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Curious11
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I understand that most of the time Jesus takes time to guide us fully into His way. Thank you!
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Limoncello4021
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I’d be curious to know what you think you might “miss out on” if you follow Christ and embrace the Catholic Church? Sleeping in on Sunday rather than attending Mass? Pre-marital sex? Eating meat on Fridays during Lent? Lying, cheating, stealing? Not doing acts of mercy? Wanting to accumulated money and power for their own sakes?
When you get to know the Church, you will see that all of its precepts are simply those of Christians since the beginning of Christianity–Christians are to live differently than the rest of society, avoiding sin and responding to God in all their actions. If you were a truly devout Protestant you’d be doing the same.
As you get older–it is sometimes hard for the young to get this, but believe me it is true–you will realize that all God’s (and the Church’s) laws are given by a loving Father for your thriving, not for your deprivation. Jesus says, “I come to give them life, and life to the full.” Moreover, the more you practice God’s way of life, the more grace is given to you to do so. Be not afraid!
When you get to know the Church, you will see that all of its precepts are simply those of Christians since the beginning of Christianity–Christians are to live differently than the rest of society, avoiding sin and responding to God in all their actions. If you were a truly devout Protestant you’d be doing the same.
As you get older–it is sometimes hard for the young to get this, but believe me it is true–you will realize that all God’s (and the Church’s) laws are given by a loving Father for your thriving, not for your deprivation. Jesus says, “I come to give them life, and life to the full.” Moreover, the more you practice God’s way of life, the more grace is given to you to do so. Be not afraid!
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Curious11
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Yeah I see your point, I do appreciate that the minor lifestyle changes I’ve made recently bring me closer to God. I do them with a sense of gain, not of loss. But still in the back of my mind I’m thinking “am I going nuts? Will I wake up when I’m 43 and think I’ve wasted my life?” On the other hand, not living for Jesus also seems like a waste of a life, since he gave his life for my ungrateful and sinful person.
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ErraticFaith
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It is not as counter cultural as you may suppose.
Like the Pope, you have the power to walk amongst modernity and shine your own light of glory amongst the masses.
The best way to be ‘like’ Christ is to stand fast in the face of uncertainty and challenge, show yourself to be faithful amongst the people.
That does more for the Church than forever hiding away and thinking that you cannot tread where they tread. The world has enough basement bound scripture experts, trust me on that.
If anything, it’s an opportunity to help the world.
Like the Pope, you have the power to walk amongst modernity and shine your own light of glory amongst the masses.
The best way to be ‘like’ Christ is to stand fast in the face of uncertainty and challenge, show yourself to be faithful amongst the people.
That does more for the Church than forever hiding away and thinking that you cannot tread where they tread. The world has enough basement bound scripture experts, trust me on that.
If anything, it’s an opportunity to help the world.
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Curious11
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Right now I’m in a place where I’m learning and becoming slightly attracted to Catholicism, but I could not imagine telling my family and friends, if I became a catholic, about my conversion or about going to mass or my faithfulness to the sacraments. It’s just so counter-cultural these days, where you’re just expected to want to be a promiscuous bachelor and people just don’t understand that you would want to “enslave” yourself to some “bogus doctrine”, there’s a whole value system going that has disdain for any religion, really. And people like pope Francis because it’s expected of him to live that way, but that does not mean they like the Catholic Church
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JanSobieskiIII
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When I was starting towards Catholicism, whenever I had a question on something, I’d look up what the churches stance on it was, and then the opposing Protestant/non denominational/atheist perspective was. Without fail the churches answers were far more reasonable.
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Curious11
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That’s a good strategy
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ErraticFaith
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People dislike Catholics because they have a very poor knowledge of who we are.
If I were to go by public opinion;
I pray to saints and see them as equal to Jesus. Mary is some sort of Goddess. I worship idols and break every single commandment God ever listed and am in league with the anti-Christ.
Moral of the story is; ignorance is a demon of its own. It will prevent you from even living a life at all if you let it.
As Rihanna sang - people are going to talk whether you did bad or good.
