How do I deal with bad Catholics at my parish?

I used to belong to a church choir. Not sure how, but I fell out with the central clique, a group of laissez-faire Catholic women who believed in gay marriage and spoke often of lascivious behavior. I suppose the final straw came when I noticed that they took a cigarette break during the homily.

How do I forgive these people? I am but slightly more reformed than they are and that by the hard knocks of life. When I saw their behavior going unchecked, I quit the choir. Talking to them, or debating them, doesn't seem to work. I feel a nasty streak in me just waiting to have at it whenever I run into them. It's even keeping me from church.

Response :

Never give another human being the power to keep you from Christ. If you cannot worship in peace at the church you've been attending, then find another parish, but do not abandon Christ or allow these people to rob you of your spiritual peace.

Catholic apologist Frank Sheed once said:

We are not baptized into the hierarchy; do not receive the cardinals sacramentally; will not spend an eternity in the beatific vision of the pope. Christ is the point. I, myself, admire the present pope, but even if I criticized him as harshly as some do, even if his successor proved to be as bad as some of those who have gone before, even if I find the Church, as I have to live with it, a pain in the neck, I should still say that nothing that a pope (or a priest) could do or say would make me wish to leave the Church, although I might well wish that they would leave.

Source : http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=382248

Can I attend a Protestant Bible Study?

I am in the Christian Union in college. They run bible study groups every week, and they tend to be run be Protestants of various denominations, as the CU is very ecumenical. I attended a 3 week study of Habbakuk and learned a fair bit. They are about to embark on a study of the Gospel of Mark, and there is a lot more contention about interpretations in the Gospels than in the OT Prophets, so I'm looking for advice as to whether I should take part?

Response :

Hi,

Catholics have no business attending non-Catholic Bible studies. Our understanding of Scripture differs considerably, even though on the surface it may seem not to. I strongly encourage you to pursue a Catholic understanding of Scripture.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.

Source : http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=381647

Can my bishop order me to receive Communion in the hand?

My bishop made an announcement that he wants all to receive Communion on the hand rather than the tongue due to the H1N1 (swine flu) virus. Is this okay?

Response:

Communion on the tongue is the universal normative discipline for receiving Communion in the Latin church. Communion in the hand is allowed by dispensation in some areas, including the United States. Your bishop may ask communicants to receive Communion in a particular manner when there is just reason to do so; and, out of respect for his office and for the just reason given, communicants should consider doing so, whatever their personal preference. So far as I know, a bishop cannot require a communicant to receive the host in the hand, but a communicant should not refuse such a request simply because he prefers receiving on the tongue or thinks it more reverent for him to do so.