How does one live a good Catholic life?

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SuperDarkMan12

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Every time I go to confession, I have great joy for God. However, over time this feeling goes away and I eventually suffer. My question is, is it about a feeling? Should one simply suffer with Christ? I definitely know prayer is very important and I pray a good bit. What am I missing? How can one live a good Catholic life? Also, resources would be excellent as well.
 
It is not about emotions. Joy is not an emotion, it is an attitude and a mindset, a choice. Emotions come and go, we have no real control of them. To live a good Catholic life is not about emotions! It is about loving Christ above all else but one must ask themselves, what does it mean to love Christ? John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (usccb website). If we want to love Christ, live a good Catholic life, get to Heaven. We must obey the teachings of the Church that Christ gave us. Forget your emotions, the spiritual life is a war. A war is not a girl scout campfire, a war has battles, in which there is death! As with the spiritual life. The spiritual life is not a meadow of daises and butterflies, it is a battleground in which either your soul or the demons tempting you, die! You must slaughter and annihilate the enemy which is satan with the weapons God has provided us with! Weapons such as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Confession, and most especially the most Holy Rosary!
The rosary is your sword. Use it with all your heart and soul. You must spill demon blood. You must make them flee and scatter in terror! Do not be a sissy wimpy person who does not want to fight and die for Christ! Fight to the death! Never surrender! This is the spiritual battleground, you either defeat satan and get to heaven, or surrender and be casted into hell! No more church of nice! We are the Church Militant!

**Rosary, Rosary, Rosary. Everyday. **
“Bring me my weapon”– St. Padre Pio
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“Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.”
–Blessed Pope Pius IX
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“The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you’ll be amazed at the results.”
–St. Josemaria Escriva
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knightsofdivinemercy.com/2013/06/02/bring-me-my-weapon-padre-pio/
 
johnnyt3000 said:
It is not about emotions. Joy is not an emotion, it is an attitude and a mindset, a choice. Emotions come and go, we have no real control of them. To live a good Catholic life is not about emotions! It is about loving Christ above all else but one must ask themselves, what does it mean to love Christ? John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (usccb website). If we want to love Christ, live a good Catholic life, get to Heaven. We must obey the teachings of the Church that Christ gave us. Forget your emotions, the spiritual life is a war. A war is not a girl scout campfire, a war has battles, in which there is death! As with the spiritual life. The spiritual life is not a meadow of daises and butterflies, it is a battleground in which either your soul or the demons tempting you, die! You must slaughter and annihilate the enemy which is satan with the weapons God has provided us with! Weapons such as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Confession, and most especially the most Holy Rosary!
The rosary is your sword. Use it with all your heart and soul. You must spill demon blood. You must make them flee and scatter in terror! Do not be a sissy wimpy person who does not want to fight and die for Christ! Fight to the death! Never surrender! This is the spiritual battleground, you either defeat satan and get to heaven, or surrender and be casted into hell! No more church of nice! We are the Church Militant!

**Rosary, Rosary, Rosary. Everyday. **

knightsofdivinemercy.com/2013/06/02/bring-me-my-weapon-padre-pio/
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You remind me of Tim Haines. Thank you very much!
rcwitness said:
Love Jesus above everything else
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Indeed. Thanks ;D
 
johnnyt3000 said:
It is not about emotions. Joy is not an emotion, it is an attitude and a mindset, a choice. Emotions come and go, we have no real control of them. To live a good Catholic life is not about emotions! It is about loving Christ above all else but one must ask themselves, what does it mean to love Christ? John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (usccb website). If we want to love Christ, live a good Catholic life, get to Heaven. We must obey the teachings of the Church that Christ gave us. Forget your emotions, the spiritual life is a war. A war is not a girl scout campfire, a war has battles, in which there is death! As with the spiritual life. The spiritual life is not a meadow of daises and butterflies, it is a battleground in which either your soul or the demons tempting you, die! You must slaughter and annihilate the enemy which is satan with the weapons God has provided us with! Weapons such as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Confession, and most especially the most Holy Rosary!
The rosary is your sword. Use it with all your heart and soul. You must spill demon blood. You must make them flee and scatter in terror! Do not be a sissy wimpy person who does not want to fight and die for Christ! Fight to the death! Never surrender! This is the spiritual battleground, you either defeat satan and get to heaven, or surrender and be casted into hell! No more church of nice! We are the Church Militant!

**Rosary, Rosary, Rosary. Everyday. **

knightsofdivinemercy.com/2013/06/02/bring-me-my-weapon-padre-pio/
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:amen::blessyou::amen:
 
Hello, my friend,

The above poster is right on! The spiritual life is not necessarily about emotions, although the joy you get right after Confession is certainly from God! What a joy it is to have a clean conscience thoroughly wiped clean by Our Lord! That is a gift from God, and I’m sure you have a desire in your heart to be free from sin. Yet, it is not about emotions.

The spiritual battle is a daily battle fought every day. Every day and in every moment. The little things may get to us. The temptation to listen to gossip? Even if it is just small gossip. The small glance at the scantily clad lady? Even if it’s just a small glance. The bout of impatience you may have to suffer. All these small things are in every single day. There are spiritual battles each day, and each day we have to turn our wills over to God and literally ‘die to ourselves’, that is, die to all of our inclinations for selfishness. Our lives are not about US, but rather they are about Jesus Christ. We must literally fight the spiritual battle each day.

And what do we fight with? The Rosary. A daily life of prayer. And prayer is a relationship and relationship requires time. We must spend time with the Lord and also remember a relationship is 2 sided and requires much listening. We must sit with God. Doing so in a Church and at Daily Mass would be good too if possible.

