LouisvilleFan Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 [quote name='Sacred Music Man' post='1927030' date='Jul 21 2009, 08:07 PM']Werd. I'm just talking about the droves of acts of Marian devotions that all say you gotta do em. Or at least people say so...[/quote] I dunno... nobody's pressured me into any Marian devotions. Are you pressured into them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zunshynn Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 (edited) I've struggled with accepting most church teachings in one way or another... the real presence, papal infallibilty, homosexuality, divorce, abortion, contraception, evolution, confession, umm... yeah... pretty much everything, not to mention the existence of God. But I realize that was because I didn't understand the Church's teaching, really, and I wasn't willing to understand. But now that I've come to a conviction that God does exist and there's an objective reality that He exists and WANTS to reveal Himself the way He truly is through His Church, I really have strong convictions about all the Church's teachings, and really can see the immense truth of all of them, even if I surely don't understand it perfectly. That said, I do have a hard time having a devotion to Our Lady. I mean I love her, and I believe in her importance, but I have a hard time relating to her I guess. Like Red, I'd prefer the LOTH over the Rosary. I don't really like a lot of private devotions either... The ones I love, I really love, but personally having devotions to every medal, and every chaplet, and every prayer doesn't help me, they distract me. Sometimes I feel pressured into various devotions, but I've gotten to the point where I just ignore it. And I can relate to the first poster about having a hard time accepting that I've been forgiven... Edited July 22, 2009 by zunshynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StColette Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 [quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1928113' date='Jul 22 2009, 11:09 AM']I dunno... nobody's pressured me into any Marian devotions. Are you pressured into them?[/quote] Some people are very zealous about Marian devotions and certain devotions to Christ, like the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I've come to know many people that have told me and others that if you're not saying the Rosary, not Consecrated to the BVM, not wearing a brown scapular, etc. then you aren't a good Catholic or you're less than others who do all those things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Red Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 [quote name='zunshynn' post='1928291' date='Jul 22 2009, 12:07 PM']That said, I do have a hard time having a devotion to Our Lady. I mean I love her, and I believe in her importance, but I have a hard time relating to her I guess. Like Red, I'd prefer the LOTH over the Rosary. I don't really like a lot of private devotions either... The ones I love, I really love, but personally having devotions to every medal, and every chaplet, and every prayer doesn't help me, they distract me. Sometimes I feel pressured into various devotions, but I've gotten to the point where I just ignore it.[/quote] me too. [quote name='StColette' post='1928339' date='Jul 22 2009, 12:24 PM']Some people are very zealous about Marian devotions and certain devotions to Christ, like the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I've come to know many people that have told me and others that if you're not saying the Rosary, not Consecrated to the BVM, not wearing a brown scapular, etc. then you aren't a good Catholic or you're less than others who do all those things.[/quote] i've had people try to talk me into various devotions - all claiming that "i really should do them because they'd be [u]sooooo[/u] good for me." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Devotions can seem like charities at times. There are so many charities that I would like to donate to. All would be good for me, but I'm one person. If I did every Marian devotion everyday, I'm sure it would be good for me, but I'd never get my housework done. Although any excuse to avoid vacuuming is welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosieranna Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 [quote name='IcePrincessKRS' post='1925686' date='Jul 20 2009, 02:39 PM'] I know what you're feeling. I don't have any disabilities, but my pregnancies have been difficult and leave me anxious when I think about going through another one. I feel guilty because I can't take care of my family properly. I submit to and agree with the Church on contraception, I understand all they whys, but I really struggle with being open to life.[/quote] [quote name='MissyP89' post='1925703' date='Jul 20 2009, 02:55 PM']Thanks. Glad to know I'm not alone. It's not that I don't [i]want[/i] to be open to life, per se, but I'm just scared of what that would mean. Like, you see people that talk about "wanting to do God's will and leave Him in charge" and they all have really big families. I wouldn't mind a big family...I just don't think I could physically handle all of that. But all moms have so much on their plates, and I know God will take care of everything. It's a trust issue--both in God and in my charts. [/quote] The contraception issue is the single biggest thing (other than my dad) that keeps me from conversion. It's not the theology. I've read ToTB and get it. It's the not being thrilled about the idea of lots of kids in a short period of time. I'm working through it. I joke that I suffer from the Protestant "but why?" syndrome. Missy, you aren't the only one. Icey, you have my respect for managing your family and sanity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG45 Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 (edited) Contraception was definitely here to Nad (and I really had to search my heart to make sure I wasn't converting to spite my dad.) Marian devotion, as many have already mentioned. I've been praying a decade a day for over a year and a half easily, almost two; but it doesn't make me a perfect little Marian devotee. Papal infallibility was big. The biggest was the first to overcome, and that was the truth of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Once I found myself on my knees in tears, the rest were decently easy to overcome, because if the Church was right about that, then I could easily accept the others. Not to say I don't struggle at times with things like Marian devotion, I do, but by the time I enrolled in RCIA I was willing to accept and follow Church teaching. It was funny, the guy that co-taught the class with Fr. liked to joke, "you know you're the only student recently who has read everything I'm using already", and that I was the sort of student they usually had once a year who was just ready to convert. (The year before's had been a Hassidic Jew who could spout Hebrew for everything and totally awed them all with the depth of his knowledge. Obviously couldn't live up to that. ) Edited July 22, 2009 by BG45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie-Therese Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 [quote name='BG45' post='1928438' date='Jul 22 2009, 04:18 PM']Not to say I don't struggle at times with things like Marian devotion, I do, but by the time I enrolled in RCIA I was willing to accept and follow Church teaching. It was funny, the guy that co-taught the class with Fr. liked to joke, "you know you're the only student recently who has read everything I'm using already", and that I was the sort of student they usually had once a year who was just ready to convert.