I'm lost

[Upgrade25]

I don’t know what to do. It’s(the doubts are) Islam right now with Eastern Orthodoxy and Sedevacantism and Atheism behind it. I wake up and they are there. I distract myself until I can’t focus on anything else but doubts. I’m too lazy to pray a decade of the rosary a day, soi have to catch up by 10 decades at least. I ask God for perseverance and I get a boatful more doubts. I can’t even commit myself to limiting my eating. My family doesn’t have time for Adoration, and Mass is(sometimes) the only place where the doubts melt. Until they come back with a passion.

There’s my rant, teenager who is lost and probably going to stay that way past Easter.

 

[jimcav]

You sound like a very busy young man!

Maybe to busy. You are trying to hard IMHO. I think you need to slow things down a bit and give your mind a rest. Finding and perfecting your faith is a life-long journey that shouldn’t cause you to be depressed or stressed out.

Try keeping things simple for awhile. Say your morning, afternoon and nightly prayers, but don’t do to much, say 5 - 15 minutes or so for each time of the day. Then read good spiritual books. Books on our saints are wonderful, because they were often very imperfect, like all of us, yet overcame it to do wonderful things for our Lord. Then go to Mass and participate in the Sacraments. Maybe you can join a youth group so you can be at Church more often, since that is where the doubts go away. But that’s it, keep it easy breezy. Our Lord needs quiet time to talk to us, but sometimes we are constantly talking, planning, doubting, worrying and thinking that God can’t get a word in edge wise! He wants to talk to us, but we must give Him a chance.

I would also limit my time on CAF. While there is much good information here, it can be confusing in large doses, especially when you are going through doubts. Trust in the Lord, and your priest, not an internet forum.

And please, do not give up on your Catholic faith and heritage. The Catholic life when properly led, is the most beautiful life one can lead while on this earth, and the “rules” of the Church that people say bind us actually free us! They free us from our earthly ties, which are the ties that truly are binding! We must be in the world but not of the world.

So please, go easy on yourself and enjoy the faith journey. It can and should be the most beautiful journey this side of heaven!

PS - Do your parents know of your doubts and confusion?

 

[Techno2000]

I don’t know what to do. It’s(the doubts are) Islam right now with Eastern Orthodoxy and Sedevacantism and Atheism behind it. I wake up and they are there. I distract myself until I can’t focus on anything else but doubts. I’m too lazy to pray a decade of the rosary a day, soi have to catch up by 10 decades at least. I ask God for perseverance and I get a boatful more doubts. I can’t even commit myself to limiting my eating. My family doesn’t have time for Adoration, and Mass is(sometimes) the only place where the doubts melt. Until they come back with a passion.

There’s my rant, teenager who is lost and probably going to stay that way past Easter.

Say your prayers so you don’t lose your faith.

 

[puzzledtoo]

Allow your faith to be greater than your fear and doubts. Don’t force it, allow it. The soft overcomes the hard. Blessings to you and yours.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Are you in fear of not having chosen the right religion ?

Its sounds like you’re searching for a religion that makes you feel comfortable, rather than seeking faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith is God’s revelation of himself to us, however that may happen.

Religion is our response to faith.

Many people have religion without spirituality

So, stop looking at religion, and focus on Christ as being your center.

God Bless
Jim

 

[Upgrade25]

You sound like a very busy young man!

Maybe to busy. You are trying to hard IMHO. I think you need to slow things down a bit and give your mind a rest. Finding and perfecting your faith is a life-long journey that shouldn’t cause you to be depressed or stressed out.

Try keeping things simple for awhile. Say your morning, afternoon and nightly prayers, but don’t do to much, say 5 - 15 minutes or so for each time of the day. Then read good spiritual books. Books on our saints are wonderful, because they were often very imperfect, like all of us, yet overcame it to do wonderful things for our Lord. Then go to Mass and participate in the Sacraments. Maybe you can join a youth group so you can be at Church more often, since that is where the doubts go away. But that’s it, keep it easy breezy. Our Lord needs quiet time to talk to us, but sometimes we are constantly talking, planning, doubting, worrying and thinking that God can’t get a word in edge wise! He wants to talk to us, but we must give Him a chance.
**I will catch up on the Rosary and then just say a decade a day. I have a hidden one decade in my pocket to say silently for when my homework is done and we have free time in class. I also try to read a chapter or two of Scripture a day. (At home not in class!)

