Why I Didn't Return (and Don't Want to Return) to Attending Roman Catholic Masses After I Got Saved

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It's Reformation month and I want to write about why I didn't return to attending Catholic masses after I got saved. I could remember I was too mad at God, I wanted to convert to either Islam (so I could have more than one wife) or to full-time Buddhism at some point. Fortunately, the repeated preaching of the message of salvation and me knowing how bad I am really got me to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I can't recall the number of times I said an empty sinner's prayer. I could remember the message of salvation was preached in Bible class that it's all about trusting Jesus. Was it all there was to it? I found it hard to believe. One day, an Anabaptist sermon on a Saturday morning by Pastor Danny Bornales (back when he preached on TV) had convicted me of the need to get saved. It was then I finally realized that I had to get saved. In Reformed Theology, it's that moment that it's not me who found Jesus but Him who found me at that moment I was listening to that sermon. I simply realized that all a sinner needs to do is to repent and believe the Gospel. After that, I soon desired to do Bible reading, prayer, witnessing, and fellowship. Right now, I even don't want to give any more credit to myself for finally repenting and believing the Gospel if it wasn't for effectual calling. What I found hard to believe (at first) was made easy by effectual calling. 

My folks kept telling me that Catholic and Protestant is just a matter of interpretation, that it's just "the same prayer", and that if I want to go to Church - why not just go with them? It was just nothing more than them trying to convince me how much of "good people" they were in spite of the hypocrisy. They always had the mentality that the elders were always right instead of a give-and-take relationship. They could insult us but we can't insult them. If they don't want to be insulted then why insult me or even others? But I insisted that the difference is very huge especially in the area of salvation. At first, I wanted to (and I thought I could) reform the Roman Catholic institution but found out that it couldn't. The Reformer, Martin Luther, insisted on the Scriptural stand. Luther tried to reform Rome but found out that he couldn't. Rome was stubborn about the matters of faith and practice. Luther was hidden where he could finally translate the Roman Catholic Bible into German for the people to read. Remember, a Catholic Bible started the Reformation. That's why I refute Roman Catholicism with their approved translations.

I tried to attend a Catholic mass after I got saved but nothing felt the same anymore. I already felt going to church was useless if all you do was ritualism. I had no choice - to the Catholic mass or no church at all. It was a frustrating thing because I desired the companionship and worship services of genuine believers. I was happy to attend my first Baptist worship service in a Baptist school during graduation. Sadly, so many of my classmates are still not saved even after they were preached the message during the graduation worship service and the graduation ceremony. Years later, the same problem hit that so many of them keep hearing the salvation message since elementary but are still not saved. For me, the first Baptist worship service I attended was an hour and a half but much focus was on the Word of God. Luke 19:11-27 was given a lengthy exposition which made attending Catholic masses feel boring. The preacher made the Scripture more interesting to learn by expository preaching. Sure, the Catholic masses were shorter by half-an-hour or by an hour but it was all but dead ritualism to be me now. The more I remember my first service - the more I realized that I had to guard my heart over my feeling for a former churchmate of mine who I still lingering feelings for after I got saved. It was also because there were times I was guilt-induced into believing Catholics were Christians when they are not. 

Having been to a Catholic university after I got saved made me feel like Lot in Sodom. I had the guts to admit I wasn't a Catholic but I never told anyone but a few there that I was saved from Catholicism. I felt more strange in a Catholic university than I was in a Baptist school. Though it turned out that I had a few Christian friends there and it was a relief. Not even four subjects of religious education got me back to Rome. After I went home, I immediately turned on the radio to listen to Christian radio. I was asked, "Have you not been de-converted after you went to a Catholic university?" I still wanted to feed more on God's Word. However, having not been into fellowship severely ruined my testimony when I ended up doing foolish acts because there was hardly an accountability partner and I grew paranoid from reading Chick Publications' books at that time.

It really won't make sense for me to still attend Catholic masses with my folks after I got saved. The masses are becoming overly repetitive and vain repetitions. The whole celebration of the mass was more focused on communion than the Scriptures. The Lord's supper is supper yet the Catholic mass makes it the Lord's breakfast and the Lord's snacks when masses aren't celebrated during the evening. The priest's homily is too short and how do I expect to learn a lot? How can I expect to get spiritual nourishment from the Roman Catholic institution when it's a church full of lies? Since when did Peter become the first Pope or since when Mary mediate for me and her Son? Peter and Mary are godly people but asking them to pray for me would be impractical. You can only ask a living person to pray for you. Roman Catholics try to say when they pray to saints - they are asking the saints to pray for them. Unfortunately, it's just another flimsy excuse to justify an unscriptural practice. Yes, the church is catholic but it wasn't to be called Catholic as its proper name. Fortunately, I was able to finally get permission to join a Bible-believing church after many years of stagnation (while still desiring that fellowship) because I want genuine Bible preaching - not dead ritualism.

What about people who were once part of Baptist and Protestant churches but are now Roman Catholics? Apostate writers Scott and Kimberly Hahn were formerly Protestants turned Roman Catholics. Well, here's what I've got to say. Back then, it was possible to lose salvation not by the moment you fall into sin (as Dan Corner would like to suggest) but that there's a gradual process that will eventually lead one to stop trusting Jesus Christ as one's Lord and Savior. However, the more I studied eternal security - 1 John 2:19 tells us that those who have left were not truly saved. They left us because they were not truly of us. That is, they were once there but they eventually left. An apostate pastor is just like Judas Iscariot. I believe John the Apostle had Judas Iscariot in mind when he wrote that verse. The apostasy of the Hahns proved one thing - they were not truly converted. I remembered the statement that you can say you're a Baptist but there are also unsaved Baptists. The stand I stand on as a Baptist is that it's not about Baptist or Protestant - it's all about true conversions. Sadly, many Baptist and Protestant churches today are considered Laodicean which Jesus will spew out of His mouth for being false converts. 

So far, Rome itself can never be my home. No, it's not Rome Sweet Home for me. Rather, it's I've been gone from Rome and I'm finally home. 

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