D
devoutchristian
Guest
Maybe I’ll get a second opinion. I’ll see if I can talk to the deacon after Saturday Mass.
- Status
R
RCC2013Convert
Guest
In your situation, which is very similar to what mine was, as long as you are making an effort to attend Mass and live a Catholic lifestyle, you will be fine to wait until 18. I attended Sunday Mass four months before I ever told my parents of my decision- and I don’t plan on informing them of this anytime in the near future! That’s not a good place to be in.
My advice to you is to conform to their rules as best as possible while still a minor, yet also to be true to who you know you really are. God wants you to obey and love Him with everything you’ve got- the qualifier is that loving and obeying Him means respect for your parents. Keep fighting for your faith- you’ll be home sooner than you think
Last thing- if your parish has a youth group, join it (if you’re not already part of it). As someone who has been in a similar pair of shoes, having strong Catholic friendships really helps- it’s nice to know you’ve got friends who are all pulling for you.
Keep praying, and don’t let people on the Internet make you worry- God understands.
My advice to you is to conform to their rules as best as possible while still a minor, yet also to be true to who you know you really are. God wants you to obey and love Him with everything you’ve got- the qualifier is that loving and obeying Him means respect for your parents. Keep fighting for your faith- you’ll be home sooner than you think
Last thing- if your parish has a youth group, join it (if you’re not already part of it). As someone who has been in a similar pair of shoes, having strong Catholic friendships really helps- it’s nice to know you’ve got friends who are all pulling for you.
Keep praying, and don’t let people on the Internet make you worry- God understands.
D
Dorothy
Guest
That is a good idea! And, if you need to wait until you are 18 that gives you time to pray and read good books about the faith. May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!Maybe I’ll get a second opinion. I’ll see if I can talk to the deacon after Saturday Mass.
D
Domini_cane
Guest
I will pray for you.
K
kozlosap
Guest
My dearest Ben - God Bless you or being such an honorable and holy young person! Find a good spiritual advisor at your parish. Usually the RCIA Director will be able to guide you to parishioners who are great spiritual counselors. If you are able to, make an appointment with the Pastor of your parish. He will be able to help you in dealing with your parents. Do a Google search and find some really cool apps for your cell phone or iPad that explain Catholic Prayers. The most awesome app I have found which is both iOS and droid is “ipieta”. I’ll be praying for you to be able to enter the Body of Christ without a huge and horrible fight with your loved ones.
J
Joe_5859
Guest
It looks like Fr. Serpa gave you a good answer. God bless you on your journey.
D
DoubtingPeter
Guest
i’m afraid to ask how they treat your Catholic grandmother?
Anyway, keep going and keep showing love
If it is God’s will, nothing can stop it!
however, you are still very young and have a lot of time to discern and grow
the earliest anybody can get into seminary is 18yo
and you usually have to be a full Catholic for a couple of years to experience the Catholic “seasons”
Keep studying the faith
also maybe try find some practicing Catholic school friends?
God Bless!:console::grouphug:
Anyway, keep going and keep showing love
If it is God’s will, nothing can stop it!
however, you are still very young and have a lot of time to discern and grow
the earliest anybody can get into seminary is 18yo
and you usually have to be a full Catholic for a couple of years to experience the Catholic “seasons”
Keep studying the faith
also maybe try find some practicing Catholic school friends?
God Bless!:console::grouphug:
4
4loveofJesus
Guest
Be not afraid to follow Our Good Lord Jesus Christ & His Church.
God bless.
Praying for you and for all.
God bless.
Praying for you and for all.
E
E_7
Guest
[BIBLEDRB]1 Peter 2:21[/BIBLEDRB]
[BIBLEDRB]Luke 9:23-25[/BIBLEDRB]
[BIBLEDRB]Matthew 4:19-22[/BIBLEDRB]
[BIBLEDRB]Matthew 10:22[/BIBLEDRB]
[BIBLEDRB]Luke 9:23-25[/BIBLEDRB]
[BIBLEDRB]Matthew 4:19-22[/BIBLEDRB]
[BIBLEDRB]Matthew 10:22[/BIBLEDRB]
A
adawgj
Guest
Follow the Call and don’t listen to any negative feedback.
Start talking to a priest.
Start researching seminaries and what life is like in them.
Start talking to a priest.
Start researching seminaries and what life is like in them.
F
FFI_Griswold
Guest
Ave Maria! Stay strong brother, hold fast, and read the lives of the saints and their vocation stories for encouragement, especially the martyrs and their incredible faith until the very end. Most importantly, consecrate yourself to Our Lady, and put your vocation in Her most loving hands. She, who raised our great High Priest, can certainly form you into Him, to become “alter Christus” (another Christ).