A youth group would be out of the option because of time and my personality. I’d rather go to Adoration any ways.**

I would also limit my time on CAF. While there is much good information here, it can be confusing in large doses, especially when you are going through doubts. Trust in the Lord, and your priest, not an Internet forum.
I guess you are right.

And please, do not give up on your Catholic faith and heritage. The Catholic life when properly led, is the most beautiful life one can lead while on this earth, and the “rules” of the Church that people say bind us actually free us! They free us from our earthly ties, which are the ties that truly are binding! We must be in the world but not of the world.
I guess I could root out some imperfections and try. The doubt is: Is it true?

So please, go easy on yourself and enjoy the faith journey. It can and should be the most beautiful journey this side of heaven!

PS - Do your parents know of your doubts and confusion?
Yes

 

[nuntym]

+JMJ+

I agree totally with jimcav’s recommendations, you’ll never go wrong with them

 

[Hawkmaid]

Here’s my suggestion. Write a list of all your doubts; any that pop into your head. Just let it all flow out so that you can see them all. THEN, summarize them into “main doubt” categories. Figure out what exactly you’re doubtful about. For example, if you doubt the pope, figure out do you doubt him because of apostolic succession or the Bible? Nail down exactly what your questions are. Don’t allow nebulous “but what about _____!” or “What if ____” thoughts to infringe. Find those base doubts, and makes sure they summarize all your problems. Once you have those nailed down, research them. Read the Bible, pray, ask priests, bishops, consecrated women, apologists, experts of any kind.

I think the reason you are so lost is because you’re having too many things assail you at once. You need to parse it all down and focus in order to abolish them, one by one. Don’t get distracted by side-tangents or doubts; just focus on one thing and commit to working on it. It won’t be easy, and probably won’t be fun, but you can do it.

Also, unless you took a vow of some kind to say a decade every day, you don’t have to “catch up” on decades. Prayer is not something to be feared. If you can drive, maybe it’s time for you to take the necessity of Mass into your own hands. As far as how Mass helps your doubts, maybe you should look into a retreat. I highly suggest ECYD retreats, they usually take place in Indiana. Lastly, I use this for adoration when I can’t travel to it; I can’t drive yet, unfortunately. savior.org/default.htm
Sometimes the live camera is down, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t see anything.
Praying for you!

 

[Hawkmaid]

Its sounds like you’re searching for a religion that makes you feel comfortable, rather than seeking faith in Jesus Christ.

Religion is our response to faith.

WELL SAID. “Religion” is simply a name we give to different faiths; you need to find the actual faith (cough Catholicism. ) before you juggle religions.

 

[St_Francis]

Do not “catch up” on your Rosaries:* that will only make you anxious and freaked out about what is supposed to be a good thing. You mentioned that you often pray a decade when you finish your homework early in study hall, that is a settled time so that is a good thing.

Most importantly, pray to God about these thoughts (or treat them as temptations…). There is a passage which I read a quoted version of where St Augustine was thinking something through, and he was back and forth between his thinking and discussing it with God: God, if this is true, what happens to that point? Let me think about this…

And remember that it is Lent, which for some reason seems to he the time of year God hits a lot of us with… challenges

*ETA: think of your daily Rosary as manna in the desert: if you do not have a chance to pray it one day, then it’s gone. if you pray two the next day, you are not praying the previous day’s and this day’s, you are praying two in one day for that day. And also think of the Rosaries as an “extra” prayer rather than an obligatory prayer (since that is the way the Church sees it!).

 

[petra22]

Just want to say I’m praying for you a decade of the rosary every day so if you forget or can’t get to it… I’ve got your back. Will you do that for me, too?

Praying that you find your way and BTW lots of us have gone through this very thing when we were in HS or College. For me after looking around at lots of other religions God showed me which is the right one by reading the bible. You are doing that… if it was all made up and just beautiful stories don’t you think God would have his son born in a better place than a stable? Would the people writing the stories tell all the ugly things like Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial? Saint Paul told the people his story and he said these things happened to many who were still ALIVE (to refute and deny)… they didn’t. there’s lots of little things in the Bible that point to the truth. Sometimes it takes time and experiences to prove it to yourself. I hope it doesn’t take you as long as it did ME to realize that God has chosen YOU from all the other possibilities because he has a plan for YOU. He won’t leave you alone…

 

[Upgrade25]

Hawkmaid:

Here’s my suggestion. Write a list of all your doubts; any that pop into your head. Just let it all flow out so that you can see them all. THEN, summarize them into “main doubt” categories. Figure out what exactly you’re doubtful about. For example, if you doubt the pope, figure out do you doubt him because of apostolic succession or the Bible? Nail down exactly what your questions are. Don’t allow nebulous “but what about _____!” or “What if ____” thoughts to infringe. Find those base doubts, and makes sure they summarize all your problems. Once you have those nailed down, research them. Read the Bible, pray, ask priests, bishops, consecrated women, apologists, experts of any kind.

