Any Advice after you lose faith?

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I love many things about Catholicism, the sad thing is I just don’t think it’s true anymore. I converted and lost my faith in less than five years.

The big question is: what now? A priest who knows me well gave me this advice (paraphrasing) “be as intellectually honest and precise as you can be, anything else clouds your intellect. I don’t want you to pretend you believe I want you to actually believe.” Which was really solid advice. Most lay Catholics told me to basically “fake it until I make it.”

But this begs the question: what now? I’ve tried to win back my faith, and failed. I can’t give myself faith, so it seems like I just need to walk forward and find out what happens.

Has anyone else on this forum gone through a similar experience?
 
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Just always be as honest as you can. Honest with yourself and honest with others. Honest in the way you live your life. If you still believe in God (or a God of some sort), then be honest with God, too.

Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Hold on to those things about Catholicism that you are still able to believe are true. For me, it is the concept of charity. For you it may be many other things.

Don’t be afraid to grow and learn. One day, you may come back. Or, you may not. It is the journey that really matters, I have found.
 
What changed my life was reading the story of what happened at Fatima. This incredible event happened, the date and time told before hand so there was a huge crowd present. Believers and people hostile to religion came in pouring rain to see what was going to happen. And it sure did.

I realized that when I get out of bed, I can take God’s hand and give him all my duties of the day. Washing dishes became united with Christ for the conversion of sinners and peace in this world as Our Blessed Mother asked at Fatima. Everything took on a new meaning. A mundane chore became a holy moment.

You don’t have to feel anything. You do the sign of the cross and offer it. There is more merit to someone who doesn’t feel God and does it united with him than a person who has all the ‘feels’. Take on this task. This can become a time of great merit and great advance. Trust God. Begin your day looking at the Divine Mercy image of Christ and put yourself in those rays. Then enter your day. You are a soldier for Christ. We need to hear that more often.

God bless and keep you close.
 
Faith is a gift. Open your heart and pray for it. You can study Catholicism all you want but if you do not open your heart, you will always have doubts.
 
Speaking as someone who did this two-thirds of my life ago: if you persist in your lack of faith, don’t let it turn you into an anti-Catholic. Catholics, like everyone else, are trying to make sense of the world. Their conclusions are not mine, but very often they want the same sort of world (well, with less sex) that I do. I think there are insights into the human condition from all religions and Catholics have the edge on some others in trying to accomodate not only their beliefs, but science. (That’s not so apparent with US Catholics, influenced by evangelical protestantism, but that’s another thread). There is also fun stuff. I greatly enjoyed the website someone set up during the reign of the Pope emeritus on his choice of vestments. Everything from his shoes up! It was like a cross between Crux Now and Vogue! Anyway you are being honest and thoughtful and I hope you stay, or become, happy.
 
I recovered from my faith and no I have no doubts whatsoever now. I am thankful for being a Catholic.

But six months into my conversion, I not only lost my faith but also went through a horrible depression. I wanted to kill myself. How hard I prayed to God and I felt he simply wouldn’t listen to me.
I was tired of waiting and waiting and hoping my faith would bring me the things I hoped it would bring.

Instead it brought conflict and trouble.

It was long battle but eventually I won.

I will pray for you. Sometimes we go through moments like these for ages. It would take me another six months to recover and had I not had some of the people I had in my life, I would have not remained catholic and maybe not even alive.
 
Yep said:
I love many things about Catholicism, the sad thing is I just don’t think it’s true anymore. I converted and lost my faith in less than five years.

The big question is: what now? A priest who knows me well gave me this advice (paraphrasing) “be as intellectually honest and precise as you can be, anything else clouds your intellect. I don’t want you to pretend you believe I want you to actually believe.” Which was really solid advice. Most lay Catholics told me to basically “fake it until I make it.”

But this begs the question: what now? I’ve tried to win back my faith, and failed. I can’t give myself faith, so it seems like I just need to walk forward and find out what happens.

Has anyone else on this forum gone through a similar experience?
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There’s “faith” as in 'the faith" as in being a member of the Catholic Church

And there’s FAITH …as in The Key which opens the Door (Jesus) on into the Spiritual Realm

What comes fleetingly to my mind is this line from a song. Paraphrased…

“You say you’ve lost your faith yet you had no faith to lose…”

Not saying that applies to you - so tell us more about this Faith you claim you had.

Peace
 
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Don’t worry, there’s no danger of me becoming anti-Catholic! I think it was a good influence on me even though I don’t agree with parts of it anymore.
 
Yep said:
The big question is: what now?
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My advice, say the Rosary every day for a month. At least once a week say it in the Sanctuary. Before Mass, after Mass. Sometime during the week.

& I don’t mean just say 10 hail Marys. Use an aid like this, meditate on the life of Christ.

.
 
Faith is a gift that is given freely from God to all who ask. It was given at your Baptism, at your Confirmation, was infused every time you received the Sacraments or did a good deed.

