How Does One Remain a Good, Faithful Catholic in College?

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I must admit that I don’t get out and go to church every Sunday and I use the busy schedule that accompanies my major (theatre) as an excuse which I know is wrong on soooo many levels. :banghead: However, I’m pledging to God and myself to be stronger this year as well as a better Catholic this year, and I was just wondering if anyone had any words of encouragement for me in terms of being a good and faithful Catholic while in college. Any would be appreciated. Thanks! 👍
~Kristi
 
Listen Sweet Sister in the Lord,
Ya do it the same way ya did at home. Ya get up and ya go to Mass on EVERY Sunday, because unlike Prots…that’s sin to us. You go to confession regularly and ya go outta your way to BE Catholic because that’s what you are, and because it’s all about YOUR soul. (and maybe even some of your friend’s as well). You do the stuff that devout Catholics do and don’t do the bad stuff that devout Catholics don’t do, because you know better and it’s your soul…

There’s lots of challenges to our faith out there. (Hang around this forum long and you’ll see that we’re about hip deep in 'em. 😃 ) You have to MAKE the time for what you believe, because as I said it’s all about our souls…and eternity is a really LONG time to spend regretting not loving God the way we should’ve y’know? (especially since we can fool around and find ourselves in hell…)

Stay on this forum when ya get to school and we’ll be glad to help ya all we can. Feel free to e-mail me from this site and I’ll sort of be a Catholic e-pal (?) if you’d like.

Remember that you are NEVER alone and that The Holy Spirit is there to remind you what to do & not do. Pray the Rosary often and make the sacraments and Mass a priority because they are.
Find some good Catholic friends to hang out with and who are as into being good Catholics as you are. (or even better, so they pull you along with them instead of draggin’ you down.) get involved in Lifeteen at your parish there and don’t miss it. You might wanna be suer that you take a nice crucifix w/ you and every time you look at it it will remind you of all He suffered for us. Let’s don’t make it any worse…y’know?

I promise to keep you in my prayers. We all need all the graces we can get. 👍 http://pages.prodigy.net/rogerlori1/emoticons/abasmiley1.gif
 
Kristi ~ (not in any particular order)
  1. Go to Adoration WEEKLY.
  2. Wear your religion on your sleeve. Make sure everyone around you knows you are CATHOLIC. I’m not saying be ‘holier then thou’ or a show off. But don’t hide your religion.
  3. Be joyful always and don’t be intimidated by the secularists.
    Realize what you have is pure and beautiful. What the commom college sub culture offers may look fun and exciting at the time - but will not bring you lasting happiness and can, in many cases harm you and your faith.
  4. Look for other people to bring to Mass with you. Especially fallen away catholics.
Most of all - just live your faith publically.
God bless you!
 
Kristi,
I am president of the Newman Club at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, and I tell you what you are going through is a common (but very bad) thing. I am assuming that you are a freshman, and that is a hard time of adjustmant in itself.
Do you have a Newman Club or Center on campus? Building up a group of people who will hold you accountable is a great way to start. I am a music major with an art minor, and I have an on campus job. Needless to say, I keep very very busy. A close friend of mine is an art major, a theatre minor, and president of the student body, and a Catholic above all that. He has time for friends, family, and above all: God. I have never seen him miss a Sunday mass, and it is very likely that he is the busiest undergraduate on campus.
Please don’t fall victim to the: “I’m too busy virus.” It will only lead you to unhappiness in your life, whether at college or not. My friend, it’s time to get your priorities straight. Priorities=1. God, 2. Human Relationships, 3. Work. Set your priorities into perspective, and I guarantee that life at college will become a more enjoyable, good experience.
God Bless,

Justin
 
Hello -

The most important thing you can do is to make sure that God is your best friend. Get in the habit of telling him everything, asking his advice on everything, and remembering throughout the day that he is watching you and rooting for you. If you do this, you will never put him on the back burner again. It will be as important to do your daily prayers as to call your family, or practice theater, or brush you teeth.