By the sounds of it, you are more embarrassed by tradition and Christ himself than Catholicism.
We may be viewed as extremely orthodox or pious but so should anyone be who takes something seriously.
If you are expecting the ‘I pick the rules I like lunch buffet’ that most Protestants enjoy; then no. You won’t find that here.
You need to reconcile your belief with your own mind. It sounds as if you don’t want to be in a position where people look down on you or feel judged because of views about sin.
Yet you aren’t there to play Judge Dredd and book in anyone who breaks the law. That would be a job for a policeman :crazy_face: You are there to be yourself and faithfully represent your beliefs.
Sure enough that includes representing your faith when required but in my experience people respect faith - when it is supported by conviction and honesty.
Don’t be put off by the odd jibe. Those come from all walks of life are mostly human and cultural. They come from getting to know someone properly.
Just be yourself. This pretense of hiding or being partially honest, isn’t really good for anyone.
If I were to go by public opinion;
I pray to saints and see them as equal to Jesus. Mary is some sort of Goddess. I worship idols and break every single commandment God ever listed and am in league with the anti-Christ.
Moral of the story is; ignorance is a demon of its own. It will prevent you from even living a life at all if you let it.
As Rihanna sang - people are going to talk whether you did bad or good.
By the sounds of it, you are more embarrassed by tradition and Christ himself than Catholicism.
We may be viewed as extremely orthodox or pious but so should anyone be who takes something seriously.
If you are expecting the ‘I pick the rules I like lunch buffet’ that most Protestants enjoy; then no. You won’t find that here.
You need to reconcile your belief with your own mind. It sounds as if you don’t want to be in a position where people look down on you or feel judged because of views about sin.
Yet you aren’t there to play Judge Dredd and book in anyone who breaks the law. That would be a job for a policeman :crazy_face: You are there to be yourself and faithfully represent your beliefs.
Sure enough that includes representing your faith when required but in my experience people respect faith - when it is supported by conviction and honesty.
Don’t be put off by the odd jibe. Those come from all walks of life are mostly human and cultural. They come from getting to know someone properly.
Just be yourself. This pretense of hiding or being partially honest, isn’t really good for anyone.
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Curious11
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Your faith doesn’t seem to be very erratic! Thank you for your kind advice! I’ll pray so that God fills you with the Holy Spirit every day
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JanSobieskiIII
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There needs to be more young women like you. You give me hope lol
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Curious11
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She gives me hope too, there should be more women like that
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JanSobieskiIII
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I’d also recommend reading Mere Christianity (I suggest it every time this topic comes up) it gives a very good primer on why Christianity is more reasonable than atheism or other non-Christian religion. After that my reason for becoming Catholic was Apostolic Succession and primacy of Peter.
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Curious11
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I’ll do such thing. Thank you!
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ErraticFaith
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Erratic is more a reflection of how I see the current state of the world 
But I dare say, together we will get there in the end!
People fear Truth more than anything; because against it there is no defence. Just look at Jesus, with it alone - he conquered death and the entire world.
Yet it’s not anything to be feared if you work with it and not against it. Take it, own it and you can always hold your head high.
I know it can seem scary but people are always looking to test the light. They are just afraid. Like anyone else.
The mocking is just a shield they hide behind a lot of the time. Don’t let it get you down! Because one day it might be you - through your faith - that is helping them find theirs.
Good luck.
But I dare say, together we will get there in the end!
People fear Truth more than anything; because against it there is no defence. Just look at Jesus, with it alone - he conquered death and the entire world.
Yet it’s not anything to be feared if you work with it and not against it. Take it, own it and you can always hold your head high.
I know it can seem scary but people are always looking to test the light. They are just afraid. Like anyone else.
The mocking is just a shield they hide behind a lot of the time. Don’t let it get you down! Because one day it might be you - through your faith - that is helping them find theirs.
Good luck.
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Curious11
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Thank you! God bless you
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Maximilian75
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are you Catholic, Erratic? your profile says non-denom.
