Dead rituals and dogmas

Kay writes: Your Church is nothing. Nothing but rituals, rules, dogmas and orders for people. It is my opinion that you can keep your church and all it's made up of. Your so call apostolic succession, your baby baptizing, your Eucharist and your "Peter is the first pope" theology, your idea that Mary never had other children, and your hierarchy historical hocus pocus. Your passion for Mother church is nothing but an insult to me, to all Christians and to the holiness and the beauty that Jesus brought to us by sending the real Holy Spirit of God that comes to true believers and reveals to them God's heart and will. In my opinion the so called 'Church' (the RCC) is still trying to deceive the ignorant and the feeble with her dead ritual and dogmas that saves no one and heals no one. That's it. So thanks for reading this. It is not my intention to insult Catholics but rather to tell them all the truth. There is absolutely nothing that Catholics or your pope, priests or whatever they want to call themselves will be ever able to convince the true saints of God that you have something we don't have.

My response: You of course have free will and are entitled to your opinions, but I have to completely disagree with what you've stated. My Church, the Catholic Church is not "nothing". The Catholic Church is the church created by Jesus Christ and has stood the test of time. The Catholic Church brings the sacraments to people and preaches the Gospel to the world. She is a gift from God. I am truly sorry that you do not know or see the beauty of the Catholic Church the way I do. It is my hope that one day you will. You have hit upon many area's that are part of the Catholic Church, i.e., "apostolic succession" and "infant baptism" and "the Eucharist" and "Peter our first Pope" etc. I think each of these perhaps needs their own post as it would be too lengthy to answer all these topics in one. So in the future, I will write on each of these topics. For now, I'd like to briefly touch on them. Apostolic succession is seen clearly in Acts when Judas' is replaced. Infant baptism is also seen in Acts when whole households are baptized. The Eucharist is beautifully revealed in John 6. Peter our first Pope is seen in Matthew 16 and the last chapter of John. And the bible never ever records Mary as giving birth to anyone but Jesus. There is no other record of her being pregnant or giving birth to another child. I have already addressed this topic on my blog: Connecticut Catholic Corner: Christ's "brothers" (http://connecticutcatholiccorner.blogspot.com/2008/01/christs-brothers.html), so I don't feel I need to repeat this. Nor will I at this time repeat the topic of Peter as this was addressed 2 weeks ago in March:http://connecticutcatholiccorner.blogspot.com/2008/03/peter-is-first-pope.html

If however you feel something is missing, I will be happy to return to this topic. You also mention "hierarchy historical hocus pocus". What "hocus pocus" would that be? Hierarchy is seen in scripture and since there is over 2,000 years of Catholic Church history, I really don't know what are referring to. I can say, there is absolutely no "hocus pocus" in the Catholic faith. So yes, we have hierarchy and we have history, but we do NOT have "hocus pocus". I don't know of any "dead rituals" in my Church. And the dogma's aren't "dead" either, they are very much alive and part of my Church. Doesn't your church (if you have one-I know some Christians are deciding not to attend churches any more) have dogma's or some sort of defined doctrines or statements of faith so others know what you believe and why?
I am sorry you feel "insulted" by my passion for my Church, but I am not sorry I am passionate about my Catholic faith. I can tell you that Jesus is not insulted by it as you are, because Jesus inspires it. You feel insulted because you are ignorant of the Truth of the Catholic faith. That doesn't not mean you are stupid or dumb. I want to clarify. It merely means that you do not yet, know the truth of the Catholic faith, what we believe and why. If you knew the truth and understood it, you would not have said the things you did. You speak from ignorance, not stupidity on your part. Of the two, ignorance is the easier to rectify. The problem occurs when one wishes to remain ignorant and that is just plain stupidity in any given situation. And I don't mean to insult you by saying that, but rather to share the truth with you. From your above statement to me, I am sure we understand each other. I look forward to addressing each of the topics you've mentioned and hope to shed some light on these topics. If I fail, it's my fault, not the fault of the Catholic Church or it's teachings. And I recommend taking your questions to Catholic clergy who can best answer all your concerns. Thanks for reading.