If possible, when is devotion too much?

[Lizzie08]

I am having trouble with devoting myself to god and the more i think about it the less i dont know what to do about my future. Is there a such thing as over doing it?? For instance, i dont know whether i should just be your everyday church goer and try to spread the faith of christ, or if i should become a nun or some higher thing. The reason i started thinking this is because i dont think that being just going to church and practicing what we believe is good enough.I feel like i need to do more. Then at the same time i know i dont need to go out on a limb just to be noticed by christ but im still confused about what i need to do as a christian.

 

[poetryforjesus]

I am having trouble with devoting myself to god and the more i think about it the less i dont know what to do about my future. Is there a such thing as over doing it?? For instance, i dont know whether i should just be your everyday church goer and try to spread the faith of christ, or if i should become a nun or some higher thing. The reason i started thinking this is because i dont think that being just going to church and practicing what we believe is good enough.I feel like i need to do more. Then at the same time i know i dont need to go out on a limb just to be noticed by christ but im still confused about what i need to do as a christian.

No, Lizzie, I don’t think you can have too much devotion. You can, however, have false devotion, if you let whatever religious practice you do get in the way of fulfilling your duty to your family and loved ones or if you neglect to fulfill Christ’s command to love your neighbor. But devotion is so important that it comes first. Without devotion to the Lord, you won’t be able to do much good, really. You won’t know your calling, either. But even with devotion, it might take a long time to get more acquainted with the Lord’s ways and to be able to discern what He wants from you.

So please be patient and keep searching. It pleases the Lord more than anything if you are trying to know Him better and love Him more. Everything else will follow naturally. Don’t be discouraged by confusion or lack of visible effects.

Saying a Hail Mary for you right now.

 

[Monica4316]

I am having trouble with devoting myself to god and the more i think about it the less i dont know what to do about my future. Is there a such thing as over doing it?? For instance, i dont know whether i should just be your everyday church goer and try to spread the faith of christ, or if i should become a nun or some higher thing. The reason i started thinking this is because i dont think that being just going to church and practicing what we believe is good enough.I feel like i need to do more. Then at the same time i know i dont need to go out on a limb just to be noticed by christ but im still confused about what i need to do as a christian.

I dont think there’s such a thing as “too much devotion”. There’s however devotion for the right reasons, and devotion for the wrong reasons. All we do, we should do out of love for God and because it is His will. Remember, its’ not about HOW MUCH we do… but the love with which you do it. If God calls you to be an “everyday church goer”, and you do this with love for Him, you can become a saint through that. If He calls you to be a nun, and you do this with love for Him, out of obedience, He will use this for your spiritual growth too. Just seek His will and everything else will fall into place if you aren’t sure how to discern, it might be a good idea to get a good spiritual director.

God bless

 

[OAO]

Who is more devoted to the Lord: the one who prays and attends Mass/Adoration everyday but neglects his friends, or the man who skips some religious services to spend time with them?

Devotion involves more than worship - it involves action. Some people are called to live a life of contemplation - monastics. But those are few. You need to discern what your vocation is.

 

[Monica4316]

Who is more devoted to the Lord: the one who prays and attends Mass/Adoration everyday but neglects his friends, or the man who skips some religious services to spend time with them?

Devotion involves more than worship - it involves action. Some people are called to live a life of contemplation - monastics. But those are few. You need to discern what your vocation is.

I don’t know if I agree

I mean, I agree about action… but is spending time with friends really what we’re called to? I understand helping the needy and such… but even then, we don’t have to skip ‘religious services’ to do this. Even Mother Teresa said that Mass and Adoration helped her in her ministry those things are meant to go together. Those who try to make our faith into something all about social justice or action, and downplay the worship and prayer aspect, are forgetting that we can’t do anything without grace. We need Mass and Adoration and that time with God to be better followers of His.

If I had a choice between Adoration and going for some coffee with my friends, I think it’s better to choose Adoration.

However, if I need to be somewhere to help a person or to do a work of charity, then of course there’s nothing wrong with praying for a shorter period of time that day. Charity comes first… but both charity and prayer come before fun.

I dont know… I might be wrong, but this is how I see it.

God bless

 

[zz912]

First thing, learn and grow with the teaching and faith of the Church. Then, if you are unsure of your calling, then slowly, piece by piece try out new opportunities to do the work of God. Try out new charities, outreach programs at your parish, etc. You will know what is right for you. As for vocation, once you have really gotten the hang of volunteering at the Church, you will then be ready to discern and listen to see what is your calling.

