Any logic behind your decision to be a devout Catholic?

[crazydyl]

The title of the thread says it all

I am finding it difficult living amongst so many people that don’t care about God or don’t believe in Him here in England

Are there solid reasons for bein a Catholic? Like proofs? How can I evangelise when I am struggling with my faith and don’t even know what reasons there are to have the belief systems of a Catholic?

I just want something to show/tell my future kids and other people why to be Catholics, because otherwise there’s no point in me being a Cathiolic, having kids and not telling them to be Catholics and evangelising

 

[crazydyl]

I mean, the Turin Shroud of a man who was definitely Jesus, so there was a guy going around saying that He was who Catholic’s believe He was. Is that enough proof in itself? I mean, these people had no financial gain from doing what they did so to say that they were lying has no logic behind it, because there is nothing gained in anyway for them.

I watched a cool guy on this link worldinvisible.com/avlib/html_sermons/IS-THERE-A-GOD.html and he says that people want to not believe in God so they can do what they want and this interferes with their thinking in relation to the question: is there a god/creator? So these people have a reason to not believe unlike the disciples and Jesus who claimed to be God who had no reason to do what they did.

Does anyone know of any miracles of The Catholic Church which are like totally impossible, tested and unexplainable, meaning that they couldn’t be trying to trick us?

 

[Cinette]

*Hmmm why one should be a devout Catholic? Well:

1. You can receive the Eucharist daily!
2. To know the truth.
3. Love, real true Love.
4. Support to help us overcome weakness through the Sacraments.
5. Spreading the Good News to those who are ignorant of the Faith is exciting.
6. Happiness - the Catholic Faith makes me happy as it is full of promise and hope.
7. The Catholic Faith is exciting because of its effects on people.
8. The evidence of that which went before us - that God should go to all the trouble
   of becoming man and show His love by dying for us on the Cross so that the
   gates of the Kingdom may be open to us.
9. Because of the promises of Christ!
10. Because life is so short and there is much to be done for all humans to be united
    with God where they belong.

I am a revert and I tell you that I find the Catholic Church the most exciting thing in the world.

Love you all
Cinette *

 

[crazydyl]

Yeah, so that’s no logic doing it because it makes you happy I know many people that sleep around and get drunk who say that they are very happy

 

[crazydyl]

How about these two for proofs:

• holysouls.com/sar/rosarymiracle.htm
• wjpbr.com/hiroshi.html ?

An atomic bomb that should have totally destroyed this building of Jesuits

I would love for anyone who knows anything about similar miracles to add it to this thread so that we can build on our logic, and others who are confused, for being a Catholic

 

[Cinette]

Yeah, so that’s no logic doing it because it makes you happy I know many people that sleep around and get drunk who say that they are very happy

*What about the aftermath? Do they wake up happy the next day? I think certain sins may make us happy for a time. Until we get caught I suppose!

Anyway you make a good point.

Cinette*

 

[puzzleannie]

Are there solid reasons for bein a Catholic? Like proofs? How can I evangelise when I am struggling with my faith and don’t even know what reasons there are to have the belief systems of a Catholic?

Jesus came to save us, he founded a Church through which his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity can be made available to all who are in communion with Him, and by means of which his saving grace may be poured out freely on the earth. He commanded unity with Himself through this Church. He sent his Holy Spirit, as he promised, to empower, protect and defent this Church, and this Church subsists to this day as the Catholic Church. There is no way anyone approaching history honestly can come to any other conclusion. Jesus commanded, so I obey, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” so I do, including communion with Him and His Church and obedience to her just laws and teachings.

Evangelization means sharing the Gospel, beginning with your own children. If you don’t feel prepared to evangelize, immerse yourself in the Gospels not only through reading and studying them but through living them, in communion with Christ in frequent recourse to the sacraments, participation at Mass where we are present at his one sacrifice and resurrection and share in His life, daily prayer and praise and service to His Church and His poor.

 

[wfr]

Hi Crazydy.
In your question you asked, “How can I evangelise when I am struggling with my faith and don’t even know what reasons there are to have the belief systems of a Catholic?” Please do not think me unkind when I say that if you are struggling and having doubts about your own faith you cannot evangelize. You cannot give what you do not have. I faced the same crisis of faith. I had to stop trying to evangelize others and work on my own faith. I can’t give it until I live it. Our Lord says “Let your light shine.” You cannot argue someone into the Kingdom. Spend some time before the Eucharist, go to confession, talk to your priest.

