[Faith-Talk] Trying To Help A New Prospective NFB Member Who IsCatholic

[Kane Brolin]

On 3/9/22, Sarah Blake LaRose via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> With respect to the positions that many of you take, please be aware that
> there are people on this list who consider Catholics Christians. Thank you.

Sarah, thanks for that elegant response, tongue firmly planted in cheek.

It might interest anti-Catholics and former Catholics who are on this
list that some who have come to renounce the Catholic Church,
nonetheless became born again and took major steps toward their
spiritual formation in Christ while still Catholic.  I mention that I
live near South Bend, Indiana.  A long-time friend who definitely
trusts in grace alone through faith alone and whose faith is based
firmly on Scripture nowadays, still talks about the wisdom and
spiritual growth he attained while attending charismatic Catholic
meetings in South Bend during the 1970s.

Furthermore, we have an organization here known as People Of Praise,
containing a high number of Catholics but those of other church
backgrounds as well, which defines itself as a charismatic Christian
community containing members who consider themselves "bound together
by our Christian baptism."  I have a friend, a fellow congregant of an
Evangelical Free [Protestant] church nowadays, whose faith became real
for him while he participated in People Of Praise, having come into
that community as a Catholic.

Finally, a certain business colleague of mine, who still attends
Catholic mass each week, told me privately that even though he loves
the ritual of the Catholic Church, he is personally convicted that
underneath it all, it is only through the unmerited favor of Christ
that one gets justified.  I have no doubt about where his faith lies,
even though the type of church I worship in on Sunday morning is
different from the type of church he worships in.

Just one point of style here:  It seems to me that when we talk about
NFB's Communities Of Faith, we are enjoying fellowship and offering
mutual assistance as blind comrades and as Federationists first.  I
know I am new to this list, so excuse me for being forward; but it
seems to me that this list is not meant as a platform for disputation
about whose church is right and who is saved vs. who is going to hell.
Keep in mind that Hebrews, Unitarians, Quakers, Muslims, Buddhists,
and those persons of faith who don't adhere to any type of biblicist
or Christian worldview, too, need to be treated in a respectful and
non-judgmental manner by those who share this public forum.

Thank you.  This is all I intend to say on the subject.  I wish many
blessings to all.

Respectfully,

-Kane