Do you ever wonder, "Why me?"

  • Thread starter Thread starter MH84
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MH84

Guest
I sometimes think how fortunate I am to be Catholic. When I think of other things in my life, and how often I have been wrong, I often wonder why I am fortunate to have been baptised in the Church, but some others have not been. Why me, Im not more worthy than the next person, I don’t even do enough with my faith or help others like other people do.

Why am I right now, when it comes to my religion; why am I making the right decision to go to Mass every week, when I have been wrong in my decisions so many times in my life?

Why are those who are smarter, or richer or happier and are better than me in so many ways, not also Catholic like me? Many others seem to have God on their side, so to speak, but if they are not Catholic, they are not in the right religion are they?
 
Thank God for your blessings. Read Jesus’ parables. He talks a lot on this subject. get into the gospels.
Faith without works is dead. we all have to do good works. Especially me.
 
MH84 said:
I sometimes think how fortunate I am to be Catholic. When I think of other things in my life, and how often I have been wrong, I often wonder why I am fortunate to have been baptised in the Church, but some others have not been. Why me, Im not more worthy than the next person, I don’t even do enough with my faith or help others like other people do.

Why am I right now, when it comes to my religion; why am I making the right decision to go to Mass every week, when I have been wrong in my decisions so many times in my life?

Why are those who are smarter, or richer or happier and are better than me in so many ways, not also Catholic like me? Many others seem to have God on their side, so to speak, but if they are not Catholic, they are not in the right religion are they?
Click to expand...
God speaks to people through various means, often, its not through the Catholic Church.

Consider yourself blessed, but don’t think other’s are not equally blessed. I’ve met some people who are not Catholic, or even Christian for that matter, who have a deep love for God. If God speaks to them, who are we to say he does not?

As far as being worthy, for God its a non-issue . He loves us irrespective of our worth. So, we too should love others, not because of their value to us, but because God loves them.

Jim
 
I would like to think that being a Catholic would make you somehow better than others. It doesn’t.

Being Catholic means you have the Catholic Church to help you on your way to the next life. But life, the Catholic Church, and our own stupidity can make that journey pleasant or not. There are times when life will just be a pile of poo, no matter how much you pray or how smart you are. There are times when, because you are stupid, life will be a bigger pile of poo. And yet, you can be a good Catholic. And, sadly, there are times when your life will be a pile of poo because you think you are following the teachings of the Church, maybe you are. Jesus said our lives could be tough if we follow Him.
 
The correct answer, of course, is ‘why not me?’.

I remember reading a quote from some actor receiving an award who said ‘I don’t really deserve this - but then again I have arthritis and I don’t really deserve that either’. Seems appropriate 🙂
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Consider yourself blessed, but don’t think other’s are not equally blessed. Jim
Click to expand...
I know how the OP feels. Why me? Why am I this fortunate that I can receive Holy Communion every day? That is a blessing that’s only available to Catholics and Orthodox, so maybe others can be equally blessed in other regards, but I can’t imagine any blessing that can make up for that which is missing (Eucharist).

Glad
 
I don’t ever ask “why me” about being Catholic. Maybe I need the structure to keep me in line. My dad was Baptist, so I guess I feel we all have some personal measure to live up to and being Catholic is a full measure. Tim
 
When I get pride I sometimes recollect - to whom much is given, much will be expected. I too have been blessed so much with the fullness of the truth. The more blessings we get from God the more he will expect from us. Take the parable of the talents as a classic example - one got 1 and buried it, another got 5 and made 5 more etc. We need to be sure we don’t end up like the man who buried his talent.
 
I think some of you have gotten the impression that I am looking down on those who are not Catholic. That is not what this thread is about.

It has more to do with some doubts that I have had lately. I have been foolish many times (Im quite young), but when it comes to religion I have been taught that being Catholic is the true religion. But when I have not been able to see around corners in the past, how do I know that I am right now? How can I be sure now with something so important? Why have I been so blessed to be part of the true religion? I have not deserved to be part of God’s plan.

