Confused, please help?

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XD1993

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Ok so I come from a hindu family, and I decided to convert to Catholicism about 1 month ago. I’m 20, and a college student and have been going to rcia in college parish. Anyways, I came home for the weekend and just told my mom and it was real bad. Like she yelled and cried all that etc. my mom is a super super religious hindu, and believes what I’m doing is really bad. Anyways, I felt really bad about making my mother that upset. I mean she went on to say that she never wants to talk to me and that I’m not related to her anymore. Anyways I feel like a monster making her that upset. It just doesn’t seem right to me to hurt her, so what should I do? I mean I told her the nicest and simplest way I could, and I know it’s important to respect ur parents in Christianity, so did I do wrong? What should I do now? Please help and pray for me. Thanks

P.S
All this started by me reusing to do this hindu ritual (chanting beads) and I refused. I had been non religiously doing a lot of hindu stuff the past few weeks just to make my parents happy, but today I just refused. So is it right for me to be this stubborn if it upsets my parents? Thx
 
You didn’t do anything wrong. Do your best to be a good, obedient child to your parents, but don’t do anything sinful to please them. God bless you and sustain your courage. I will pray for your family situation.
 
Don’t feel bad. She is the one who is acting badly, not you. Christians must always be ready for persecution, even from our own families. Be respectful to your parents always, but remember that you belong to God, not to your parents. Yes, you must refuse pagan rituals. It may take many years, but by your example you may eventually lead your parents to heaven.
 

I pray for you XD. The only thing you could do wrong is deny our Lord. Please get up and push on toward the goal! The Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary. And through Him & our Lady be redeemed to our Father and His Spirit in everlasting love forever and ever, world without end. Amen.
 
“Blessed are you when they insult you, and persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad on that day, for great is your reward in Heaven” (the Gospel of Matthew).
 
Praying for you. God will richly reward you in heaven for your faithfulness to Him. God bless you.
 
God bless you on your spiritual journey! I will say a prayer for your situation right now.

Remember…Jesus said we will be hated because of Him. Stay close to Jesus and His Mother in prayer and they will help you. Perhaps you can speak to a holy priest for advice.
 
This is a difficult scenario to say the least, but this is how you understand the true meaning behind love. Please learn what the perfect definition is of love in the context that GOD and his son JESUS are portraying and representing.

We are told to honor our parents and love them. If we are to follow JESUS CHRIST we will be persecuted for our faith. This is not easy to take for some as the narrow path versus the wide path that many follow which leads to death.

**Matthew 7:13-14

New International Version (NIV)**

The Narrow and Wide Gates

13* “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it*

“We must ask ourselves what is beneficial and important in love?” How we express it, and how we learn to love GOD and his son lord JESUS CHRIST which comes first, and foremost. We also show love for GOD the heavenly father by loving our neighbor as ourselves.

As you stated it is difficult for you when you upset your parents, and this is expressing the emotion of love from the inside. When we try and walk in JESUS CHRIST footsteps the enemy may dissuade you in your progress. Lean not on your own understanding, but on the grace of GOD through his son JESUS.

If you are truly taking the steps towards JESUS CHRIST then may GOD and his son JESUS strengthen you and keep you safe.

Peace be with you in JESUS CHRIST.

Praise be to GOD the heavenly father and his son lord JESUS CHRIST forever>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 
Friend, NEVER violate your Catholic Faith, not even to please your parents.
We Catholics who have converted from other religions, experience this ALL the time.
Some of us come from hard-core Fundamentalist Protestant Backgrounds and our parents disown us, yell and scream at and curse us, telling us that now that we are Catholics, we worship the Devil. Others come from Jehovahs Witness and other wacko cult backgrounds and our families curse us and shun us for the rest of our lives.
We are forbidden by Jesus to even give them one single inch of compromise, denying our
True Faith in order to please them.
It may seem heartless, but the Lord Jesus abjectly requires that we not compromise.
 
Perhaps you can explain to your mum that most Hindus in the West have no problem accepting Jesus and celebrating Christmas etc. The Hindu pantheon is vast. Ramakrishna, an Indian mystic from West Bengal, had a beautiful vision of Jesus while meditating on the Madonna and Child in 1874 and encouraged this practice. Many scholars maintain that the ‘lost years’ of Jesus were spent in India. The Hari Krishnas certainly accept Jesus.

For the sake of family harmony, it might be best to avoid all mention of religion at meal-time etc. & excuse yourself from family prayers for the time being. Certainly if my child announced he was now a Hindu I would be horrified but little is to be gained by squabbling & disputing. Freedom of religion is one of our greatest privileges in our society. We can persuade but not force our doctrines on others. Perhaps one day your mum will join you…just be patient.
 
thanks for the support everyone. my mother is still stringent on trying to make me do the rituals/customs etc. she says if i don’t, something bad will happen to her and i’ll be to blame :confused: i know i’m supposed to ignore my parents when they say these things, but they’re being really forceful, like blackmailing me and stuff. they honestly believe i’m doing ‘demonic things’ etc. anyways, there is pretty much no hope for peace to be in my family and our relationships unless i go their way. i was wondering, should i continue being resistful, or should i try something else? like i said earlier, i came home for the weekend from college, and my mother said that if i don’t do her way, she won’t take me back to college (it’s a 2.5 hour drive, can’t go myself, no car etc) i don’t know how far she’ll go on this, but i feel as if i’ll eventually have to either walk out (leave home), or give in to their demands.
 
