How do you "feel" as a Catholic?

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Do you struggle with depression or anxiety? Because that can throw a wrench in one’s spiritual life.

Feelings and emotion are not the same as intellect. We can’t gauge the state of our faith necessarily on how we “feel” – a lot of great saints went years where they felt no consolation and felt very far from God. It’s certainly a blessing to have those moments of joy and spiritual consolation, but going through times of emotional darkness and spiritual aridity is very normal.

Growing in holiness is a life long process!
 
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If your faith relays on feelings then you are making the feelings God. That is not Catholic faith.

What has given me comfort the past couple of days is when I went to adoration and the sister behind me starting breathing heavier and heavier and then started snoring. Sleeping in the presence of Jesus Christ and I am glad that I am not the only one who falls asleep in church. ☺️
 
I have a friend who was born Catholic, but married a Methodist. He became a Methodist, too. When I asked him about it, he said “The sermons at the Catholic church weren’t very inspiring. The Methodist sermons make me feel religious.”

Of course he has it exactly backwards: You don’t go to church to make yourself “feel religious” or “feel happy.” You go to church to worship God. It’s not about you, it’s about God.

If you are truly a teenager and not just a troll baiting us all, then it should make perfect sense that you don’t understand everything. Do you understand quantum theory or string theory? No? Do you know what every strand of DNA does? No? Do you understand why so-and-so married your cousin? No? Then why on earth would you expect to understand God? It’s a process-for EVERYONE.
 
Yeah, I actually have anxiety and I think I might have some OCD tendencies.

I think those contribute to the fact that I worry that if I DON’T feel anything, then I’m not doing a good enough job.
 
I’m not a troll. Not completely sure why you would bring that up…

I don’t expect to understand everything, no one ever understands everything. I was just asking a question and in no way did I want to understand everything.

I know that it is pretty much impossible for us to understand God. He knows everything, He works in ways we can not ever comprehend. But, I sometimes feel so lost and unsure if what I’m doing is right and that’s basically what my question was centered around. I just wanted to know if others feel a certain way or how they deal with those same wonderings that I have.
I hope this doesn’t come across as rude, I’m just a little confused at your response.
 
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That’s where the intellect comes in, because a correctly formed conscience and our intellect is consistent and reliable, whereas emotions can always be confusing and misleading, because sometimes we’ll feel a certain way, other times we don’t feel that way at all.

Personally I think that’s why some people end up “church hopping” – they go to a denomination that they “feel” is right because they get an emotional high from it and then switch churches when that feeling goes away.

I think it’s great you are studying your faith, I’d also consider learning more and studying issues for Catholics dealing with scruples, because scruples badger people into a state where they are always worrying about doing everything wrong.
 
@Ardent_Fire Thank you for your advice!
 
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No problem. I only had bouts of scruples off and on when I was in college because I was dealing with depression and anxiety. But I dated a man who was terribly scrupulous and had severe OCD, also Catholic, so I always encourage others to find out more about scrupulosity.
 
I’m definitely interested in looking into it further. I know there are some books about saints who struggle with scruples and that would probably be helpful to me!
 
Footprints said:
I’m just a little confused at your response.
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Often threads in this forum ask what are, to me, questions with obvious answers, and I wonder if the person is serious or just trolling the site. But I’ll take you at your word that you are serious.

So I’ll add a couple thoughts. Often people ask “Is X, Y, or Z a mortal sin?” And the answer is always no: if you have to ask, it can’t possibly be a mortal sin. On the other hand, maybe it’s something you should examine more closely, and you might come to the conclusion it is, in fact, a mortal sin. But you have to know it first and give full consent of your will. You can’t commit a mortal sin by accident! And the more you think about the constraints on our “free” will, you’ll see it’s actually very difficult to commit a mortal sin.

One great loss in the Mass is the Confiteor, particularly the phrase “for all I have failed to do…” when you are expressing sorrow for your sins. So many on this forum twist themselves into pretzels over nothing ( “Can I go to a nightclub?”) and yet in their everyday lives they are “failing to do” the right thing, whether it’s helping an elderly person with groceries or informing on a colleague who is embezzling, and they don’t give it another thought. Remember that when Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment, after talking about worshipping God, he says “Treat your neighbor as yourself.” If you always do that, you will be a good person.
 
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