=====
The following is going to generate a lot of heat, but I’m just going to repeat some counsels of the great Saints and Doctors of the Church like St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Bernard, St. John Chrysostom, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Alphonsus Liguori. They say that you if you think you have a vocation, you should guard it with secrecy, except to a reliable confessor or spiritual director. This is special call from God for privileged souls and should be kept secret, even from parents - this is an area where the parents’ authority does not extend, the serious issue of your salvation. (audio)
This is a difficult counsel and seemingly unheard of these days, but one may be called to follow it to some extent. Definitely acquire a spiritual director, preferably a priest, and consult with him first.
Mary, Mother of Vocations, pray for us! St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests, pray for us! Ave Maria!
In the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
fra John Paul
S
SecretGarden
Guest
I think you need to follow your heart and follow God. You are only 15 and it will be many years before you will be able to begin the process which will enable you to follow this dreas. I think it is important to keep this calling a secret from your friends and family for now. God has a habit of working things out, of changing people’s hearts even those who are against your dream. Right now you don’t need their objections and the stress that will arise from it.
In the meantime, pray, get involved in your church (even non catholic is fine because church participation is important and it transcends denominations), volunteer somewhere, and get your marks in school. (the higher the better) You may even need to pursue and complete a degree in college or university before you will be ready for seminary. I know vocation directors prefer men to be Catholic for a few years before they enter seminary. They also encourage their potential seminarians to date girls as well. It takes many years before someone is ready to become a priest. It is important to take your time and enjoy the blessings God sends. If this calling is meant to be, it will happen. If you are talented in other areas such as art, writing, music, cooking, counselling, business, working outs etc, it is also important to pursue it and not let it go because all of the priests I know are talented in those areas and God uses those talents in their ministries.
In the meantime, pray, get involved in your church (even non catholic is fine because church participation is important and it transcends denominations), volunteer somewhere, and get your marks in school. (the higher the better) You may even need to pursue and complete a degree in college or university before you will be ready for seminary. I know vocation directors prefer men to be Catholic for a few years before they enter seminary. They also encourage their potential seminarians to date girls as well. It takes many years before someone is ready to become a priest. It is important to take your time and enjoy the blessings God sends. If this calling is meant to be, it will happen. If you are talented in other areas such as art, writing, music, cooking, counselling, business, working outs etc, it is also important to pursue it and not let it go because all of the priests I know are talented in those areas and God uses those talents in their ministries.
C
CRC72
Guest
Amen to this. I was thinking the same thing myself. It is obvious to me that Christ reigns in this boy’s heart.
Count yourself blessed for being persecuted for HIS sake.
A
anon1234567
Guest
This would annoy me so much. I chose St Alena as my confirmation saint/name her story reminds me a little your situation.
B
Bryan_Greenlee
Guest
Would you rather disobey God or your parents?My friend you should fellow your heart,because in the end your parents are not the ones that are going to judge you or say to you “well done my good and fateful servant”.God will does not take kindly to those you know the truth and remain outside of the True Church.
T
the_phoenix
Guest
Praying for you from today’s Liturgy of the Hours:
Psalm-prayer
Bless your people, Lord. You have given us the law that we may walk from strength to strength and raise our minds to you from this valley of tears. May we receive the gifts you have gained for us.
Ant. Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.
Ant. 2 Come, let us climb the mountain of the Lord.
…
Psalm-prayer
Bless your people, Lord. You have given us the law that we may walk from strength to strength and raise our minds to you from this valley of tears. May we receive the gifts you have gained for us.
Ant. Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.
Ant. 2 Come, let us climb the mountain of the Lord.
…
J
JoelEatMilo
Guest
^^ Be strong in your faith! Be patient with the Lord’s own plan for you, His plans for each of us are marvelous indeed.
^^ Present your sufferings as penances through the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Persevere, the true followers of Christ will always be persecuted and hated by the devil.
^^ I’ll pray for you, I’m also discerning to be a FSSP priest if my vocation is not for the Carmelites. God bless you too. Hope to see you someday if you and I were meant to be in the FSSP.I ask all of you for your advice and prayers. After I leave for college, I will convert to the One, True, Pure Faith. I truly feel called to the Holy Priesthood. I specifically feel called to serve as a priest in the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. I feel called to humbly serve all of you reading this thread and all of God’s peoples. God bless all of you.
