren’t perfect before our marriage, and we’re still not perfect, but the church is so much more of a presence in our lives, I hate to think where we’d be if it wasn’t for her.

Tara, I have too although I didn’t have to be treated for long.  I guess you never know what people who’ve never met will have in common.
Thanks for that awesome commentary from the Rabbi…the whole part about seeing only Judaism, and non-Judaism…spot on.

Once a Roman, you named many of the reasons my husband and I left the Church and went to the Orthodox Church…sadly, we had a bad experience at our church (long story, personal, and scary), and eventually came back to the Catholic Church via the Byzantine Rite.  We, too, were tired of the liberalism and the “jezzies.”  I still cringe a little inside when I see girls serving at altar, or women reading the epistles (though the latter is now happening at the Orthodox Church here in town as well)...but as Simcha has once wisely said, of her liturgy, “If it is good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for me.”

It’s a little like when I call myself a lesbian who isn’t sexually attracted to women.

Simcha, you are to be congratulated for another spot-on piece. I have often wondered why Catholic-hating ex-Catholics simply can’t let go and I think you are right: somewhere deep in their heart, they know Christ is really, truly present in the Eucharist.

@Tiffani/Once a Roman - My heart goes out to you for the negative and hurtful experiences you had within the Latin Rite Church. I do agree with Jen that perhaps you might have found your place within one of the other many rites of our Church. I think too often Catholics forget there are many rites beside Latin, all fully Catholic and all in communion with one another and with the pope. My prayer is that one day the Catholic Church and what is currently called the Orthodox Church will once again be in full communion with one another. Until then, may the peace of Christ be with you.

I really enjoy the kitchen analogy.  It is Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, acknowledged or not, that seems to call lapsed or separated Catholics back to the Church.
Thank you, Simcha.
TeaPot562

What’s a jezzie?  A Jezebel?  A Jesuit?  That word isn’t in the Backwoods Ohio Unabridged Dictionary.  Someone please clarify so that I can figure out what you’re talking about.

Wonderful post.

buckeyepastor- a ‘jezzie’ is someone who reads the site ‘Jezebel’ (a feminist site)—-not my favorite place to go

My family became catholic when I was 12 for the reasons the jezzies don’t like the Church- confession- crucifix, the Pope, liturgy- Eucharist

‘Pisky. I’m embarrassed at how long it took me to figure that out. (And Google(TM) was useless, of course. I shook the magic search engine and all it yielded was olde tyme spellings of “pixie”).

And The Catholic Church should pay! for the blood pressure meds you must take to read Jezebel et al without keeling over from a heart attack.

@Julie,

I attended a Byzantine Rite parish for two years. It looks a lot like Orthodoxy, but it is not the same thing.

Thank you for your kind thoughts,

Tiffani

Awesome article Simcha! I’ve always said, I don’t get these non-Catholic Catholics. The Church will still claim them based on their Baptism, but why the heck do they claim the Church when they act like they hate it? Honestly, I have more respect for the ones that are at least honest and leave completely.

LOVE this post; my new favorite.  Go Simcha go!

Posted by Julie T. on Thursday, Mar 1, 2012 3:44 PM (EST):
“I have often wondered why Catholic-hating ex-Catholics simply can’t let go and I think you are right: somewhere deep in their heart, they know Christ is really, truly present in the Eucharist.”

Or they were really, really well-indoctrinated before the age of reason, and, wow, that leaves some scars. However I think that situation will decrease precipitately with succeeding generations. I’m just guessing, but I suspect that those under the age of forty weren’t introduced to the concept of everlasting hellfire before puberty. In the years to come, they won’t be harshing your mellow by demanding that the church adjust to their needs. They will happily look elsewhere for spiritual fulfillment.

Problem solved.

Just yesterday I was chatting with a group of Episcopalian women, at least two of whom were raised Catholic.  One woman commented that she had always been “turned off” by the statement we say (or said, before the new translation) at every Mass: “Lord I am not worthy to receive you,” etc.  She attended a Mass at a “liberal” church where the priest made up his own words and said something like, “We are all welcome at this table…” and that’s when she decided to become an Episcopalian.

Good grief.  I honestly did not know how to respond to this woman, who truthfully seems (I’ve only just recently met her) to be in love with Jesus, and excited about her Christian faith.  She’s a good example of why we need better catechesis, so the Church does not lose lovely people like her!!

