How can I accept the Catholic's Church teachings?

Question

I grew up devoutly Catholic but now am having problems accepting the Catholic belief systems. I accept homosexuality, am pro-choice, believe in pre-maritial sex, and will use birth control. I know those four things are against the Catholic church's thinking and so I wonder if I can truly be a good catholic. I rarely go to Church because I feel like it doesn't mean as much if I'm going out of habit. I do believe I live a very good and just life though and am overall a good person. I go to church when I feel like it versus doing it out of obligation. Church services do mean a lot to me.

So with that, I respect the Catholic Church and but have found that I have problems believing everything. Can I still consider myself Catholic with these beliefs? I'm sure there are many people out there who believe the same thing and consider themselves Catholic. How do you balance your beliefs with those of the Church?

Answer 1

Hi Rosetta, I see there are some fundies trying to convert you here and that is not what you intended with your question is it!
I fully sympathize with you in this matter and hope that you can at least know that what I reply is the truth, it`s hard but it`s the truth regardless of this.
Firstly I have to say that many Catholics are on the back foot because of modernism and are compromising their faith and I too was one of them at one time, and it is so easy because modernistic thought and ideas are so easy and attractive.
Now you already know that the church that Christ founded on St. Peter is the one holy Catholic and Apostolic church and that He promised that the gates of Hell would not prevail against it, but He did not say that Hell wouldn`t try and do so in many various ways, some of the things that you have mentioned are some of those ways and they have crept into the church via Atheistic communism.
Christ gave Peter the keys of authority and this is why we must obey the rules of the Catholic church, `Whatever you(Peter) bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven` in other words when the Pope and the Bishops united with him pronounce a doctrine of faith we are duty bound to obey as we would obey Christ Himself.
We are seeing more and more Pick`n` Choose Catholicism these days and everybody outside the church is saying go ahead it`s your decision, but morally and in faith it is not our decision, this is that same spirit of the world that Jesus condemned Himself.
The most solemn and binding laws that God set by His own authority are still the Ten Commandments and as God does not change neither does His commandments,they are still the same today as they were when first given and the church itself cannot change these it must obey them and hold them up as truth.
Thou shalt not kill` to be Pro-choice is the same as saying that I can decide to be like God and this was the pride of satan and Adam, pro-choice means to actually decide if a new life lives or dies and this is really flying in the face of God and cannot be right.
We do have freedom to choose but only to choose the right thing according to God and His church, and even opting out of the church does not relegate this obligation at all, it will always be binding on us as children of God.
Like myself at one time you are weakening in your religious and moral stance because as you admit you rarely go to Mass and this also means that you are not being strengthened by receiving the Eucharist which is the Bread of Life, Jesus told us `If you do not eat My body and drink My blood, you shall not have life within you`, and this life is the light of truth.
There are other so called religions out there who would say that your opinions are okay with them and this makes it all the more tempting to join them, but the thing is they do not have the Truth of Christ within them and so they are false .
I pray that the Risen Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit will help you to know and decide for the truth,because of ourselves this is not possible.
May Jesus bless you always.

Answer 2

Yours are the thoughts of the world and those thoughts cannot reconcile with the thoughts of the Holy Catholic church. The Church will not change to adopt your thinking , rather you will have to change and adopt the Church's thinking. This you will have to do to stay away from mortal sin and hell's fire. God in His great Mercy and goodness has given us the Holy Catholic church so that if we remain united to Her and follow Her laws will win us everlasting life. He has given us the Catholic church at the cost of His Blood to save us from eternal hell.

But then again in His great sense of justice He has also given us a free will. He will not force you to follow the laws of the church but will hope that you will use the intelligence and free will He has blessed you with to make a right choice and choose salvation.

He has given us the weapons to steer clear of mortal sin...regular Mass, confession, the daily Rosary, the brown scapular of Carmel, the prayers of the church........We must make use of these armours so that we are not contaminated by the poisonous spirit of the world and that we may use this short time on earth to our advantage. Death may come suddenly. Then there is no time to repent for all the lost opportunties.

