"I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter;" Matthew 12:36
There may be some that read what I write and think that I'm a former, bitter, anti-Protestant. I truly hope that is not the case because I THANK GOD for my Protestant roots which taught me to LOVE Jesus and LOVE the Bible. I said that to make my intention clear not only in this article but for CatholicTransformation.com in general. I love what Protestantism taught me about loving Jesus and the Word of God, but I am thankful that I found Catholicism which I believe to be the fullness of the Christian faith.
It really bothers me to hear of ex-Catholics and especially ex-Catholic Priests ( see here ) that leave the Catholic Church and attack the Church with words that they will likely be accountable to God for on judgment day. There are likely Protestants who convert to Catholicism and become a staunch anti-Protestant which is no better than a staunch anti-Catholic. We all need to be careful about what we say.
It's interesting that without even searching hard that it's fairly easy to come across former ex-Catholics ( including Priests ) who attack the Church and seem to want to bring Catholics to JESUS through Protestantism: FYI, faithful Catholics know JESUS and I'm sorry that ex-Catholics somehow never found JESUS in Catholicism even as a priest. That is truly a tragedy. But ex-Catholics should come back home to the Catholic Church and thankfully many do after 5, 10 or even 20+ years away.
There are a lot of protestants going through the motions as well which is sad on either side of Christianity that anyone would go through the motions and not know Jesus. Although it may seem like it, the grass is not greener on the Protestant side.
In Luke 9:23 - Jesus said "...If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Coming from a Protestant tradition, I think it was harder deny self and it's easier now to deny self through teachings of the Catholic Church. Yes, self still gets in the way, but Catholic teachings have totally changed my relationship with Christ. And I considered myself a solid Christian before my Catholic journey. I wasn't weak in my faith.
I regret that I didn't find Catholicism many years ago. Brenda and I have admitted to each other that having more children would be one thing different in our lives if we had of become Catholic years ago. I could be bitter about that and bash Protestant teachings on contraception. I'll likely write an article about that at some point, but I hope that I can do it in love.
There is already enough misunderstanding and anti-Catholicism around without bitter ex-Catholics spreading anti-Catholic rhetoric at every opportunity they have. Is this really showing the LOVE of neighbor that Christ wants when both Protestants and Catholics LOVE the same Jesus?
If I went into all the reasons why I think Catholics leave the Church, this would be a really long article. So I will focus a few more words on Matthew 12:36 and that sometimes it is better to not saying anything.
Protestants, in general, who talk disrespectfully about Mary should be careful. It's something that I never did as a Protestant. Although, as a Protestant, I didn't take the full Catholic view of Mary, Mary did give birth to Jesus.
No matter what your position on Mary, she deserves more honor than "Mary was just a vessel and nothing more." Is that how you see your own mother? What about Luke 1:48? "...all generations will call me blessed;" Hmmm... I wonder if Jesus will hold people accountable on judgement day for the downright terrible things they said about Mary in this life while saying how much they LOVE Jesus in the same conversation.
Ex-Catholics who leave the Catholic Church and reject the Eucharist ( Real Presence ) and replace it with a symbolic representation of a once per quarter ( some cases ) version of Holy Communion must not truly grasp Catholic teachings. Leaving the Catholic Church and not keeping their mouth closed by being DISRESPECTFUL about Mary, the Eucharist, other Catholic teachings and even the Pope to the point of being bitter, hateful or just making jokes is a path that I wouldn't want to go down and answer for on judgement day.
It is better sometimes to say nothing at all if you have nothing nice to say. I'm thankful for my Protestant roots. But I'm even more thankful for Catholicism. I'm not going out trying to get Protestants SAVED because I see them as poor lost souls like many Protestants see poor old Catholics. I hope to share my Catholic faith and compare beliefs to Protestant beliefs but hopefully do it all in love with respect: That's something that I have to work on.
If you have never been a Catholic Christian, you owe it to yourself to look into the Catholic Church. If you are an ex-Catholic, it's not too late to come back home: Contact a local parish.
"I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter;" Matthew 12:36
