Catholic Discussion
- Thread starter sanctus
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Whether its for Lent or selfish self improvement, I 'm giving up meat. . Now your average vegetarian would find this unremarkable, but I'm going to be struggling to maintain it. I will crave burgers, steak and my favourite KFC bucket of chicken.
Either way, I feel a period of self-denial (and weight loss, hence the selfish bit!) will be worth it.
I was thinking of the same thing. I know I am capable of it though, for I was a vegetarian for several years "back in the day". Only thing I'll miss is hamburgers, that is my weakness!
If not that, at least all sweets. It's good to make a show of sacrifice and use this time for cleansing and prayer, which is the intention of Lent.
Role of Women in the Church
I was sent a series of questions on Catholic issues. I thought I'd divide them up into separate threads as they are separate issues:
Originally Posted by westmanguy
Now, I believe Catholics goto Heaven, but I am not under the Roman Catholic denomination, for a few reasons, and since your involved in the church, from reading that other thread, I would like to know your stances, and beliefs on the following:
Role of women
Women can only perform certain roles in the church, and cannot be priests, and seem to only be involved as nuns, and working with the children.
I believe women, can perform any roles in the church, and are equal to the men. Can you tell me your thoughts on this?
I was sent a series of questions on Catholic issues. I thought I'd divide them up into separate threads as they are separate issues:
Originally Posted by westmanguy
Now, I believe Catholics goto Heaven, but I am not under the Roman Catholic denomination, for a few reasons, and since your involved in the church, from reading that other thread, I would like to know your stances, and beliefs on the following:
Role of women
Women can only perform certain roles in the church, and cannot be priests, and seem to only be involved as nuns, and working with the children.
I believe women, can perform any roles in the church, and are equal to the men. Can you tell me your thoughts on this?
When I was a child, our household would give up television. We wouldn't fast (making children fast is just a bad idea all around in my opinion), but we would eat vegetarian on Fridays. I haven't followed any of these traditions in my household as of yet. I usually give up something for myself, but find it hard to find something that is a true sacrifice to give up. So often it ends up not being a true sacrifice at all. As one person said, we give up a certain food, hoping to lose weight, or like my mom, give up tv hoping to bring the family closer together. Knowing you expect a reward from it seems to make it not much of a sacrifice at all.
I've been striving to find something that would bear no reward for me in giving up. Alcohol seems like my best bet, but, it is also my only possible recourse for managing the pain of my illness. It seems like it would end up being less of a sacrifice for me, and more of a punishment for my family than anything else. So I guess I will keep pondering, keep thinking. Surely something will come to me.
Christianity, and the Catholic Church in particular, upholds the dignity of each person by recognizing the differences, created by God, between the genders, and what atributes they can bring to this world.
Sanctus
What was the question and what is your answer?
It doesn't appear to be clear on your post...
What was the question and what is your answer?
It doesn't appear to be clear on your post...
The question was on the role of women in the Church. My reply is as follows:
The most significant sources of conflict within the Catholic Church today revolve around the role and status of women. Should women be allowed to become priests? Must women be prevented from using artificial means of birth control? Are women equal to men in all things?
In 1994, Pope John Paul II issued a statement to the effect that the Church had no authority to admit women to the priesthood and that the question would have to be put off indefinitely. It wasn’t quite an announcement made from a position of infallibility, though it comes very close and there is some debate as to whether it qualifies as an infallible pronouncement.
For all the women who hoped that they might one day become priests, this struck hard, not simply because it denied them their aspirations but also because it appeared to deny them even the dignity of having a debate about the matter. To this day people who attempt to argue that perhaps women are fit to be priests do so with the risk of losing the right to call themselves Catholic theologians.
In this, the forces of conservatism are definitely in charge — but what else could John Paul have done? As noted above, debates over the status of women are probably the most contentious in the Catholic Church. If John Paul had even merely allowed the debate to continue, it probably would have meant continued rancor that would have pulled Catholics apart; had he given even a hit of approval for the ordination of women, it would have been even worse. The reality is, as our former Holy Father indicated, the Church does not have the authority to change the priesthood. This was started by Jesus and He selected men, and that is why the Church retains a male only priesthood and episcopate.
Children are exempt from following the rules for Lent. However, my daughters used to take active part(one still does). A few years back my youngest told me she was giving up chips. Now that sounds good, however, she is not a big chip fan. Ice cream is her favourite. I tried to tell her that giving something up does not mean giving up something you don't necessarily enjoy. She was quite miffed at me and said "Well Daddy, God knows I love Him and wants me to eat ice cream"..
I personally could not handle a female "priest". It would fly against all our traditions. As a woman, I in no way feel less then a man because we cannot enter the priesthood. We all have our roles to play in the Church. Nothing wrong with that. The Church is supposed to be upholding what God wants, not bending to the will of the secular world.
Children are exempt from following the rules for Lent. However, my daughters used to take active part(one still does). A few years back my youngest told me she was giving up chips. Now that sounds good, however, she is not a big chip fan. Ice cream is her favourite. I tried to tell her that giving something up does not mean giving up something you don't necessarily enjoy. She was quite miffed at me and said "Well Daddy, God knows I love Him and wants me to eat ice cream"..
Well, that is the point after all. lol. How adorable kids can be.
My son gave me a blunt reminder about religion this Christmas. We were driving home from town one day, and he had started telling me what it was he was going to get me for Christmas, and I stopped him saying "Honey, Christmas is about surprising people". Without a pause he said from the backseat "You know mom, some people say it's ACTUALLY about Jesus." Put me in my place. lol.
I bet he did! I had a similiar experience a few years back teaching a First Communion class. We were talking about the role of Mary and one of the little boys was getting really frustrated with me because I was trying to explain the concept of the "Mother of God". He interrupted me at one point and said "Father, we're not stupid, we know Jesus had to be nice to her, she was his mother and they are all powerful! Ask my dad!".. I nearly peed myself laughing
He's five. He's a little sponge though, my little scientist. When he was four, he had been playing on the computer with a science program he had, and one day at lunch he turns to me and says "Mom, did you know (holds up his soup spoon), that if you look at your reflection in the concave surface of this spoon, you'll see it upside down and backwards?" seriously, he used the word concave.
He's home sick today because, "Mom, my uvula really hurts". His tonsils are hugely swollen, not his actual uvula, but darn if I wasn't impressed anyhow! lol.
I bet he did! I had a similiar experience a few years back teaching a First Communion class. We were talking about the role of Mary and one of the little boys was getting really frustrated with me because I was trying to explain the concept of the "Mother of God". He interrupted me at one point and said "Father, we're not stupid, we know Jesus had to be nice to her, she was his mother and they are all powerful! Ask my dad!".. I nearly peed myself laughing
that is so adorable. kids are just so blasted smart. lol
Sounds like a sweetie. I miss my kids at that age. That's when they still liked their father and me
Wait till he's a teenager--hah hah hah
That's the tightrope the Church has always had to walk Mary, being in the world but trying not to be influenced by it. Makes us highly unpopular, to say the least.