Drawn to traditional Catholic spirituality, but have no faith

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FormerCreed

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I’m not really sure this is the right place to post this, but traditional Catholicism is the type of religion I’m interested in, so I wanted to hear from some of the “Trads.” If it should be posted somewhere else, please let me know.

I’ve been lurking on this forum for about a year now, and I’m finally getting up the guts to post.

I was once Catholic – Latin Rite. I was extremely devout, and considering religious life. Over time I started to live differently from the way the Church said I should, and eventually left all together.

I joined the Army at a young age, and served overseas twice. It was my experiences in Afghanistan that led me to lose any faith in a God. I saw and experienced things over there that I just couldn’t make any sense of, if there was really an omnipotant, omnibenevolent deity in charge of it all. I recognize that this line of thought isn’t original. In fact, as a Catholic, I had studied theodicies that explained this sort of thing. But somehow, none of that made sense to me anymore in the face of so much human suffering.

Losing my faith was painful and traumatic for me, and I’ve never stopped missing it. But the simple fact is that I just stopped believing, and couldn’t will myself to believe again.

Last week, though, I went to a National Shrine in my area. I’m not really sure why I did, but I did. And while I was there, I…well, I don’t know, exactly…but I felt something there. Something like what I used to call holy.

And while I don’t think that an emotional response to something is evidence that it’s true, I can’t shake this weird feeling.

Another thing: So, six years ago, I gave a child up for adoption. His birth father wanted me to have an abortion, and I couldn’t do it. So I found him a good family who would take care of him. I’m happy with my decision, but it was really, really hard. His birthday is coming up, and that’s always a hard time for me. So, today, while I was thinking about my son, and crying, I did something I haven’t done in many years: I dug through an old box and found my rosary.

I didn’t pray the Creed part, because it would be a lie. I made up a prayer sort of like, “If anyone is up there listening to this, please hear me. Virgin Mary, who lost a son, please give me comfort.”

And then I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries. Again, I don’t really have any faith, but I sort of tried to remember what it was like…

I’m kind of embarrassed by all this, because part of me feels like this is irrational and superstitious. I don’t mean any offense by that. I’m just trying to be honest.

When I was Catholic, the traditions of the Church were so important to me. Now, there’s a church near me that’s very traditional, and I walk by there when they have Benediction, because I know the whole place will be billowing over with Latin chant and incense smoke. And there’s a part of me that feels like reciting the Divine Praises along with them, and another part that thinks, “Come on, it’s just a disk of bread.” I know that sounds disrespectful, but again, I’m trying to be honest.

I can’t really discuss this with my friends, but I thought someone here could give me some advice. Are any of these things good reasons to consider Catholicism again? What sort of things could I do that would leave me “open” to the idea of God if one exists, but wouldn’t be dishonest?

And, well, WHY exactly, do you believe what you do. I mean, I know at some point it boils down to faith, but is there more than that? How do you deal with such tremendous suffering in the world?

Thanks.
 
FormerCreed,
First let me say welcome to the boards and I believe the Spirit has led you to the right place. There is so much in your post that I don’t know where to start. But let’s concentrate on where you are now and try not to get overwhelmed.

I can relate to your post in that I was away from the church for some time and while I did not lose all faith in “a supreme being” I certainly lost faith in any organized religion. However, the seeds planted by my devout and Loving parents began to sprout again in me just as they are in you. I was drawn back to the spirituality of The Church; To the Love of God through Christ; To the beauty of the Liturgy; and also to the healing power of the Eucharist. This is what you are feeling now.

First and most importantly please be patient with yourself. We are on a long journey and God knows his timing. If we do our part, He will do His.
Continue as you have posted above. Pray and go to benediction. I would also suggest that you spend some time alone in front of the blessed sacrament. Don’t try to force things but let the peace of God come into your soul. Just being in His House contemplating can be a huge help. When you feel up to it, go to mass. Just let the Liturgy flow over you.
Eventually you will feel that great pull to receive communion. Trust me on this, it will become irresistable. You will need to go to confession before receiving. So it may be a good idea to go ahead and go to confession fairly soon, or at least contact a priest to discuss things and perhaps get set up with a spiritual director. But I will say again - Be patient with yourself.

