I wish I was more holy, like before

[withwind]

I’d like to write something here for discussion.

Isn’t it true that we think we are holy, it is actually when we are not? and because of this, we can get caught offguard and fall a bit more?

Thanks!

 

[brigid12]

I’d like to write something here for discussion.

Isn’t it true that we think we are holy, it is actually when we are not? and because of this, we can get caught offguard and fall a bit more?

Thanks!

:sad_yes: - that’s when our pride takes away from our love for Him.

 

[Epistemes]

Ya know, in all honesty, I don’t think I’ve read such an idle thread in all my life, aside from my own, of course – regardless, people are losing their homes, families are being torn apart by our common god Mammon, mass murders and suicides are on the rise as a result of this economic meltdown, more and more people daily are being clinically diagnosed as depressed, and yet all we can do is worry that we’re not spending enough time in our prayer closet fingering Mother Mary’s beads.

Ya know, I met a homeless guy yesterday. I was turning into Borders and he was sitting in a wheelchair, in the cold drizzling rain, with his hood up, and a sign which read, simply, “Homeless Please Help.” I pulled over, got out of the car, and walked over and talked with him about 5 minutes. I gave him a little cash to drunk or high on, I’m not sure which, even though I pray he used it to buy a cup of joe or even a hamburger. And in that brief moment I saw the suffering Christ. I saw Christ staring back at me telling me about how Uncle Sam has gyped him out of honest dues since he is a veteran of Vietnam. And Christ went on to tell me that he was cold and wet, and I saw that he only had one leg. And Christ went on to tell me that he would appreciate my prayers because only God can remedy this world.

Saint James commends us, “My brothers and sisters, what good is it to profess faith without practicing it? Such faith has no power to save one, has it? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and no food for the day, and you say to them, “Good-bye and good luck! Keep warm and well fed,” but do not meet their bodily needs, what good is that? So it is with faith that does nothing in practice. It is thoroughly lifeless. To such a person one might say, “You have faith and I have works–is that it?” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you the faith that underlies my works!”

Holiness. Laughable. What is holiness? Do any of us pampered denizens of the free world even understand holiness?

Again, I tell you, people are losing their lives in the face of our greediness, our corruption, and our innocent idolatries. Every baby murdered in the womb, every mother who is unable to feed her child, every man who beats his wife because he hates himself for not being able to provide, and oh so much more injustice is a living condemnation of all that we are as Catholics. I’ve grown tired of this complacency we’ve allowed ourselves to mold and gel into.

If you want holiness, and if I want holiness, then I think the best place to start is Matthew 25:31-46.

 

[Eucharisted]

is your wiccan girlfriend respectful of your faith? does she understand Catholicism or try to understand it? does she try to get you to understand her wiccan faith?

you are in my prayers. :hug1:

also i haven’t read this yet, but i am hoping to. it might be of help.

tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/749/keywords/john+cross/
**
Dark Night of the Soul. **In Dark Night of the Soul, Saint John of the Cross presents for us a portrait - painted from his own experience - of one who advances successfully through the struggles of the spiritual life. The “dark night” that St. John describes is not abandonment by God but special consideration from Him for those who desire to purify and perfect their souls. With a soul purified from earthly attachments, we can advance through the much quoted but oft misunderstood “dark night of the soul” into unity with God. By accepting the desolation and difficulty of this process, the soul cooperates with God and opens itself to receiving and revealing more perfectly God’s glory.

Thank you for the link

My girlfriend is respectful. A sign of this is, I told her I can’t have sex before marriage and she said okay. She knows a bit about Catholicism, and talks to me when she dosesn’t understand. We have had interreligious dialogue, yes, and it is very helpful and good.

 

[Eucharisted]

Eucharisted, what is the rest of your life like? What kind of work do you do? Do you have hobbies or play sports? Do you have friends other than your girlfriend?

God wants us to be well-rounded people, not obsessed with religion. He wants us to be fully human, and, as such, give glory to Him as the Creator.

You should by all means keep a schedule of prayer. You should also live the rest of your life in such a way that it gives glory to God and draws other people to Him. They should see how happy you are and how good you are at what you do and wonder what your secret is.