Maybe I have been given more, so more is expected of me.
 
MH84 said:
I think some of you have gotten the impression that I am looking down on those who are not Catholic. That is not what this thread is about.

It has more to do with some doubts that I have had lately. I have been foolish many times (Im quite young), but when it comes to religion I have been taught that being Catholic is the true religion. But when I have not been able to see around corners in the past, how do I know that I am right now? How can I be sure now with something so important? Why have I been so blessed to be part of the true religion? I have not deserved to be part of God’s plan.

Maybe I have been given more, so more is expected of me.
Click to expand...
I think I understand, have been/am there. Having made several bad decisions in the past, even a few that left me homeless and now carrying a lot of credit card debt, how in the world can I make a good decision if all I have ever made is Bad decisions? I question that a lot.

I question a lot of my decisions because I feel, see that I could be totally wrong and that it will blow up in my face any moment now. That someone, somewhere is just waiting for me to fail and screw up. Hey, I’ve demonstrated that I am quite apt at screwing up. So that leads me to believe that I am incapable of making good decisions. I believe I should be working a better job, living in a better location, not have any debt…I go, if I had just accepted that apartment in May instead of waiting until October I wouldn’t have to have lived in my car and then in a hotel, wracking up credit card debt like no tomorrow. I wouldn’t have learned that I don’t have friends who want to help me out. I wouldn’t be told repeatedly by my parents that I screw (well that will still happen, has been happening since I can remember). I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about leaning on my parents financially, even at 26. I wouldn’t feel like such a failure since I can’t take care of myself financially and probably won’t be able to for quite a while. I wouldn’t feel like such a screw up.

But then I wouldn’t have stayed with an old college roommate and her husband who invited me to their bible study. Where I had to deal with attacks agains the Catholic Church. That led me to these forums. That led me to evaluate what is important to me. That led me to study apologetics. That led me to learn about my faith and to start taking it seriously again. That led me to take serious the Sacraments, especially Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

So I suppose it’s how you look at it.
 
I consider myself lucky that my parents sent me to Catholic schools where I learned to pray and talk with God. My prayers have saved me a lot of grief in my life-time. I still suffer with my relationships with my family members who are culteral Catholics and just born into the Catholic religion. They hardly pray or go to church. But I have great friends who are spiritual people and make me feel good to be their friend.
I have two crosses to bare presently and at times I just sit back and take time for myself because I am a care giver for my two old parents who are in need of medical care.
I am not a perfect Catholic… but I try my best to stay close to God and asking God for help when I need help with my family members.
Please don’t beat yourself up because you said that you may be undeserving or something like that. None of us are perfect Catholics… we fall down and just get up and keep on trucking.lol. God does have a sense of humor too.
 
JimR-OCDS said:
God speaks to people through various means, often, its not through the Catholic Church.

Consider yourself blessed, but don’t think other’s are not equally blessed.
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t exactly say “equally blessed”. That is tantamount to saying that the Catholic Church is not unique and distinct in any particular way…
I’ve met some people who are not Catholic, or even Christian for that matter, who have a deep love for God. If God speaks to them, who are we to say he does not?
Click to expand...
I believe that if God speaks to a person, He will lead them (eventually) in the direction of the Church that he established. If a person supposedly loves God but rejects (outright) the Catholic faith (knowing, basically, what She teaches), that person is not as close to God as you think.
 
I too have wondered, yes. The answer is simple… God freely gave us an unmerited gift. 🙂 Rejoice, and give Him thanks. He is such a loving Father.

