Help get me back my faith back

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tonyk84

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Dear friends in Christ,

I need help getting back to living my faith. I tend to go through patches where I cant get enough of going to Mass, confessions, praying, reading and studying our beautiful Catholic faith.

Then I start slacking and my faith slowly dies off until I stop going to Mass, and pray only at night.

I wish I could keep my faith strong and stop going through these cycles of being strong on fire practising Catholic, then being a luke warm Catholic.

Any help and or advice is great appreciated, and if anyone knows a good book that would be great to.

thank you and God bless.
 
Actually, it sounds like you’re going through patches of being over-zealous and then getting burned out. It doesn’t sound like you’re actually losing your faith, as you still continue to pray. But, you may want to include in your nightly (and morning) prayers something like the following: “Jesus, I’m struggling to stay faithful to you. Please, give me the strength that I need to remain faithful always. I love you, Jesus! Help me show that I love you.”
 
Sounds like that here too. Try to find a “medium” spot where you go to Mass, and all of that, but not get burnt out on it. Maybe go to Sunday mass and 1 weekday Mass. Prayers and reading times should also include times with family and/or friends. Confess about once per month. Unless your confessor deems it, I doubt you need any more than that. Try to get hooked up with a Spiritual Director, and let that person help you get things going right. I’ll be praying for you, don’t give up. 👍
 
Agree to accompany or meet someone regularly at Mass. This is a good incentive & soon it becomes a habit. Sounds like you are doing okay
 
Whenever I hear concerns that sound like spiritual “burn out”, it seems to me to be a matter of relying on ourselves for our spirituality, instead of relying on the Holy Spirit. It seems like that is the case in my own life and sometimes the situation for others as well.

When that happens to me, I stop and try to recognize any feelings of obligation , pressure or stress, identify where they are coming from and if they are due to anxiety about having to “do” faith then I stop immediately and just pray contemplatively, sitting in His presence, simply being with Him to feel His presence before I meditate on the issue.

Then once I am in His presence, I simply take those issues of stress and anxiety to Him and ask " if these are things You will, I ask " why are they stressful, burdensome?" And sometimes I will realize its time to move on to a new devotion or prayer pattern, that I have outgrown what I was doing and He will lead me to understand how I can grow closer to Him in new spiritual patterns. Other times , He simply reminds me of why I am doing what I am doing and I am confirmed in that, and it is refreshing and energizing , and may even be given new insights on how to grow even closer to Him through the same activity.

Gods will only invigorates and motivates us with even more energy. It seems that is only when I am moving under my own power that I grow weary and tired. With Him, I have almost boundless energy. Stop for a day or two and simply be in His presence for a while. See what He is telling you.

God bless!
 
Gosh, I didn’t even ask but I think I will take your advice, too! I hope the OP tries it! Sounds good… Thanks.
 
Please recommend yourself to the Blessed Virgin Mary by the daily recitation of the holy rosary. Also, have a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. You should consecrate yourself to Mary as well. You can find a good book to prepare yourself for your consecration. The best one is: *St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion Consecration to Mary *by Fr. Helmuts Libietis. An excellent book you should read on devotion to the Sacred Heart is: *The Devotion to the Sacred Heart *by Fr. John Croiset, S.J… Please practice these devotions and read these books; they will help you tremendously! God bless you.
 
Maybe… apart of course from going to mass at least on Holy days of Obligation, maybe you can and want to more often… focus on making God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit a natural part of your daily life. As in… talk to Him often, as you would with a friend who walks by your side… (of course you need not do that aloud 😉 )… sit down once in a while and listen what He might be telling you… talk/pray to Him about decisions you have to make… THANK HIM for good things that happen to you… It can become so beautiful and natural to walk through life with God.

Personal experience right now:
God has given me some miracles in my life in the last few months, things that turned out well after all even though it looked very difficult, were maybe hanging on a thread… again, and again, and again… How can I not be thankful?
And of course the best thankfulness I think is sharing the joy with others, being a good and joyful person to others, who makes others happy too…

And when times are rough have trust that God knows what he is doing and that he is there with you and that things happen for a reason… and pray about that too.

And try to be a joyful person who shares God’s love in this world, which is such a beautiful task :). That we as Christians all have… I would say.
 
It helps me to remember when I don’t feel like praying or going to Mass that it is a great act of love to do what I don’t like for the sake of pleasing the Lord. I try to remember Jesus’ perfect example of love in laying down his life for us. He certainly didn’t want to do it!

You said in your post that you go through periods where you are “on fire” and you “can’t get enough” and that this is when you are being a strong catholic. Realize that you are being an even stronger catholic when you go to Mass when you don’t feel like it.

God bless you!
 
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