Maybe this difficulty will help you move toward a more balanced life, if that’s what you need.

Betsy

I am unemploted. But I want a job making Catholic websites, and I am trying to write a fantasy novel. I have no sports, and as far as hobbies, I play games, read, and write; I have no friends, per se, so I can’t do fun stuff like site seeing or going to movies or other such good wholesome activities. And I say “per se” because Jesus is my best friend, followed by Mary and all the angels and saints, and that includes the saints in Heaven, Purgatory, and the world.

I don’t understand what a schedule of prayer is. Do you mean like, planning my day around prayer? I do hope to be able to do that someday, but I lack the motivation - yet I pray for a better life, for graces, for mercy. I am a poor sinner. I want to be holy, but holiness seems so far away. Will I ever be what God wants me to be? Ah, but I must trust in Him! I do try to smile, but it is hard; I am accustomed to not smiling, because of the darkness I must bear and the way I grew up. I don’t want to be tough, yet I am. It is so strange. The spirit is willing, the flesh is not.

 

[Eucharisted]

My :twocents::

It sounds to me like there’s a major battle going on. If your girlfriend is wiccan and you’re discerning the priesthood; then there might be a whiff of sulpher in the air. As your love for God was so powerful in the beginning, then a powerful enemy jealously wants to take you from that. Aren’t the fervent ones more of a prize for the enemy than lukewarm ones? Talk to Jesus as though he was your closest friend and confidante, because he is. Go to confession in a booth and not face to face if you are reluctant to confess. I’m sorry, perhaps it’s not my place to say it, but ditch the wiccan girlfriend. My son has been flirting with wiccan for a long time and it’s a minor kind of possession if you ask me. Pray for her as I pray for my son. It’s Lent. Throw yourself into more spiritual activities. Try to get back to where you were. Who knows, you might be back for Easter and rise victorious with Him. God bless you.

Pax et Bonum

My spiritual director said I could marry her, so I feel like I must marry her. God speaks to me through him. If He wants me to be a priest, than may His Will be done!

 

[Eucharisted]

E -

I know it’s really hard to not continue seeing your wiccan girlfriend and if she were to agree (truthfully) to avidly learn of the Catholic faith then you could still see her without worrying as much that you are being seduced to disavow the Lord (with the clear understanding between the two of you, that Christianity is your priority). Leading her on (although, not purposely) due to your indecision is not fair to her either. I don’t know if you are in a position to do this, but a weekend retreat at a nearby monastery could very possibly be helpful to you. At the least it may help you to discern your own will toward the Lord. Seems to me that your present qualms have more to do with deciding for sure your devotion to Him as to marriage vs. priesthood. I may very well be wrong, tho’.

What dose ‘avidly’ mean?

A retreat sounds awesome!

 

[Eucharisted]

Eucharisted, don’t feel bad. If anyone needs to be more holy, it’s me. Actually everyone needs to be more holy but you get my point. The reason I say that I need to be more holy is because I will often commit a mortal sin multiple times per week requiring that I go to confession multiple times per week if I can. It sucks and maybe I’m just scrupulous but I honestly think that I fall in to mortal sin multiple times per week sometimes.

How about this: We both call each other poor sinners and pray for one another?

 

[Eucharisted]

I am not sure if anyone has answered this part to you, but you don’t have to have degree in theology to enter a seminary. If you haven’t got any college degree, in order to study theology in seminary, you will need an undergraduate degree and mostly in philosophy. If you have some sort of degree, then you need pre-theology for 2 years before going to study theology.

Ohhh. Okay. I don’t have a degree yet, though. I guess I should go back to college. Hmm, I am poor at philosophy, though. But with God, anything is possble! O Lord, destroy my flesh and let my spirit live in You.

 

[Eucharisted]

It takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to open yourself up like this to people who care deeply for you, let alone leaving yourself to open criticism to anyone who may not have your best interests at heart.

I think you’re a good egg, mate. I think being able to see yourself and your short comings is a strength.

God’s peace be with you. Continue to run the race!

This gives me a new understanding!