 

[Trishie]

It helps to be familiar with the scriptures and to listen to what Jesus tells you in Scripture and in the teachings of the Church. A good translation of the bible, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church should be part of every Catholic’s life.

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31

Love God above all and others as yourself with practical kindness. He makes this clear in Matthew 25 verses 31-46.
Practical kindness can be as small as a smile or kind word, and it begins with members of your own family, friends, and those whom you encounter.
We also must listen to the Church, which tells us that the Eucharist is the ‘source and summit’ of Christian life.

Devotion is too much when it is misguided and a person gets so caught up with the devotion that he or she neglects practical responsibilities and everyday practical kindness and helpfulness to others. But one can’t be ‘too devoted’ in living Jesus’ gospel of Christian love to others in our lives and in receiving the Sacraments of the Church which God continues to offer us.

 

[Janechantal53]

No, Lizzie, I don’t think you can have too much devotion. You can, however, have false devotion, if you let whatever religious practice you do get in the way of fulfilling your duty to your family and loved ones or if you neglect to fulfill Christ’s command to love your neighbor. But devotion is so important that it comes first. Without devotion to the Lord, you won’t be able to do much good, really. You won’t know your calling, either. But even with devotion, it might take a long time to get more acquainted with the Lord’s ways and to be able to discern what He wants from you.

So please be patient and keep searching. It pleases the Lord more than anything if you are trying to know Him better and love Him more. Everything else will follow naturally. Don’t be discouraged by confusion or lack of visible effects.

Saying a Hail Mary for you right now.

Well said. I agree.

 

[OAO]

If I had a choice between Adoration and going for some coffee with my friends, I think it’s better to choose Adoration.

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Let’s not forget that Christ Himself had deep friendships on earth - the apostles, especially the Beloved Disciple and Peter. He spent time in the desert, yes, but he also spent time among man.

I think it depends on your charism and how frequently you go to Adoration. It’s a matter of balance.

 

[Monica4316]

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Let’s not forget that Christ Himself had deep friendships on earth - the apostles, especially the Beloved Disciple and Peter. He spent time in the desert, yes, but he also spent time among man.

I think it depends on your charism and how frequently you go to Adoration. It’s a matter of balance.

well what I meant is that spending time with friends is not the same as laying down your life for them most people spend time with friends simply for the sake of fun, not charity. Both prayer and charity are more important than fun.

spending time with your family is somewhat different because that’s your state of life where God has placed you (family rather than monastic order)

 

[Lizzie08]

wow guys thanks!!
your imputs definetly have helped! this really does makes things alot clearer for me. well i mean for that subject. i mean i did already kinda knew that knowing more about god and the teachings of christ would be benificial and possibly alot easier to understand things, i just needed to hear it. Theres that and i know that it takes time to build a strong relationship with christ, its just that i thought it would come faster. And when it didnt come fast i got a little stressed and thought that i was doing something wrong. But yeah i know i definetly have room to mature spiritually and find out the plan god has for me. Monica i have a question though, so your last post says that hanging out with friends are usually just for fun. so you are saying that hanging out with friends isnt important? Well i mean yeah it does has its significance but when compared to family and charity it comes last??

Thanks once again!!! :]

 

[Student09]

Even Mother Teresa said that Mass and Adoration helped her in her ministry those things are meant to go together. Those who try to make our faith into something all about social justice or action, and downplay the worship and prayer aspect, are forgetting that we can’t do anything without grace. We need Mass and Adoration and that time with God to be better followers of His.

Well said. Remember that we will be better able to fulfill our duties to our families and friends, the more holy we are and the more our lives are founded on Christ! We can’t run on empty - which is what we try to do when we rely on ourselves for good works. We need Jesus. As Monica said, Mother Teresa spent two hours every morning at Mass and Adoration, before spending time with the poor and needy and her religious sisters.

My friends and family, most of whom are agnostics and atheists, will testify that I am a lot more pleasant to be around when I am going to church on a regular (daily) basis. :yup:

 

[Monica4316]

wow guys thanks!!
your imputs definetly have helped! this really does makes things alot clearer for me. well i mean for that subject. i mean i did already kinda knew that knowing more about god and the teachings of christ would be benificial and possibly alot easier to understand things, i just needed to hear it. Theres that and i know that it takes time to build a strong relationship with christ, its just that i thought it would come faster. And when it didnt come fast i got a little stressed and thought that i was doing something wrong. But yeah i know i definetly have room to mature spiritually and find out the plan god has for me. Monica i have a question though, so your last post says that hanging out with friends are usually just for fun. so you are saying that hanging out with friends isnt important? Well i mean yeah it does has its significance but when compared to family and charity it comes last??

