I need spiritual help!

[excaliber]

I had some major difficulty in my old denomination…The Jehovahs witnesses.While trying to serve God at there religious headquarters I saw something that I did not imagine was possible!!
A complete failure of my elders and organization!!!

This did a HUGE amount of spiritual damage!! I am not even myself anymore. Mabey a year later I learned about the Catholic church. But I still have the problems that my old denomination put me through. I still have sins from before I knew of the church…these are still sins and need to be dealt with. I can hardly ever get a priest on the phone.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Joysong]

It is totally understandable that you would still be influenced by years of brainwashing. I saw a documentary on parents who kidnapped their own children from the leadership of cults and had to bring them to professional spiritual counsellors to become debriefed from the errors that had become so entrenched that they no longer saw the truth. I would suspect that these children had many unfortunate flashbacks.

We have assurance by God that nothing can separate us from Christ, and that His grace enables to overcome and not be tested beyond our strength. Offhand, I cannot recommend spiritual reading to help you form positive conclusions about God’s truth, but hopefully you have a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a good starting point. Be patient and understanding with our priests who are so overloaded due to the magnitude of their obligations that they may not be able to give private counsel.

Meanwhile, whenever these flashbacks occupy your mind, repel them with prayerful short invocations such as “God come to my assistance, Lord make haste to help me!” … and refuse to give them admittance to your thinking. The devil has no other avenue to tempt us other than through our mind, and it is there that we need to exercise discipline.

May you fight the good fight and may God bless you abundantly as He draws you to Himself in complete love and trust in His mercy.

 

[Christy_Beth]

Are you currently attending a Catholic church? You weren’t particularly clear on that. If so, then make an appointment to see the priest. This stuff isn’t going to go away overnight. You might ask for a reference of a good Catholic/Christian counselor. Expect to be in counseling for quite awhile.

 

[excaliber]

Are you currently attending a Catholic church? You weren’t particularly clear on that. If so, then make an appointment to see the priest. This stuff isn’t going to go away overnight. You might ask for a reference of a good Catholic/Christian counselor. Expect to be in counseling for quite awhile.

Yes I attend church. But all my training was as a Jehovahs witness. I don’t have the training yet to know how a Catholic responds to problems.

that’s my issue!!

Its thanksgiving now so I don’t know if I can get a hold of a priest.

I need to know what to do in different situations.
Its hard because I knew all these things as a Jehovahs witness. Now I don’t know anything.

 

[beckycmarie]

Hi Excaliber,

Recently, Spirit Daily had an article about a new book that looks very promising: Praying the Rosary for Inner Healing. Here’s a link to that article.

From my experience, daily prayer was a huge help in healing. When you can receive the Eucharist, that healing will be even more powerful, as just like the hemorrhaging woman, you will actually touch Christ.

Until then, you can visit the Blessed Sacrament and say prayers to receive Spiritual Communion.

The verse that Joysong referenced is one of my favorites, and a good one to meditate on:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:28-39)

I will keep you in my prayers as well.

 

[excaliber]

Hi Excaliber,

Recently, Spirit Daily had an article about a new book that looks very promising: Praying the Rosary for Inner Healing. Here’s a link to that article.

From my experience, daily prayer was a huge help in healing. When you can receive the Eucharist, that healing will be even more powerful, as just like the hemorrhaging woman, you will actually touch Christ.

Until then, you can visit the Blessed Sacrament and say prayers to receive Spiritual Communion.

The verse that Joysong referenced is one of my favorites, and a good one to meditate on:

I will keep you in my prayers as well.

I will read that article.
Thanks a lot…ofcourse rosary is a form of prayer that is different then anything I know. But I want to learn.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

I had some major difficulty in my old denomination…The Jehovahs witnesses.While trying to serve God at there religious headquarters I saw something that I did not imagine was possible!!
A complete failure of my elders and organization!!!

This did a HUGE amount of spiritual damage!! I am not even myself anymore. Mabey a year later I learned about the Catholic church. But I still have the problems that my old denomination put me through. I still have sins from before I knew of the church…these are still sins and need to be dealt with. I can hardly ever get a priest on the phone.

Any help would be appreciated.

I am wondering if there are any religious orders of priests and brothers somewhere within travelling distance of you…very often they are available to have a talk with by appt. Usually you ring the Order and ask would you be able to make an appt. to have a talk with one of the priests or brothers. Some religious orders of nuns and sisters also may be available. It becomes a matter of ringing round and discerning.
If the above are unable to be of assistance, very often they can give contact details of someone who can.
The other option is to ring your diocesan offices and explain that you need to have a talk with a priest but cannot locate one. They usually can be of help too.

