I am so tired...

[knotanes]

The Lord will not abandon you. If you keep seeking Him you will find Him, and the relationship gets better and better.

In RCIA communities are formed, and you can meet many like-minded searching people there.

Thanks, I’m hoping this will be the case. I know God hasn’t and won’t abandon me, but it is frustrating to live without community or extended family.

I know many if not most in our culture suffer the same isolation. I hope this will change in the future, because we’re really not meant to live this way. I’m certain of it.

 

[knotanes]

I was you 14 years ago. I walked into the RCIA class wanting more in my life. Most of my friends were atheists, my husband an “ex-Catholic” who thought I was crazy. My parents actually did think I was certifiable, and said so to my sisters. All because I wanted more than the “money money money, he who dies with the most toys wins” mentality.

I was sad and frustrated too, but also excited, afraid, and wanting to fall in love with God - a God I didn’t really know that well.

Consider yourself hugged, sister. It’s really going to come down to you and your relationship with God. As He’ll reveal to you, HE is your hiding place, your refuge, your hope, your salvation, your joy.

As He reveals himself to you, your joy will be complete. Don’t worry about the generations to come, and the generations around you. Just keep your eyes on the prize, sister, and they will eventually come home.

How do I know? 14 years with atheist parents and NOW???
(they both pray, and mom will even pray the rosary with me.) Two nieces baptized, son baptized, sister baptized, husband goes to Rome, Paris and Medjugorje with me, and even goes to Mass once in a blue moon… (he’s on his way, if God has anything to do with it, which … duh ’ he does…

And now I teach RCIA. It’s a full circle with God sometimes. Don’t worry. You know that half the problem right now is a spiritual battle that you can’t see. You want to attend RCIA… and you’ve pissed off the evil one… GOOD FOR YOU!

I’m praying for you, as are many people here…

Thanks :grouphug: I’m glad there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Getting through RCIA this time is my #1 priority. With similar frustrations and people fighting me, it’s hard to avoid feeling down. But, God is always there. We’re keeping our prayers going. We will overcome.

Good luck w/ your husband. I know how that goes.

 

[knotanes]

If you lived in Ohio, I’d invite you out for coffee.

Single female here, and my main support system consists of a couple of long-distance friends who live out of state that I keep in touch with by phone. Besides of course praying the Rosary daily and visiting Jesus in an Adoration Chapel.

A lot of us seem to be going through something similar these days.

Hang in there, it’s worth it.

Awww… Thanks! :hug3: I’ve got a friend in Ohio that tells me the same thing! Maybe I need to move to Ohio. I would go for that, too. I’m really over living in a desert.

I’m sure a lot of us are going through the same thing. The current times and culture really serves to isolate people. We should probably pray that God can help us change that. Maybe all of our prayers and actions can chip away at it until it crumbles and something healthier comes into being.

 

[knotanes]

I opened the thread as I have just retreated to bed as the M.E ( CFIDS ) is very bad and I am SO EXHAUSTED that bed is a blessing.

Over the decades of beng misdiagnosed and scorned by all, I have fought many battles and come through. to a life style and a peace with Jesus.

A sturdy knowledge that it is not how others act or treat us that matters, but how we act and how we treat others.

And to follow the teachings of Jesus when He bids us cast the dirt of a place off our feet when we are now made welcome. For He knew what was and is in man.

Can you spend less time with those who hassle you? ( I am a very practical old soul!) Maybe work with those who would value and appreciate you? So much need; food banks etc.

I cannot even do that, but I can and do knit and pray and sell my work to feed babies in India. And it helps to do that more than I can ever tell.

There is always a way through these things. I was years in situations where I had no one to turn to and no one cared for my soul. Jesus IS and was always there. YOU KNOW THAT!

Let your strength turn to those who will love and nurture; the internet with care can be a great resource . WIth care…

Blessings and peace from the gales of Ireland

I’m sorry for your health troubles. But, I think it’s awesome that you’re selling items to help children and keeping a positive outlook.