 

[Eucharisted]

Here’s an excerpt from Sr. Patricia’s e-newsletter which I receive during the week. Hope this helps:

Quote for the Day:
"Satan has in fact a plan against the saints of the Most High which is to wear them out. What is meant by this phrase, “wear out”?

It has in it the idea of reducing a little this minute, then reducing a little further the next minute. Reduce a little today, reduce a little tomorrow.

Thus the wearing out is almost imperceptible; nevertheless, it is a reducing. The wearing down is scarcely an activity of which one is conscious, yet the end result is that there is nothing left.

He will take away your prayer life little by little, and cause you to trust God less and less and yourself more and more, a little at a time.

He will make you feel somewhat cleverer than before.

Step by step, you are misled to rely more on your own gift, and step by step your heart is enticed away from the Lord.

Now, were Satan to strike the children of God with great force at one time, they would know exactly how to resist the enemy since they would immediately recognize his work.

He uses the method of gradualism to wear down the people of God."

Watchman Nee

Quote from the book, “101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer”

Very true! He is most successful when the soul dose not celebrate the sacraments, too. As I am proof of.

 

[Eucharisted]

Ya know, in all honesty, I don’t think I’ve read such an idle thread in all my life, aside from my own, of course – regardless, people are losing their homes, families are being torn apart by our common god Mammon, mass murders and suicides are on the rise as a result of this economic meltdown, more and more people daily are being clinically diagnosed as depressed, and yet all we can do is worry that we’re not spending enough time in our prayer closet fingering Mother Mary’s beads.

Ya know, I met a homeless guy yesterday. I was turning into Borders and he was sitting in a wheelchair, in the cold drizzling rain, with his hood up, and a sign which read, simply, “Homeless Please Help.” I pulled over, got out of the car, and walked over and talked with him about 5 minutes. I gave him a little cash to drunk or high on, I’m not sure which, even though I pray he used it to buy a cup of joe or even a hamburger. And in that brief moment I saw the suffering Christ. I saw Christ staring back at me telling me about how Uncle Sam has gyped him out of honest dues since he is a veteran of Vietnam. And Christ went on to tell me that he was cold and wet, and I saw that he only had one leg. And Christ went on to tell me that he would appreciate my prayers because only God can remedy this world.

Saint James commends us, “My brothers and sisters, what good is it to profess faith without practicing it? Such faith has no power to save one, has it? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and no food for the day, and you say to them, “Good-bye and good luck! Keep warm and well fed,” but do not meet their bodily needs, what good is that? So it is with faith that does nothing in practice. It is thoroughly lifeless. To such a person one might say, “You have faith and I have works–is that it?” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you the faith that underlies my works!”

Holiness. Laughable. What is holiness? Do any of us pampered denizens of the free world even understand holiness?

Again, I tell you, people are losing their lives in the face of our greediness, our corruption, and our innocent idolatries. Every baby murdered in the womb, every mother who is unable to feed her child, every man who beats his wife because he hates himself for not being able to provide, and oh so much more injustice is a living condemnation of all that we are as Catholics. I’ve grown tired of this complacency we’ve allowed ourselves to mold and gel into.

If you want holiness, and if I want holiness, then I think the best place to start is Matthew 25:31-46.

Thanks be to God for this!

 

[RosalieM]

Ya know, in all honesty, I don’t think I’ve read such an idle thread in all my life, aside from my own, of course – regardless, people are losing their homes, families are being torn apart by our common god Mammon, mass murders and suicides are on the rise as a result of this economic meltdown, more and more people daily are being clinically diagnosed as depressed, and yet all we can do is worry that we’re not spending enough time in our prayer closet fingering Mother Mary’s beads.

Ya know, I met a homeless guy yesterday. I was turning into Borders and he was sitting in a wheelchair, in the cold drizzling rain, with his hood up, and a sign which read, simply, “Homeless Please Help.” I pulled over, got out of the car, and walked over and talked with him about 5 minutes. I gave him a little cash to drunk or high on, I’m not sure which, even though I pray he used it to buy a cup of joe or even a hamburger. And in that brief moment I saw the suffering Christ. I saw Christ staring back at me telling me about how Uncle Sam has gyped him out of honest dues since he is a veteran of Vietnam. And Christ went on to tell me that he was cold and wet, and I saw that he only had one leg. And Christ went on to tell me that he would appreciate my prayers because only God can remedy this world.