Finally -
You have been exposed to much suffering it is true, and such exposure will surely cause one to question. This is not necessarily a bad thing. We all must ask the questions and then we all must, individually, find the answers.
God has shown you much suffering and now is showing you much mercy. By immersing yourself in His mercy through prayer, the Liturgies and perhaps even participation in works of charity, you will find the antidote to suffering which is Godly Love.

I don’t know if I have addressed your question(s) here but I do hope some of this is helpful. Please continue to ask questions here. You will receive many fine answers.

Peace
James
 
Hi, unconsciously you did the right thing, you prayed the Rosary. Faith is a supernatural gift that unfortunately can be lost if we do not pray.
If I remember well, it was in Kibeho that Our Lady said: “Today many people lose their faith without realizing it”.
Perhaps my advice will seem too simple to you, but if you want faith you have to ask it to God through the intercession of Our Lady. That’s it. She will do everything to help you. God wants that everyone be saved so He gives the spiritual gift of Faith to all who ask for it. Ask and you shall receive, knock and it will be opened. Cling to your Rosary and never leave it. The Heavenly Mother will guide you.
Blessings,
Anna
 
I just want to add a thought or two on the issue of suffering in the world.

You say that you lost your faith in God due to the tremendous suffering you have seen. Something that occurs to me is that I never hear anyone say that they lose faith in satan because of all the Good and Love they see in the world. I wonder why that is?

There is a balance, or rather a tension, between these goods and bads, that we all must deal with. There are many theological aspects that get deep, confusing and ultimately futile. The bottom line is that if God exists we need to be on His side. If He doesn’t exist we still need to be on the side of “construction” rather than “destruction” of Charity.

God exists. Of this I have no doubt. His exact form and character I/We cannot know for He is infinite and we are finite. What we can know is that His desire for us His Children is that we grow in our Love for Him and each other. This is the Core and Great Commandments of Christ. Love God and Love Neighbor.

Here’s the kicker though. We must give this Love freely. We cannot be forced, even by God, to Love Him or our neighbor. So what we see in the world, the suffering, the hatred, the evil, these are all simply each individual choosing to Not to Love God and neighbor. God has given us the great gift of free will. To Choose to Love or not. I tis up to us to set ourselves upon th eproper path.

FormerCreed, you have related some important data. Perhaps the most important was your decision not to have an abortion. Such a decision, made from Love even though it still causes you pain, speaks to the path you have chosesn… It is Love and God is calling you Home on that path.

