Help I feel trapped in the web of the CC

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Well here I am a couple years later…thought I should check back in just in case anyone from my original thread is still hangin around. Life is good…I have become active in the parish I once struggled so hard with. We have a wonderful new priest I have been getting to know. I just completed a year in CHRP - (Christ renews his parish)…joined the CHRP continuation committee, recently got asked to be part of the parish council, and agreed to take on yet another year in the current CHRP team. I also got invited to be a confirmation sponsor for both my Godson, & a new friend from church’s son. I was also invited to become a religious ed teacher by one of the men who listened to my whitness story of how all you guys at CAF helped me find my way to the church, as part of my involvment with CHRP. When I go to Mass now, I know at least 15-20 people and often stand around talking with friends after. I have helped out at five youth retreats & been able to turn my story / troubles with the church into a tool for our Lord to use in helping others. This past February after my CHRP team whitmess, I began helping another Catholic man who grew up in the church and has struggled just like I did to grasp the real presence in the Eucharist… What God can do when we let him 🙂 Bless you all for hangin in there w/ me when I was trying to figure out my way to the Christ’s church. I hope your all enjoying God’s blessing and care as I have…Go Pope Francis ! 🙂 Your old friend Mikehere…
 
So great to hear that things are going so well for you. I glad that you have been able to
witness to so many about your struggles. Thank you for giving us an update.
 
All of this is thrilling happy eternal mercy grace from God!!!

But when I read that you’ve been asked to be a catechist-- well I’m crying!

As a 24 year veteran catechist, and a director of catechesis for the last 5 years, you cant know how valuable a good catechist is! How much impact s/he can have!

And here’s what i remind myself everyday-- the ministry could disappear for me tomorrow – i could lose my ability to speak, i could get sick, whatever … all that sense of mission and belonging could disappear-- but God alone remains. Pray. Be with God. A lot. A lot. Not because it helps you, your ministry, etc. Be with God because it pleases God. Do that first. And he’ll bless the rest.
 
Wow! What an amazing thread! I was about to post some advice for your plight when I scrolled down on the reply screen and saw the newest post mentioned you being asked to be a catechist, I was like, wait! What?
That’s when I checked the date the thread started. I always forget to do that.

I’m glad everything turned around. God bless you
mikehere2 said:
Well here I am a couple years later…thought I should check back in just in case anyone from my original thread is still hangin around. Life is good…I have become active in the parish I once struggled so hard with. We have a wonderful new priest I have been getting to know. I just completed a year in CHRP - (Christ renews his parish)…joined the CHRP continuation committee, recently got asked to be part of the parish council, and agreed to take on yet another year in the current CHRP team. I also got invited to be a confirmation sponsor for both my Godson, & a new friend from church’s son. I was also invited to become a religious ed teacher by one of the men who listened to my whitness story of how all you guys at CAF helped me find my way to the church, as part of my involvment with CHRP. When I go to Mass now, I know at least 15-20 people and often stand around talking with friends after. I have helped out at five youth retreats & been able to turn my story / troubles with the church into a tool for our Lord to use in helping others. This past February after my CHRP team whitmess, I began helping another Catholic man who grew up in the church and has struggled just like I did to grasp the real presence in the Eucharist… What God can do when we let him 🙂 Bless you all for hangin in there w/ me when I was trying to figure out my way to the Christ’s church. I hope your all enjoying God’s blessing and care as I have…Go Pope Francis ! 🙂 Your old friend Mikehere…
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What wonderful news. May God continue to richly bless you and heal/improve your marriage/family life.

What a great reminder that when we lose hope, God makes a way. Our dark moments pass and new light will shine. What a great message and reminder to us all to have faith and trust in the Lord. 👍
 
You are an amazing example of what the Holy Spirit can do when someone surrenders their heart to God!!! And how immensely patient God is with us, waiting our whole lifetime if necessary, for that moment when we give our will over to Him and He can fulfill His promise in us. You are truly blessed, as are all of the people in your life!!!

Wishing you a most Holy and Blessed Easter!!! Welcome Home!!!
 
Hi reading this thread has been such a huge blessing. The encouragement and compassion shown to the OP was amazing. The advice was extremely helpful to others. The OP had stated a few things I have struggled with. I am coming from a very friendly Protestant church and getting ready to join the Catholic Church this Easter. And I am so exctied and at peace knowing it is the right decision. However it does take some adjustments because fellowship was such a huge part of our church life before. I loved serving in various ministries and haven’t been able to do so as of yet here. It has been the biggest adjustment for the kids as well. It saddens me that they have lost most of their friends from the previous church due to our joining the CC. But then our faith has grown so much more and there is such a richness that we were missing before. So I will follow much of the advice given in this thread and trust God to open doors of fellowship and ministry when it is right. So glad I have found this place!
 