[/quote] *hangs head* I was that guy. LOL I had been studying for myself for several years before going through RCIA. One day my priest was throwing terminology out at us for the sacred objects, some of the symbolism, etc., and I was answering them all. Finally he ran across one word I didn't know (it was luna LOL) and he yelled "YES! Got one!" and we all cracked up. My RCIA class was a whole 3 people. CatherineM, I know exactly what you mean. There are a lot of devotions to which I am attracted, but I've learned to be selective. Otherwise that would be my whole day. I have pared down quite a bit (my convert's zeal was a thing of beauty LOL) so now I try to keep it to the devotions to which I am very attached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinytherese Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 (edited) When I converted from being a luke-warm Catholic to a devout one I still loathed confession. I still did it though. I remember during my first year as a "lukevert" that I had a moment where I poured out my whole heart to Our Lord on the matter and even cried. I told Him everything that I was thinking and feeling about it and it was probably one of the most intense moments that I have ever had with Our Lord. I still continued to go to confession (only before Christmas and Easter though.) After a while it all just clicked and now I go once a month. I also well, didn't necessarily struggle with it but there was the issue of NFP. I had never heard of it until some months after I converted. When I heard that married Catholics are not supposed to use contraception, I was surprised and thought, "Oh, I didn't know that. I'll have to find out why." Then I watched a program on EWTN about it and it made sense. Edited July 22, 2009 by tinytherese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Red Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 +J.M.J.+ i hate confession. mostly because i hate owning up to the fact that i'm a sinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouisvilleFan Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 [quote name='StColette' post='1928339' date='Jul 22 2009, 03:24 PM']Some people are very zealous about Marian devotions and certain devotions to Christ, like the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I've come to know many people that have told me and others that if you're not saying the Rosary, not Consecrated to the BVM, not wearing a brown scapular, etc. then you aren't a good Catholic or you're less than others who do all those things.[/quote] Like committing murder to support life... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle_eye222001 Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 [quote name='Lil Red' post='1928494' date='Jul 22 2009, 05:34 PM']+J.M.J.+ i hate confession. mostly because i hate owning up to the fact that i'm a sinner.[/quote] It's not that I disagree with confession......I do believe in it and I do go......it's just annoying. I try to convince myself I'll just go and then make sure I'm perfect after that so I don't have to go again. Hasn't worked yet. ---------------- Now playing: [url="http://www.foxytunes.com/artist/hans+zimmer+%26+james+newton+howard/track/im+not+a+hero+(album+version)"]Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard - I'm Not A Hero (Album Version)[/url] via [url="http://www.foxytunes.com/signatunes/"]FoxyTunes[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 [quote name='eagle_eye222001' post='1929102' date='Jul 22 2009, 10:55 PM']It's not that I disagree with confession......I do believe in it and I do go......it's just annoying. I try to convince myself I'll just go and then make sure I'm perfect after that so I don't have to go again. Hasn't worked yet. [/quote] Since we are required to go once a year, you don't have to put that much pressure on yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent Vega Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Most, if not all, of the teachings on sexuality. I'd like to be able to tell my aunt that I support her right to marry her partner. I'd like for it to be alright to use contraception (if it even saved one unborn...). I'd like to be able to able to do...well, all the things that I can't do. (If you catch the drift) But alas, [i]most [/i]of these things are issues to which I can intellectually assent, it's just my trivial and transient wants. I have to submit to the knowledge of the Church on these issues and trust that She knows better than I ever could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffpugh Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 [quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1928113' date='Jul 22 2009, 11:09 AM']I dunno... nobody's pressured me into any Marian devotions. Are you pressured into them?[/quote] *cough*brown scapular*cough* Yeah, I went there [quote name='zunshynn' post='1928291' date='Jul 22 2009, 02:07 PM']I've struggled with accepting most church teachings in one way or another... the real presence, papal infallibilty, homosexuality, divorce, abortion, contraception, evolution, confession, umm... yeah... pretty much everything, not to mention the existence of God. But I realize that was because I didn't understand the Church's teaching, really, and I wasn't willing to understand. But now that I've come to a conviction that God does exist and there's an objective reality that He exists and WANTS to reveal Himself the way He truly is through His Church, I really have strong convictions about all the Church's teachings, and really can see the immense truth of all of them, even if I surely don't understand it perfectly. That said, I do have a hard time having a devotion to Our Lady. I mean I love her, and I believe in her importance, but I have a hard time relating to her I guess. Like Red, I'd prefer the LOTH over the Rosary. I don't really like a lot of private devotions either... The ones I love, I really love, [b]but personally having devotions to every medal, and every chaplet, and every prayer doesn't help me, they distract me. Sometimes I feel pressured into various devotions, but I've gotten to the point where I just ignore it.[/b] And I can relate to the first poster about having a hard time accepting that I've been forgiven...[/quote] This. [quote name='StColette' post='1928339' date='Jul 22 2009, 02:24 PM']Some people are very zealous about Marian devotions and certain devotions to Christ, like the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I've come to know many people that have told me and others that if you're not saying the Rosary, not Consecrated to the BVM, not wearing a brown scapular, etc. then you aren't a good Catholic or you're less than others who do all those things.[/quote] Yeah. I've heard that. [quote name='tinytherese' post='1928493' date='Jul 22 2009, 05:33 PM']... "lukevert"...[/quote] That's me. I'm totally stealing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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