How to stay Catholic

[jmcrae]

Welcome to everyone who was received into the Church on Saturday night!! :extrahappy: :extrahappy: :extrahappy:

Here are my tips for staying Catholic:

1. Develop a daily habit of prayer. There are many ways to go about doing this. Start small if you are not used to praying every day. Start and end your day in prayer. If possible, join others at your parish in daily Rosary or Liturgy of the Hours. (But only when you are good and ready for this kind of thing.)
2. Keep the precepts of the Church.
3. Make frequent use of the Confessional - don’t wait for your sins to pile up or to get really bad before going. I was once told that a new Catholic who goes to Confession every Saturday for the first year will never lose his faith. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it certainly couldn’t hurt you.
4. Get involved in one or two ministries at your parish. Fit them into your spare time, and have fun doing them. Switch things up every few years, as well, to give others a chance to try what you’re doing, and to try other things out, as well.
5. Try to go to daily Mass whenever you can.
6. Be very, very kind to yourself. Treat yourself like a fragile and lovable child - protect yourself from harm of every kind, and do kind things for yourself whenever the opportunity arises.
7. You will sometimes make boneheaded mistakes - we have all been there. Don’t quit the Church out of embarrassment; instead, realize that anybody who noticed you making a mistake was probably thinking, “Oh yeah I remember doing that one time, too, you poor thing!” rather than passing any kind of a judgment on you. (And if they were passing a judgment on you, realize that that’s their problem; not yours.) Pick yourself up and keep going, and realize that by next week, no one’s going to remember, anyway.

 

[Scottgun]

Great pointers! Let me address this one:

1. Get involved in one or two ministries at your parish. Fit them into your spare time, and have fun doing them. Switch things up every few years, as well, to give others a chance to try what you’re doing, and to try other things out, as well.

One ministry, maybe two depending on what they are, but no more–at least for a good while. There is a bad tendency for parishes to hit up the new meat for commitments and pile it on. If you are bad at saying no when you should, you could end up overwhelmed. Pray and discern what your talents are and what apostolate you are called to as opposed to what everyone else thinks.

 

[AngelRose81]

Here’s mine…

1. When you’re ready to, sponsor someone in RCIA. I did that this year and I think I got more out of it than when I went through!

 

[RHisComingHome]

I want to add another one - attend Eucharistic Adoration whenever possible!!! I can’t stress the graces and peace I get through my time with the Lord this way.

 

[catherineajt]

Great pointers! Let me address this one:

One ministry, maybe two depending on what they are, but no more–at least for a good while. There is a bad tendency for parishes to hit up the new meat for commitments and pile it on. If you are bad at saying no when you should, you could end up overwhelmed. Pray and discern what your talents are and what apostolate you are called to as opposed to what everyone else thinks.

Not to mention, it can be threatening to the members of a church when new people come in all gung-ho and want to get involed with everything…this happened to my husband and me in our old church. Now, we just attend church at our tiny chapel, fellowship after liturgy, and are grateful to be members of the Body of Christ.

 

[MarieVeronica]

I want to add another one - attend Eucharistic Adoration whenever possible!!! I can’t stress the graces and peace I get through my time with the Lord this way.

AMEN! This is a very good suggestion. We receive so many graces in the Presence of Our Lord, in the Tabernacle.:yup: God bless!

 

[m134e5]

In prayer, ask God to be with you especially in those times that you are struggling in the faith. Think of this as building up a spiritual reserve when you’re going through a spiritual dry spell.

 

[Fidelis]

Here’s more advice:

Don’t let the lukewarm, the heterodox, or those who are negative about the Faith get you down. People are are their own journeys of faith and will be at a different place than you. Pray for them and be the best Catholic you can be so that, even if it isn’t apparent outwardly, you can inspire someone who needs it.

 

[jmcrae]

Not to mention, it can be threatening to the members of a church when new people come in all gung-ho and want to get involed with everything…this happened to my husband and me in our old church. Now, we just attend church at our tiny chapel, fellowship after liturgy, and are grateful to be members of the Body of Christ.

True - the best way to go about it so as to avoid stepping on toes and/or egos is to pick a couple of things that strike your interest, let someone know that you are available to help out, and then wait for an invitation.

And then when you receive the invitation, show up. If they forget to tell you when and where the meetings are, ask them - sometimes people are so used to what they are doing that it doesn’t occur to them that other people don’t know where or when they meet together for planning sessions.