That being said, there are “good solid reasons for being Catholic.” But I would remind you of the old adage, “For those who believe, no evidence is necessary, for those who do not, no evidence is sufficient.” Read the Catechism and avail yourself of all the good information here at Catholic Answers. Still if you want something to pass on to your future children, give them love and let them see you living a consistent life.
PAX CHRISTI
Bill

 

[FCEGM]

The title of the thread says it all

I am finding it difficult living amongst so many people that don’t care about God or don’t believe in Him here in England

Are there solid reasons for bein a Catholic? Like proofs? How can I evangelise when I am struggling with my faith and don’t even know what reasons there are to have the belief systems of a Catholic?

I just want something to show/tell my future kids and other people why to be Catholics, because otherwise there’s no point in me being a Cathiolic, having kids and not telling them to be Catholics and evangelising

Do you have a copy of The Catechism of the Catholic Church? That would help you greatly in coming to better know not only what Christ teaches through His Church, but why. You can read The Catechism online:

vatican.va/archive/catechism/ccc_toc.htm

Also, make use of the many articles available here at CA - just click on the top box marked “Faith”.

 

[tqualey]

Hi, Crazydyl,

At first I thought you were sincere in wanting some answers. Then Cinette graciously offers a list of them … and you rebuff the effort! While I am not really sure what is involved with your experience with English Catholicism - I can tell you that I just got back from London and found a very devoted and energetic congregation that was not only devoted to Christ - but, apparently quite happy abou it, too! Imagine… happy Catholics!

Yeah, so that’s no logic doing it because it makes you happy I know many people that sleep around and get drunk who say that they are very happy

When it comes to logic, Crazydyl, there are many things to consider. Perhaps the biggest is that the Catholic Faith is not confided to mere logic - it goes beyond logic. Do you think God is confided to logic? How truly limiting that would be. This is not the same as syaing that God or the the Catholic Faith is illogical - like drawing an invalid conclusion from a faulty premis. Rather, we simply can not wrap or encompass God is some type of ‘logical’ envelope. But, you know, there are some things in our experience that really do not neatly fit into a logical way of addressing things. Some things are just so awe inspiring that they take our breath away - and, surely, this is not logical.

Let me offer you a purely secular - but, ‘out of this world’ site to look at - the Hubble Space Telescope site: hubblesite.org/ Once there, go the Gallery - and just look at those pictures! Is this logical (if so, we would quickly develop ennui and stop looking!) Now, we have trouble getting our mind around the concept of Light Year as a way of measuring distance (mainly because there would be just too many zeros if we used miles!) And here we are looking a millions and even billions of light years distance from earth - and star clouds being measured in thousands of light years across - and then some! I mention this because, if you in some kind of slump about ‘logic’ you will be like the person who fell into a hole and can only look down while trying to get up.

There is nothing ‘logical’ about “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that we may live” Really, check John 3:16 - in fact, all of John 3 would be a good place to start. Our response to God is to meet God - in Jesus Christ - on His Terms … not have Christ somehow confirm to our terms. If we “follow” Him as He commanded, then we are moving in the right direction.

No where in the Bible does it even give the idea that Christ sat down with a group and said something like, “Let me undersand your concerns and tailor my Plan of Salvation to your needs! You can pick and choose from my teachings and that is fine with Me!” Our role in God’s Plan is our obedience to His Word. Honest, if there is a problem with this basic issue - there is nothing for you to build on.

So, I suggest that we start here and see what we can do. We will encounter logic - but, will quickly pass it by. Our journey involves many things - but, our destination is God throught the following of His Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

God bless

Tom

 

[RebeccaJ]

Yeah, so that’s no logic doing it because it makes you happy I know many people that sleep around and get drunk who say that they are very happy

Conversely, you seem to be weighing a decision based on “being hard” or not fitting in. Is this logical?

 

[JRKH]

The title of the thread says it all

I am finding it difficult living amongst so many people that don’t care about God or don’t believe in Him here in England

Are there solid reasons for bein a Catholic? Like proofs? How can I evangelise when I am struggling with my faith and don’t even know what reasons there are to have the belief systems of a Catholic?

I just want something to show/tell my future kids and other people why to be Catholics, because otherwise there’s no point in me being a Cathiolic, having kids and not telling them to be Catholics and evangelising

Very tricky question. All I can do is offer my Logic.

