I am proud to proclaim
I am a Catholic.
A saved, born again, Spirit filled, lover of Jesus
who expects to be accepted
by Protestant lovers of Jesus
because I am a sister in Christ.
BUT, my culture and way of expressions seems odd to Protestant ears,
So I am misunderstood.
Perhaps in the Body, the Protestants are the feet and mouth carrying the Good News
and as a Catholic I am an ear.
I might not look like I belong but trust me,
although I look foreign I AM part of the same Body.
May my small acts of unity reverberate throughout the entire Mystical Body of Christ.
Before I discovered Catholic sites, I posted on secular and Protestant sites. I felt I had to hide my Catholicism. When I finally wrote about my Catholic faith, I was immediately grilled and interrogated by shocked readers and co-authors. Yet God had His own agenda and through the moderator, forgiveness and unity began. Of course, the site decided to simply ignore my Catholicism and centre on my love of God.
When I discovered Catholic sites and was accepted as a writer, I was thrilled to finally be free to write about my faith without filters. Of course Protestants and agnostics sometimes still take a swipe at me but I feel I am defending my faith on my territory. Of course, the tears still come at times because I know exactly how they feel about the Catholic Church. I too once reviled Catholics and thought they had corrupted true faith in Jesus.
It really does take divine revelations to break down the ingrained prejudices against Catholic tradition. I am a convert only because of divine intervention. My sister and I met the Lord when we were 16 and 17. She became a Protestant Missionary and I became a Catholic mother of nine. She prays for my salvation because she knows about my deep relationship with Mary.
Prayer
My tears and pain are my silent prayer, whispered from the depths of my spirit as I choose to let the pain flow from me to the heart of Jesus. I cannot change people. Only He can open eyes. I yearn for the day the God reveals His Mother to our Protestant Brethren.
Refection
“WE can be right.
We can be dead right and
bring death to all those around us.”
( Jean Vanier, founder or L’Arche)
joy of nine9 
Reblogged this on St. John One: One and commented:
Please read our Sister in Christ’s observation and plea. I lived in a small community in Alaska for almost a decade and I spoke up for Catholics and periodically would ask the Priest to forgive me for what my Protestant brother’s and sisters in Christ would say. I came to Christ 41 years ago and it started by reading Thomas Merton’s Poetry. The Catholic Church is our Mother. I don’t want anyone saying anything bad about our Mother. In Jesus, Christ son of the Living God have mercy on us all as we reach out to you.
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your deep love for God and all his children brings tears once again but tears of relief and joy
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I was raised strict independent fundamental Baptist, but never fit in. I was told so many lies about Catholics my whole life. I walked into a Catholic church about six years ago, at the age of 27…and I fell in LOVE. My Baptist friends all pray for my salvation and simply will NOT listen to my answers to the lies they have been fed…but it will be a good laugh for everyone when we all make it to Heaven, lol
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Nice to meet somone who was saved and THEN became a Catholic. The lies were really ingrained in me-….Did you know Scott Hahn was a Protestant minister and theologian who became a Catholic when he studied the Church in an attempt to convince a fellow Protestant not to convert?
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I did read “Rome Sweet Home”,and he did make lots of good points, but I liked David Currie’s “Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic” better. It hit closer to home and seemed less…pretentious. I can appreciate that Hahn’s studied that led to his conversion were like epiphanies to him, but he sort of made it sound like he was the first person to come up with a lot of the ideas or something…I dunno. Currie’s book goes point by point on the Catholic biggies and cinched the deal for me. Maybe I should read some of Hahn’s other stuff and not assume he is stuffy 🙂
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And I looooooove Jeff Cavins. LOVE him.
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you are right , Hahn IS stuffy..I have never read David Currie or Jeff Cavins. I like reading books from the heart, and down to earth- I will have to read them
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Many people dislike the Catholic Church for what they believe it teaches but very few dislike it for what it actually teaches
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ahhh…..so true. Although I have tried to reason using scripture to explain Mary’s rrole of Purgatory only to have people reject anything not spelled out in Scripture.