Thanks once again!!! :]

Hi Lizzie I wouldn’t say that hanging out with friends is unimportant… I mean, I hang out with my friends a lot myself but what I meant is… let’s say it’s Friday and that’s the only day your parish does Adoration and you know it would be a good idea to go… but you hang out with your friends because you were invited to go see a movie, etc. This isn’t a sin or anything but it’s more perfect to spend time with God too, because the more time we spend with Him, the better we know Him so there’s a time for everything. No doubt God sees nothing wrong with being with friends. But in the order of things prayer does more for our souls, so we shouldn’t neglect it. That’s sort of what I meant…

Well said. Remember that we will be better able to fulfill our duties to our families and friends, the more holy we are and the more our lives are founded on Christ! We can’t run on empty - which is what we try to do when we rely on ourselves for good works. We need Jesus. As Monica said, Mother Teresa spent two hours every morning at Mass and Adoration, before spending time with the poor and needy and her religious sisters.

My friends and family, most of whom are agnostics and atheists, will testify that I am a lot more pleasant to be around when I am going to church on a regular (daily) basis. :yup:

 

[baltobetsy]

Just to complicate this friend discussion a little - if we are living the way God wants us to, our time with friends is also serving Him, because we are always looking for ways to bring the friends closer to Him. We do this not by preaching or constantly talking about God, but by listening to our friends - what they say and what they don’t say out loud - and determining what they need to be truly happy with God. They should find with us the same deep caring that they find with Jesus - we are to be Jesus for them.

So how does this pertain to the devotion discussion? Just to say that there’ s no hard and fast rule such as, “always choose adoration over going out with friends.” Each situation requires discernment and listening to the Holy Spirit.

Our devotional life is out of balance if our prayer time is encroaching on our duties to work, study, family and friends.

We can never have an excess of love, but we can have an excess of “devotions.”

Betsy

 

[Lizzie08]

Hi Lizzie I wouldn’t say that hanging out with friends is unimportant… I mean, I hang out with my friends a lot myself but what I meant is… let’s say it’s Friday and that’s the only day your parish does Adoration and you know it would be a good idea to go… but you hang out with your friends because you were invited to go see a movie, etc. This isn’t a sin or anything but it’s more perfect to spend time with God too, because the more time we spend with Him, the better we know Him so there’s a time for everything. No doubt God sees nothing wrong with being with friends. But in the order of things prayer does more for our souls, so we shouldn’t neglect it. That’s sort of what I meant…

ohhhh okay!!! yeah i understand. And yeah i definetly agree with you!! I would choose god over night out with friends. and sure not all the time is it going to be easy to decline a night out orr a dayy out with friends, but in the long run i will find it to be worth it!! :]]

 

[Lizzie08]

Just to complicate this friend discussion a little - if we are living the way God wants us to, our time with friends is also serving Him, because we are always looking for ways to bring the friends closer to Him. We do this not by preaching or constantly talking about God, but by listening to our friends - what they say and what they don’t say out loud - and determining what they need to be truly happy with God. They should find with us the same deep caring that they find with Jesus - we are to be Jesus for them.

So how does this pertain to the devotion discussion? Just to say that there’ s no hard and fast rule such as, “always choose adoration over going out with friends.” Each situation requires discernment and listening to the Holy Spirit.

Our devotional life is out of balance if our prayer time is encroaching on our duties to work, study, family and friends.

We can never have an excess of love, but we can have an excess of “devotions.”

Betsy

yeah you have a really good point there!! I do have alot of friends who are athiest or agnostic but for me i think its better to choose adoration over hanging out with friends. I have been a christian for almost two years and i didnt really grow up in a house where god mattered.But now that i want to go deeper into my faith there is so much i need to learn about god’s word. And especially now since ive decided to convert to catholisicm, and its like a whole new world for me! and i can recall someone saying that its possible for a person to be lead by something other that the holy spirit. And i mean like something else that can be unseen and that wants to lead you in the wrong direction. And since im still kinda raw about the whole religious thing im not entirely sure exactly which voice i should follow. So i personally just need to be more knowledgeable and i need to take every chance i have to be with god. But yeah i really do see what your saying and i will most certainly take it into consideration further along my journey with christ.

 

[Monica4316]

Lizzie, if I understand correctly you didn’t grow up in a family that’s really religious, and then became a Christian, and now are thinking of converting to Catholicism?

because that’s my journey exactly…lol!