And then, pray that He will bring everyone else “Home”. I think it is very pleasing to God… when we humbly realize the great gift of the Catholic faith… and then, ardently desire the same gift for our non-Catholic brothers and sisters. Pray for conversions!:crossrc:
 
The question, Why me? is one that every person who is seeking a closer relationship with God, asks himself/herself. It merely means that you are starting to really and sincerely recognize God’s blessings in your life. It means that we recognize that we are not worthy but that God still loves us. In short, our love for God has grown to the point where we recognize our own nothingness before an infinite, omnipotent God, yet he still loves us. In ACTS, there is a saying that there is nothing I can do that can make God stop loving me… That is an awesome statement. Even on the cross, with the worst sin in the history of humanity being played out with himself as the victim, Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Yes, we all ask why me, and the only answer is love. God is infinite love. It is a love we can never understand in this life. It is a love that is cleansing, healing, and that makes us grow, if only we accept it and try with all our being to return it. Rejoice in it. Our only response can be to thank God for this love from the bottom of our hearts and from the very depth of our being. May God Bless you and keep you always in his embrace.
Deacon Ed B
 
Deacon_Ed_B said:
The question, Why me? is one that every person who is seeking a closer relationship with God, asks himself/herself. It merely means that you are starting to really and sincerely recognize God’s blessings in your life. It means that we recognize that we are not worthy but that God still loves us. In short, our love for God has grown to the point where we recognize our own nothingness before an infinite, omnipotent God, yet he still loves us. In ACTS, there is a saying that there is nothing I can do that can make God stop loving me… That is an awesome statement. Even on the cross, with the worst sin in the history of humanity being played out with himself as the victim, Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Yes, we all ask why me, and the only answer is love. God is infinite love. It is a love we can never understand in this life. It is a love that is cleansing, healing, and that makes us grow, if only we accept it and try with all our being to return it. Rejoice in it. Our only response can be to thank God for this love from the bottom of our hearts and from the very depth of our being. May God Bless you and keep you always in his embrace.
Deacon Ed B
Click to expand...
I wholeheartily agree.

We have been called out of darkness and into the light, into truth, and as John’s Gospel says:

*If you remain in My word,
You will truly be my disciples.
And you will know the truth,
And the truth will set you free.

*You now have that freedom. Why you? Because you are, well you. God has blessed you with life and as such willed you into existence, He loves you, and He has set you free. Now it is full time to turn to the words of Mary, and, “Do whatever He tells you.”

May God guide you, keep you safe in His grace, and bring you to everlasting life. In nomine patris, et filii, et spiritus sancti. Amen.
 
My Catholicism feels (feels!) intrinsic to who I am, having no sense of being gifted by Faith at some point - it seems to have come with me and any consciousness of self. This has a weird fluctation - a polarity - and I can be really grateful for what I sight as the gift of Faith received at some unknown point.
I have had some major ‘downs’ in my life and after an initial “why me?” it did come to me that so many people in our world suffer truly dreadfully and often suffer terrible evil and entirely innocent and good people…so my question became “indeed, then why not me?” and I have never again questioned “why me?” in negative events.
With any gifts I can wonder (for an instant) why so gracious to me so undeserving alongside the many beter than I, which does serve to be an entirely humbling question and it also points to the Great Humility and Condescension of God even to His least…and the fact that any gifts were not granted for any sort of deserving and bring with them responsibility and accountability - stewardship. Any gifts I sight as sort of ‘tools’ gifted to me as servant. As a servant called to do the dusting needs a duster and freedom from allergies. Or a waiter to carry dishes, needs a tray and a strong hand. Or a chef to do the cooking needs cooking skills, a kitchen, ingredients and utensils.
Blessings - Barb:)
 
When things go haywire in my life (which is, frankly, all the time :hypno: :ouch: ), i try to remember to tell myself that:

“In 100 years, it won’t matter”.

It usually works… 🙂
 
Hi distracted. It is best to just wait two weeks and everything will be okay. You don’t have to wait a 100 years.lol. Luci
 
LaLucia said:
Hi distracted. It is best to just wait two weeks and everything will be okay. You don’t have to wait a 100 years.lol. Luci
Click to expand...
Two weeks?

Hmm… OK, so i am to say: “In 2 weeks, it won’t matter”?

But the way my life is going, i can count on things being worse in 2 weeks… :whacky: :ouch: :hypno:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top