Feelings?

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IneedGod

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Ok, I am finely going to ask this question. It has been plaguing me for some time.
What is so wrong with feelings?
One of the reasons I decided to be open to the Catholic church was that I felt the spirit of God in the church.
I have felt the spirit of God while praying.
Please explain šŸ˜¦

Thanks and God Bless
 
Who said anything was wrong with feelings? The only thing you have to be careful of is to make sure that the feelings are true. They can sometimes be deceptive or ephemeral, and having them or not having them is not necessarily a measure of your faith.

But unless the feelings lead you to willfully commit inherently sinful thought or action (such as acting on lustful or wrathful impulses) thereā€™s nothing wrong with feelings at all.
 
Pat_Payne said:
Who said anything was wrong with feelings? The only thing you have to be careful of is to make sure that the feelings are true. They can sometimes be deceptive or ephemeral, and having them or not having them is not necessarily a measure of your faith.

But unless the feelings lead you to willfully commit inherently sinful thought or action (such as acting on lustful or wrathful impulses) thereā€™s nothing wrong with feelings at all.
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Ok, I had been told never to trust feelings. That really bugged me!
I have even felt it praying the rosary. It would indeed make me sad if I was to try to not let those feelings in.
 
Thereā€™s a ā€œyes, with a butā€ there. Donā€™t rely on them exclusively, and investigate them, but you need not just throw them out either. šŸ‘

As Ronald Reagan used to say to Gorbachev (and it annoyed the heck out of Gorby šŸ˜› ): Š”Š¾Š²ŠµŃ€ŃŠ¹, Š½Š¾ ŠæрŠ¾Š²ŠµŃ€ŃŠ¹, ā€œTrust, but verify.ā€
 
Itā€™s because if you focus too much on the good feelings associated with prayer you are in danger of praying for the feelings and/or you may conclude that your prayer was unsuccesfull because you didnā€™t feel the ā€œrightā€ feelings. Sometimes there are good feelings, sometimes bad, sometimes none at all, but in every case an honest prayer was successfull.

Also you may fall into the trap of mistaking your feelings for God which is basically worshiping yourself (feelings are of the body).
 
J_Peterson said:
Itā€™s because if you focus too much on the good feelings associated with prayer you are in danger of praying for the feelings and/or you may conclude that your prayer was unsuccesfull because you didnā€™t feel the ā€œrightā€ feelings. Sometimes there are good feelings, sometimes bad, sometimes none at all, but in every case an honest prayer was successfull.

Also you may fall into the trap of mistaking your feelings for God which is basically worshiping yourself (feelings are of the body).
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I dont pray for the feelings and I believe those ā€œfeelingsā€ are from the holy spirit.
 
IneedGod said:
I dont pray for the feelings and I believe those ā€œfeelingsā€ are from the holy spirit.
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Some say that feelings are fleeting and true maturity will discount feelings for obedience and preseverance. St. John OTC is oneā€¦
 
Samson01 said:
Some say that feelings are fleeting and true maturity will discount feelings for obedience and preseverance. St. John OTC is oneā€¦
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Is that speaking of feelins such as I dont feel like doing such and such or feelings like I speak of. Which seem physical and wonderflul?
 
IneedGod said:
Is that speaking of feelins such as I dont feel like doing such and such or feelings like I speak of. Which seem physical and wonderflul?
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I know St. John OTC taught that consolations should be put aside because they may cause one the stagnate on them. It is something I have to remind myself of often, but may be the key to getting through a dark night, absent of any consolation, big or small.
 
