The Mass and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist- Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity- it is the center of the Catholic faith.

John 6:53-54 Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

I was aware of this when I made my First Communion and the Eucharist kept me in the Catholic Church.  I had a lot of “opportunities” to join another church.  As I look back, the grace of the Eucharist was my spiritual strength especially throughout the Vatican Council II stages of confusion. 

We must rely on the sacramental grace because we cannot save ourselves. 

It is hard to pin down to one.  I'll cover two that have not been mentioned yet.

1) Mary being crowned Queen of Heaven - Theotokos.

Humility and femininity elevated to the highest heights.  She is my mom and sister as I am in the Communion of Saints.

2) Confession - the gift of being able to start over and get up and try harder again.  A clean soul is a beautiful feeling.

 GK - God is good!

What I like best about being catholic is something I felt the first time I attended mass.  When I was a protestant and had no intentions of becoming catholic.  I was merely attending church with my USAF room mate.

While at the mass and afterwards I felt like while attending mass, even though I could not receive the sacrament, I felt like I had truly paid my respects to my maker.

Krish

You wrote:

What I like about the Catholic faith is the TRUTH behind it all. I believe that the Catholic Church is the Church founded by Christ Himself and that this Church is really guided by the Holy Spirit.

I used to believe what you wrote.

Now, I am not so sure. Reading recent contributions to Catholic Exchange I wonder was I naïve. I note that Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church seem to be rejected by contributors. Some posts, from at least one individual, I do not understand and the little I think I understand I disagree with. I have also noted that in one 24 hour period some time ago there were ten posts, eight of them from two contributors. Recently there seems to be few posts, possibly indicating that those, like myself, who formerly contributed are walking away.

In a different discussion I expressed my concerns and disappointment. I am grateful to those who empathized with me. Their support is encouraging.

However there was not general support.

I used to believe there was truth in the Catholic Faith, and Catholics accepted the doctrines of the Church. Now it seems we have a more elastic a la carte Catholicism, and relativism, liberalism or post-modernism, call it what you like, predominates. I had thought that the principle of non-contradiction was the basis of all rational discussion. A thing cannot be and not be under the same aspect, at the same time. Either a concept is true or false.

I take as an example the doctrine that Christ is the Head of the Church. This is an infallible doctrine that Catholics believe De Fide. In the Bull “Unam sanctam” (1302) Pope Boniface VIII declared “The Church represents one single Mystical Body whose head is Christ”. The Council of Trent, St Paul, Pope Pius XII and the universal teaching of the Church has been clear.

It has been stared that:

t also occures to me that you are having a problem with what is often called 'false dicotomy'.

that is you are making the assumption that something is either this or that when in fact it is actually both.

Presumably ‘false dichotomy’ is meant. False Dichotomy (False Dilemma; Fallacy of Negation; Excluded Middle; Either-Or) is discussed in the “Introduction to Activistic Atheism (http://www.positiveatheism.org/faq/faq1114.htm). For those who wish to deny truth exists it is a handy idea.

So Krish my old ideas and yours may not be those of contributors to CE.

God bless,


NoelFitz.
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In necessariis, unitas; in dubiis, libertas; in omnibus, caritas.
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Well let me see, I can tell you of my frustrations first then point out the good parts.

First, I am frustrated at how little the community in which I live are preaching Christ, the good about this is that I'm not persecuted for my beliefs.

Second, I am frustrated by the many diversions to believing although we believe in Christ.  the good thing about this is that no one is shoving their aversions down my throat as with protestants.

Third, I am frustrated that as I understand more and more of the original Church founders, the less the people I encounter know. So trying to talk to them is on different planes, hit or miss, the good thing about this is that I bring my disgruntles to heaven.  

Fourth, I am frustrated that when I am in the company of non-believers and they are in their daily rituals of gossip and this and that, I see their problems clearly.  The good thing about this is that thank God I got over that. 

The best thing about being Catholic is summed in this statement, I get to eat Christ and the hope of true happiness with our Maker. Amen. May God be blessed through all eternity. Amen.