Peace
James
 
Welcome. 🙂
I was once Catholic – Latin Rite. I was extremely devout, and considering religious life. Over time I started to live differently from the way the Church said I should, and eventually left all together.
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Many of us here have had “falling away” periods in our lives, to one extent or another.
I joined the Army at a young age, and served overseas twice. It was my experiences in Afghanistan that led me to lose any faith in a God. I saw and experienced things over there that I just couldn’t make any sense of, if there was really an omnipotant, omnibenevolent deity in charge of it all. I recognize that this line of thought isn’t original. In fact, as a Catholic, I had studied theodicies that explained this sort of thing. But somehow, none of that made sense to me anymore in the face of so much human suffering.
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Ultimately in the face of real suffering and the question of how a merciful God could allow such evil, there’s no explanation; only trust. Any answer a person could give you would be trivial. I will tell you that if we choose to trust God, this is the greatest gift we have to offer Him. And this in itself becomes a blessing, but it’s hard to explain really.
Losing my faith was painful and traumatic for me, and I’ve never stopped missing it. But the simple fact is that I just stopped believing, and couldn’t will myself to believe again.
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I’m having a hard time figuring out if you lost your faith on an emotional level, or an intellectual level. Do you know what I mean? Is it that you’re angry with God or that you really don’t believe that God exists? I know you say you don’t believe He exists, but to say that I think you need to be at a point where intellectually you don’t believe there is enough reason for faith.
Last week, though, I went to a National Shrine in my area. I’m not really sure why I did, but I did. And while I was there, I…well, I don’t know, exactly…but I felt something there. Something like what I used to call holy.
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Wonderful. 🙂
And while I don’t think that an emotional response to something is evidence that it’s true, I can’t shake this weird feeling.
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This is true, an emotional response isn’t evidence. But what you’re experiencing might be some kind of spiritual healing that’s begun taking place.
Another thing: So, six years ago, I gave a child up for adoption. His birth father wanted me to have an abortion, and I couldn’t do it. So I found him a good family who would take care of him. I’m happy with my decision, but it was really, really hard. His birthday is coming up, and that’s always a hard time for me. So, today, while I was thinking about my son, and crying, I did something I haven’t done in many years: I dug through an old box and found my rosary.
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Wow, you’ve really been through so much. I’m happy that you were able to give birth and give your baby a good family, but I’m sure that was very painful all at the same time.
I didn’t pray the Creed part, because it would be a lie. I made up a prayer sort of like, “If anyone is up there listening to this, please hear me. Virgin Mary, who lost a son, please give me comfort.”
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And then I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries. Again, I don’t really have any faith, but I sort of tried to remember what it was like…
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I’m kind of embarrassed by all this, because part of me feels like this is irrational and superstitious. I don’t mean any offense by that. I’m just trying to be honest.
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No, I think you’re on the right track, keep praying and going to church. My return to the Faith all began with a prayer along the lines of “God, if you’re really out there, I want to know you.”
When I was Catholic, the traditions of the Church were so important to me. Now, there’s a church near me that’s very traditional, and I walk by there when they have Benediction, because I know the whole place will be billowing over with Latin chant and incense smoke. And there’s a part of me that feels like reciting the Divine Praises along with them, and another part that thinks, “Come on, it’s just a disk of bread.” I know that sounds disrespectful, but again, I’m trying to be honest.
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The Real Pressence I’d like to encourage you to really read John 6, from the Gospels. 🙂
I can’t really discuss this with my friends, but I thought someone here could give me some advice. Are any of these things good reasons to consider Catholicism again? What sort of things could I do that would leave me “open” to the idea of God if one exists, but wouldn’t be dishonest?
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I’m glad you’re here.
And, well, WHY exactly, do you believe what you do. I mean, I know at some point it boils down to faith, but is there more than that? How do you deal with such tremendous suffering in the world?
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Ok, I’ll try to be brief with this. I’ve always believed there was a God, for a while I wasn’t sure if he was a supreme “being” or a “force” if you will or what. Then after really reading scripture and the words of Christ, and also the Old Testament prophecies that He fulfilled I felt it was just as C.S. Lewis said: either Christ was a lunatic, or evil, or He was really who He said He is: the Son of God; God’s only begotten Son. I decided it had to be the last one.

Ten Reasons to Believe Christ Rose from the Dead
Thanks.
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Again, my pleasure, welcome to the forum. 🙂
 
When I read the title of this thread, the thought that came to my mind was: “God is drawing her by the heart, rather than by the head”. Reading your post confirmed that thought.

God is drawing you to Himself. That is very evident in all that you wrote. God deals with us where we are at a particular point in time. Since you lack faith right now, God is drawing you by the heart… the head will follow in time.

In my opinion, you are actually on the right track. I think if you put a few things into practice, God will give you your faith back. The first thing is to pray that God will grant you the grace of faith.

Try to get in the habit of praying, at various times throughout the day “God, please grant me the grace of greater faith, and teach me to trust you more.” God will eventually give you the grace you ask for.

Next I would keep praying the Rosary, and be sure to ask the Blessed Mother to obtain for you the virtue of faith. Mary’s prayers are very powerful, and she will often obtain for us what we can’t obtain for ourselves.

I would also recommend meeting with the Priest at the Church you mentioned. I’m sure he would love to meet with you and help in any way he can.

I have to say that, in reading your post, I really think you are doing well. Your not where you need to be yet, but you “want” to be. You are doing great. Keep up the good efforts, and keep posting so we can follow your progress.
 
You have had so much heartache that it appears to have all but destroyed you. I don’t wonder that you are struggling with Faith. You are on the road back if you know it or not. Ask God to give you Faith and stay here with us. May God bless you.
 
Some of my thoughts echo those of others. Pray for faith - Jesus said, Ask and you shall receive. Be patient and take it as it comes to you. Don’t fight it and don’t get discouraged.

Consider attending a retreat. Not everyone at retreats are convicted in their faith. You may find a good place and good people to help you talk through things. There might be a retreat at the Shrine near you, or look on line for a Cursillo retreat or a Life in the Spirit Seminar. Maybe it’s time for you to be baptized in the Spirit.

Pray for God to send someone into your life that you can talk to. That person may already be in your life, but you have never talked with them about faith. Look around you. God has been working to bring just the right people to you at this moment in time for your spiritual growth.