ManyBlessings6 said:
Hi reading this thread has been such a huge blessing. The encouragement and compassion shown to the OP was amazing. The advice was extremely helpful to others. The OP had stated a few things I have struggled with. I am coming from a very friendly Protestant church and getting ready to join the Catholic Church this Easter. And I am so exctied and at peace knowing it is the right decision. However it does take some adjustments because fellowship was such a huge part of our church life before. I loved serving in various ministries and haven’t been able to do so as of yet here. It has been the biggest adjustment for the kids as well. It saddens me that they have lost most of their friends from the previous church due to our joining the CC. But then our faith has grown so much more and there is such a richness that we were missing before. So I will follow much of the advice given in this thread and trust God to open doors of fellowship and ministry when it is right. So glad I have found this place!
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Welcome home to you and your family! 👋 I know how you feel. When I became Catholic I felt a little “at sea” socially and culturally. But then I got involved in some parish activities–in my case choir and a prayer group, my dh in KCs (he was a cradle Catholic who came back to the Church), and we adjusted. I pray you find new friends and new opportunities for service in your parish. God bless!
 
ManyBlessings6 said:
Hi reading this thread has been such a huge blessing. The encouragement and compassion shown to the OP was amazing. The advice was extremely helpful to others. The OP had stated a few things I have struggled with. I am coming from a very friendly Protestant church and getting ready to join the Catholic Church this Easter. And I am so exctied and at peace knowing it is the right decision. However it does take some adjustments because fellowship was such a huge part of our church life before. I loved serving in various ministries and haven’t been able to do so as of yet here. It has been the biggest adjustment for the kids as well. It saddens me that they have lost most of their friends from the previous church due to our joining the CC. But then our faith has grown so much more and there is such a richness that we were missing before. So I will follow much of the advice given in this thread and trust God to open doors of fellowship and ministry when it is right. So glad I have found this place!
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Welcome home!!! Just keep your eyes open, you might well find more than enough to keep your self busy with. My wife and i have been involved with bible studies, teaching CCD and many many many activities with our parish “young adult” ministry (early 20s to about 35 give or take).

There are many options for folks to get involved with church ministries and the like. I have heard some good advice before though. Take some time, just get used to things and see where you fit in. No need to rush in and try and do everything at once. That’s a good way to burn out.
 
Thank you for the welcome and for sharing! Right now I am focused on learning, studying and applying our new faith to daily living. I will be caution not to overdo it with getting involved with everything. I know how easy it is to get sucked into that. I’ve had to learn to say no and make sure not to neglect my home life. So I intend to limit involvement to one or two things and hopeful meet some new great people in the process.
 
One other interesting thing is my husband was raised as a Catholic and when I began RCIA he came along to the classes as my sponsor. He has really enjoyed it alot and learned things he did not know as well. So I think maybe sometimes when you are raised in a religion you might not know how to explain it well to others or it is taken for granted you already know. Recently he commented on the things he had forgotten learning as a child but how they are coming back to him. Sometimes a refresher is a great thing.
 
Tosk said:
If your lack of belief is causing a lot of problems you can always just fake it. If you and your wife get along well other than clashes over faith it seems really silly to argue over transubstantiation.
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This is the worst advice I have ever seen anyone give anyone on these boards, and I have seen some pretty weird advice given out.

Please do not ‘fake’ a belief in Transubstantiation.

God does not send you misery. God is a total Gentleman. The misery comes from us blocking Him from our lives.

I cannot imagine why you were asked not to attend Mass unless you behaved in a way that was less than stellar.

If you are constantly attacking the Catholic Faith in front of your children then I can see why your wife would not ask you to attend Mass; however, you did not say that so maybe it is just that your presence casts some sort of shadow over the entire day.

I could point out to you why our believe in transubstantiation is logical and in accordance with Biblical truths; Jesus is not a liar and He flat out said that unless we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood we are not going to go to heaven. However, I suspect I am not the first person to point that out to you so why bother?

I had a dear friend who thought us Catholics and Orthodox were crazy because of our belief system. I challenged him to go and do his ‘meditation’ in the Adoration Chapel. He took up my challenge five years ago. He had no intention of ever changing his mind, but he believed in meditation and prayer so he started daily meditation in the 24 hour Adoration Chapel at my parish.

he is being received into the Church this Easter.

Go ahead - I double dog dare you…😛
 
LSK said:
This is the worst advice I have ever seen anyone give anyone on these boards, and I have seen some pretty weird advice given out.

Please do not ‘fake’ a belief in Transubstantiation.

God does not send you misery. God is a total Gentleman. The misery comes from us blocking Him from our lives.

I cannot imagine why you were asked not to attend Mass unless you behaved in a way that was less than stellar.