O
O_Sapientia
Guest
When I die and go to face my Judgement and kneel before the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and Our Lady stands upon my right interceding for me to the same Sacred Humanity it is my dearest hope that she will say but one thing on my behalf: that I was a man that put the most emphasis on God’s sovereignty than on the workings of man.
And in your tale I see the truth of this belief in God’s sovereignty! That it is His grace at work in the world. That you have been converted and invited into eternal life by the grace of God. And in the many hardships and trials that you are facing and will surely face in future I want you to seek consolation in the comforting fact and the sure knowledge that you have been called by God to friendship with Him in the Barque of Peter, outside of which there is no salvation.
First and foremost it must be said that you are already a Catholic. It is by baptism that we become members of the Church of Christ and I am assuming that you were baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. As you profess belief in the Catholic faith as taught by the Apostles and the living Magisterium of the Church and her Supreme Pontiff then you hold to the Catholic faith whole and entire. You are not in a state of schism and nor do you hold to the heretical and odious doctrines of the Reformation.
You are cut off from the Sacraments at this moment which is a terrible sadness and injustice. And when you approach the Church for full reception and welcoming to her Sacraments you will indeed have to study and learn the truths of the faith as this is expect of all Catholics from the old and the young. But be confident and consoled in this thought right now that you are in a position very similar to many that have come before you. Do not take my comparison as an insult to your parents but I am reminded of an incident recounted in that wonderful book Death Comes for the Archbishop. There was a Mexican woman enslaved to an old Anglo-Protestant family that was forbidden from participating in the Sacraments of assisting at Mass. She was raised Catholic and held to her faith and carried what small mementos of the faith that she could. But she was truly a Catholic even if her circumstances disbarred her from fully participating in the sacramental life of the Church.
You find yourself in a similar situation. Hold fast to your faith, practise the Faith as we have been instructed to do so. Bide your time in patience and confidence that God has given you the amazing and beautiful grace to believe and that He will not abandon you in the cold and that soon you will be able to fully participate in His Mysteries.
Obey your parents in all things but sin. Do not fear as you have no moral obligation to assist at Mass yet. But continue to assist as often as you can and continue to prayer the Most Holy Rosary.
Oh I could not leave this post without also committing you to deepen your devotion to Our Blessed Mother. That you have received this wonderful grace from God is a truth as it is also a truth that it was accomplished by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. You find your own mother cold right now—and I pray with you that she and your father’s hearts are warmed by the grace of God and that they too come to the same faith that you have!—but never forget that you have another Mother, the best of all mothers, watching over you and recommending you constantly to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, her Divine Son!
Do you know that she knows exactly how you feel? When she was still a young girl of your age she carried within her sacred womb God-Made-Flesh and gave birth to Him in humble poverty at Bethlehem. But soon she, with her Infant Son and her guardian Saint Joseph had to flee from the persecution of Herod. Chased from their homeland, those descendants of the royal blood of David, hounded from their own home and hearth! Into the land of Egypt, that ancient enemy of the Hebrews. In poverty and isolation they lived. The Divine Child’s only source of nourishment came from the maternal breast of His Mother and the begging of Saint Joseph on the streets.
They were without the worship of the Temple, they were without their family and friends. They could scarcely afford to even house themselves! But they had Christ, they had the Saviour and His laughter and His warmth. They were not without His consolation and His companionship.
And you find yourself in a similar situation, in exile, in your own personal Egypt. Cut off from the Church and yet joined to her. For although the Sacraments are withheld from you right now, you are not without Christ.
She understands fully and truly what you are experiencing right now. Through yourself into her loving arms and she will strengthen you.
Yours in Jesus and Mary,
OS.
And in your tale I see the truth of this belief in God’s sovereignty! That it is His grace at work in the world. That you have been converted and invited into eternal life by the grace of God. And in the many hardships and trials that you are facing and will surely face in future I want you to seek consolation in the comforting fact and the sure knowledge that you have been called by God to friendship with Him in the Barque of Peter, outside of which there is no salvation.
First and foremost it must be said that you are already a Catholic. It is by baptism that we become members of the Church of Christ and I am assuming that you were baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. As you profess belief in the Catholic faith as taught by the Apostles and the living Magisterium of the Church and her Supreme Pontiff then you hold to the Catholic faith whole and entire. You are not in a state of schism and nor do you hold to the heretical and odious doctrines of the Reformation.