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Limoncello4021
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You sound like you are on your way. One thing to keep in mind is that while your family/friends consider Catholicism strange, there are millions of Catholics out there. You will join a church, maybe Catholic social groups, the pro-life movement, etc. and you will suddenly see an entire culture that’s been there all the time. I’ve found it enormously helpful to just stop listening to much of modern culture–turn off the TV, for example, be selective about movies, etc. The entire liberal narrative can be overwhelming and pervasive. But again, you’ll find plenty of practicing Catholics if you start to look and begin to move toward the faith.
I just came from our state pro-life rally. It was HUGE despite the blizzard today, mostly Catholics and all ardent believers. What a joy to see everyone “come out of the woodwork” as it were and support each other in this cause!
I just came from our state pro-life rally. It was HUGE despite the blizzard today, mostly Catholics and all ardent believers. What a joy to see everyone “come out of the woodwork” as it were and support each other in this cause!
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misstherese
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I just want to say, your response really helped me, as someone who’s been struggling lately. Thanks for taking the time to share your perspective!
@Curious11 It can feel like a loss at first for sure, mostly because of our broken nature as descendants of Adam and Eve, we are attached to pleasure and earthly things. But to sacrifice those little pleasures, we gain a lot more. And we can still enjoy life, everything should just come in moderation.
Yes…I’ve gone through a similar process as you as far as the issue of making your devotion more public. Except my whole family is Catholic, but mostly nominal Catholics (except my mom). I was a nominal Catholic until one day, all of a sudden, I couldn’t stop talking about the saints, or the history of the Church, why certain things are done the way they are done at the mass. I was mostly left with silence, or a “yes, Emily, you already told me that.” At one point I expressed interest in the religious life. My sister told her boyfriend, to which his response was, “you’re joking…” He genuinely thought she was pulling a prank. Not kidding. But the fear of being judged is a cross for us all to bear. Christ was met with humiliations after telling the apostles that the bread and wine were His body and blood. Many even left! He was also met with humiliations after telling others of His divinity, to which he was spit on and mocked for continuing to claim His divinity. But once we embrace the cross of humiliation, we come to realize more fully what Christ had to go through for us. Hope that helped.
@Curious11 It can feel like a loss at first for sure, mostly because of our broken nature as descendants of Adam and Eve, we are attached to pleasure and earthly things. But to sacrifice those little pleasures, we gain a lot more. And we can still enjoy life, everything should just come in moderation.
Yes…I’ve gone through a similar process as you as far as the issue of making your devotion more public. Except my whole family is Catholic, but mostly nominal Catholics (except my mom). I was a nominal Catholic until one day, all of a sudden, I couldn’t stop talking about the saints, or the history of the Church, why certain things are done the way they are done at the mass. I was mostly left with silence, or a “yes, Emily, you already told me that.” At one point I expressed interest in the religious life. My sister told her boyfriend, to which his response was, “you’re joking…” He genuinely thought she was pulling a prank. Not kidding. But the fear of being judged is a cross for us all to bear. Christ was met with humiliations after telling the apostles that the bread and wine were His body and blood. Many even left! He was also met with humiliations after telling others of His divinity, to which he was spit on and mocked for continuing to claim His divinity. But once we embrace the cross of humiliation, we come to realize more fully what Christ had to go through for us. Hope that helped.
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ErraticFaith
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You are are most welcome.
It’s my sole intention to help others if I am able. Many do the same but what a bright world it would be if one day everyone is back on that same page!
I can’t stress enough how important it is to find courage and let your conviction beam out into the dark. It takes belief but - strength gives those around you hope. Never lose sight of the difference you make (often unseen) when you are alone and struggling.
It is a world for us all. And everyone needs a light in the dark. Be that light for them. Drag the world back to God, one small spark at a time.
It’s my sole intention to help others if I am able. Many do the same but what a bright world it would be if one day everyone is back on that same page!
I can’t stress enough how important it is to find courage and let your conviction beam out into the dark. It takes belief but - strength gives those around you hope. Never lose sight of the difference you make (often unseen) when you are alone and struggling.
It is a world for us all. And everyone needs a light in the dark. Be that light for them. Drag the world back to God, one small spark at a time.
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