Help With Friend's Faith

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Hi, everyone. I’ve been having some difficulty lately convincing one of my more annoying friends to trust in the Catholic Church. He’s baptized in the Catholic Church, and I’m pretty sure he’s confirmed, but only because he was brought up that way. Recently, he’s been telling me that he hates God and wants to stab him. His justification for this is that his family hates him, therefore God hates him. So he’s been thinking about looking into Buddhism because it appeals more to his idea of life. He just doesn’t buy our beliefs of Jesus and gives Him roughly the same status as Santa Claus.:mad: I’ve tried suggesting some books for him to read, but he’s already determined that nothing will convince him.

Um, help?
 
Your friend is walking down a dark path. The only thing you really can do now is pray for him constantly. You ought to have a mass said for him. This is a rebedllious moment and in time he may turn again…That’s really all you can do now.

Prayers…Lot’s of suffering in my home to offer up for your friend.
 
Oh yeah, he goes out of his way to punch the Bible whenever I have one near me. I wish he would at least accept the fact that I trust the Church even if he’s going his own way.

If this helps anyone, he’s the sort that believes that whatever he thinks is all he can trust and nobody can change his mind. But he’ll make exceptions for things he likes but don’t fall under his “standards”.

Example (okay, it’s a bit petty, but this is probably the best description of how his way of thinking that I can currently think of): I made the grave mistake of giving him my email address. He now regularly sends me irritating music videos (eg. Japanese techno) and demands that I listen to them. Of course, whenever I send him my music he feels no obligation to at least click on the link (to this date, I think the only song he’s listened to that I sent him is “Play That Funky Music”). Recently, he said that he only listens to music from the 80s and after, and he began listing his favorite bands. When he got to Abba, I stopped him and told him that Abba began in the 70s. Of course, his first reaction was to deny facts to fit his standards (as most people do when they hear something they don’t want to hear). Later, when I showed him a track listing for an Abba compilation CD (with song copyright dates), he admitted that he does like one band from the 70s then, but he still doesn’t like anything else.

Alright, I know that probably sounds like a ridiculous example/rant to you guys, but I’m afraid that’s the sort of attitude he has toward everything, including religion (“I believe in God, I just hate Him”). Also, no offense to him, but does this describe a certain mental condition? I know that his brother is also basically an atheist (“God doesn’t exist outside of faith”). However, I doubt that my friend was directly influenced by his brother given some of the things he’s said about his brother (which I’d probably get banned for if I listed them here). So just out of curiosity, do you know of any inherited mental condition that could cause this sort of thinking?

Anyway, given all this, is there anything I can really do other than pray?
 
It sounds like your friend is have a real tough time. Definately pray for him and maybe email him little things. It’s not easy to understand but suffering and being hated like Chist is a badge of honor and we can grow spiritually from it. Maybe something like this would help.

Mat 10:21-22 ***Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. ***

or some of the verses found here scripturecatholic.com/suffering.html

I just said a prayer for him.

God Bless,

Ryan 🙂
 
He feels abandoned and disappointed. How depressed he must be. I feel so sorry for him. He is not in a mental state to listen to talks right now about faith and GOD. Evangelize and minister to him using the approach of Saint Augustine who said “teach the faith and use words only if you have to”. Keep on loving him. Show him mercy.
 
Hey, well I have some good news. My friend told me that he does believe that Jesus exists and that He did rise from the dead (I didn’t even “evangelize” to him about it). He’s just having a hard time understanding a few things now. For example, he finds it hard to accept that a God who can bring people back from the dead won’t stop the major evils in the world. Do you know a good way that I can explain this? I think he still needs to be convinced that God is completely loving and not just stupid for letting Jesus die. Thanks for all your help and prayers (I’m pretty sure prayer was the only thing that could have caused him to begin believing).
 
When questions come up like “if G-d is a loving God, then why does He allow __________?” , my response is to offer the reminder that we live in a fallen world. We all do dumb things (intentionally & unintentionally) - sometimes hurting ourselves or others. G-d has allowed us and others to make choices - and there are consequences to those choices even if we don’t like/want them.

The good part is that G-d is bigger than all the things happening around us and to us. He more than makes up the difference. Often it takes time for us to see His workings and to understand He has our best interest at heart.

Keep praying for your friend - often that is more vital than even speaking to him.
 
If you guys don’t mind, could you keep praying my friend, espicially since he’s being going through a particularly difficult time for the past few days? I don’t really feel like explaining it here, but please pray for him.
 
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