Discouraged Catholics

[Petergee]

Catholic29:

Of course if it only made sense.

If the War was won 2000 years ago on the cross, how long does it take for the battle to be as well? Aren’t battles won at the same time or before wars are? Well I am done fighting this battle, at least until God offers me more clarity of thought on this issue. That is if in fact God exists.

However I wish nobody to suffer as I have, no matter what evils they aspire to.

God is not constrained by time. Christ has won/is winning/will win the war in which we fight the battles, as did those who died long before Christ was born and as will those who are not yet born. And just as by His death and resurrection at one point in history, he saved people who died long before Him as well as people who were born long after Him.

 

[Traugs]

Phil M:

If you do everything “because the Bible says so,” then you will be unfulfilled, because you have no personal relationship with God. I used to do everything like that, and I was really miserable

The Catholic Church does possess the fullness of truth. It’s the Church that Christ started, and you can be assured that the gates of Hell truly will not prevail against it

I’m sorry if you’ve had bad experiences with other Catholics, be assured that the Church likely does not stand for the things that those people stood for. Everyone, Christian or not, is an imperfect sinner, so it’s never a good idea to judge Christianity based on the actions of people who can be very unlike Christ

Don’t worry about rules or regulations or any of that stuff right now. Realize that God loves you so much that he became a person and paid the price for all of your sins so you could have eternal life. Accept Jesus Christ because of this, not “because the Bible says so,” then familiarize yourself with Church teachings, and read the Bible every day. Do what it says, not “because it said so,” but because you want to do it.

God Bless, I’m praying for you!

I have to disagree to some extent. While I will agree that having a relationship with God is important I think that alone will not necessarily sustain you. Look at a relationship between spouses, there are times when one spouse feels let down by the other and it is a chore to be kind and loving to them. If you feel let down by God or are just going through a cold phase, if you will, the only thing that will bring you back is to ACTIVELY love Him. That means doing those things that He commands us to do. Go to mass, read the Bible, go to confession, receive the Eucharist, pray to Him. I believe if you do these things with the pure intention of loving Him, whether or not you feel like you do at that time, then you will again be consumed by that love. Face it, in every relationship we all go through dry spells. If everyone just backed out because they didn’t “feel the love” and called it quits what kind of world would we live in? Perhaps one where over half of all marriages end in divorce? How do you divorce God?

Perhaps the reason you are now so fulfilled in your faith is because at one time you did it simply because you knew you were supposed to. The more you just did it the more graces you received. The more graces you received the stronger and more fulfilling your faith became.

Finally, Catholic29, because God wasn’t there for you when YOU need Him you’re giving up? How do you know He wasn’t? I know it’s an old one but reread the story Footprints in the Sand. Maybe when you needed Him most He was there with you. Maybe things would have been 100 times worse if He hadn’t been.

Just my thoughts. I hope it makes sense.

 

[Catholic29]

Petergee:

God is not constrained by time. Christ has won/is winning/will win the war in which we fight the battles, as did those who died long before Christ was born and as will those who are not yet born. And just as by His death and resurrection at one point in history, he saved people who died long before Him as well as people who were born long after Him.

I wish I could believe this, truly I do. But where is the evidence that links this assertion to reality?

This is yet another overture to convinve me to come back to the Church and continue “seeking”, because of Jesus’s promise that those who seek will find. Well honestly, I have been seeking for the past decade of my life, and now I feel like I have been sold a bill of goods.

If Jesus Christ came to earth, suffered and died to redeem my soul and others 20 centuries ago, why did he leave no actual proof for future generations that ever happened? Saying we have the scriptures, the tradition of the Church and the saints witnessing to that simply isn’t enough in my opinion.

I’m sorry, but I need something I can hear, see or touch before I can believe it.

 

[Catholic29]

Traugs:

Finally, Catholic29, because God wasn’t there for you when YOU need Him you’re giving up? How do you know He wasn’t? I know it’s an old one but reread the story Footprints in the Sand. Maybe when you needed Him most He was there with you. Maybe things would have been 100 times worse if He hadn’t been.

Just my thoughts. I hope it makes sense.

I understand what I mean. But when I said I needed God, it was for a crisis in my life when I needed guidance from a higher power for. And if he was helping me then, I either wasn’t smart enough or spiritually attuned enough to notice it. In that case wouldn’t you think he would of made his influence on my life more apparent to me to prevent the discouragement I am in now?

 

[Tonks40]

Catholic29:

I wish I could believe this, truly I do. But where is the evidence that links this assertion to reality?

This is yet another overture to convinve me to come back to the Church and continue “seeking”, because of Jesus’s promise that those who seek will find. Well honestly, I have been seeking for the past decade of my life, and now I feel like I have been sold a bill of goods.

If Jesus Christ came to earth, suffered and died to redeem my soul and others 20 centuries ago, why did he leave no actual proof for future generations that ever happened? Saying we have the scriptures, the tradition of the Church and the saints witnessing to that simply isn’t enough in my opinion.

I’m sorry, but I need something I can hear, see or touch before I can believe it.

You remind me of Doubting Thomas, who was not there to see the risen Lord until he appeared to him and Thomas was able to put his hands in the wounds of Christ.

Because of our different ways along the path in each of our journeys of faith, there will be many times when we don’t see the works that the Lord has manifested in our lives at that particular time. I do understand your feelings of abandonment and uncertainty - you don’t think many of us have the same feelings at one time or another? I feel that the key to your discouragement is trust. Trust in the Lord, have faith in His Word. Even when everything’s going to pot, and there seems to be no way out, if you have that little trust in God, even if doesn’t mean much at the time, when you’ve gone thru your trials, I feel you will look back and find how amazing it was that you didn’t implode. You’re proof right now that God is helping you on your journey.

I’ve also heard that it’s healthly to have some skepticism when it comes to your faith. Recognize that you are only human; it’s natural to feel that way. But once you regain that trust in God, you’ll find that it will be **supernatural **to be the full human being that the Lord intended us to be.

Stay strong, my friend. As a wise older woman put it to us in our scripture study last night, “all problems are temporary. They do go away eventually.”

 

[setter]

maritza336:

I have noticed that many catholics are loosing faith in God and are blaming him for their sufferings. This makes me feel like they have forgotten what the church, bible, and the secrets our holy mother have taught us.

Please remember that our faith is going to tempted and that we need to be strong during these times. Always remember that God loves you and that you are the most important thing to him. The devil will always make us suffer to stray from our heavenly father. Please do not give him this pleasure.

I believe that this scripture passage from St. Paul is a good reminder that when feeling afflicted and undergoing sufferings that our strength comes from God:

“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. …For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” 2 Corinthians 4:1, 5-11