I do know people, some quite far away, that are nurturing. I think I need to focus more on that right now. The die-hard atheists I’ve been in contact with and the people who really just don’t have the first clue about leading an adult life… I need to place those relationships on a back-burner or else let them fall away entirely. I would say differently, but I can’t save anyone when I’m having a struggle to save myself.

There’s a time for everything. And I really can’t take on the rest of it right now. When I’m in a more spiritually mature and less vulnerable position, I think I can. But now isn’t the time.

My children and I do volunteer. It is a great relief even if we haven’t made a lot of friends doing it… it is still a chance to be near others with a spirit of giving… and that’s worth its weight in gold as far as I’m concerned.

 

[Credo_in_Deum]

My husband doesn’t believe, my friends are still adolescents in their minds, my extended family is either crazy or so self-centered they don’t know their own backsides from a hole in the ground… and I’m so tired. There’s no support. The situations are unrelenting.

Please someone tell me RCIA is worth it, that we can make it, that the future generations of this family won’t be the waste of oxygen the current one is… please. Because I’m so very, very tired of feeling so sad and frustrated. Sometimes I quietly wish for death to take me, because I hate what I see and I fear I’ll have to watch yet another generation succumb to this insanity.

Ask the Holy Spirit to remove the darkness and to enkindle in your heart a bright flame full of love! Offer your suffering to Jesus and ask Him to join it with His Passion so that you and Him may walk together like Simon of Cyrene walked with our Lord as He carried His Cross. Ask God to always keep in your mind the reality that life is lived one day at a time and that Jesus asked us to take up our Cross daily for this very reason. One day is more bearable than a week, a month or a year, so live in the present because the past is no longer ours and the future is not guaranteed. Let tomorrow worry for itself because today has enough worries. Christ is with you and He loves you very much because out of love you choose to persevere for Him!

***PRAYER FOR ALL WHO CARRY THEIR CROSS

---

O my God, I thank you for this cross you have allowed me to carry. Please give me the strength and faith to persevere so that I may bring glory to your name while withstanding the burden of its weight. Thank you for offering me a share in your suffering. I know that you have always been, are now, and every will be, at my side every step of the way. Thank you also for every “Simon” that you have sent to help me bear this cross. I have prayed so often that this thorn in my flesh would be removed, but I trust that your grace is sufficient. Change my heart’s troubled cry of --“How long, O Lord”, into words of trust: “However long, O Lord”. May I seek only to do your will and to unite my sufferings with your passion. Help me to not get lost in my own self concerns, but may I find in these trials a way to greater virtue, a call to prayer and a path to trust in you alone. Permit me not to waste my pain, but to make of these struggles a sacrificial offering for others. Lord, when I am weary and I fall, exhausted under the weight of this cross, please give me the courage to press on as you did. Lord Jesus, I embrace with love my cross, as a share in your own. By your grace, may I carry it all the way to the vision of your glory. I abandon myself totally to your will. Christ Jesus, I trust in you. Amen

 

[crenfro]

:hug3: :hug3: :hug3:

Blessings to you!!!

You are not alone. What helps me is to remember the Book of Job and what God tells Job towards the end of the book.

What could be more worth it that being able to be in the Real Presence of God, daily if you like, having your sins obliterated with the sacrament of confession and having the benefit of 2000 collected years of experience from other Christians? --just to name a few things.

I’m so sorry you feel alone; please PM me if you need any support or just to talk or just to vent or complain. I’d love to listen.

I also admire your great courage in persisting with RCIA despite all these obstacles. God likes to really test those He loves so He can perfect them and bring them closer to Him and sounds to me like you’re in the exam room.

My hat is off to you.

Thanks for listening and please pray for me. Many, many blessings to you.

My husband doesn’t believe, my friends are still adolescents in their minds, my extended family is either crazy or so self-centered they don’t know their own backsides from a hole in the ground… and I’m so tired. There’s no support. The situations are unrelenting.

Please someone tell me RCIA is worth it… Because I’m so very, very tired of feeling so sad and frustrated. Sometimes I quietly wish for death to take me, because I hate what I see and I fear I’ll have to watch yet another generation succumb to this insanity.