…
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LSK I think you will be pleasantly surprised when you read his latest update! 🙂 (there is a previous update letting us know he became Catholic 🙂 )
mikehere2 said:
Well here I am a couple years later…thought I should check back in just in case anyone from my original thread is still hangin around. Life is good…I have become active in the parish I once struggled so hard with. We have a wonderful new priest I have been getting to know. I just completed a year in CHRP - (Christ renews his parish)…joined the CHRP continuation committee, recently got asked to be part of the parish council, and agreed to take on yet another year in the current CHRP team. I also got invited to be a confirmation sponsor for both my Godson, & a new friend from church’s son. I was also invited to become a religious ed teacher by one of the men who listened to my whitness story of how all you guys at CAF helped me find my way to the church, as part of my involvment with CHRP. When I go to Mass now, I know at least 15-20 people and often stand around talking with friends after. I have helped out at five youth retreats & been able to turn my story / troubles with the church into a tool for our Lord to use in helping others. This past February after my CHRP team whitmess, I began helping another Catholic man who grew up in the church and has struggled just like I did to grasp the real presence in the Eucharist… What God can do when we let him 🙂 Bless you all for hangin in there w/ me when I was trying to figure out my way to the Christ’s church. I hope your all enjoying God’s blessing and care as I have…Go Pope Francis ! 🙂 Your old friend Mikehere…
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Mikehere, thank you for sharing your story!!! I’m very happy for you and for your family!!!
 
ManyBlessings6 said:
One other interesting thing is my husband was raised as a Catholic and when I began RCIA he came along to the classes as my sponsor. He has really enjoyed it alot and learned things he did not know as well. So I think maybe sometimes when you are raised in a religion you might not know how to explain it well to others or it is taken for granted you already know. Recently he commented on the things he had forgotten learning as a child but how they are coming back to him. Sometimes a refresher is a great thing.
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Once you guys are settled into daily life you might enough finding a bible study to take together. There are a number of different takes on this, from the “standard” study book / thumb through the bible approach (this will typically add references to the CCC though), to “bible studies” on a subject like sacred liturgy and such. Classes like these are great refreshers.
 
Dear LSK This is a very long thread & you may not have read the whole thing. It covers 3+ years time…

Know that I have never “faked” understanding trasnsubstatiation…I miss understood - I felt left out - I felt like no one cared…and lots of other stuff too…until I found the wonderful people here at CAF…but I never disrespected the Catholic faith, or pretended to “go along” w/ out understanding. I think the paticular post you picked up on was only one tiny piece of what others offered to help me. It was not something I considered a reasonable solution to my problem. If you have the time / interest, I would encourage you to read it from the begining to the end - it would help you understand me better…or not too, & that’s ok…just know there’s more to me than that one post, someone else wrote…

Thanks to all of you who helped me out, my goal now is to help others, which I am working towards in my parish. It’s nice to see other new members here on CAF finding something in what I went through that can help them too. God Bless all of you ! Peace - Mikehere 🙂
 
Hi Guys…not sure who’s left around that remembers me… ? but I’m still here ! I am a parish counsel member, RCIA sponsor / team member, Grow Team Member, 4th season returning CHRP member who has been a lay director, Current leader of my parish’s building maintenance committee, and committed member of the parish I once felt so left out of. God has blessed me over and over since you guys all helped me find my way into the Lord’s Church…God Bless all of you !!! for not giving up on me along the way…THANKS AGAIN !! Your friend …“Mike here”…
 
once upon a time you felt trapped in the web of the Catholic Church. now, through and in that same Church, you are freed by the power of Christ!

how utterly cool that you check in every so often!!
 
mikehere2 said:
Dear LSK This is a very long thread & you may not have read the whole thing. It covers 3+ years time…

Know that I have never “faked” understanding trasnsubstatiation…I miss understood - I felt left out - I felt like no one cared…and lots of other stuff too…until I found the wonderful people here at CAF…but I never disrespected the Catholic faith, or pretended to “go along” w/ out understanding. I think the paticular post you picked up on was only one tiny piece of what others offered to help me. It was not something I considered a reasonable solution to my problem. If you have the time / interest, I would encourage you to read it from the begining to the end - it would help you understand me better…or not too, & that’s ok…just know there’s more to me than that one post, someone else wrote…

Thanks to all of you who helped me out, my goal now is to help others, which I am working towards in my parish. It’s nice to see other new members here on CAF finding something in what I went through that can help them too. God Bless all of you ! Peace - Mikehere 🙂
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:extrahappy: :extrahappy: :extrahappy: I always love a happy ending. 🙂

Thank you for letting us know!
 
Hi Mike,

I’ve just spent 3 hours reading about your journey. WOW!!! Truly amazing. Your ability to describe your “unbelief” so respectfully was amazing. I truly felt your pain. You showed a great deal of courage and faith throughout your journey. And the responses from so many CAF posters with advice and prayers was heartwarming. I can only imagine the joy your wife felt when you gave her that very special Valentines Gift. And your children now have both of you to follow in their own faith journeys. You have become the Spiritual Leader of your family.

Praise God for walking beside you, encouraging you, and leading you.

I know you’re making a difference in your parish. God Bless you and your family.
 
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