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“I yearn for the day the God reveals His Mother to our Protestant Brethren.” He did but they tuck her away until Christmas and then put her away again after. This is where we come in 🙂 Hang in there!
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laughing- yes Mary WILL reveal herself to all- thank-you for this perspective
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I am always curious to know, and often ask when Protestants PROTEST regarding Mary: “Did you know Luther was a huge devotee of the Blessed Mother Mary?” Perplexed looks generally follow, lol. However, it is TRUE! Luther, along with virtually all important Protestant Founders (e.g., Calvin, Zwingli, Cranmer), accepted the traditional beliefs of Mary. Here is just one article of many which can help to educate others on the matter, http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2004/05/martin-luthers-devotion-to-mary.html
Great post Melanie! Mother Mary I am sure is smiling upon you!! Hugs n’ Blessings!
PS- I trained under Scott Hahn’s St. Paul’s Center for Biblical Study and indeed he is sooooo very knowledgeable regarding the Catholic Faith he CAN be ‘heady.’ Listening to him is often compared to trying to drink water from a fire-hydrant, and his writings can be the same, lol. To me he is like a modern day St. Paul, who as we know offended many along the way with his austere and brazen personality!
Jeff Cavins has spoken at our study groups also, as he & Scott Hahn are friends, and he is just as amazing but speaks/educates quite differently. A gentler spirit you may say, lol!
Praise be for our creative God who meets us all where we are at with just the right amount of personality we may need at that moment in our lives!!
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Lucky woman- Scott Hahn’s insights into biblical passages in Revelations which refer to the mass are brilliant and divinely inspired. I really must read more of his books.
Yes I did know Luther believed in Mary, even the Assumption- I wrote a post on the Assumption and included some of Luther’s reflections. Thanks for the informative comment.
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Reblogged this on therasberrypalace.
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Born and raised in the Episcopal Church–the spin off of the Anglican Church. . .as every protestant denomination is a spinoff of the Latin Church (a fact of history. As the word catholic means Universal, I have always felt connected and a part of the Catholic faith. I am drawn to the Catholic Church and will most likely find my way home officially one day soon—- both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are the base roots of our Christian faith—history teaches us such. .
I sometimes feel as if I should apologize for those who may lash out or respond negatively to both Catholics and Orthodox as I often think the negative pushback comes from a lack of understanding or knowledge–
I appreciate your “teachings” and sharing and pray you will continue to reach out to all faithful believers. . .
with love—julie
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You embody a true Christian spirit of unity. I to would like to apologize for some Catholics who feel all other denominations are heretics and are upset with Pope Francis for reaching out and building bridges with other faiths
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I love the bottom photo. I hope you don’t mind me using it soon in a post. Great read!
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I would be delighted if you used an image I had dug up
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Catholic is part of my DNA. I didn’t even realize how much until I started blogging. I have many Christian followers. No one ever called me to task.
I look forward to hearing more about your relationship with Mary.
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Looks like I have the topic for my next article. I too have Christians of many denominations who read my blog. I get flak when I write columns. When I write about a controversial topic like Purgatory, I get bombarded by outraged Protestants
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I don’t mind being misunderstood by Protestants. I have misunderstood Protestants myself, but I have never been prejudiced. I find that some Protestants are downright prejudiced against Catholics. It’s like they’re still fighting the religious wars of the 16th century.
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exactly
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I hear you! I am one of only a couple of Catholics that belong to a Protestant based homeschool group in my town. My experience has been pretty positive though. I’m not sure they know what to make of me 🙂 They keep trying to put me in positions of leadership so I think great strides are being made. I think it is important for us Catholics to mingle with our Protestant brothers and sisters and not just keep to ourselves.
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agreed
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It is weird that the present day spirituality is more of noisy and more of words. I question most of the people who claim to have spirit-filled. But i think it is the catholic faith that passed on the way to find the WAY, TRUTH and LIFE. Unfortunately it is looked down due to the mistakes of few.
My opinion is that a catholic is the Heart than the ear.
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