Believe with all your heart

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If someone is living a Catholic life and feels very supportive of the church, but never has experienced the reality of our Lord Jesus, is than a sin not to believe?
 
I just read a testimony of a woman who was atheist and than was touched by Holy Spirit and is bursting with tears of joy. But what if someone never gets to experience it? What if for someone its all about repeating what others tell him to be real?
 
I agree that intellect and emotions can be misleading, evidences are all around us. But beliefs should be nurtured, and on what grounds should a person chose his beliefs? And lets say this person leads a moral life.
 
If losing one’s faith due to a lack of consolation is indicative of a weak faith, than on what ground should a person choose to straighten his faith?
 
No, I am not talking at all about introducing my own set of guidelines. I am talking about being a member of church who not only respects it but also lives according to its teachings.
 
There is no problem with submission to churches teaching, but with faith.
 
ivana_2 said:
If losing one’s faith due to a lack of consolation is indicative of a weak faith, than on what ground should a person choose to straighten his faith?
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I believe the answer you are looking for, from a non-Catholic, is to use the means of grace provided by the Church. Attend Mass, confess your sins, pray and meditate on spiritual things, seek spiritual counsel from a priest, etc. etc. to build up your faith.
 
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This is what my question is about. I know people usually tend to disprove the church but for me its the other way around. So to pray for a stronger faith is all I can do?
 
Yes, pray. God knows you better than you know yourself. Offer Him even your unbelief, ask Him to help your faith grow. Then day by day seek to offer more and more of yourself to Him, to His will.
 
Yes. But there is no help in how much is enough, and what if I am left without it. Its hard to put a roof without foundations.

During my life the church has really guided me and living by its teachings is a treasure, and all of the priests I have met are really God sent. But sometimes it feels like cheating, couse I am there because of the people…
 
There is not much choice besides submitting to Gods plan, but if I were to ask you what that means it would be hard to explain.
 
It would be hard to explain Gods plan for an individual like you for example, but if you want to get some idea of what Gods plan has been so far for you you might look back at significant occurrences in your life, both good and not so good, and then try to see what spiritual developments they might have led to…for a person, then perhaps ask yourself if they led to those developments for you personally. You may be able to glimpse some of His plan for you in your history that way. Overall we can assume that God is leading us towards salvation of course generally speaking.

If you attend to the Sacraments, read the scriptures and discuss aspects of Catholicism with fellow Catholics, pray sincerely to Our Lady to help increase your faith daily then I’m sure your faith will increase until you begin to feel the Truth with your soul and not just with your intellect. This takes time for most people I think but be assured that this treasure of treasures is closer than you think.
God bless.
 
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ivana_2 said:
If someone is living a Catholic life and feels very supportive of the church, but never has experienced the reality of our Lord Jesus, is than a sin not to believe?
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@ivana_2 , no one can live a Catholic life without being empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so .

A Catholic ought to believe that he/she is a member of the Church which proclaims the fullness of Revelation .

The life where one through faith embraces the fullness of Revelation needs a relationship with the Christ from whom , in union with the Holy Spirit , one is granted the grace to live that life .

An authentic Catholic life is not a ticking off of a list of teachings to which one gives intellectual assent .

An authentic Catholic life is not supporting an institution by obeying certain rules .

An authentic Catholic life is a life in the Spirit as a member of Christ and a member of the Church founded by Christ , and sharing in the mission of the Church .

It is a life of those freed from sin and reborn as sons of the Father through regeneration through water in the word .

Without this profound relationship with the Trinity a life is not Catholic . As St Paul taught it is “having a form of godliness but denying its power” . It is lifeless and spiritually dead .

As Pope Francis has reminded us every Catholic" must put their relationship with Jesus above all else…I am a Christian, I am a disciple of Jesus, I am a priest, I am a bishop, but I have a double heart. No, this does not work,” he has said. “He should not have a double heart, but a simple, united heart; that he does not hold his foot in two shoes, but is honest with himself and with others. Duplicity is not Christian…Either you are with Jesus, with the spirit of Jesus, or you are with the spirit of the world ."
 
  1. Actions speak louder than words. If a person is able to do good acts, he is being acted upon by the Holy Spirit, even if he does not recognize it.
  2. “Blessed is he who has not seen, but still believes.”
  3. That said, there are ways to work on the emotional or personal attachment side of faith, if that feels lacking. But sometimes it is just peer pressure that makes people feel a lack. There are many great Christian thinkers who have experienced God mostly through intellectual concepts and reasoning, coupled with Scripture and the beauty of Tradition. It is also possible to know God mostly through the people around us, or Nature, or lots of other ways.
Our society is very bad at helping people know God in these ways, but historically they have been regarded as deep and powerful religious experiences. If God is talking to your friend in these ways, he should not feel like less of a Christian.
 
There is something else important to remember and that is even small things we do help in our spiritual growth because it’s about how we do them. St Therese of Lisieux showed us the importance of such things. Showing love in our interactions with others and humility are foundations to a healthy relationship with the Triune God.
 
Verily. Since my conversion, my depression, anxiety, and guilt have gone through the roof. Everyone jokes about Catholic guilt, but when you realize your own depravity in the light of what Christ has done and still does for you, it’s impossible to not feel that way most of the time, especially if one sins shortly after Confession or the Eucharist.

That doesn’t mean I’m not thankful to Jesus and Mary, but my feelings in response to my faith are rarely joyful. I know why I converted. The hierarchy may need a serious reckoning and I may never be free of habitual sin this side of Purgatory, but I’d rather be a terrible Catholic who knows that I don’t measure up than anything else.

I literally could not be a Christian without being a Catholic, no matter how sullied the Church may be with sinful and evil men. I love attending the Methodist church with my spouse, but I’m not home unless I’m in a Catholic Church of any Rite.

Faith runs deeper than feelings. Truth runs deeper than feelings. I don’t blame people at all for leaving, but I just can’t.

Praying for all who doubt and all who were hurt and betrayed by evil clerics. God bless and sustain the truly Godly priests and religious. God be with those faithful whose lives and families were destroyed by wolves in sheepskin.
  • Sacred Heart of Jesus, living in Mary, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
 
Do you think that faith which embraces the fullness of Revelation is a decision or something else?
 
That was my question, is intellectual agreement with churches teachings enough for someone to be a Christian?
 
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