Premise:
God (supreme being) exists and is evident in His creation.
God interacts with His creation - not always in ways we understand but…

OK - So I begin from the premise that God exists.
Of the faiths in the World I know of none other than Christianity which is led by the Son of God.
This faith is 2000 years old, and even older when we include the OT covenants.
The Faith is built upon Love - Very important to me.
This gets me into “Christianity” as the “best” of the various faiths.

The Catholic Church is demonstrably the Oldest of the “Church” communities ( in this I include the EO as “catholic”.)
Christ Promised his church would not fail and he founded a single church.
If Christ is true then I want to belong to THAT Church and to no other.
I am Latin Rite Catholic because - well because that is the one I was born into.

The other reason to belong are the sacraments - especially the Eucharist. The community and the Peace found in learning and living the faith.

People who live without God believe they are happy, and perhaps they are, in the temproal sense, but often times they are building their happiness on transatory things. A new car that will get old, a young beautiful “live in” girlfriend who will get “old”. A high paying Job, and bank account that could be gone in the next financial meltdown.
So what happens when all that they have built their happiness on is gone and they are left alone. Their “God” of money, sex, and worldly things will abandon them and leave them no solace. Without “good times” what are they left with? misary which they do not want and are unprepared for.
God, in his mercy trains us for such evil times. The Christian may have a good job, beautiful wife, and fine things. But a christian also has responsibilities to Give, to do works of Charity and to handle his blessings for the Glory of God. And should the “good things” be lost, he is prepared to endure the “sufferings” for he retains the greatest gift of all. Faith, the Eucharist, the community, and God’s Love - which just as great in a hovel as in a penthouse.

Peace
James

 

[benedictus2]

The title of the thread says it all

I am finding it difficult living amongst so many people that don’t care about God or don’t believe in Him here in England

Are there solid reasons for bein a Catholic? Like proofs? How can I evangelise when I am struggling with my faith and don’t even know what reasons there are to have the belief systems of a Catholic?

I just want something to show/tell my future kids and other people why to be Catholics, because otherwise there’s no point in me being a Cathiolic, having kids and not telling them to be Catholics and evangelising

I think before you can proceed because I am not sure whether you are Catholic or not, the first thing I would ask you is do you believe in God? Do you believe that Jesus is God? Why do you do so?

You see, once you are convinced that Jesus is God and that all these is revealed in Scripture, then it is very easy logically to prove why one should be Catholic.

But if you are struggling with Jesus at this stage, then I go a different avenue altogether.

 

[Carlan]

The title of the thread says it all

I am finding it difficult living amongst so many people that don’t care about God or don’t believe in Him here in England

Are there solid reasons for bein a Catholic? Like proofs? How can I evangelise when I am struggling with my faith and don’t even know what reasons there are to have the belief systems of a Catholic?

I just want something to show/tell my future kids and other people why to be Catholics, because otherwise there’s no point in me being a Cathiolic, having kids and not telling them to be Catholics and evangelising

Logic? why drive yourself around the bend listening to that evil one??? Give into the "Hound of Heven’… God’s actual grace, and accept him with faith and you and your kids will be blessed with a life full of peace. Think,and ask, what do you have to lose? Carlan

 

[Redratfish]

How about these two for proofs:

• holysouls.com/sar/rosarymiracle.htm
• wjpbr.com/hiroshi.html ?

An atomic bomb that should have totally destroyed this building of Jesuits

I would love for anyone who knows anything about similar miracles to add it to this thread so that we can build on our logic, and others who are confused, for being a Catholic

Eucharistic miracles

 

[Carlan]

Hi, Crazydyl,

At first I thought you were sincere in wanting some answers. Then Cinette graciously offers a list of them … and you rebuff the effort! While I am not really sure what is involved with your experience with English Catholicism - I can tell you that I just got back from London and found a very devoted and energetic congregation that was not only devoted to Christ - but, apparently quite happy abou it, too! Imagine… happy Catholics!

WISDOM! What a gift,ask for it! Thanks Tom :thumbsup:Carlan.

 

[dawid]

Why would want to be a devout Catholic?

This is a good question to conteplate regularly.
Maybe one may begin by reviewing the Creed in prayer.
Then contemplate that over the daily readings of sacred Scripture.

 

[crazydyl]

I am a Catholic, but I have just been struggling with my faith when there are many people around me that don’t care and don’t believe. I have just come back to the Church after about 6 years out because I thought that that there was no evidence for any belief system

I need some kind of logic to show people who say that Catholicism is just based on faith, but it isn’t. As I’ve shown you, Jesus was unselfish, there is the Atomic bomb that left the Jesuits unmarked and the these people have no reason to be alive, apart from some spiritual intervention which should be attributed to the fact that they are great Catholics.