You are cut off from the Sacraments at this moment which is a terrible sadness and injustice. And when you approach the Church for full reception and welcoming to her Sacraments you will indeed have to study and learn the truths of the faith as this is expect of all Catholics from the old and the young. But be confident and consoled in this thought right now that you are in a position very similar to many that have come before you. Do not take my comparison as an insult to your parents but I am reminded of an incident recounted in that wonderful book Death Comes for the Archbishop. There was a Mexican woman enslaved to an old Anglo-Protestant family that was forbidden from participating in the Sacraments of assisting at Mass. She was raised Catholic and held to her faith and carried what small mementos of the faith that she could. But she was truly a Catholic even if her circumstances disbarred her from fully participating in the sacramental life of the Church.
You find yourself in a similar situation. Hold fast to your faith, practise the Faith as we have been instructed to do so. Bide your time in patience and confidence that God has given you the amazing and beautiful grace to believe and that He will not abandon you in the cold and that soon you will be able to fully participate in His Mysteries.
Obey your parents in all things but sin. Do not fear as you have no moral obligation to assist at Mass yet. But continue to assist as often as you can and continue to prayer the Most Holy Rosary.
Oh I could not leave this post without also committing you to deepen your devotion to Our Blessed Mother. That you have received this wonderful grace from God is a truth as it is also a truth that it was accomplished by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. You find your own mother cold right now—and I pray with you that she and your father’s hearts are warmed by the grace of God and that they too come to the same faith that you have!—but never forget that you have another Mother, the best of all mothers, watching over you and recommending you constantly to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, her Divine Son!
Do you know that she knows exactly how you feel? When she was still a young girl of your age she carried within her sacred womb God-Made-Flesh and gave birth to Him in humble poverty at Bethlehem. But soon she, with her Infant Son and her guardian Saint Joseph had to flee from the persecution of Herod. Chased from their homeland, those descendants of the royal blood of David, hounded from their own home and hearth! Into the land of Egypt, that ancient enemy of the Hebrews. In poverty and isolation they lived. The Divine Child’s only source of nourishment came from the maternal breast of His Mother and the begging of Saint Joseph on the streets.
They were without the worship of the Temple, they were without their family and friends. They could scarcely afford to even house themselves! But they had Christ, they had the Saviour and His laughter and His warmth. They were not without His consolation and His companionship.
And you find yourself in a similar situation, in exile, in your own personal Egypt. Cut off from the Church and yet joined to her. For although the Sacraments are withheld from you right now, you are not without Christ.
She understands fully and truly what you are experiencing right now. Through yourself into her loving arms and she will strengthen you.
Yours in Jesus and Mary,
OS.
7
7_Sorrows
Guest
I am female, but at 15 I also did not want to be confirmed in the church I had been raised in which was the Episcopal church. my father’s side of the family was Catholic, my mother was Lutheran so my parents took the middle way and raised my sister and I in the episcopal church. I liked the episcopal church and it gave me some kind of foundation for a Catholic faith - more than a mainline protestant church anyway, but I still felt I was meant to be Catholic. I eventually left the church all together for about 25 years, but I returned and converted in 2008 at the age of 56. so it was a 40 year process for me.
you sound very grounded and seem to know what you want. I would try to surround myself with as many Catholic people as possible and begin to read and learn more about the faith.
you sound very grounded and seem to know what you want. I would try to surround myself with as many Catholic people as possible and begin to read and learn more about the faith.
P
PurgerOfHeresy
Guest
Pax vobiscum.
Even though our Lord and and Saviour Jesus Christ taught us to show the other side of our face, that doesn’t apply in every case, I think the best course of action is to get your Bible, your CCC and your Canon Law and study them well, learn some apologetics online and when they come to mock and bash your faith, you rise like an inquisitor and denounce their heresies, exposing all the flaws and mistakes in their protestant doctrine (which let us be honest, there are quite a lot, their beliefs aren’t as complete as ours).
I could help you with that, I’d just need more insight on their heresy, do they believe in intercession? Do they believe in saints? Do they baptise babies? Do they have any sort of eucharist or confession sacrament?
And I shall pray for you, put you in my rosary.
Even though our Lord and and Saviour Jesus Christ taught us to show the other side of our face, that doesn’t apply in every case, I think the best course of action is to get your Bible, your CCC and your Canon Law and study them well, learn some apologetics online and when they come to mock and bash your faith, you rise like an inquisitor and denounce their heresies, exposing all the flaws and mistakes in their protestant doctrine (which let us be honest, there are quite a lot, their beliefs aren’t as complete as ours).
I could help you with that, I’d just need more insight on their heresy, do they believe in intercession? Do they believe in saints? Do they baptise babies? Do they have any sort of eucharist or confession sacrament?
And I shall pray for you, put you in my rosary.
- Status