Second, foster a deep humility. My first year at college, I made so many mistakes. You are at a very vulnerable period of your life right now and you must realize that without being in the state of grace you are liable to make a mess of your life. Cling to Jesus, remember your weaknesses. When you make mistakes, take them to our Lord and ask his help in fixing them. If you realize that you NEED him, you’ll make time.

Finally, I will share with you a comment that a priest once made to me. It was about going to Mass. He asked me, “If someone were handing out money at 7 am in the morning, you would go right? So why can’t you get up for mass, to receive our Lord?” I realized how out of whack my priorities were - money before God - made it a humbling experience, and started putting God first. Do as much for God as you would for theater, or for money, or for you own family. Then your love for him will grow and it won’t be a burden at all, it will be the source of your joy.

God Bless, and Good Luck!
 
Read the Ctachisms (especially Trent) and The new Testament daily. I’m not saying a whole chapter. At least five pages of either each day does a lot in a semester. Constant prayer helps at least three times a day; AM, midday, and PM.
 
Answer: The same way one remains a good, faithful Catholic no matter where they are in their lives… make God the center of your life.

This means, don’t try to squeeze Him into your schedule. Mass is at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings? Or Saturdays at five or six p.m.? Or Sunday afternoons at noon? Or five? Schedule your Sundays around that time. C’mon it’s ONE hour a week. Think of it that way.

We visited a young friend (Protestant) who was away for his first year of college at Texas Tech in Lubbock. Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings and evenings he was unavailable for classes, socializing, napping, etc. Why? Because he was a devout Christian who never missed worship services. Now as far as I know, missing worship services isn’t a mortal sin to most, if not all, Protestants. So he was going because it was THAT important to him, not because he had to. Did that ever make an impression on us!

Also, while in Lubbock, I noticed that St. Elizabeth’s parish (which is about two blocks from the Tech campus) had daily Mass at 5:00 in the afternoon. We stopped in on Thursday to check Sunday Mass times and found several college students in attendance (some of the girls even wore headcoverings!) and when I attended Mass on Friday there were even more college students! Many arrived early to pray the rosary or the stations of the cross (this was in October, mind you, not during Lent!) So I know you can keep your faith alive and vibrant even at college!

Just remember, make God the center of your life and everything else will fall into place. Trust me!

God bless,
BlueRose
 
Thanks for all the good advice, you guys. I’m a junior and it’s my fourth semester here. My first semester was okay, but everything has been downhill since then. Seriously, my life had become the pster life for College Sin. However, I found this site and started reading posts and commenting on them and I can already tell it’s made a difference. I got back on campus yesterday and took y’all’s advice–prayed a rosary, began a novena, and I just got back from Mass. I think that, deep down, I really knew the answer to my question, but I needed to hear a lot of people telling me that I was basically screwing myself over by making excuses not to attend Mass and such. Thank you all for your replies and God bless!

~Kristi
 
How does one remain a good, faithful Catholic? With all due respect, you never were a good, faithful Catholic. You were a cultural Catholic, and you were led from the outside in.

You were led by pressure, temptation to be good, externals that made it easy to go along to get along. Lead us not into temptation, even the temptation to be good, when it overrides our free will. Otherwise we are no better than Muslims, who disdain free will, and are forced to merely act religious, having a semblance of religiosity without true holiness.

Look at God! Tuck Him into your heart. Right now, look into your heart in your mind’s eye. What do you see? Darkness? Confusion? Do some housecleaning. Like many corporate environments, society at large or family microcosms or individual relations, “they” wants you to think it is the most important thing in the world. It’s nothing. Weigh your life in the balance of eternity and do not be distracted by dross. Christ asked us to leave family for HIm. You can’t even leave the pull of apathetic strangers.

