I was born & raised Catholic & received all my sacraments. I've been contemplating leaving the Church & joining a Protestant one due to my inability to accept some Church teachings. Also, my husband is Protestant & I am desiring going to church as a family with our son, rather than just me & our son. That is very important to me.

Anyway, my question:

While I have received all my sacraments, I think possibly a main reason why I'm attracted to the Protestant denomination is that I find it much easier to understand & find the pastor's sermons much more practical then I many times find the homilys (no offense to any priests out there). My husband & I walk out of church service & we actually discuss the things the pastor talked about. The few times he has attended Catholic church with me, we've never found anything from the homily or readings to continue with a discussion!

I feel I have NO knowledge of the Catholic faith...I just recite the same prayers weekly. That is the part my husband doesn't understand & frankly I am finding myself questioning it, too now that I've become exposed to a different denomination. I feel like I SHOULD be able to walk out of Church with a firm grasp on the gospel & the what the priest spoke about to bring the gospel "home" to me. But I don't as of now & have never been able to do so much previously.

I feel very sad that the Catholic faith is not offering me what I feel I need...to be drawn to it, to wake up in the morning & THINK about Jesus. I have only come to do that since going to this other denomination. I feel much more spiritually alive at that church rather than the Catholic Church.

I feel like I just sit, stand, & go through the motions. I miss the Eucharist at the other church. They don't have one, obviously. I miss sitting in a place that looks & feels & smells like church. This denomination aesthetically doesn't do any of that. But I feel I walk away with so much more. Do I just need to be better educated about my faith? Can anyone else identify with how I'm feeling?

Can anyone point me to a direction of where I can gain more knowledge of the Catholic faith? I attended an RICA class a few years ago in hopes it would answer my questions. Ironically, I was the youngest Catholic, but there were only 2 non-Catholics who attended the class. The rest of the 10 of us were perhaps "confused & unknowledgeable Catholics" looking for clarification. It turned out to be mostly a social gathering & not much of an education.

I just need someone to start from the beginning! Sorry I'm so confused! :-(

Thanks,

Jennifer