 

[Hopemercy]

You can “over and out” all you want.

Your original post on this sub point, in its entirety was:

Any observer would conclude this is either a terse, cryptic response, or it’s written by someone whose first language is not English. No judging here…nice try…but that ploy is way too over-used. You’ll have to defend your point with logic or example instead.

I should have let this one go…that was my mistake…but my point and my subsequent quotes are about the OP’s point about avoiding hassles.

**Too many people have bought into the point that we should avoid struggle, avoid hassles, avoid effort…and keep our little peace safe and sound.

This is not Biblical and it’s not Catholic.**

That is not what was said by me or the OP. And I do nto “have” to answer to anyone but My Lord.

Who, please, do you think you are to speak as you do! Nothinhg we said was a “ploy”.

Some of us face a struggle to exist all day every day. And for many of us there is little peace. We bear all gladly for Jesus in hiddeness and the greatets obstalces come from judgmental ones. Like thee!

Judging and goading is not Catholic either. It is abuse of the worst spiritual kind./

 

[Hopemercy]

OP; how are you, please?

Blessings and peace

 

[Edward_H]

Hopemercy:
That is not what was said by me or the OP. And I do nto “have” to answer to anyone but My Lord.

Who, please, do you think you are to speak as you do! Nothinhg we said was a “ploy”.

Some of us face a struggle to exist all day every day. And for many of us there is little peace. We bear all gladly for Jesus in hiddeness and the greatets obstalces come from judgmental ones. Like thee!

Judging and goading is not Catholic either. It is abuse of the worst spiritual kind./

The ploy is to quickly declare someone else is “judging”.

 

[bethanysamuel]

Ok maybe i’m not the best person to give advice as i’m currently going through a major breakdown+going into hospital later.
Be careful. If ur going into RCIA stay the hell away from atheists for at least a year. You will gain a lot but you’l also be severely tempted by satan to turn away from the Church. He hates converts. Its wonderful to choose Christ, but i’m saying be careful, you’l need to surround yourself with Catholics and be always aware of satan’s tricks. He cant defeat God, but he will try to drag you under. Good luck!

 

[knotanes]

Ok maybe i’m not the best person to give advice as i’m currently going through a major breakdown+going into hospital later.
Be careful. If ur going into RCIA stay the hell away from atheists for at least a year. You will gain a lot but you’l also be severely tempted by satan to turn away from the Church. He hates converts. Its wonderful to choose Christ, but i’m saying be careful, you’l need to surround yourself with Catholics and be always aware of satan’s tricks. He cant defeat God, but he will try to drag you under. Good luck!

Thanks for this. Yes, I agree. The atheists in my life were just getting too much, and dragging me down. I didn’t know how much until I finally said, “Look, we can’t be friends right now. I still care, but I just can’t handle the negativity.”

I’ve felt like a weight lifted since then. It makes me sad, because I would like to see the good that is in these people come out… but without God, we all know that isn’t going to happen.

So, I’ve distanced myself. Besides, I would prefer people who help me strengthen my faith and my resolve to be a good Christian… I really can’t handle the atheism… especially people who are somewhat militant atheists.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

Thanks for this. Yes, I agree. The atheists in my life were just getting too much, and dragging me down. I didn’t know how much until I finally said, “Look, we can’t be friends right now. I still care, but I just can’t handle the negativity.”

I’ve felt like a weight lifted since then. It makes me sad, because I would like to see the good that is in these people come out… but without God, we all know that isn’t going to happen.

So, I’ve distanced myself. Besides, I would prefer people who help me strengthen my faith and my resolve to be a good Christian… I really can’t handle the atheism… especially people who are somewhat militant atheists.

I think this was a very good move. I’m all for keeping friendships and all, but sometimes people really can drag us down and make it difficult for us to grow in faith. I had some very nice atheist friends whose influence on me damaged my faith and I didn’t even notice it was happening.