College is one of many cookers that test our unique, God-given identity. Am I me, or am I other? Will I be swept along with any tide, whether good or bad, whether Catholicism or Communism, morality or depravity, because of others, and not because of my activist embrace of God’s will? Keep your eyes on God. Tell Him your challenges. Pray the “Our Father” slowly, word by word, until you get it.

It is inhuman to be passive. It erases free will, the only thing that makes us human, the only thing that makes our love of God and each other of infinite value. Catholics may not be passive. Be hot or cold or be spewed out of Christ’s mouth. This isn’t about Catholicism. It’s about your very humanity.

Can you be boot camp tough without that drill sergeant screaming out you? That is to be fully alive. Don’t forfeit your identity to be another drone, even a Catholic drone. God is looking for a few, good men. That’s your choice. Now do the right thing. Get self-discipline, and pray that your heart will follow. Discover that love isn’t a feeling. This is the stuff a good marriage is made of, especially that highest union all are to have with Christ, our divine Spouse.

Most Holy Trinity, make us hot or cold, full of the Holy Spirit, led by His guidance from the inside out, and ready to withstand all temptation with grace, joy and love. AMEN
 
Most important and this is to all of you college students out there, read your Bible verses daily. Most good Catholic Bibles will have the daily readings at the back of the book as an appendix. In three years you will find that you have read through the entry bible.
 
Go to Mass every Sunday!

That’s what really did it for me. I went away for college for the first couple of years, and like you described, I ended up a poster girl for “College Sin”. It was an interesting experience when I decided I wasn’t going to take it anymore- I would be in the sorority house bathroom getting ready for Mass with various “sisters” around me trying to deal with their hangovers. It really gave me the grace to take a step back and realize that I needed to get away from the people with whom I was associating. They weren’t supportive of either spiritual, mental, or physical health.
 
bluerose said:
Also, while in Lubbock, I noticed that St. Elizabeth’s parish (which is about two blocks from the Tech campus) had daily Mass at 5:00 in the afternoon. We stopped in on Thursday to check Sunday Mass times and found several college students in attendance (some of the girls even wore headcoverings!) and when I attended Mass on Friday there were even more college students! Many arrived early to pray the rosary or the stations of the cross (this was in October, mind you, not during Lent!) So I know you can keep your faith alive and vibrant even at college!
Click to expand...
Yep… this is my church/school, and I am so fortunate to be here! 👍
 
SFAgal03 said:
I got back on campus yesterday and took y’all’s advice–prayed a rosary, began a novena, and I just got back from Mass. I think that, deep down, I really knew the answer to my question, but I needed to hear a lot of people telling me that. ~Kristi
Click to expand...
Glad to see this post of yours. Keep up the good job!

In your prayers, keep on asking God in His mercy keep you away from sin, ask God to keep you in the center of His will, plead to Him help you put God first in your life, and help you love God more and more.

And discipline yourself with your daily devotions.
God bless!
 
A lot of good suggestions.

A few more:
  • Find a catholic group on campus and associate with them.
  • Find out where all the masses are, both on campus, and in the community around it. Go to daily mass when you can.
  • Pray always. Pray before each class that God may help you learn what you should out if it. Pray before each meal. and so on.
 
A lot of good suggestions.

A few more:
  • Find a catholic group on campus and associate with them.
  • Find out where all the masses are, both on campus, and in the community around it. Go to daily mass when you can.
  • Pray always. Pray before each class that God may help you learn what you should out if it. Pray before each meal. and so on.
 
Talking about Catholic groups, if you can find CLC (Christian Life Community) it will be great. CLC is a world wide Catholic organization for college students.

CLC usually get together for weekly Bible study and prayers.
The one I belonged to in college always attended Sunday evening Mass together followed by dinner, Bible study, group discussion and prayer. We had a priest as our counselor and spiritual director. The friendship from CLC last for liffe time. CLC laid solid foundation for my faith, made a profound difference in my life.👍
 
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