Look for a healing Mass to attend. Ask for healing. There are many areas you described in your life that need healing. God want to do that for you because He loves you.

See if there is a Prayer Group in your area that you can join. We have a Charismatic group that meets on Wednesdays after Mass and it’s incredibly powerful.

Look for a book called, Making Sense of Suffering by Peter Kreeft. He’s also written a ton of other books that you might find helpful in your search.

I believe in God because there is no other explanation for creation. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God because He could be nothing else. We know that He existed, just as we know that Alexander the Great existed. He claimed to be God, so if he isn’t God, he’s either a liar or a lunatic (in the words of C.S. Lewis). Neither of those possibilities is logical. So I know intellectually that God is real and that Jesus is God. And I know in my heart because God has, by His grace, convicted me and blessed me with that understanding.

You WILL find God. He said so, and God does not lie. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.

May God send His Holy Spirit to you and bless you with ever growing faith and love.
 
There’s a verse in Scripture where someone asks Christ to “Help my disbelief.”

Being human, we all have some weakness in our faith when things happen. We must remember that, like Job’s suffering, that God isn’t necessarily “doing” it to spite us or even to test us. Yet, with suffering comes durability.

Other posters have said it better, but you’re doing the best thing you can, even if you don’t “feel” anything. Time and prayer will help. Hang in there. God bless.
 
I wish I could hug you in person!

I think God is already in the process of giving you back your faith. You have a compassionate heart – that’s obvious by the fact that you cared about the people you saw suffering in Afghanistan, and you care about your son. And I think it’s wonderful that you’re staying open-minded, listening to the whispering of the Spirit in your heart, and giving Him a chance instead of blowing Him off – as, sadly, many people do.

Maybe He allowed you to see what you saw so that you might one day feel called to do something toward bringing His comfort to suffering people – in Afghanistan or maybe somewhere else?

You came to the right place. This board is full of new friends for you, to whom you can talk freely! And I’m sure I’m far from being the only person who is praying for you now.
 
Welcome Home! The Holy Spirit is calling you back to the Catholic Church. You probably will not recapture the same faith you had earlier, but you will replace it with a more mature, deeper love of God and understanding of your place in His plan. Working through doubt and discernment of your beliefs is what makes us stonger in faith, and it will not happen overnight. Keep up the rosary, your Mother is standing by with abundant grace to assist you on your way back and always remember: God loves you no matter what, even if you don’t exactly believe in Him. :flowers:
 
FormerCreed said:
I joined the Army at a young age, and served overseas twice. It was my experiences in Afghanistan that led me to lose any faith in a God. I saw and experienced things over there that I just couldn’t make any sense of, if there was really an omnipotant, omnibenevolent deity in charge of it all. I recognize that this line of thought isn’t original. In fact, as a Catholic, I had studied theodicies that explained this sort of thing. But somehow, none of that made sense to me anymore in the face of so much human suffering.
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I cannot imagine what you went through, but I am sorry you had to go through it. Many people have lost their faith through war, while others have persevere through the horrible things they see. Some come out of sufferings in stronger faith, others loose their faith. We all have different weaknesses and hence we all react differently to the same situations.
I know for certain, though, that man can cause terrible suffering and the results of that are hard to bear. From the killing of fellow soldiers to the murdering of our own children, we do evil. It is in our nature. The existence of evil and suffering in the world is due to us, not God. He gave us freewill and a perfect world, and what did we do? We decided we would be better off without Him and forsook all of those wonderful things, for sin, for evil. We turned away from perfection for evil, because that is the nature of us.
Rest assured that it saddens Him, rest assured that God sees these horrible sufferings and is drawn to sorrow. He looks at us as His own children, and we are. Each of us. And to see us killing one another… imagine seeing your own family fighting, emotionally, verbally and physically, murdering one another. It is unfathomable to us to realize what it looks like to God.
Nevertheless, He is a just judge, and those who have caused cruelty will be repaid in full. If I could make a suggestion for you, I would suggest you pick up a copy of The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis and read it. Lewis wasn’t a Catholic, but he was one of the greatest apologists (in my opinion) and theologians of the 20th century, and held some very Catholic beliefs. I believe you will find this work particularly interesting. God bless you and all the saints pray for you, as I will be.
 
