Exactly. It is a strong emotional feeling that Roman Catholics have towards their religion. There's also fear because if they move away from their heartfelt solid beliefs of what Catholicism is they're afraid that they're going to go to hell. Going back decades I remember the nuns would give each of us a list of things to do during Lent and if we did them we would get a plenary indulgence or some other thing that they called. Well I didn't want to go to hell so I made sure that I did everything on the list including going to mass every day before school. I don't think I got anything out of all of those activities except being able to check off my list.
Another thing that I was so entrenched in was that I could say I was Roman Catholic and all the other people in the world who did not believe the way I did were Protestants. I was positive I was going to heaven on the Protestants are going to hell because they did not believe the way I did. I'd walk home from school wearing my uniform and I'd see kids from the junior high school nearby come home in their regular clothes thinking they were all Protestants and they were going to hell. Goodness gracious did I think that I was saying because I wore a uniform?
What a mentality I was taught on how to believe. People who go to the Catholic church now say that things are different. Maybe for some people but for those that are still stubborn and fearful and emotional about their faith, they will never change.
A dear friend of mine was telling me about her father who died very young. He did not go to church. he did not voice anything about his beliefs. But my friend said he was a good man and she believes that he's in heaven because he's a good man. There is no way that I could convince her that what she was feeling was wrong. Maybe her father said a prayer right before he died and
claimed that Jesus was his Lord. But I feel sad when I was listening to her and even more sad when I tried to explain to her about Jesus and salvation. She's Catholic and has never read the Bible because she believes it's all stories.
Lastly, God won't give her anything more than she can handle. I tried to set her straight on that I feared she'd never speak to me again. To be honest with you she didn't care what I had to say. She believed what she said and that's the way it was to be.
I can see that saying a topic for another post because I'm sure there's lots of sayings out there that people say but aren't biblical.
