Today I am sharing something with you that is very personal, makes me feel vulnerable and saddens me as well.
Hello friends and family.
I know the post title says, "I'm Leaving The Church" but maybe it would be better if it read, "The Church Has Left Me"....This may be a long post so if you're interested grab your favorite beverage and settle in..
As most of you know and for those who don't I am Catholic. The Catholic Church has been in my veins all my life but sometimes even the things, places and people we believe should be there are something we need to move on from and this is where I am.
I have written about my struggles with the Catholic Church for quite some time now so this is not new for me. I have struggled, and wrestled and prayed and prayed and prayed some more for guidance and I believe the Lord has finally answered me.
I am leaving the Catholic Church but I am not leaving Him. Why am I leaving? There are many reasons but I will list a few here. If you would like to know more you can always drop me an email.
Let me first begin by saying, in the Catholic Church there is much wisdom and beauty, there are some very good, good priests, many, many wonderful Saints and a handful of bishops and cardinals. I will also say that this decision hurts me very much but sometimes in life we have to do things or go through things that hurt us to get to the other side.
Over the course of the last two years a lot of things have come out that have been dirty little secrets or dirty HUGE secrets. Things that have been going on for decades sometimes centuries. Yes, you have corruption in any organization. There is pedophilia, money laundering, homosexual grooming, lying, cover ups, bribes, stealing, trafficking in all walks of life and no one organization or institution is immune too it because these institutions and organization are run by fallen, sinful humans.
The problem for me that I can not get past though is all of these things and more have happened in my Church. The One place I look to for refuge, guidance, safety, peace, beauty, Tradition and because of the acts of a lot of sinful, degenerate men and some women down through the decades they have stripped the Church of her beauty. They have raped a Bride of Christ. They have installed a man in the chair of Peter who is nothing more than a socialist, globalist who seems to care more about the environment, and the one world order than our Lord Jesus Christ and saving souls.
So where am I going. I am going to the Orthodox Church. For those who do not know, the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church used to be one Church together until the year 1054 that is. Rome decided it was going to make changes, the East, The Orthodox said no, they both got angry at each and and literally ex-communicated each other which is why now you have the Eastern Orthodox and the Western Roman Catholic Church.
I have been learning over the last few months all about the Orthodox. Reading, studying, watching videos from Orthodox Monks and Priests. I've been praying and asking the Lord if this is the answer and I do believe yesterday He finally gave me that answer.
I will leave you with this final thought. If you were to tell a Catholic, a traditional Catholic that is, or a Catholic Priest that you are leaving the Roman Catholic Church and going to the Eastern Orthodox the replies you'll receive will be ( and I've had them said to me), How can you leave ? You have to stay and fight for Mother Church. You will go to hell if you leave, there is no salvation outside the Church. The Catholic Church is the One True Church.
I used to believe these things. Not anymore. As for going to hell. I believe and have been taught, God does not send us to hell, we send ourselves there by our sinfulness, unwillingness to repent and serve. As for the One True Church. Even today, Rome recognizes the Sacraments of the Eastern Orthodox as valid which speaks VOLUMES in itself. If Rome recognizes the Sacraments as valid then it begs the question, who has the One True Church? There can not be two..
I believe the One True Church is the Eastern Orthodox. They have never changed their beliefs. They have never changed their liturgy. They have never changed their tenant of faith. It's been the same for 2021 years. They have never changed anything to try and 'look more attractive to the world to fill the pews or the coffers". They are smarter than that. They are not a business or an institution. They do not own properties worth billions of dollars. They are not in the 'business of the world".. The only business they are in , is the business of loving, supporting, teaching, caring, and saving souls for Christ. They are community, they are family. THIS is the One True Church that Christ spoke about, that He began.
Rome has gone so far off the rails She is unrecognizable and those who are corrupting and destroying her are dragging many, many souls straight to hell with them. You have no idea how much that hurts me to say that. I truly can not express to you in words how much that hurts me but truth at times, does hurt.
So that's it...
I will share with you in another post very soon why I believe that the Lord gave me my answer as clearly as possible. I hope you will join me on my path....