It has been a challenge throughout the past few years, as I've lived through the trials of the "catholic" church. As I continue to learn, research and read about all things Q, it has been even more eye opening as to the horrible crimes that the "catholic" church continues to drive. In the "catholic" church that we see in Rome, as well as across the world in some bishops, we see the leaders today are so often like the pharisees of Jesus' time, serving their own self interests and using their power and manipulation to control.
When I was a kid in the early '70s, it was "Catholic" with a capital 'C', as in: Catholic stood for the universal Four Marks of the Church - "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic". I was raised that the Catholic church represented the unbroken chain of Jesus Christ's church that he put in place on earth. This is the Church in which Christ himself proclaimed that "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." (Matthew 16:16-19)
As we come to the end of Lent, I am struck that once again I find myself in love with the traditions of the Church, which help me focus my life on God. Lent, being a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter, is a wonderful tradition to unplug from the world, and focus on God. I have rediscovered in the past 40 days a sense of peace, joy and calm, since I have focused my prayer and time to giving God control in my life. Not trust in man. Man has proven to fail God since the beginning. But trust in God, who sees all things and knows all things. It is God, and God alone who will guide us through this storm.
To be a true Catholic today is very challenging. I attend a traditional latin Mass, as a way to ensure that each Sunday I focus my time and attention on God. This doesn't mean I'm "holier" or "better" - in fact, on my knees, I remember the great line from Chesteron. When asked "What's wrong with the world today?", Chesterton responded, "I am."
I pray with so many here, to the one, true Living God, who sent his only son to save us. I pray that he may rid his true Church of evil, and that we may be given the grace to have the heart of Jesus. I pray for both my enemies and friends, and I pray that we all seek the Truth.
May God Bless you and keep you,
A fellow soldier
May God bless you as well as you seek Him with all your heart. I was not raised in the Catholic tradition, but in my youth, I was very drawn to the beauty and traditions exemplified there. I did extensive private study into them at the time, including hand-copying the better part of a catechism I'd borrowed from the library, and I went to Mass from time to time with a friend in high school. It was a truly fascinating study, and I gleaned many encouraging and uplifting perspectives into Church (universal) history and traditions, but I also ran across a number of things that raised an eyebrow for me even at the age of 12 or 13. The old catechism I was copying from laid out and explained many things very biblically, and of course, explained much reasoning behind other Catholic doctrines that are NOT in line with Scripture, but at least I had a better grasp then of the reasoning behind them. It enabled me to discuss the issues more intelligently with my Catholic friends over the years with enough information to respectfully "agree to disagree" where necessary. As I've come to understand more of the roots of the corruption that has infected the church, including but not limited to the Catholic tradition, many of the relevant issues have become much clearer. A very interesting movie our family recently watched about this is the 2003 "Luther", which provides an excellent view of the "deep state/deep church" influences controlling Europe in the the centuries leading up to the Reformation, how Martin Luther perceived and responded to this, and the Awakening that occurred at that time as a result.
We are friends with a family IRL who are working through similar issues as you. They are very devoted Catholics but disgusted with the corruption they see in the modern Catholic church (and much of church history), and they do not see the current pope as legitimate. At this time, there is no church in their area that they feel comfortable attending, so they hold their own family service at home on Sundays. There are a number of doctrinal points about which our two families firmly disagree, yet we both recognize that the other has placed their trust firmly in the Lord Jesus Christ and are seeking to serve Him wholeheartedly. They are among our closest friends, and we have much more in common than not.
Our relationship with God is intended to be exactly that--a relationship--not a list of rituals to "check the boxes", as though that somehow impresses Him. We would find it unsatisfactory for our human relationships to be treated as "to do list" items, and God must certainly feel the same way. However, any number of legitimate traditions and practices (as long as they don't violate Scriptural directives) may be wonderful tools in helping us grow that relationship of closeness with the Lord. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this!