Answer 3

Frankly, and Politically Incorrect...You Cannot be a Practicing Catholic and also embrace homosexuality, pro-choice, pre-maritial sex, and birth control, etc... If you do, you go against Church Teaching and Authority and are living in Mortal Sin and will be condemned. Its just that simple. Sorry.

In fact, simply by virtue of doing this, you have automatically excommunicated yourself with no further need for anyone to do anything. By living this lifestyle and taking the Eucharist you "eat and drink condemnation" upon yourself. This is serious stuff.

I do not care if I'm passed over for any points, or if I get 46 "Thumbs Down" disagreements. Truth is still Truth and I cannot confirm another knowledgable Catholic in what is clearly known to be wrong. May God bless you and grant you the Grace to reconcile these issues.

Answer 4

it truly is no longer that the Catholic church rejects homosexuals in some variety of discriminatory gay-bashing, its extra that the Church is adversarial to ANY variety of sexual relationship it quite is outdoors of the sacrament of marriage, a sacrament that constitutes both one in each of intimate love for one yet another and be open to chance to have children (even if the flair is amazingly low or theoretically no longer plausible simply by organic and organic subject matters.) the marriage might want to be established contained in the organic order of issues as established by God as well, meaning a guy and a lady. so it quite is why there is an situation with the Church and homosexuals in sexually energetic relationships.

Answer 5

No Christian Relegion can except homosexuality, abortion and other things you mentioned.
As far a being Catholic....there are just to many manmade rules, not bibically based
You should know you won't get to be with God because you say you are a good person. That gets you nowhere.
Belief in Jesus as your Lord and Savior is the why to eternal life. If you take the time to read the Bible......it.s all there.Everything we need to help us on our journey.
The Bible tells us how we should live in depth.
premarital sex, pro choice (murder), homosexuality and to many things to bring up....are just against what God wants.
Not just for Catholics BUT all CHRISTIANS who want to be saved.

Answer 6

Well I'd say you are going on the concept of having your cake and eating it. You sound as if you are not just sinning but sinning willfully in full knowledge of the commandmants. In other words you are not just breaking the rules, you are refuting them with your actions and views. If you wish to remain Catholic, you need to reexamine your life and address the difficulties you are having following its doctrines. You might want to try discussing these things with a priest or even someone involved in the catechism classes. If you are unwilling to take these steps, then perhaps you have left already.

Answer 7

I admit that some of these issues are quite difficult for me, too. I strongly support the use of birth control, for instance, and believe in gay rights. I also wish that women had a larger role in the Church. But I believe in reform from within. I have no intention of leaving the Church. But I'm not silent about my views, and my priest knows exactly what I think, as does most of my parish. The good news is that there are many ways to be Catholic. I know Socialist Catholics, conservative Catholics, charismatic Catholics, New Age Catholics, feminist Catholics and so on. But we are all still united by the body and blood of Christ during the Holy Eucharist. Realize that the Church moves very slowly. She changes, but it often takes centuries for that change to come about. Meanwhile, continue with Catholicism, but don't listen to the ultra-conservatives who say that change is impossible, or that you'll burn in hell if you don't practice Catholicism their way.

Answer 8

Brother, I feel your pain. I admire your courage to admit your struggles with a church that uses a great deal of guilt as there chief technique for compliance and obedience.
Do yourself a great act of love and check out a great pastor named Joel Osteen. The name of the program is Lakewood Church. It's on TBN. He also has a bestseller book, "Your Best Life Now" Just check it out. They also have an awesome website. You will be amazed at how many former Catholics belong to his church.
God bless you. He has a plan for you. So, keep seeking.

Answer 9

I felt that way about a lot of things myself. What made the difference for me was reading "The Truth About Catholicism" by George Wiegel. Give it a try... I'm curious to know if it will change your life as it has mine. Take care and blessings!

http://www.amazon.com/Truth-Catholicism-Essential-Teachings-Controversies/dp/0060937580

P.S. - "The Courage to Be Catholic" is another good one by Weigel.
http://www.amazon.com/Courage-Be-Catholic-Crisis-Reform/dp/0465092616/ref=pd_sim_b_1/002-9328579-5155241

Answer 10

No! You are a heretic and whether or not you have been officially excommunicated you are not a Catholic. Ipso Facto.