hi maryjohanna!
I hear what you're saying.
there are some Catholic practices that I find troubling, though in some cases things I previously thought unbiblical I now see as not as clear-cut as before.
the Nicene Creed is often recited during Mass.
"I/We believe...
in one Lord, Jesus Christ...
On the third day he rose again..."
of course, if a person doesn't honestly believe those things, they shouldn't say that they do!
Thank you for your reply. When I would go to mass when I was younger because of family, I would always feel weird about the Nicene Creed. I am just sharing what my heart's instinct is, and someone may feel completely different which is okay. But, I always felt like the Nicene Creed and other prayers said during mass just sounded so empty and almost lifeless. It always seemed like people were saying it just to say it; they weren't saying it because they believed what it was saying in their hearts. The statement "we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church" always bothered me; we aren't called to follow a church, we are called to follow Jesus. Plain and simple.
I worry because I think a LOT of people say the Creed, go to mass, and list off a set of prayers as a part of the Catholic "tradition" and think that is enough for them and it is not. I ALWAYS think of what Christ told us in the Gospels regarding those who are will make it into the Kingdom:
"Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many might works in your name'? And then I will declare to them, 'I never KNEW you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." [Matthew 7:21-23]
WOW! This passage has always stuck with me. It has the fear of God infused in it. I am not trying to categorize a group of people, but this [to me] applies to the situation I am talking about. People think they can just say what is "required" and "put in place" by the authority of the church and they assume that it will produce good fruit and save them. It won't. And it scares me for people. Now, there very well could be people who recite this prayer and genuinely believe the meaning. What this means, I cannot judge or say.
I can say though that God wants to KNOW us. He wants to KNOW the deepest part of hearts and our souls. Matthew 6:7 warns us not to "heap up empty phrases" when we pray and those who do think they will be heard for their MANY words... but they won't. Again, I am not judging the hearts of a Catholic who recites this prayer; HOWEVER, I think that the Nicene Creed is only one example of many things [pertaining to Catholicism] that has conditioned people to think that is what faith is meant to consist of, and I just don't agree.
God bless!