You may have to make a choice between being a Christian and an adult with self respect vs. being a child forever controlled by your mother. I pray that you have the strength to make the correct choice.
 
PaulfromIowa said:
You may have to make a choice between being a Christian and an adult with self respect vs. being a child forever controlled by your mother. I pray that you have the strength to make the correct choice.
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I will pray for that too.
 
XD1993 said:
Ok so I come from a hindu family, and I decided to convert to Catholicism about 1 month ago. I’m 20, and a college student and have been going to rcia in college parish. Anyways, I came home for the weekend and just told my mom and it was real bad. Like she yelled and cried all that etc. my mom is a super super religious hindu, and believes what I’m doing is really bad. Anyways, I felt really bad about making my mother that upset. I mean she went on to say that she never wants to talk to me and that I’m not related to her anymore. Anyways I feel like a monster making her that upset. It just doesn’t seem right to me to hurt her, so what should I do? I mean I told her the nicest and simplest way I could, and I know it’s important to respect ur parents in Christianity, so did I do wrong? What should I do now? Please help and pray for me. Thanks

P.S
All this started by me reusing to do this hindu ritual (chanting beads) and I refused. I had been non religiously doing a lot of hindu stuff the past few weeks just to make my parents happy, but today I just refused. So is it right for me to be this stubborn if it upsets my parents? Thx
Click to expand...
All religious traditions are paths back to the God of our understanding. As God is infinite, all finite understandings (faith traditions) are infinitely less than God. Your task is to love…yourself and your parents/friends as they are and where they are. You will become convinced in you Christian faith only to the degree that it guides you to show up from Love in all situations and for all people. To begin, you must love yourself.
 
XD1993 said:
Ok so I come from a hindu family, and I decided to convert to Catholicism about 1 month ago. I’m 20, and a college student and have been going to rcia in college parish. Anyways, I came home for the weekend and just told my mom and it was real bad. Like she yelled and cried all that etc. my mom is a super super religious hindu, and believes what I’m doing is really bad. Anyways, I felt really bad about making my mother that upset. I mean she went on to say that she never wants to talk to me and that I’m not related to her anymore. Anyways I feel like a monster making her that upset. It just doesn’t seem right to me to hurt her, so what should I do? I mean I told her the nicest and simplest way I could, and I know it’s important to respect ur parents in Christianity, so did I do wrong? What should I do now? Please help and pray for me. Thanks

P.S
All this started by me reusing to do this hindu ritual (chanting beads) and I refused. I had been non religiously doing a lot of hindu stuff the past few weeks just to make my parents happy, but today I just refused. So is it right for me to be this stubborn if it upsets my parents? Thx
Click to expand...
You have to do what you feel in your heart is the right thing. You can’t live your life for other either it’s you’re life not there’s. I would tell your mom that while you understand she’s upset and probably confused about what you told her…I would tell her it’s about anything she did or didn’t do or any disrespect to her but you feel like you have to follow a different path religiously. Let her know you’ll always respect her and her beliefs but you just feel that GOD is calling you to worship in a different direction. Prayers for your discernment.
 
My family are Hindu too, and I went through something similar when I first converted to Christianity. My parents both felt betrayed and upset, not only because they thought I had abandoned Hinduism, but because I had joined what they had thought was this judgmental religion that said they were going to Hell as heathens.

I made a lot of mistakes, first hiding the extent of my religious commitment and then, later, being brash and aggressive about it and hurting them more than I had to. But we slowly figured things out over the years - my parents realised that the Christianity wasn’t going to change, I realised that being a Christian didn’t mean getting into arguments about Hindu philosophy and traditions the whole time - and we now have a restored relationship where they respect who I am and accept that my beliefs are what they are and know that I haven’t lost my respect for them just because I no longer share their religion. It’s harder with my sister, because she is very devout as a Hindu and she thinks Christianity’s claims to exclusivity make me an enemy to her religious practice, but even we have now reached a point where we can talk peacefully about our differences and we are still close.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I’ve been somewhere similar and it gets better; holding fast to your commitment to Christ and trying to live the Gospel is something that can heal this apparent crisis even though it seems now that it’s causing the problem. I didn’t do either of those things at all well - I kept backsliding and being uncharitable and unkind - but even my attempts at them produced more healing than I would have thought possible over the years. Whereas if I had given up or hidden my Christianity in an effort to save my relationships, I’m sure the dishonesty and the resentment would have completely destroyed them.

At this point, I would resist the temptation to preach Christianity with words - if she asks you questions, answer them honestly, but my experience is that being proactive about explaining your conversion shouldn’t be something you try when they are still angry and resentful. It was better when I presented it as a final decision - I said I was a Christian and that it wasn’t going to change - and didn’t try to persuade them to approve my decision, just to accept it as an adult choice that I had made and as part of who I was. Part of the problem was with me, because I wanted their approval, which I was never going to get. I don’t think respecting your parents means always longing for their approval.
 
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