After that is belief. Belief is a rational choice, an action of the will.

Are you married? After someone has been married for a long time, they understand that it is not all fireworks and happiness. That there are going to be times when they only thing that keeps you married is the decision to stay married. Times when you do not even like your spouse do not mean that you don’t choose to keep on.

Thing is, those dry times end. The ebb and flow of any relationship is like that.

Just keep walking.
 
What I mean by my past faith is that I intellectually assented to the teachings of the Catholic magisterium. I did a review of what the Catholic Church taught multiple times and I believed all of what was told to me in RCIA and in my personal reading. I attended Mass, went to confession, prayed three times a day etc. I was pretty happy with it.

The thing is I ended up realizing after more reading and prayer that I did not assent to Catholic and more broadly Christian teaching anymore. I was a run of the mill moderately well read Catholic. In the end I changed my mind.
 
Yes, this is pretty much what happened to me over a long period of time…I just lost my faith. In my case, I was an Orthodox Jew who loved her religion but came to a point where I just didn’t believe it anymore.

I spent years exploring other faiths because I assumed I just had the wrong one then I realized, I don’t believe and can not believe in religion. It took time but I learned to accept it and find peace and happiness without God. It’s where I’m still at even though I continue to try to understand why others believe when I can’t.

I don’t have many answers for you. It’s a very personal journey and no one…even yourself can predict where you’ll end up.

I never had anger toward my faith or anyone else’s. I don’t feel that my parents and teachers in the faith were lying to me. They were teaching me what they believe. I just couldn’t join them.

There comes a point where you must be honest and true to yourself and no one should force you to be otherwise. There is life after faith and it can be complete and beautiful. You have to find your way on your own.

Peace in your journey.
 
My idol has always been my intellect, I want to know what is true even if it means pain for me. I say this because people have literally told me “your idol is your intellect!”

Catholicism was an intellectual proposition for me. I gave it a three quarters chance of being true. I joined because I thought my way into it and I’ve left because I’ve thought my way out of it. It’s really that simple.
 
That’s no doubt the issue. Catholicism is not an intellectual pursuit but a love affair with the Triune God. Heaven is for those who accept Jesus’ teachings like a child, with simplicity and trust.
 
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Yep said:
My idol has always been my intellect, I want to know what is true even if it means pain for me. I say this because people have literally told me “your idol is your intellect!”
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I can understand the intellectual pursuit of the faith. Believe me, I’m a Dominican. I’ve got a bit of a weird question to ask: why would you want to put the strain of accepting or rejecting Catholicism purely on your brain?
 
I’ve thought a lot about that as well believe it or not!

I think it is because I believe that it’s the only real way I can understand what is true outside of personal experience. I’ve thought before “why not just accept it as close enough and just go with it, this whole I lost my faith thing is kind of a drag. You don’t understand most things in the world, why would you believe you can make sense of God?” The answer is, I think thinking and experience is the only way to know what is true.

I like your question!
 
And to be fair, I’m not confident at all that I’ll ever come to the truth by thinking about it a lot. I notice that most people have this weird belief that if you just have the correct argument someone will agree with you. It almost never works that way. What people believe is true, including the most dedicated and intelligent people is honestly pretty random.
 
Yep said:
I think it is because I believe that it’s the only real way I can understand what is true outside of personal experience. I’ve thought before “why not just accept it as close enough and just go with it, this whole I lost my faith thing is kind of a drag. You don’t understand most things in the world, why would you believe you can make sense of God?” The answer is, I think thinking and experience is the only way to know what is true.
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Your thoughts though can be wrong, right? And can’t Faith be a part of experience?

As you realize by now, Catholicism is not like a school of philosophy. It is a religion. Exploring its intellectual depths is a wonderful way to be acquainted with it and fall in love with it, but it can’t just stay that way. Catholicism, in my experience, is like a relationship. At first, you need to know the likes and dislikes of your boyfriend/girlfriend, what their goals are, etc. But what’s the point in knowing my boyfriend loves blueberry muffins if I never tell him I love him or even hold his hand? It’s an imperfect analogy, but I think it expresses the point. Faith is a dimension of my Catholic Faith that deepens it. It is a knowledge that cannot be written down. It’s purely personal.
Yep said:
I like your question!
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Thank you, I’m glad you do!
 
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Ultimately the Truth is a person. Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
The history of Catholicism demonstrates that one can be an extreme intellectual and an absolute illiterate and still be a saint. The key is not how much you know but how much you listen to, love, and have faith in Jesus. To regain faith, consistent prayer, reading of scripture, and the sacraments are what is needed. These are ways to get close Jesus. Don’t just read about Him; talk to Him and embrace Him.
 
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I think that is part of the difficulty, I’ve never experienced Catholicism to be true is some experiential sense. I’m a little uncertain what others mean by experiencing faith or Catholicism. I’ve never had a “quite voice” or something like that.
 
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