Bottom line, to live a good Catholic life you must seek virtue above all else. Look around the crazy world. People are not seeking virtue and it is costing them their souls and much peace. Yes they may be ‘happy’ by driving fancy cars and indulging in their desires, but they are not joyful or peaceful, two things which come from God. So much attention is spent in our society pursuing fruitless pleasures (just think how much attention is devoted to the Superbowl, although admittedly I’ll probably watch too).

The best thing is that when we grow closer to Jesus (through prayer, spiritual reading, the Sacraments, acts of mercy) we grow closer to the best version of ourselves. My prayer for you is for you to realize that YOU are God’s Hands and Feet, and may your soul be flooded with His grace.
 
GratefulLeper said:
Hello, my friend,

The above poster is right on! The spiritual life is not necessarily about emotions, although the joy you get right after Confession is certainly from God! What a joy it is to have a clean conscience thoroughly wiped clean by Our Lord! That is a gift from God, and I’m sure you have a desire in your heart to be free from sin. Yet, it is not about emotions.

The spiritual battle is a daily battle fought every day. Every day and in every moment. The little things may get to us. The temptation to listen to gossip? Even if it is just small gossip. The small glance at the scantily clad lady? Even if it’s just a small glance. The bout of impatience you may have to suffer. All these small things are in every single day. There are spiritual battles each day, and each day we have to turn our wills over to God and literally ‘die to ourselves’, that is, die to all of our inclinations for selfishness. Our lives are not about US, but rather they are about Jesus Christ. We must literally fight the spiritual battle each day.

And what do we fight with? The Rosary. A daily life of prayer. And prayer is a relationship and relationship requires time. We must spend time with the Lord and also remember a relationship is 2 sided and requires much listening. We must sit with God. Doing so in a Church and at Daily Mass would be good too if possible.

Bottom line, to live a good Catholic life you must seek virtue above all else. Look around the crazy world. People are not seeking virtue and it is costing them their souls and much peace. Yes they may be ‘happy’ by driving fancy cars and indulging in their desires, but they are not joyful or peaceful, two things which come from God. So much attention is spent in our society pursuing fruitless pleasures (just think how much attention is devoted to the Superbowl, although admittedly I’ll probably watch too).

The best thing is that when we grow closer to Jesus (through prayer, spiritual reading, the Sacraments, acts of mercy) we grow closer to the best version of ourselves. My prayer for you is for you to realize that YOU are God’s Hands and Feet, and may your soul be flooded with His grace.
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Thank you for the excellent response. I have a question though. What is spiritual reading and acts of mercy. Is it simply meditating on scripture and showing love to your neighbor (and God) or is there more? 🙂
 
to live a good cathoic life you have to let the spirit work within you, i find that spending time by yoursefl in front of the eucharist or adoration will let you talk or spend time with god, just go to mass every sunday , let your mind and will be conformed, pray the rosary, it sounds routine but it is tremendous, consecrate yourself to mary
 
SuperDarkMan12 said:
Thank you for the excellent response. I have a question though. What is spiritual reading and acts of mercy. Is it simply meditating on scripture and showing love to your neighbor (and God) or is there more? 🙂
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Spiritual reading would of course be reading Scripture, but also other spiritual books as well (my favorite being Imitation of Christ, but it could be a book by Pope John Paul II or any good Christian scholar). St. Francis de Sales has some good ones too 🙂
 
SuperDarkMan12 said:
Every time I go to confession, I have great joy for God. However, over time this feeling goes away and I eventually suffer. My question is, is it about a feeling? Should one simply suffer with Christ? I definitely know prayer is very important and I pray a good bit. What am I missing? How can one live a good Catholic life? Also, resources would be excellent as well.
Click to expand...
Feelings, as you’ve learned, are fleeting. We should not be governed by our feelings, especially as we want to lead a prayerful and Catholic life.

As I grow in my life, here is what I try to follow for a good Catholic life (and often, I fail, but I get up, and start again)

God First (in thoughts, prayers, actions, words)
Serving God, then serving others through God (not because I believe that works save me, but because Jesus Christ has saved lowly me, which leads me to serve others; I can’t keep His blessings and gifts to myself)
Worshipping God, whether at Mass, Adoration, driving down the street, gazing upon nature, etc.
Living the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, and the Beatitudes
Loving others (family, friends, strangers, enemies)
Loving myself
Emptying myself of ‘me’, to fill with Him

I do the above with worship at Mass (occasional weekday), Adoration, prayer (especially the Rosary and Divine Mercy); giving of myself (time and money) to others, seeing God in others, practicing humility,

My favorite resource for growing, or a launch pad for growth, is this website. I also have a number of Catholic FB pages that I follow; I receive emails, read the local bulletins and diocesan newspaper.

Don’t try to do it all. I’m always adding new ways to praise God and share His blessings with others. I have a LONG way to go, but when I look at how far He’s brought me in the past 2 years, I am full of thanks and praise for all the Good He has done for me, to me, and with me.

Alleluia!
 
SuperDarkMan12 said:
Every time I go to confession, I have great joy for God. However, over time this feeling goes away and I eventually suffer. My question is, is it about a feeling? Should one simply suffer with Christ? I definitely know prayer is very important and I pray a good bit. What am I missing? How can one live a good Catholic life? Also, resources would be excellent as well.
Click to expand...
pray, read your bible, love your neighbor as you love yourself, be attentive to your family and friends, forgive your enemies
 
PelagiathePenit said:
pray, read your bible, love your neighbor as you love yourself, be attentive to your family and friends, forgive your enemies
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👍👍👍

And devote to the Mass and your parish brothers and sisters. Find what you are able to do in the community that helps.
 
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