Hi, I admire your openess and courage to ask these questions. Here is how I see it… imagine for a minute that God is real. If He’s real, and trying to draw you to Himself, what ways would He use? I think that He would do exactly what is happening now… you would feel drawn to it all, despite your lack of belief in the doctrines. I grew up angostic and then lived as a Protestant for a while. When I began to feel drawn to the Catholic Church, it made no sense to me because I did not actually believe it. But I felt peace and holiness there and I just kept on researching, and eventually going to Mass. Now I’m a Catholic. It was similar with Christianity… it started out as simple faith… over time, as I grew in experience with God, (I’m still new though, I only started believing in God around 4-5 years ago) He became more and more real to me. Now, I can’t doubt His existence anymore, if someone were to tell me He’s not real, it’s like if they told me my family is not real. I’d just say, “wait, but I know Him!”. I know there’s the question, what if it’s all just in the mind. That’s a valid question, but for some reason, when you have these experiences, you just know they’re not in the mind. i can’t really explain it. I’ve imagined things that were not there, I’ve believed lies, but this feels very different. Another aspect to faith is learning about it… the doctrine of the Church just make sense to me. But they didn’t always. Faith came first. I think often, God just wants us to choose Him freely, because that type of faith is the strongest. If we believed just because we have evidence, that makes us more reliant on what we see/experience/etc, and so our faith can be shaken by other pieces of “evidence”. It might seem reasonable to have this approach, but the truth is that many times these other pieces of “evidence” are misunderstandings or incomplete truths.

In the end, we just have to ask the question… what is the truth?

Regarding suffering… that’s a big thing that people struggle with. That’s understandable. We don’t want to suffer or to see others suffer. Some people have lived through a lot in their lives. I like the Church teaching here… that suffering in itself is not from God…it wasn’t created by Him. It’s the result of sin in the world. It wasn’t part of the original plan… and if Adam and Eve hadn’t sinned, there would not have been suffering now. BUT, God can and does use it. When He uses it, He takes something bad (suffering) and turns it to good (sanctification, opportunities to show charity to others, sharing in His Cross, etc.) We are encouraged by the fact that Christ suffered more than anyone ever has. Not just physically but mentally, emotionally, spiritually. It’s taken me a while to understand His suffering… but just the concept of God being murdered by His own creation, and consenting to this murder, and even loving and forgiving the very people who are doing this to Him… and above all doing it for them… that shows the enormity of God’s love and of His suffering. Christ knew that even with His death, not everyone would go to Heaven…but He grieves over every lost soul, and doesn’t want anyone lost. It’s we who walk away from Him. And yet, He still chose to die. He could have ended it at any moment. He could have made the Roman soldiers believe and worship Him. But out of love for us, He endured all the insults, all the pain, and even feeling separated from the Father… this must have been unendurable, because as Christ said before, the Father and Him are one. I think just looking at the Crucifix… we understand that suffering has a purpose… when we suffer, we can unite our pain to Christ’s pain on the Cross, and it would have value.

I’ll try to explain… let’s say you’re going through a lot of suffering… you can offer it to Christ, and He would use it to help another person. Every pain on our part can turn into an opportunity to love. Thus, God takes something evil in itself and makes it into something good. This way the devil is defeated even more. Many of the Saints even viewed their suffering as a gift, for that reason. And for many of them, their suffering was immense.

I can understand that if you’ve witnessed a lot of suffering, it might make little sense how God could still be there and not stop it… but the truth is that He will stop it, one day. Right now, He’s giving us a chance to be sanctified through it, for our future happiness and glory. It will all be worth it in the end. Also, He Himself shared in our suffering to the fullest extent. He’s not somewhere above, watching us suffer… He’s WITH us, He’s close to anyone in pain, and He wants them to give their pain to Him, so that He can give them His peace. Christ knows what it’s like to suffer. So does Mary. So do the Saints… they are with us.