The spiritual journey is lifelong and it can be that perhaps even very often we face a hurdle or problem and difficulty of some kind. They are never insurmountable although we may need much patience - even forgiveness - with ourselves and even with others and The Church as a human and faulted organization on that level…and boundless trust and confidence with unending perseverance in The Lord who will never try us beyond our means - we only think that He does …and some can say with Mother Teresa of Calcutta “I just wish He did not have such confidence in me”

The Lord never demands success for that is always in His Hands…the effort and attempts are ours with Grace and most often in the doing, He will bless them with success (and opening this thread is an effort and an attempt to deal with your presenting problem) …if we are patient and forgiving, persevering and trusting.

Do keep us informed and I will be keeping you in daily prayer.

And always and always and primarily and in all things - be a person of prayer…and its not or ever, never, about the time spent in prayer so much as the real heart and sincerity we put into our prayer - even if only a minute or two daily. It is a start!..and most all things must have a beginning somewhere or other.

God bless and may He bless your efforts with success and grant you Peace and Joy…Barb

.

 

[AveSantaMaria]

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, have mercy on us!

I recommend that you re-educate yourself on the Catholic Church. Sister Lucy of Fatima. “She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem; no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary.” So, first, KEEP PRAYING!!! As the bible says, “PRAY ALWAYS.” This is NO joke!! Pray from your heart and pray the Most Holy Rosary daily, at minimum!!

St. Padre Pio, who said, “The Rosary is The WEAPON”, said as many as 90 rosaries a day in a special form for which he received ecclesiastical permission. Father Thomas Euteneur, President of Human Life International, cites this in The Rosary Batters the Gates of Hell hli.org/sl_2008-10-03.html He also said: “Love our Lady, make others love her. Always say your Rosary and say it well. Satan always tries to destroy this prayer, but he will never succeed. It is the prayer of her who triumphs over everything and everyone.”

And Our Lady of Fatima said, “Pray, pray a lot and offer sacrifices for sinners… Say the Rosary every day. She also called herself: “Our Lady of the Rosary.””

So someone gave you awesome powerful advice first on!!

Read through Our Cathechism to know what you now believe:
Cathechism of the Catholic Church vatican.va/archive/catechism/ccc_toc.htm

Join the Rosary Confraternity Enrollment rosary-center.org/nconform.htm as soon as you have made a habit of the Most Holy Rosary: (As Pope Leo XIII said in his encyclical on the Confraternity, “Whenever a person fulfills his obligation of reciting the Rosary according to the rule of the Confraternity, he includes in his intentions all its members and they render him the same service many times over.” Each member includes deceased fellow members as well; and thus he knows that in turn he will be included in the prayers of hundreds of thousands both now and hereafter.

Learn more about what the Most Holy Rosary is:
**Secret of the Rosary ** montfort.org.uk/Writings/Rosary.html, explains the origin and name, prayers, mysteries, marvelous effects, proper dispositions, ways to combat distractions and pray the Rosary effectively, and Confraternities (so you can have the benefit of other people’s Rosaries as well) of the Most Holy Rosary.

For example, a Most Holy Rosary tip that used to be widely praticed but no longer is mentioned in The Secret of the Rosary is to add a line about Jesus to the Hail Mary. For example: the Agony in the Garden:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus in His Agony. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen
This fact is mentioned in: Marialis Cultus (Apostolic Exhortation for the Right Ordering and Development of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary of His Holiness, February 2, 1974 by His Holiness Pope Paul VI ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P6MARIAL.HTM

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, have mercy on us!
​

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

 

[AveSantaMaria]

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, have mercy on us!

Finally, I encourage you to explore over and abundant devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

Polish Saint Maximilian Maria studied philosophy, theology, mathematics, and physics as a college student, before earning a doctorate in philosophy and a doctorate in theology in Rome, while suffering from tuberculosis. He became a priest, changed his name to Maria from Kolbe to venerate the Immaculate Heart of Mary, sheltered 2,000 Jews in his friary during the Holocaust, and when taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp offered to die in place of another man since that man had family and he did not as an abstinent fiar. During his time in the cell, he led the men in songs and prayer. Finally, after three weeks of dehydration and starvation, he was injected with carbolic acid and died. He is reported on the Jewish Virtual Library as Righteous Among the Nations. It shows that no matter how dire the situation God can continue to strengthen us. jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Kolbe.html.He founded Slaves of the Immaculata, www.consecration.com He followed St. Louis Mary de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary

St. Therese of Liseux followed True Devotion to Mary and she is reported to have said at her deathbed of tuberculosis at 24: “I have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more because all suffering is sweetness to me.”

His Holiness Pope John Paul II followed True Devotion to Mary and called it a “decisive turning point in his life.” He read and re-read it at seminary
Reflections on True Devotion to Mary by His Holiness Pope John Paul II http://www.michaeljournal.org/montfort.htm and also said “I myself in my youth found reading this book a great help.”

Mother Teresa said, “Stay close to Our Lady, for through her you can do great things for God.” In fact, look at the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Mother Teresa before and after

"I call, I cling, I want… and there is no One to answer…no One on Whom I can cling …no, No One, Alone… Where is my Faith… even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness and darkness… My God…how painful is this unknown pain…I have no Faith…I dare not utter the words and thoughts that crowd in my heart… and make suffer untold agony.