The sitgmata is another one where Jesus must have been God, as the wounds were never infected and appeared on there own to devout Catholics.

And why would I want to become a Catholic? Only if there was substantial evidence and it made logical sense. I also find that it is the only belief system that does make sense. And to be honest, I was really bonkers with no belief in God and I only ever found relationships and life meaningful with God in my life. If we don’t believe in God and we are here by accident then there’s no reason to care about anything. I was sooooooo bonkers with God in my life haha It was fun, but meaningless. I wouldn’t have minded being meaningless, but thinking of having children and a wife, I thought that I couldn’t care less and my kids wouldn’t have a reason to care less without a belief in God.

Anyway, I’m not so mad now I just try to do good for God and spread the word - now that I know that I have proof which can show any other theory to be wrong. I just wanted some kind of solid proof to show people and I think that I’ve finally got it now from what I’ve posted in this forum.

God bless you all

Ps. I hope that your faith remains strong with some of the things that I have wrote

 

[Lief_Erikson]

Here you go, Crazydyl!

An evidence dump!

Public Marian apparitions at Zeitoun, Cairo:
zeitun-eg.org/zeitoun1.htm

I recommend reading Lee Strobel’s book, “The Case for Christ.” Also “The Incorruptibles.” And there are some books on Eucharistic miracles, if you look on amazon.com, which are really impressive.

There are thousands of Catholic saints and almost all of them have amazing miracle stories surrounding them. If even one was true, God exists. Read through the lives of the saints and you’ll keep finding more and more miracles and incredible events. And as I just said, there are thousands of canonized saints. There are also countless more miracle stories that haven’t been officially investigated like many of those surrounding the saints have been. Threads here on CAF have been devoted to miracles or marvelous events people experience from God or, horribly, the Devil.

Here’s one of the stories of the sains, the famous “flying monk,” St. Joseph Cupertino. Here’s the longish version of his story, a good article I really enjoyed reading. ewtn.com/library/mary/joseph.htm
A shorter version:
newadvent.org/cathen/08520b.htm

Here are some of St. Padre Pio’s miracles: padrepio.catholicwebservices.com/ENGLISH/Miracles.htm

Some of Saint Philomena’s miracles:
seatofwisdom.com/Philomena.html

A description of the public marvels at Fatima:
scribd.com/doc/16920434/Fatima-Prophecies-the-Miracle-of-the-Sun

This one you must read about the marvelous apparitions of Mary at Zeitoun:
marypages.com/ZeitoenEng.htm

And look at this one, about the “Incorruptibles,” the saints whose bodies never decayed because the saints were so united with God in their lives:
catholicapologetics.info/library/gallery/incorrupt/incorrupt.htm

Here’s one of the most famous Eucharistic miracles:
therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/lanciano.html

And the Miracle of the Holy Fire which has annually occurred at the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem for 2,000 years:
holyfire.org/eng/

Here are several links to Eucharistic miracles you can read about, all the links on this page:
homebusinesslink.com/eucharistic.html

The Virgin Mary appeared at Siluva in Lithuania during the Protestant Reformation and converted the whole nation to Catholicism.

Around the same time period, she appeared at Guadaloupe in Mexico and converted that whole country!

Here you can read about St. Catherine Emmerich, one of the greatest visionaries of history, or the greatest. jesus-passion.com/ANNE_CATHERINE_EMMERICH.htm

You also will want to look up the Shroud of Turin (newgeology.us/presentation24.html) and Image of Our Lady of Guadaloupe (Some evidence for the miracle: catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=16789 - and a blog with links to the story and some further evidence: romancatholicblog.typepad.com/roman_catholic_blog/2006/12/our_lady_of_gua.html) online. Or, for only $8, you could read a book on these marvels.

There’s tons and tons of evidence, books and books of evidence, to sift through at your pleasure. In the meantime, for while you haven’t got the books, enjoy the links .

I also recommend praying to Jesus and Mary for a deeper personal relationship with the Lord, for there’s nothing that will build a person’s faith and love of Jesus more than seeing Him directly interacting with you in your own personal life.

 

[crazydyl]

Absolutely brilliant They can all be argued against in some way though, I think that God protected the Jesuits from the atomic bomb to show people like me, because you can’t really perform the miracle of escaping an atomic bomb in any way like thos Jesuits did haha

Atomic bomb miracle is insane!