God bless
 
If I could make any suggestion, I’d suggest to try praying. Just be totally honest with God, and if you’re finding it difficult to believe, or feel like you’re just speaking to nothing, tell Him that… be honest and open. Don’t try to pretend. But at the same time, be open to the possibility that God might be real after all. I guess what I’m saying is… give Him a chance to show you if He’s real 🙂 if you pray, and truly honestly and openly seek the truth, He will show you, eventually. It might not be a vision or anything like that. It might be that He’d give you faith or certain experiences that would lead you to faith. I suggest continuing exploring Catholicism and if you want, there’s nothing wrong with going to Benediction, etc. No one will ask you if you believe or not. Anyone can come to church. Even if it’s just for the incense and chanting. (which I really love too btw :)) If we’re right, Christ is physically present there in the Eucharist, and would surely help anyone who is seeking truth. Try to give God a chance and see what will happen 🙂 but be open. And remember faith is a choice, not so much a feeling, but it’s true we need to be lead to a place where we’re able to accept it.

I also thought of another thing. You said that it was painful for you to lose your faith. I once almost lost my faith so I know a bit of what you mean. Try to think about why it was painful…why it would be, to any person. I think it goes deeper than just having to change your beliefs. I think there’s something really deep within us that longs for God, and it’s in a way natural to believe in Him, to love Him. When our faith is destroyed, that part is still there, but we don’t know how to reconcile that with lack of belief. It’s like the heart is saying one thing, and the mind, another. I think the only solution to this is to simply seek… to pray… to tell God, “Lord if you are real, please give me faith, change my mind”. As it says in Scripture… “Lord I believe, help my unbelief!”

If you’ll come to faith, you’ll also need to let God to heal you from all that happened in the Army. You’d need to give your pain to Him and trust in His goodness. But this is something only God can lead you too.

God bless
 
Hi Former Creed. I have one piece of advice Pray for Grace. Remember everything comes from Grace. I know alot of People blame God for suffering. It always kinda amazed me personally though because who suffered more than God.

I alway’s think of what my Dad said, Jesus was perfect and they crucified him, what do you think they are going to do to you. Thats makes me think more when I suffer. It does make it easier at times.

Suffering is part of living because of sin. Either our sin or a cause of others sin. But suffering can make you a different more compassionate person also. Its kind of what you want to do with it. You can suffer, try to understand it, and become a better person because of it. Or it can make you a bitter hateful person. Its your frame of mind, and what you want to do with it. I always say this.

Dear Lord please let me remember when times are good the bad times. So I can try to be a better person for someone else in trouble. Please let me in my time of suffering understand what my sins can do to cause suffering of others, and please let me be a better person.

Praying for you!
 
I think the reason people sometimes lose faith is because they lose trust in God’s goodness. I think it’s important to ask the question, does God love us…if so, how did He demonstrate this? Mother Teresa once said, “when you look at the crucifix, you see how much Jesus loved you then…when you look at the Blessed Sacrament, you see how much He loves you now.”

I believe that God loves us more than anyone could ever love us. He is love. And if it doesn’t seem so, that’s because our view is limited or we’re misunderstanding something. There are times when I didn’t feel this, but of course that doesn’t mean it’s not true. When I read about your son, I thought of how God understands that because He is a Father. Our Father. It is painful for Him when we are away…He wants to be reunited with all His children. I think if we trust in God’s love, a lot of our burdens become easier to bear. There will always be suffering on earth until “all things are made new”, (as long as sin is here) but God is with everyone who is in pain.

God bless you
 
I am so touched by your post. First of all, that you gave your baby life even though that decision still hurts. Often time a woman who choses life for her baby is considered a heroine, but the fact that she experiences pain because of that noble choice is forgotten. I pray you will find comfort----your prayer to Mary who also lost a son is beautiful!

I don’t know if I can say anything to help really. It is faith that keeps me believing in the Catholic church, but I guess it is truly my relationship that keeps me in my faith. Does that make sense? If I didn’t know Jesus, and really love Him then I don’t know where I’d be. I am not always happy with my church—the decisions that are made or whatever but it’s God that keeps me there.
I am willing to bet that not so long from now you’ll realize what made you go to that National Shrine. Was it to a particular saint? The Lord will give you little tugs to guide you and I know that was one of those tugs. It will all come together…just keep listening and keep being honest. I took no offense to anything you said, in fact it made me smile to hear you question the true presence of the Eucharist. You are searching! And when you are searching it is good to ask questions!

One piece of advice that I truly think will help is if you look up Fr.John Corapi. Maybe you’ve heard of him. He has a website and is absolutely phenomenal in teaching the CAtholic faith. I believe he is a prophet. In particular he has a dvd/cd that you can buy called “Come Home to the Catholic Church: why I did.” Please view this dvd. And God Bless you!!!
 
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