Catholics Do NOT Believe:
- That the Pope is God and can do no wrong;
- That anybody or anything may be worshiped or adored besides the True God;
- That the Blessed Virgin is equal to God;
- That images may be worshiped;
- That indulgences give permission to commit sin;
- That a Mass can be bought;
- That forgiveness of sin can be bought;
- That sin can be forgiven without true sorrow;
- That scapulars, medals, crucifixes, and other sacramentals can give graces without proper dispositions on the part of the user;
- That non-Catholics will all be damned;
- That all Catholics will go to heaven;
- That the Bible is the only rule of faith;
- That anybody may interpret the Bible;
- That Our Lord Jesus Christ established many Churches;
- That outward piety is profitable without charity of the spirit;
- That all religions are the same.
(Source: churchmilitant, via empty-and-beautiful)
It’s 2:00am. I probably shouldn’t say this. I might regret it later. But here are my thoughts.
I am so sick of people bashing my religion and not caring twice about it.
No one even stops to think about how it feels. I just went through and deleted “friends” of mine on Facebook for making fun of my Church, because in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks, we’re sort of in the spotlight.
Here’s what gets me. I have been brought to tears over the harsh words of people against my Church. I have literally been to the point of wanting to kill myself because I feel like I’ll never be in a world where I can say, “I’m Catholic,” without expecting someone to get on my case about it. I have struggled with depression for years, and you know how they say that you need to watch what you say to people because you never know when it will be just enough to put them over the edge. I don’t consider myself suicidal, but sometimes I’ve gotten pretty close in my mind.
And why should you care? I’m just a normal American girl who can’t handle the world. But look at it this way. What if I was gay? What if I was in my room, crying because someone posted a status where they mocked the gay lifestyle? Or what if I was Muslim, and I was upset because someone alluded to my religion being full of terrorists? What if I was anorexic, and someone just made a joke about eating disorders? Would you feel bad for me then?
I bet you would. There would be songs written for me and music videos made to give me strength. People would come out and say encouraging words to make sure I don’t ever feel alone. But I don’t get any of that. I’m just a Catholic girl who is head over heels in love with her religion, founded by the Man she loves more than anyone can fathom. I don’t get any pity or sympathy. I’m just watching my home be attacked from all sides and verbally destroyed by anyone who has access to a computer. And it makes me want to kill myself.But I deserve that, right? I’m being too whiny, right? It’s the pedophile priests’ fault. It’s the corrupt popes of the early Church’s fault. It’s the crusade’s fault. It’s Galileo’s fault. My religion is bad, and therefore it deserves all of the ridicule it gets. I am just the majority and I deserve to have verbal rocks thrown at the institution that my life is based around.
That probably sounds sick to anyone who doesn’t do the same. But how is it any different than a morbidly skinny girl whose life actually does revolve around food? Or a gay man whose life revolves around their struggle with attraction - around how to deal with it with the rest of this homophobic society?
Words hurt. We’ve always been told that. But when we see something we don’t like or don’t understand, suddenly we can use all the hurtful words we want and it doesn’t matter. We don’t care who we hurt as long as we make a point. America has a problem with the Catholic Church, so we can make fun of it all we want. It doesn’t matter if we hurt the boys and girls whose lives revolve around it. It doesn’t matter if we bully them into depression. It doesn’t matter - just as long as we shut them up. Isn’t that how it is?
Bolded a part for emphasis. My Jewish history teacher was talking about how it was really hard for Catholics first coming to the colonies. That’s why we had to establish our own colony. We’re supposed to have freedom of religion, but it seems like everyone is ok with mocking Catholicism. Catholics have pretty much always been hated in America.
CATHOLICS UNITE. <3333
UHHHH St. Philomena was a badass.
So the Emperor wanted her for his wife because she was so beautiful. But she had already vowed her chastity to Jesus 2 years prior. So the Emperor chained her to a chamber in a dungeon for FORTY DAYS where Jesus and Mary appeared to her.
The Emperor had her tied to a pillar and whipped. Her skin was literally falling off of her body so he had her placed back in the chamber. There, angels cured her skin and restored her to health. So the emperor was even more enraged.
SO HE HAD A FREAKIN IRON ANCHOR TIED TO HER NECK and he had her THROWN into a body of water. So two angels cut the cord around her neck and brought her to the top of the water. Her clothes were dry as the desert.
You see those arrows in the picture? Yeah, the emperor made plans for those to be sent through her body, but again, she didn’t die. So he asked for the torture to be continued until she die, but the arrows wouldn’t leave the bows. So he had the arrows heated with fire, and the arrows turned around and SHOT AND KILLED THE GUARDS.
She was beheaded and went straight to Heaven.
All at age 14.
OH AND SHES ALSO THE YOUNGEST SAINT OF ALL TIME.
Patron saint of youth, babies, pregnant women, and purity.
(via empty-and-beautiful)
9 Saint Quotes That Will Kick Your Ass
“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”
-St. Augustine
“To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin.”
-St. Thomas Aquinas
“We cannot accuse our sinful nature for God invites us as we are. It is laziness and nothing else that makes us unworthy!”
-Saint John Chrysostom
“As long as we live, we fight, and as long as we are fighting, that is a sign that we are not defeated and that the good Spirit dwells within us. And if death does not meet you as the victor, he should find you a warrior.”
-St. Augustine
“If there is no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
-Mother Teresa
“Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent.”
- Saint John of the Cross
“Sometimes hatred is charming, while love must show itself severe.”
-St. Augustine
God does not create poverty. We do, because we do not share.”
-Mother Teresa
“There are very few people who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves into his hands”
-St. Ignatius of Loyola
(via empty-and-beautiful)
Skillet - Hero
Album - Awake
Straighten
We look at our lives so often and wonder what we can do to fix them? Why do I feel this way? Why is it takin so long for my heart to heal? How come my ship hasn’t come in?
Recently I was reading and stumbled across this verse, I never realized it was there and I am happy I found it.
Consider what God has done:
Who can straighten
what he has made crooked? (Ecclesiastes 7:13 NIV)We are made the way we are supposed to be made. We go through the things we go through for a reason. Sometimes things make no sense, sometimes they hurt, but I believe with all that I am that God has a plan and a purpose (Jeremiah 29:11) and we need to try as hard as we may to stick to that.
Be blessed,
Aaron
(via fuckyeahaarongillespie)