You sound like a strong person who knows how to handle difficulties. Don’t be discouraged by obstacles that will be trown at you during this process. Just keep praying and think of your goal.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Please someone tell me RCIA is worth it, that we can make it, that the future generations of this family won’t be the waste of oxygen the current one is… please. Because I’m so very, very tired of feeling so sad and frustrated. Sometimes I quietly wish for death to take me, because I hate what I see and I fear I’ll have to watch yet another generation succumb to this insanity.

I was in a very deep depression, on the brink of despair, when my wife played a record of a song I hadn’t heard of before. I was lying on my back literally staring at the ceiling for hours a day and she played “Just Remember I Love You” by Firefall. I’d never heard the song but it became “our” song, which I now offer up for you.

Just know that you are not alone. Even if nobody in “real life” is there for you at any given time, at least you know your Internet friends are. :grouphug:

Alan

 

[Hopemercy]

Thanks for this. Yes, I agree. The atheists in my life were just getting too much, and dragging me down. I didn’t know how much until I finally said, “Look, we can’t be friends right now. I still care, but I just can’t handle the negativity.”

I’ve felt like a weight lifted since then. It makes me sad, because I would like to see the good that is in these people come out… but without God, we all know that isn’t going to happen.

So, I’ve distanced myself. Besides, I would prefer people who help me strengthen my faith and my resolve to be a good Christian… I really can’t handle the atheism… especially people who are somewhat militant atheists.

Bravo.

Leave God space to work; sometimes we omit to do that? There is great peace in solitude also; which is what I live perforce.

Often we get too busy trying to live the word’s standards of how we should interact, worse when they disguise it under scripture of course… Our first love is for God. He will guide and lead us then.

He can and will still use you for them; who knows what seeds you have sown by what you have said and done?

 

[knotanes]

I think this was a very good move. I’m all for keeping friendships and all, but sometimes people really can drag us down and make it difficult for us to grow in faith. I had some very nice atheist friends whose influence on me damaged my faith and I didn’t even notice it was happening.

You sound like a strong person who knows how to handle difficulties. Don’t be discouraged by obstacles that will be trown at you during this process. Just keep praying and think of your goal.

I think, what I’ve found, is that my friendships with atheists can only go so far. They can be nice, but there’s just something missing. Right now, I really need the focus on God and getting through RCIA. My husband is a bit of an agnostic, so it’s not exactly easy to take everyone into the Church as it is. The friendships with one die-hard atheist, in particular, just can’t be a part of that right now. I need to put everything toward upward momentum.

I would say, it probably takes a very spiritually mature person–one well grounded in faith with a good faithful support system–to interact regularly with people who are openly opposed to religion as anything more than an acquaintance. Especially if you have kids, and they have kids… gets complicated.

I am hoping to make lots of Catholic friends, though. Our Catholic sponsors are the best friends we’ve made over the years.

 

[knotanes]

Bravo.

Leave God space to work; sometimes we omit to do that? There is great peace in solitude also; which is what I live perforce.

Often we get too busy trying to live the word’s standards of how we should interact, worse when they disguise it under scripture of course… Our first love is for God. He will guide and lead us then.

He can and will still use you for them; who knows what seeds you have sown by what you have said and done?

I hope so. I tried very hard to avoid being unkind in “breaking it off”. But, since then, other friends have backed away, too… the general sentiment is “when you’re willing to be in a better place, call us”… maybe that will provide some motivation to change. One can only hope. They’re still in my prayers.

 

[knotanes]

I was in a very deep depression, on the brink of despair, when my wife played a record of a song I hadn’t heard of before. I was lying on my back literally staring at the ceiling for hours a day and she played “Just Remember I Love You” by Firefall. I’d never heard the song but it became “our” song, which I now offer up for you.

Just know that you are not alone. Even if nobody in “real life” is there for you at any given time, at least you know your Internet friends are. :grouphug:

Alan

That’s a nice one. It reminded me of another one I love…

youtube.com/watch?v=ehu3wy4WkHs

I love this video… all the kids and old people dancing together…like a whole community of people saying they love each other. Which, is kind of what I’m looking for… just a bunch of people happily sharing life. Picks me up when I’m feeling rotten…

I love music.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

I think, what I’ve found, is that my friendships with atheists can only go so far. They can be nice, but there’s just something missing.

