This Catholic Journey
A hard but good call. Being a convert myself I find I see things in our parish that cradle Catholics just miss and it grieves me all the more to know that fact also.
Strong, brave, and right. I hope God leads you to an orthodox parish where you can worship Him in spirit and truth.
I've just finished reading Redemptionis Sacramentum; now it's time to read the GIRM. It's almost frightening, this knowledge of what's right and what's wrong... once you have this knowledge, you're obliged to act upon it.
Like... why didn't my parish sing the Pentecost Sequence on Sunday? Why does my pastor wear his stole over his chasuble? How do I ask these questions with charity, while making it clear there are norms to follow that aren't being followed?
I'd hate to leave my parish. I've just been elected to the pastoral council, so hopefully I can effect some norm-accepting changes in the near future.
Sounds difficult but it's the right thing to do.
How to find an orthodox parish?
Some suggestions,if you don't mind:
If they have a website and they have a picture of the Holy Father , Good sign!
If they have pics of nuns without habits , worrisome sign.
If they have Eucharistic Adoration, good sign!
If they don't have a pro-life group, worrisome sign.
If they have liturgical dance, worrisome sign.
If you see words like "ecumenical", spirit of vatican 2, run like @#$%!
Tongue in cheek of course,
God bless you and your family.
How about this one:
If they promote Catholic radio, EWTN or any well-known apologist: GOOD SIGN!
The parish I'm looking at has the longest hours of adoration in the whole area! That's a HUGE PLUS!
You are very smart, indeed. Yes, look for one with Eucharistic Adoration.
One of the main reasons why a parish works to have this is because there were a few good orthodox Catholics that saw the problems and knew this was the way back to the right path for their parish...I can speak from experience.
We are doing this at my parish now and many wonderful things are changing for the better again! Please keep praying and encouraging all of your new convert sisters and brothers in Christ to help us older cradle Catholics...we've had a mess to help clean up and we need all the help we can get! :) There's work to be done!
God bless you!
We are doing the same thing. When we moved back to CA from GA, we got the kids into Catholic school then moved. We ended up living within the boundaries of a different parish from the school. We are now aligning it for reasons of orthodoxy. Kids are moving schools and we will be attending the parish we live in.
We'll keep your family in our prayers!
God bless you & well done for your courage!
Only you can decide if this is the right course to take for your family, and that decision can only come with a lot of prayer and discernment.
Be sure to write to the Bishop, Archbishop or Dean to inform them of why you feel so strongly as to leave. If you leave without writing anything, it's possible that the diocese will be none the wiser that these abuses are taking place and the problem will continue for everyone who continues to worship at that parish.
God Bless you!
Commenting by HaloScan