Simcha,

Thank you for this and all of your wonderful posts.  I studied graduate level theology with many such “Jezzie” Catholics.  The reason they refuse to leave the Church is entirely based on certain forms of liberation theology.  They do not leave the Church so that they can be a “prophetic voice” within the Church that “speaks truth to power.”  If they left the Church, it would be tantamount to allowing an unjust regime to continue its oppression.  These people see themselves as martyrs and freedom fighters.  I kid you not.

I think that most Catholic hating Ex-Catholics are very wounded people. They may be laboring under grave sin that they cannot allow themselves to voice so they turn form the Church and attack her as if she is at fault. They most assuredly have never had a relationship with Jesus Christ nor experienced the incredible glory and power of they Holy Spirit working within them.  They were not given an ardent desire to receive the Eucharist. All of these things or lack thereof, make it easy to walk away. The problem is that they cannot walk away from themselves. So, they have to trash the Church because they are too weak to be a real Catholic. Pray for them all. God wants everyone receiving his sacraments and his grace and his incomparable love.

It’s the same old story from the gospel of John (ch 6):
“As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

Also, check out this example of wackiness from my hometown, Madison WI: (It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.)
http://host.madison.com/wsj/lifestyles/faith-and-values/holy-wisdom-monastery-provides-church-services-for-disaffected-local-catholics/article_d42597ee-609b-11e1-8f74-001871e3ce6c.html

I have often pondered why these pseudo-Catholics don’t just be what they are—Unitarian.  But really, of course, it’s truly all about the Eucharist.  “To whom shall we go?” I can’t even imagine the agony of having to miss out on the Eucharist because I can’t reconcile my own conscience with the teachings of His Church.  We must pray fervently for these dear fallen-away brethren, who are, of course, our fellow sinners.

A truly wonderful and thought-provoking post, Simcha!

As a fully “immersed” and ever-faithful cradle-Catholic, I am, as all my like-minded brothers and sisters, concerned and even worried about today’s climate relative to the Church and our faith.

On the other hand, I am buoyed by the belief that all of this chaos and the current attempts to denigrate Her and even silence Her voice might well be a gift and a challenge from the Holy Spirit—- the same Spirit that has always guided Her (and continues to do so) along man’s time continuum. We all are being challenged to rethink our faith and to refocus ourselves on Christ and his Mystical Body. The harder it becomes to be a publicly faithful Catholic, the stronger our faith will be. It’s nothing new! The Church has gone through and emerged victoriously from many such periods over two millenia!

Today’s problems and challenges are, in my view, largely the result of a failure in the Church’s modern efforts in catechesis. Somehow, we need to find better and more effective ways to educate people about their faith. After all of my life learning and being taught about my faith and my Church, I’m still learning every day. My interest in and love for the Church and my faith is the direct result of my having been fortunate enough to be exposed to the catechetical process all though my life. Most Catholics, I fear, have not. Small wonder, then, that they have no interest and/or no understanding!

Sadly, many people who call or consider themselves Catholic have not been similarly blessed, and that’s why so many of the self-hating, chattering class of current or apostate Catholics are totally clueless about the Church and the faith. That’s what makes it particularly difficult to listen to their hateful and completely uninformed rants! People like Michael Moore, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi and Maureen Dowd come to mind! (Funny, isn’t it, that these are all politicians or media types?)

Simcha’s post reminded me of the gift of faith we all share and of the need for all of us to pray for the welfare of the Church and for the enlightenment of our world about the splendor of the truth that the Church presents.  PAX!

This may be my favorite article you’ve written…in answer to your question, “why are they still here?” I mentally replied with Waugh’s phrase, “the twitch upon the thread.” And when you ended with that awesome image of the kids in the kitchen I wanted to stand up and cheer! You always get the perfect balance.
It’s not about purging the Church of people with inconsistencies, it’s about indelible marks in Baptism, about giving them Living Bread and believing that it will transform them if they just open the door a crack. It’s all about Him, not about us…or them.
I like how you think!

-buckeyepastor: What’s a jezzie?  A Jezebel?  A Jesuit?  That word isn’t in the Backwoods Ohio Unabridged Dictionary.

All the words found in the King James Authorized Bible are included in the BOUD.  Jezebel was a Philistine princess wed to Ahab, a king of Israel.  She persuaded him to adopt pagan practices and build temples to Baal.  The name has come to refer to a woman who leads men into moral corruption.

Thank you for reminding me why I quit visiting that website.  Thankful that I have grown in my faith enough to realize I have nothing to gain from reading sites likes Jezebel.