I would say, it probably takes a very spiritually mature person–one well grounded in faith with a good faithful support system–to interact regularly with people who are openly opposed to religion as anything more than an acquaintance. Especially if you have kids, and they have kids… gets complicated.

I completely agree. People who have no faith in God can’t relate to me in a deeper way, they just don’t undertstand who I am as a person. Whenever I have a conversation about something meaningful I feel like I have to water it down and translate it into language they will understand. No point in discussing my vocation to married life, or following God’s will for example.

These days I am much stronger than I used to be and can handle non-believers, but it just doesn’t make me very happy to regularly be in their company. And you are so right when it comes to children. Since I’ve become a mother I’ve become very careful about whom I invite to my home. I know my children will encounter all sorts of people and different beliefs but home has to be a safe, sane place where they will learn right from wrong and get solid morals. That is the only way to prepare them for lfe before they leave the nest. I’m very uncomfortable with the idea of my kids being friends with kids who are brouhgt up to be atheists. I don’t see a point in pursuing such relationships at this stage in our lives.

I also have a husband who is not on the same page as I am when it comes to faith. He is wonderfgul but it can be lonely. I’d love to be able to pray with him, but that is just not possible for now. He comes to mass with us so i am extremely lucky and mustn’t complain.

So you are definitely not alone in feeling tired and having to fight battles with the world. It comes and goes. Meeting new people and being friends with others who practice your faith will make a difference. I hope that RCIA will be a nice experience.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

I completely agree. People who have no faith in God can’t relate to me in a deeper way, they just don’t undertstand who I am as a person. Whenever I have a conversation about something meaningful I feel like I have to water it down and translate it into language they will understand. No point in discussing my vocation to married life, or following God’s will for example.

I’m not sure that’s entirely a Bad Thing. I find it useful for religious, technical, and other types of correspondence, to try to find ways of wording things that will be understandable by people with various points of view. It isn’t such a challenge to convey messages to people who already think like we do, so without tests there is no proof and purification necessary. God speaks to us in His native language, silence, without need for human words at all. He can connect to us at levels more subtle and profound than words at all, and I feel challenged to find God in every human being I meet and when I get a chance, learn how to communicate with them on matters that dig below the surface.

I also have a husband who is not on the same page as I am when it comes to faith. He is wonderfgul but it can be lonely. I’d love to be able to pray with him, but that is just not possible for now. He comes to mass with us so i am extremely lucky and mustn’t complain.

“Fake it 'till you make it, I’ve heard.” j/k, sort of. I’m glad he is supportive of you at least in public so there is no scandal. You have the rest of your lives together to improve your relationship from where it is now. After over 25 years of an amazing marriage made in heaven, my wife and I still find things that need to be realigned with each other now and then, and for the most part we believe the same way – though she and I show it different ways like we have preference for different prayers and devotions.

So you are definitely not alone in feeling tired and having to fight battles with the world. It comes and goes. Meeting new people and being friends with others who practice your faith will make a difference. I hope that RCIA will be a nice experience.

I can get with that. While I think that as Christians we are challenged to go amid those who are not like us and minister to (not necessarily teach or preach to) them, listen to them, and learn to love them as any other human beings, there is great value in fellowship with those who can help us recharge our tired batteries and renew our strength to go back out “into the world.”

Peace and joy,
Alan

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

Alan,

I do know what you mean about being able to communicate with people who have different beliefs and finding God in every human being. But it just gets so tiring sometimes. It seems that the OP is going through some major changes in life and doesn’t need the additional burden that non-believers keep throwing at her. It is OK to let go and move on. Many saints did that in order to completely change their lives. (St. Theresa of Avila comes to mind.) In the end, those friendships that are true and worth keeping will survive changes. But it has to be a mutual thing. The OP is really brave and mature to prioritise things and so prepare for where she is going spiritually. I think more people would benefit from it if they did the same. I wish I did when I started my catholic journey. Live and learn I guess.