Catholicism is making me go insane

[wcknight]

Ahimsa:

Hmmm…interesting perspective: to not believe that we are going to hell, no matter what we do.

That’s not quite what I wrote or meant, but its close to what it means to leave everything up to Christ. We do need to put our reliance on Christ and His promises, Jesus will not let you falter.

IF you want some sort of ‘guarantee’ that you do not end up in hell, get and wear the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Mary’s promise to those who faithfully wear it until death is that they will NOT suffer eternal damnation. That’s about as strong a guarantee as you can get and as close to saying you will not go to hell no matter what you do.

It sounds like you need to simplify the faith as much as possible. There is a lot of theology and discussion of details to our faith. But it can be made a whole lot easier and much less overwhelming.

Live your life as best you can, offer up your work, suffering, joys etc to God. Be charitable and kind towards everyone you meet, including towards those that you may not like.

wc

 

[Lovez4God]

wcknight:

Live your life as best you can, offer up your work, suffering, joys etc to God.

This is a good quote. If you seriously try to avoid hell, with the infinite mercy of God, no matter what you do, you will ultimately be saved.
God bless.

 

[Alterum]

I posted this in Spirituality, but I’ll post it here too:

As some of you may know, my fiancee (her alias here was Hermione) and I entered a very difficult period during which she rejected Catholicism (and ultimately God). This was due in part to an extreme and obsessive fear of hell, but I cannot now explain all that caused it. Suffice it to say that there was an element of an anxiety disorder.

The week following her rejection, our relationship suffered extensively, and we knew that we could not get married if things continued.

Right now, to prevent ourselves from either hurting each other or making rash decisions, we’ve decided to take a break. Hermione is going to get some help, and I will keep praying. I’m being realistic about this situation, but I still have some measure of hope.

If nothing else, I love her like a sister. This is very difficult for both of us. Several people have pointed out that we’re young (I’m only 19 and she’s 20; we planned on getting married after college). We’ve been together nearly two years. If any of you are going to say anything about “teenage love,” please spare me. I know we’re young and I know that a lot can change; I also know that we are both very mature, we gave each other everything we had in terms of love, we made many sacrifices, and we were always very God-centered.

So, if you have the time, please pray for Hermione and me. Pray for God to grant us wisdom, strength, and love for Him. Pray that, if it is in accord with God’s will, our hopes for our relationship may yet be fulfilled. Also, please pray in Jesus’ name that He make Himself known to Hermione, and bring her back to Him.

Many of you have been so wonderful and so helpful throughout this ordeal. Your kind words, prayers, and advice mean so much to me. Thank you all.

 

[petra]

Alterum:

So, if you have the time, please pray for Hermione and me. Pray for God to grant us wisdom, strength, and love for Him. Pray that, if it is in accord with God’s will, our hopes for our relationship may yet be fulfilled. Also, please pray in Jesus’ name that He make Himself known to Hermione, and bring her back to Him.

Many of you have been so wonderful and so helpful throughout this ordeal. Your kind words, prayers, and advice mean so much to me. Thank you all.

Thank you for the update, Alterum. You are both definitely in my prayers.

 

[Ghosty]

You certainly won’t be getting the “young love” treatment from me, Alterum. In our PMs, the girl I was telling you about was 19 as well, though I was 23 (and no cracks about the age difference, yes I should have known better ). It’s a very painful time of life, full of the most difficult lessons. At that age we’re emotionally old enough to start appreciating people as fully as God intends, but we usually lack the experience and growth necessary to bring such emotions into proper form. There’s nothing silly about having such deep feelings and intentions at that age, though, trust me.

My prayers are with you both, and I hope you can be comfortable in your decision (which I think is a very wise one, BTW, I’m impressed and jealous ). You are both on the right track, I think.

 

[ferdie]

I don’t want to sound so harsh. Hermonie, You don’t have enough trust in God. You are only fallowing the teaching of the Church because you are afraid of God‘s punishment, not because you really love God. In loving and trusting God, you will find that you are imperfect and that your imperfectness will be made perfect by God. You are not really showing your love for God but fear of God. There is not really a flow of love in God, but selflove.

I had the same problems. Romans 7: 14-25 bothered me a lot. I solved this problem by showing my love for other people not just to my relatives and friends but to strangers I forced myself to respect other people, until it came out naturally… By understanding other peoples problems, I LEARNED to appreciate my sufferings. If you STOP focusing about the legality of the law and START focusing on the love of God, you will have peace.