Looking for liberal Catholic church in NOVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The whole passage from John:

2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.Now what do you say?” 6They were using this question as a trap,in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Not one of us can judge whether our brothers or sisters are sinful, for we are all sinners.

Well said. And plenty ironic that PP--who clearly considers themselves a "real" Christian--has managed to not only miss the point of the passage entirely, but come away with the *exact* opposite lesson from its intended meaning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op I don't mean to be snarky or rude but I don't understand Catholics like you.
I am gay and am happy you support my civil rights and are liberally minded.

Why do you want to continue to be Catholic though?
What teachings is is you are looking for that you don't think you will find in an Episcopal Church.

I really am just curious, If you don't follow the Catholic doctrine then why do you want to be one?

I'm not the OP but would like to respond. I'm Catholic and I stay despite my disagreements. The Church is in crisis because of the myopic focus on mostly sexual issues (anti-gay, anti-birth control/choice, anti-stem cell) when she should be focused on Gospel values (the primacy of love, faithfulness, detachment from possessions, service, solidarity, littleness, transforming movements). I feel a personal responsibility to speak up for Gospel values and hope that more Catholics do so rather than leave the Church.

I feel the same way. Though with the surprising election of an actual Christian in the current Pope, I am beginning to feel optimistic about the future of the Church for the first time in a long while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op I don't mean to be snarky or rude but I don't understand Catholics like you.
I am gay and am happy you support my civil rights and are liberally minded.

Why do you want to continue to be Catholic though?
What teachings is is you are looking for that you don't think you will find in an Episcopal Church.

I really am just curious, If you don't follow the Catholic doctrine then why do you want to be one?

I'm not the OP but would like to respond. I'm Catholic and I stay despite my disagreements. The Church is in crisis because of the myopic focus on mostly sexual issues (anti-gay, anti-birth control/choice, anti-stem cell) when she should be focused on Gospel values (the primacy of love, faithfulness, detachment from possessions, service, solidarity, littleness, transforming movements). I feel a personal responsibility to speak up for Gospel values and hope that more Catholics do so rather than leave the Church.

I feel the same way. Though with the surprising election of an actual Christian in the current Pope, I am beginning to feel optimistic about the future of the Church for the first time in a long while.

He's a Jesuit. OP, try to find Jesuit communities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole passage from John:

2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.Now what do you say?” 6They were using this question as a trap,in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Not one of us can judge whether our brothers or sisters are sinful, for we are all sinners.

Well said. And plenty ironic that PP--who clearly considers themselves a "real" Christian--has managed to not only miss the point of the passage entirely, but come away with the *exact* opposite lesson from its intended meaning.

Yes, Jesus told the whore to go and sin no more. What does that mean? Stop being a whore. Stop sinning. Stop doing it. Stop stop stop it. Such behavior is destructive to oneself and society. The penalty for adultery back then was to be condemned to death by having your head and body broken to pieces by rocks and stones thrown at you.

Jesus gave her a 2nd chance, just as Jesus gives all sinners a 2nd chance. Does this mean when we see homosexuals living contrary to what God has taught in the Bible that we should zip our mouths and say nothing? Did Jesus say nothing? No, he told her and all sinners: You are sinning. You are doing wrong. STOP IT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole passage from John:

2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.Now what do you say?” 6They were using this question as a trap,in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Not one of us can judge whether our brothers or sisters are sinful, for we are all sinners.

Well said. And plenty ironic that PP--who clearly considers themselves a "real" Christian--has managed to not only miss the point of the passage entirely, but come away with the *exact* opposite lesson from its intended meaning.

Yes, Jesus told the whore to go and sin no more. What does that mean? Stop being a whore. Stop sinning. Stop doing it. Stop stop stop it. Such behavior is destructive to oneself and society. The penalty for adultery back then was to be condemned to death by having your head and body broken to pieces by rocks and stones thrown at you.

