Catholics With Unsupportive Families or Friends

Hey, y'all! Just wanted to check in and see how things were going. Holy War, how are things with you? I hope you and your dad are still talking and coming to understand each other better. I know it's hard for a Protestant family to accept anyone finding their way home to the Church, but it's usually because they have so many misconceptions about Catholicism, and so much acceptance of "new" theologies, (those that are only a few hundred years old or less).
Laughed out loud at your first post on May 28th. Keep learning and keep on teaching!

ChrissyB, that's sad that you have to hide your faith like that to keep peace in your marriage. Keep praying for them. And yeah, it is definitely okay and more to be Catholic. In fact, "It is right and just."

Hi Holmes!

-Article on Papal Infallibility-

http://www.catholic.com/video/scott-...-infallibility

Scott Hahn was a protestant convert by the way.

Hi Holmes!

I guess that's what I did. Converted from Saul to Paul. Only I will never measure up to the great St. Paul. People ask me "Why'd you convert to Catholicism?". I have no idea. I ask myself all the time. It just happened. It's the big bang all over again! I woke up morning a Protestant, went to bed a nothing, woke up a nothing, went to bed Catholic! I remember a warm feeling though. All throughout the next day after I made the decision. I remember, it was like I had been a soldier on the wrong side of the war. It was like I had been a wanderer and I finally made it home to find a lit fire, a cooked meal, and a made bed. It still feels this way too. It was like I had been a sailor without a ship, a dog without a bone. Incomplete. Right now the feeling is, I'm gearing up for another war...

Hi guys! I'm back in my full suit of armor. Protestants be tryin' to tell ME what the Early Church was like! UH-UH, NO, NADA, AIN'T HAPPENING! I'm always telling them something they didn't know. LOLz

Holy War, check this out: http://www.catholic.com/projects/100...sola-scriptura

Also, I missed a point in the "Word of God" discussion. The "Word of God" is Jesus. (See John 1:1-5.) Sacred Scripture is God's word, but the Holy Bible does not fit the description of the Word in the Gospel of John.
I probably missed several other points, too, which is why I should remind you that I'm not one of the experts here. You should ask an apologist for a much better response than I can give you. And their answers are usually shorter.

Holy War, please ask an apologist about these things, or use the search tool to find existing answers. There are experts are right here on this site. I'm NOT one.
But maybe I can help a little bit. A lot of the things in the Bible are misinterpreted outside of the Church. The Bible even warns against it, but people keep doing it. New denominations spring up all the time because another one finally figures out what the Bible really means about this or that and starts a new denomination, (frequently claiming not to be another new denomination).

The Bible says that Jesus was told His brothers were there, true. But there was no reason for the Bible to explain the common practice of calling the children of a parent's siblings "brothers" and "sisters," for the very reason that it was a common practice. They already knew it. We don't call our first cousins that, but they did. Jesus was an only child, but it never says anything about Mary or Joseph being only children. (The male children of Joseph's siblings would still be called "brothers" of Jesus.) This is reflected in the Visitation. John the Baptist was probably a third or fourth cousin to Jesus. His mother Elizabeth may have been Mary's aunt or great aunt. Also, at the foot of the cross, Jesus gives Mary into the apostle John's keeping. If she'd had other sons, her care would have fallen to them, and Jesus would not need to appoint someone. (Also, it shows that she is a widow.)

Papal infallibility is often misunderstood. It doesn't mean he never makes a mistake. It means that in teaching "ex cathedra" (from the Chair of Peter), that the Holy Spirit will not allow him to mislead the Church on matters of faith and morals. There's an anecdote that helps: If the pope is given a geometry quiz with a hundred questions, how many must he get correct to remain infallible? None. His infallibility has nothing to do with geometry, but ONLY when teaching the Church about faith and morals; and infallibility isn't about being right always. It's about never being wrong on those two things and ONLY when speaking from the Chair of Peter. This is a really inadequate answer, though. You need to ask an apologist.

The Word of God doesn't always mean the Bible because the Word preceded the written Bible. Saying that ONLY the Bible is the Word of God means that the teachings of the Apostles didn't exist until the Church established the canon of the Holy Bible. Again, you should ask an apologist. Also, read that book. Patrick Madrid is an excellent apologist. It sounds like your dad was more interested in finding things to use against your decision than to find out if you were right. Please don't take that as an insult to your dad, it certainly isn't meant that way. He's trying to "correct" what he sees as your "mistake," BUT even hardcore fundamentalists can change their minds.
There's a reason that a disproportionate number of converts TO Catholicism are Bible scholars and former Protestant ministers. They start out looking for ways to "correct Catholic error," and discover that what they believed was error, was in fact true. Scott Hahn is an excellent example. One of the great apologists of our time was once adamantly anti-Catholic. According to his book, "Rome Sweet Home," he specifically targeted Catholics to convert them to Christianity. At least that was what he thought he was doing, but then he started researching our beliefs. And that's when he reluctantly began his conversion from Saul to Paul. He didn't want to be Catholic! But he wanted to be where the truth is, and he was discovering that it was (and is) in the Catholic Church. It wasn't easy for him, either, Holy War, or for his wife. You're not alone in being persecuted for your decision. It's a shame that it comes between you and your dad; you obviously love each other very much. I hope he'll become more open and realize you aren't making a mistake, and for his sake as much as for yours, I hope he follows your lead.

Holy War, you have a great book. Patrick Madrid is good. Also visit www.scripturecatholic.com and look at tall the scriptures and quotes from the early church fathers on each subject. All the subjects you could possibly want to look up are on the left column.

ChrissyB364 - It is not only ok to be Catholic, you are in the right place! Let them know you love Jesus, let them know your agree with them on certain subjects when you can. Once saved always saved is hard to deal with, as there are so many scriptures where Jesus says if you love me you will follow my commandments etc.

Hi Everyone, I'm a closet Catholic so to speak. My husband was raised Southern Baptist but doesn't agree with all of their believes anymore (outside of that whole "once saved always saved" stuff). His parents are Super Baptists, they seem to have a fun=sin life view which I find incredibly sad and I suspect that they may be anti-Catholic. My husband has only ever told them I was "raised Catholic" implying I had since wised up and when we went to Mass on Easter Sunday (the first time we ever set foot in a Catholic Church together) he asked me not to say anything to his parents and lives in fear every time I take the kids with me on Sundays that my big mouth 4 year old will say something to raise suspicions. I'm also a member of MOPS which is a Christian organization but here in SC most of the ladies are Baptist and make me feel a bit uncomfortable. Just want someone to say it's okay to be Catholic!!

Hey everybody. Please pray for me to hold on to what you all have taught me. My dad has been making me question all of it. I often find the right answer but he's got me stumped on Papal Infallability. I have a book he said he'd read called "Where's that in the Bible?" by Patrick Madrid. He opens it up and immediately goes "Mary's perpetual virginity, Jesus had brothers! Papal infallibility! That's ridiculous! Wait a second, does this really say that The Word of God doesn't always mean The Bible!" LOL hardcore fundamentalist right there!