How do I start going to church after not really going my whole life?

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canadian_girl

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Hi Everyone,

I’m new to this sub. I’ve just had a particularly hard breakup (won’t go into details) and since I now have no friends in the current city I lived in (graduated college and while I moved on to my degree, it’s all online so I have no way to make friends) my mom mentioned that I should start going to church more and start joining some groups within the church. My mom is Catholic as well but does not go to church so I was surprised by her saying that.

Anyways, I’m quite nervous about going to church because I don’t really know where to start or how to really get involved. When I was younger, my mom, brother, grandpa and grandma always went to church together but after my grandma passed when I was in grade 3 (I’m 20 now), we all stopped going so thats where the nervousness comes in.

Thanks in advance for all the tips!
 
If you are baptized, confirmed and have received first Holy Communion

OK, I know nerves make this more difficult than it sounds but it really is as simple as:

Find mass times
Walk into Church shortly before a Mass is due to start.
Do not receive Holy Communion
Take a bulletin

Nobody is going to know you haven’t been in a while or scold you over it (at least they shouldn’t). You may not be familiar with the responses but you can listen at first. If you’d like to know them you can get a missal or an app and you can join in. A missal at least would require some knowledge first and I wouldn’t recommend buying one unless you’re confident that you will return.

The bulletin should have information about things you can get involved with. If not hopefully the parish will have fellowship after Mass during which you can talk to the other parishioners and get information about other things going on in the parish.

If you decide to keep up then one more important step

Go to Confession.

After that step is complete you can receive Holy Communion. Again, I’d make sure that I was going to stick with it before that.

If you have not received the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion or are missing any one of them then you can still go to Mass and get involved with the Parish, but you will need to ask the Priest about RCIA. He should be able to point you in the right direction. RCIA is instruction in the faith for adult converts or children above the age of reason. At the end of it if you wish you will receive whatever the sacraments you are missing.
 
Thank you. I am baptized, confirmed and have received first Holy Communion. My grandma was devoted catholic so she made sure that my mom had my brother and I do all of those things. I know most of the responses since I usually tend to go to church for funerals (which is horrible, I know) but I haven’t been to a proper mass in a long time.

Once again, thank you so so so much.
 
My best advise…Just do it

I just wanted to add that our parish has a young adult group that meets once a month. I think it’s 18 to 30 year old they meet at a local parish, gym, bar, restaurant etc. for fellowship. Sometimes they will have speakers give a presentation. Might want to check your local parishes to see if one has a group like this.

God Bless
 
5 ideas:
  1. Just go to Mass and follow along with a missalette.
  2. Watch Mass online or on TV.
  3. Make an appointment to talk to a priest. He will be happy to welcome you back.
  4. Read about the faith.
  5. Make some Catholic friends.
 
I have done my confirmation. I just stopped going after I was done everything because it was my grandmothers wishes and when she passed, my family thought it was pointless to go.
 
See this is a post I can relate to. I am a cradle catholic. Baptized, communion, confirmation, marriage, etc… but never went to church unless it was a wedding or funeral. Then my life hit a hard spot (still there, but by the grace of God getting better). I am fighting addiction, and trying to provide for my family, and life just hit a wall. With all else going wrong, the only thing that felt right was to go to God. I would go to Chirch mid day by myself, no mass going on. I would talk to God. I began to develop a relationship with my faith again by doing this, until I felt comfortable to attend mass. I say develop your relationship with our creator one on one. Let God back into your heart on a personal, deep level, then commit to living out his word. I downloaded an app called Daily Offering and every day I pray multiple times a day with this ap. When you’re comfortable, attend confession and mass. You have to let God back into your life after keeping his love out for so long. I pray that you find your path, and that you allow Christ to walk with you. God bless.
 
canadian_girl said:
Hi Everyone,

I’m new to this sub. I’ve just had a particularly hard breakup (won’t go into details) and since I now have no friends in the current city I lived in (graduated college and while I moved on to my degree, it’s all online so I have no way to make friends) my mom mentioned that I should start going to church more and start joining some groups within the church. My mom is Catholic as well but does not go to church so I was surprised by her saying that.

Anyways, I’m quite nervous about going to church because I don’t really know where to start or how to really get involved. When I was younger, my mom, brother, grandpa and grandma always went to church together but after my grandma passed when I was in grade 3 (I’m 20 now), we all stopped going so thats where the nervousness comes in.

Thanks in advance for all the tips!
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Just start going! 😀

It’s like anything else as far as the socialization aspect of it is concerned; put yourself out there, shake some hands, make some friends. And introduce yourself to the priest if the parish is so large that he may not approach you on his own.

As far as the particulars and what hoops you need to jump through to become properly Catholic, they’ll talk to you about them and all that will happen in good time if you decide this is something you want to stick with.

A prayer for you!
 
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