Jesus gave her a 2nd chance, just as Jesus gives all sinners a 2nd chance. Does this mean when we see homosexuals living contrary to what God has taught in the Bible that we should zip our mouths and say nothing? Did Jesus say nothing? No, he told her and all sinners: You are sinning. You are doing wrong. STOP IT

She wasn't a whore. She was an adulteress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plus there is only an Episcopal Church 'cause Henry VIII wanted a divorce.

Nope, he and Elizabeth I created the Anglican Church or Church of England, not the Episcopal Church. Anglicans worldwide comprise 80 million. The Episcopal Church (renamed from Anglican after the Revolutionary War) is only in America and has less than 2 M. members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I used to think that evolution was taught in catholic schools, but now am not so sure. I've seen several catholic curriculum books that discuss that evolution didn't happen.


Citation please.

In the early 70s, in a conservative parish in the Boston suburbs, I was taught by Catholic priests and nuns that evolution, the Bible, and Church teachings are 100% compatible. I have never seen or heard any Catholic view

This. The Church does not teach against evolution. Creationism and evolution are compatible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm in your boat exactly. We haven't had luck with anything in NOVA (Arlington diocese is known as one of the strictest in the nation), but we are going to check out Holy Trinity in Georgetown-progressive friends of ours go there and like it.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jesus told the whore "Go and sin no more". It is not about liberal or conservative, it is about obeying God's commandments concerning morality: no adultery, no fornication, no homosexual sex, no lying on your neighbor to bring the law down on his head; no stealing, murdering, or worshipping the Tree Spirit, Gaia, Mother Earth, Allah, Buddha, or any other such thing.

Got it?

no one worships Allah. Muslims worship the same God as the Jews and Christians.

Got it???

[Anonymous]

have you tried Unitarian

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh and we also believe in evolution! hahhaa... some of you will ask why we are catholic. We believe all the other teachings and want to continue the tradition of Catholicism in the family.

The Church doesn't have any issue with evolution..

[Anonymous]

I actually left the catholic church due to my dissatisfaction with the catholic churches here in fairfax county (arlington diocese). I received a lot of criticism for being unmarried at 24 (the horror!) and never fit in the church. I was districted to St. James, but was very upset that you weren't allowed to pick which church to attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually left the catholic church due to my dissatisfaction with the catholic churches here in fairfax county (arlington diocese). I received a lot of criticism for being unmarried at 24 (the horror!) and never fit in the church. I was districted to St. James, but was very upset that you weren't allowed to pick which church to attend.

You get districted only with regards to membership. You're free to attend mass wherever you please. We tried to enroll in St. Mary's because we liked the place, had plenty of young families like ours, has a good school - well plenty of families living outside the area they serve also want to be members for the school but they can't accommodate all those children in their small school so they are strict about membership enrollment. However, we're free to attend mass there whenever we please and we do attend their 5pm service when we miss the 11am one for our parish.

If you're still young and unmarried, then go to church wherever you please. It doesn't matter whether you're officially registered with that parish or not. I think you may have misunderstood what it means to be districted to a particular parish - it's really just a logistical way to manage the demand on Catholic churches in the area. If you're not planning to enroll a child there in the next couple years, no need to establish your membership.

[Anonymous]

As a Catholic, I am a sinner. I sin every day; however, I still continue to BELIEVE all the church's teachings regarding faith and morals, and strive to follow Christ's commands despite my imperfections.

The flawed logic in "Cafeteria Catholics" is that in disagreeing with the Church's teachings on various teachings (pro-life, homosexual BEHAVIOR, fornication, adultery, etc), they no longer BELIEVE that certain acts/behaviors are sinful anymore, tricking themselves (through rationalization) that engaging in these acts/behaviors is therefore perfectly acceptable to God.

Seriously, there are tens of thousands of Protestant Christian denominations out there to fit just about any cafeteria line there is. Why not respect that the Catholic Church for standing up for their "unpopular" convictions with regard to moral issues?

[Anonymous]

um, excuse the interruption, but has anybody mentioned St. Ann's? On 10th and North Frederick St. in Arlington? They are pretty liberal and as an aside, the church atmosphere is bright and airy.

(My DD also loves it because it has seat cushions, btw. The seats are quite soft. It's nice there! Father Mel is great)