I only became a Catholic last year, so I’m still pretty new… I was non denominational Christian before.

that’s so exciting!!

God bless you!

 

[Lizzie08]

Lizzie, if I understand correctly you didn’t grow up in a family that’s really religious, and then became a Christian, and now are thinking of converting to Catholicism?

because that’s my journey exactly…lol!

I only became a Catholic last year, so I’m still pretty new… I was non denominational Christian before.

that’s so exciting!!

God bless you!

that is correct!!
oh my gosh really?!? thats so cool!! :] well i mean not cool that we had to be in that situation. but its nice to know that i can relate to someone about it!! Well okay i was mormon up untill maybe 9ish? i dont know! haha it was so long ago it feels like. but yeah i was baptised mormon. even then when me and my family were mormon we still didnt really practice it. and then once my my mom decided she was agnostic we stoped going. bu yeah! i was penicostal for awhile and then went to non-denominational and then protestant. and now im going to be catholic! but im really happy i went through all of that cuz i have experienced different religions and now i can really say that being catholic is where i want to be! :]
is any of your family religious now??

 

[Monica4316]

wow! awesome! My family was agnostic, and that’s how I grew up. Then we all got baptized Eastern Orthodox but weren’t really practicing that much. (my family is Orthodox now). So I didn’t really grow up religious. I found faith in God when I came to university and then started going to a non denom. church… and then two years ago I started feeling lead to Catholicism, and after months of research/prayer I joined the Church this Easter! it was hard to decide between Catholicism and Orthodoxy (initially I came back to the Orthodox church, for a bit) but my research on history and the Bible supported Catholicism more, and that’s what i felt was true all along.

was it difficult for you to agree with some doctrines? or are you still researching them? I found it was very hard for me, because I was so Protestant, but the more I prayed the more it made sense. One day I decided…I’m Catholic in my heart! haha… but at that point I hadn’t yet been to a Catholic Church, so I went to my first Mass soon after.

I’m soo glad to be Catholic now! the Eucharist especially is a great gift cause that’s what I always wanted as a Protestant… I always wanted to meet Jesus like the disciples 2000 years ago, but I didn’t know He’s really present in Catholic churches.

how did you decide to be Catholic, if I may ask? are you in RCIA? did you tell your family, and if so how did they react?

God bless!

 

[Lizzie08]

Isn’t it so amazing to look back at the past and to see how much you’ve grown?? I dont know maybe that’s just me! but yeah im really excited about being catholic!!

Yeah when my sister told me that when the candle is light, that means that jesus is present. So that is just so awesome to know cuz yeah being protestant is cool in all but there definetly is something missing, and when i went to a catholic mas, i found what i’ve been looking for!! i love the seriousness about it and it really has already deepend my love for christ. I dont know i just feel more closer to him then ever! but yeah thats one of the reasons i decided to join. The other reason is my sister got baptist this past easter too!! and yeah around that time i didnt have much respect for catholics. I mean i still loved them i just didnt agree with their belliefs. but yeah! So this past november i started to ask my sister questions about her faith and she told me some of the history and stuff like that. And i was pretty much in awe because everything i thought was true about the catholic religion was false, which is a good thing, so yeahh!

No i am too late to join RCIA : well i still can join actually, i just won’t be getting baptised this coming up easter. Buuut i have ordered some books and i cant wait to start reading them!!

Well what do you mean exactly when you say doctrine?? ha yeahh im still like a newbie at being catholic i’ve only been going to church for like a month!

Oh and for my family, yeah i have 6 sisters and i have that one who is catholic and there is actually another one who is going to get baptised cathoilc when i do!! :] which is 2011. so a total of 3 of the sisters are going to be catholic! :] so im excited about that.

sadly i think my mom is pretty much athiest, if not, she is definetly on her way there
i mean i havn’t asked her yet but she has said some negative things towards religion. But i do pray for her every night!!! and i do believe that she will come around soon!! and my dad does believe in god, but doesnt with agree with some of the teachings of catholicism but i do take him to to a protestant church with my other two sisters.
I go to both mas and the other church cuz i feel like im their only motivation for them to go to church.woww sorry!! im writting ALOT!!

so those two sisters i take to protestant church also dont fully agree with all the teachings of cathlics.

Okay one more thing!! haha! so i have told you about 5 of the girls, and im included in that five. but one of the other two that i havent mentioned, is agnostic and the other is also protestant but doesnt go to church with me. She goes to church with her fiance. And they also dont agree with some of the beliefs of catholics