So many unanswered questions live within me afraid to uncover them… because of the blasphemy… If there be God…please forgive me…When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven there is such convincing emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul. I am told God loves me… and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul." Mother Teresa’s Crisis of Faith time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1655415,00.html

Yet, Father Joseph Langford, cofounder with Mother Teresa of her community of priests said, “Our Lady would help her to not only believe in the night, but to love the night – to transform the mystery of the cross, both within her and around her, into seeds of ressurection.” Mary’s light in Mother Teresa’s Dark Night zenit.org/article-22398?I=english

So, consider going even further with your devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. One can volunteer for one of the service groups in one’s Church. Perhaps one can join a Third-Order such as Carmelites (under the patronage of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Elijah), Dominicans, or Franciscans. One can join the Legion of Mary legionofmary.org or the Militia of the Immaculata: www.consecration.com

These are probably local sources of Catholic community as well

Never forget Confession and Devotion to the Eucharist, go Daily if at all possible and ADORE:thumbsup:

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, have mercy on us!
​

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

 

[AveSantaMaria]

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, have mercy on us!

Excerpt from True Devotion to Mary Section 90. A counterfeiter usually makes coins only of gold and silver, rarely of other metals, because these latter would not be worth the trouble. Similarily, the devil leaves other devotions alone and counterfeits mostly those directed to Jesus and Mary, for example, devotion to the Holy Eucharist and to the Blessed Virgin, because these are to other devotions what gold and silver are to other metals.

Go to Online Adoration if you can’t make in person:
Online Adoration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
louisville-catholic.net/WebCameras/AdorationChapel/tabid/825/Default.aspx

Practice the: Preparation for 33 day consecration to the Blessed Virgin
saintlouisdemontfort.com/consecration.cfm

Learn more and more about the Immaculate Heart of Mary so you have a full and rich understanding of why you devote yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through her **The Glories of Mary, ** by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, one of the 33 Doctors of the Catholic Church, explains Hail Holy Queen http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/glories.htm
On the Dolors of Mary by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, one of the 33 Doctors of the Catholic Church, explains the sufferings of Our Lady http://writer.zoho.com/public/immaculate/Seven-dolors

Learn more deeply about the virtues from Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
en.wikisource.org/wiki/Devotion_to_the_Sacred_Heart_of_Jesus#FIRST_POINT._.E2.80.94_The_ardent_desire_Jesus_Christ_feels_to_be_with_us.
This work comes from the revelations/apparitions to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and her confessor’s comments.

Develop the virtues of humility, obedience, chastity, and poverty. Spend time with children, they help one remember the joy and happiness of life

Put into practice the Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-10. Beatitudes by the way mean Happy or Blessed

**1 Corinthians 13:1-13 **
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish things behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Imitate the lives of the saints and learn from them:
Diary of St. Faustina: Divine Mercy in My Soul saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS1.shtml
Autobiography of St. Therese of Liseux: The Story of a Soul gutenberg.org/etext/16772
Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross - By the way, it seems to me in my poor, pitiful and stupid opinion that St. Faustina lives what is described in Dark Night of the Soul: ccel.org/ccel/john_cross/dark_night.html

And REJOICE!! The Bible says, “REJOICE ALWAYS.” That is one reason I believe that we have the wonderful Divine Office Go to CONFESSION frequently, fully, and purely to receive wonderful graces

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, have mercy on us!

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

 

[AveSantaMaria]

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, have mercy on us!

Finally, concern yourself with the Marian apparitions: particularly Fatima and Kibeho, Rwanda. Fatima prophesied the Holocaust. Kibeho prophesied the Rwandan genocide. Even the New York Times reports on the Virgin or Mother of the Word appearing at Kihebo, Rwanda. query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400E4D81738F93BA35757C0A96F958260 Learn what messages the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary has for our times. I doubt that the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary would be appearing in person to us if they didn’t have something important to say

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, have mercy on us!

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

 

[Nexistepas]

So you want to trade in your first brainwashing technique for another one? Then something will bother you with this one, and then you’ll be looking for another one.

What failures are you on mumbling on about? There’s plenty of ‘failures’ in all churches.

 

[LDNCatholic]

I had some major difficulty in my old denomination…The Jehovahs witnesses.While trying to serve God at there religious headquarters I saw something that I did not imagine was possible!!
A complete failure of my elders and organization!!!

This did a HUGE amount of spiritual damage!! I am not even myself anymore. Mabey a year later I learned about the Catholic church. But I still have the problems that my old denomination put me through. I still have sins from before I knew of the church…these are still sins and need to be dealt with. I can hardly ever get a priest on the phone.

Any help would be appreciated.

Excaliber, were you baptised when you became Catholic?