I know that before I came in (RCIA now) I went through a terrible time. TRUELY AWFUL!
I felt unworthy to even pray. It was when I read about the Eucharist that I decided to pray.
Feeling that touch when I prayed saved me from a life devoid of God and all happiness.
I do believe we need to be obediant even if we dont feel like it but thats not the same thing.
Doing the right thing is something we/I should do whether the feeling is there or not. I believe that it can lead you if you let itā€¦ It has helped me many times. It even saved me from harm.
I will do a search on St. John OTC
 
IneedGod said:
I know that before I came in (RCIA now) I went through a terrible time. TRUELY AWFUL!
I felt unworthy to even pray. It was when I read about the Eucharist that I decided to pray.
Feeling that touch when I prayed saved me from a life devoid of God and all happiness.
I do believe we need to be obediant even if we dont feel like it but thats not the same thing.
Doing the right thing is something we/I should do whether the feeling is there or not. I believe that it can lead you if you let itā€¦ It has helped me many times. It even saved me from harm.
I will do a search on St. John OTC
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Hereā€™s something about direction to those going through a dark night. I hope it helps. Ultimately the goal is union with God. Feelings can be tricky and can come from the ā€œselfā€ā€¦when all self strength is gone, the will plays an important role, but not completely devoid of feelings. I was reading how St. John broke that part down and it was helpful to me. Thanks for starting the thread. Tim
carmelitesofeldridge.org/juan32.html

carmelitesofeldridge.org/juan10.html
 
snip" Ultimately the goal is union with God".snip
That said it all for me!!!
 
IneedGod said:
I know that before I came in (RCIA now) I went through a terrible time. TRUELY AWFUL!
I felt unworthy to even pray. It was when I read about the Eucharist that I decided to pray.
Feeling that touch when I prayed saved me from a life devoid of God and all happiness.
I do believe we need to be obediant even if we dont feel like it but thats not the same thing.
Doing the right thing is something we/I should do whether the feeling is there or not. I believe that it can lead you if you let itā€¦ It has helped me many times. It even saved me from harm.
I will do a search on St. John OTC
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Someone on this site recommended this book (canā€™t remember who). Iā€™m about halfway through but itā€™s been helpful. Worth reading if you can get your hands on it. St. John can be tough to read in my opinion, this seems to be a good primer:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dkD0ntFYL.BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01.jpg
 
Spiritual life is not mental life. It is not thought alone. Nor is it, of course, a life of sensation, a life of feeling - ā€œfeelingā€ and experiencing the things of the spirit, and the things of God.
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Nor does the spiritual life exclude thought and feeling. It needs both. It is not just a life concentrated at the ā€œhigh point,ā€ of the soul, a life from which the mind and the imagination and the body are excludedā€¦ If it were so, few people could lead it, And again, if that were the spiritual life, it would not be life at all. If a man is to live, he must be all alive, body, soul, mind, heart, spirit. Everything must be elevated and transformed by the action of God, in love and faith.
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Thoughts in Solitude, by Thomas Merton
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Jim
 
IneedGod said:
I dont pray for the feelings and I believe those ā€œfeelingsā€ are from the holy spirit.
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Feelings can also come from demons, and they can play with our emotions. Thatā€™s why weā€™re not supposed to follow them. Weā€™re also not supposed to follow them because it makes us soft and morally weak, when we are supposed to have fortitude. Sitting around on the couch watching TV for hours while we neglect our duties of our state in life, feels good, but it is not morally correct to do so. Following our feelings makes us weak and causes us to sin.

As we advance in the spiritual life, and go through the dark night of the senses, if we rely on our feelings, weā€™re going to crash and burn when we turn to despair and feel abandoned.
 
IneedGod said:
snip" Ultimately the goal is union with God".snip
That said it all for me!!!
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Correct. The union of our will with the will of God defines sanctity. In the gospel for todayā€™s Mass, I believe we read ā€œFor whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.ā€ (Matthew 12: 50). Because we are humans though, we cannot escape our feelings or emotions. It is just a part of being a human and God knows this. In the teaching of St Ignatius of Loyola, feelings play a very important role in discernment especially with consolations and desolations. We are commanded to love God not just with the mind but with the heart too. Especially the heart, as love resides in the will. We cannot escape our feelings, but sanctity consists principally in the will, not in the feelings.
 
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