Saint James commends us, “My brothers and sisters, what good is it to profess faith without practicing it? Such faith has no power to save one, has it? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and no food for the day, and you say to them, “Good-bye and good luck! Keep warm and well fed,” but do not meet their bodily needs, what good is that? So it is with faith that does nothing in practice. It is thoroughly lifeless. To such a person one might say, “You have faith and I have works–is that it?” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you the faith that underlies my works!”

Holiness. Laughable. What is holiness? Do any of us pampered denizens of the free world even understand holiness?

Again, I tell you, people are losing their lives in the face of our greediness, our corruption, and our innocent idolatries. Every baby murdered in the womb, every mother who is unable to feed her child, every man who beats his wife because he hates himself for not being able to provide, and oh so much more injustice is a living condemnation of all that we are as Catholics. I’ve grown tired of this complacency we’ve allowed ourselves to mold and gel into.

If you want holiness, and if I want holiness, then I think the best place to start is Matthew 25:31-46.

All you have said is true and commendable. However, how is it “idle” or “complacent” to be concerned with our own holiness as well as the issues demanding our attention in the world? How do you assume we are not helping the poor because we are concerned with our individual holiness? The two are not mutually exclusive, even as you mentioned. Do you think others don’t know we are to help the poor? Try dumping on the greedy, the corrupt, the idolators, the wife beaters. As Catholics, we are against these injustices and if some Catholics are complacent, that bothers the rest of us too. I’m a revert and I am by no means complacent. I communicate with Catholics who are inspiring. How is it you assume we are all pampered and none of us has been beaten or suffered injustice? Live long enough and you’re bound to have stopped a punch one way or another or both.
We are all called to holiness.

 

[LilyM]

All you have said is true and commendable. However, how is it “idle” or “complacent” to be concerned with our own holiness as well as the issues demanding our attention in the world? How do you assume we are not helping the poor because we are concerned with our individual holiness? The two are not mutually exclusive, even as you mentioned. Do you think others don’t know we are to help the poor? Try dumping on the greedy, the corrupt, the idolators, the wife beaters. As Catholics, we are against these injustices and if some Catholics are complacent, that bothers the rest of us too. I’m a revert and I am by no means complacent. I communicate with Catholics who are inspiring. How is it you assume we are all pampered and none of us has been beaten or suffered injustice? Live long enough and you’re bound to have stopped a punch one way or another or both.
We are all called to holiness.

As you say, Epistemes, we DO need to work on an active level both to overcome our own particular vices and greeds and to reach out more to those who are more in need than we.

A rich and full prayer life, and an awareness of one’s quest for personal holiness, are essentials both in starting us on the track towards the active expression of our faith and in keeping us going upon it once started. Mother Teresa, active as she and her sisters were in the world, certainly never neglected prayer or the sacraments.

Indeed she said that they gave her the strength to go out into the world and do the work she did, and would chide priests and others who claimed to be ‘too busy to pray much’.

 

[Psalm31]

If your spiritual director advised you to marry a Wiccan, you need a new spiritual director.

Please, start going back to Confession. I also spent years away, after some unseemly advice from priests, but now that I am going again, to holy, reliable priests, it is becoming easier and easier.

Turmoil, confusion and nightmares are not from our Good God, who is a God of Love and of Peace.

I will pray for you and your girlfriend. tonight.

 

[Eucharisted]

If your spiritual director advised you to marry a Wiccan, you need a new spiritual director.

Please, start going back to Confession. I also spent years away, after some unseemly advice from priests, but now that I am going again, to holy, reliable priests, it is becoming easier and easier.

Turmoil, confusion and nightmares are not from our Good God, who is a God of Love and of Peace.

I will pray for you and your girlfriend. tonight.

He didn’t advise me to marry her. He approved of me marrying her.

I want to go back to Confession, too. But I can’t yet. No ride.