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My name is Maureen and I am an 18-year-old Catholic. My father was raised Catholic but stopped going to church after his First Communion. He now doesn't go to church. He says that:
the Church is full of hypocrites and that it is corrupt
the Vatican is full of abusers and rich people
Communion is fake and that the Bible was written or very altered in the Middle Ages to make people full of fear
maybe there is Reincarnation or maybe not, and
that if God is truly Infinitely Loving, He wouldn't send anyone to Hell. Maybe they have to repent for many years in Purgatory but not to Hell, which is a Middle Ages invention.
He says he shouldn't have to confess his sins to a priest who probably has sinned more than Him.
All of this hurts me a lot:
for the hurt that it causes God
for my father's own life, and
lastly because it means that he doesn't respect what I believe in.
What can I do?
Maureen
{
What can I do if my father has stopped going to church and doesn't respect what I believe in? }
Bob replied:
Maureen,
First of all, don't lose heart. There is much you can do, which will not be unfruitful if you trust God.
First, pray the Rosary every day, and include conversion and deliverance for your dad among the intentions.
Secondly, don't argue points that are unwinable. For example, your dad is right about corruption, sin and other issues at the highest levels of the Church — it is conspicuous and shouldn't be explained away or denied.
Rather than debate, affirm, and say,
"Yes, there have been Judas' from the time of Christ Himself, and the fact that they are there, does not surprise or shock us, but shows how what was true for Jesus must be true for us as well."
Then use that point to show the choice we all have by contrasting Judas and Simon Peter.
Both were betrayers, both threw Jesus under the bus so to speak, but when there was time for the dust to settle, only one turned back to reconcile with Jesus. We all have a choice. We can die in our sins or we can rekindle our friendship with the only True Friend who died for our sins and loves us to the bitter end. Then when the Holy Spirit leads you, tell your dad that despite the fact that he has betrayed Christ, he still has a chance to reconcile, to not be a Judas, but be a Peter; to become free of the weight of sin that burdens his soul, for he is burdened.
Then whenever he comes up with some reason that he doesn't like religion, God, whatever, say,
"That's a very clever argument, how do you think it will hold up when you meet God?"
Then I would say,
"I don't think it will, because you can't tell your version of the truth to The One who is The Truth, because Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life no one can come to the father except through me." (John 14:6)
So in the end there are three things you always want to do or highlight:
Pray
Emphasize that God loves him and died for him
He has a choice
All the other arguments you can equip yourself with over time. This is a long war, you may lose some battles, but victory will come, especially if the Blessed Virgin is involved.
Your father said: . . . if God is truly Infinitely loving, He wouldn't send anyone to Hell.
God doesn't send anyone to Hell. Individuals (by their own choices and with their own free will) send themselves to Hell.
As I have said in previous answers, one of the greatest, but dangerous, gifts God has given people is the blessing of free will. He didn't create us to be in the mold of robots but individuals with free will.
We can do great things as Catholic Christians with our lives, or
we can do terrible things that counter the Church's Teachings.
Politicians like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are good pro-abortion examples of those who use their free will poorly. At the end of their Earthly life, they will have to account for their actions; we call this our Particular Judgment.
Your father, like many, probably misunderstands what Purgatory is since it sounds like he has been attending other Protestant congregations or talking to other fallen-away Catholics.
Although the Church is not based on the Bible (1 Timothy 3:15), here are some Scripture passages that support the reality of Purgatory, the Holy Hospital of Heaven:
I think your father is confusing Hell with Limbo, which was never an official teaching nor a Church doctrine by rather a theological speculation on where unbaptized babies go when they die.
The Church teaches we entrust them (unbaptized babies) to the Mercy of God.
Mike
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