I think the reason you are so lost is because you’re having too many things assail you at once. You need to parse it all down and focus in order to abolish them, one by one. Don’t get distracted by side-tangents or doubts; just focus on one thing and commit to working on it. It won’t be easy, and probably won’t be fun, but you can do it.

**I did that with, say atheism. It ended up not convincing me to stay Catholic, and now Islam is hitting me hard. **

Also, unless you took a vow of some kind to say a decade every day, you don’t have to “catch up” on decades. Prayer is not something to be feared.

Ok.

If you can drive, maybe it’s time for you to take the necessity of Mass into your own hands.

**I still have some aging left till I’m old enough to drive. If I could drive, I’d go to the local Maronite Church on Sunday… Last time I was there was for Baptism and Chrismation. **

As far as how Mass helps your doubts, maybe you should look into a retreat. I highly suggest ECYD retreats, they usually take place in Indiana.

**I would if I had the time. Summer is crazy. **

Lastly, I use this for adoration when I can’t travel to it; I can’t drive yet, unfortunately. savior.org/default.htm
Sometimes the live camera is down, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t see anything.
Praying for you!

Thanks!

 

[jimcav]

**I did that with, say atheism. It ended up not convincing me to stay Catholic, and now Islam is hitting me hard. **

I’m not sure why you are searching so hard.

Yes, we all want the “truth”, but it seems to me your shopping for it like you would a car. I hope that doesn’t sound condescending, because that’s not the way I mean it. But, will you eventually go to the Buddhist showroom, the Hindu showroom to see if they fit you?

IMveryHO, I think you should put everything down, and stick with your Catholic upbringing. There is so much to explore in our faith that it could take a lifetime in itself. So explore, read, go to Mass and leave everything else alone. Resist the temptation to research Islam, atheism or whatever else strikes your fancy. The Holy Spirit will show you the way, but you need to be patient and you owe our Lord your full devotion if you want Him to show you the way. How can He help you see the way if you are not devoted to Him? A smattering and a sampling of different religions will not bear any fruit and will likely prove futile.

I believe, as you yourself said, are young and confused, and that is a dangerous time and combination to go searching. You need to be grounded. You need to give yourself, and our Good Lord, time. I know that is difficult at your age, I’ve been there, when you want it all and you want it now. But understand, your confusion will not last forever, and the way you think now, will not be the way you think 5 years from now, and 10 years and 20 years. You will continue to grow in your faith, if you stay the course.

Patience is your key word…

God Bless!

 

[Hawkmaid]

**I did that with, say atheism. It ended up not convincing me to stay Catholic, and now Islam is hitting me hard. ** **I still have some aging left till I’m old enough to drive. If I could drive, I’d go to the local Maronite Church on Sunday… Last time I was there was for Baptism and Chrismation. **

**I would if I had the time. Summer is crazy. **

Thanks!

1: Dude, I didn’t even know there were that many options. I had Catholicism, I looked into a few others, and I’m satisfied with what I have in the Catholic church. You can’t find the church that conforms to you; you have to conform to a church, preferably the one, true church, formed by Jesus Himself.

2: Summer? It’s winter where I am. Still crazy, though, I know how that feels.

3: Yep! Least I can do.

 

[Upgrade25]

1: Dude, I didn’t even know there were that many options. I had Catholicism, I looked into a few others, and I’m satisfied with what I have in the Catholic church. You can’t find the church that conforms to you; you have to conform to a church, preferably the one, true church, formed by Jesus Himself.
Ya. My old location listed the place I’m at spiritually: over 7 irregular, schismatic, heretical, and downright different religions contending for Catholicism’s mantle in my life. I sometimes feel like I should fast or something(Other than the Lenten Friday meat give up) to earn God’s favor, even though it’s not healthy and I would be dishonoring my parents by disobeying them.(I actually asked, I was on fire for my faith before the doubts)
2: Summer? It’s winter where I am. Still crazy, though, I know how that feels.
3: Yep! Least I can do.

 

[Hawkmaid]

Ya. My old location listed the place I’m at spiritually: over 7 irregular, schismatic, heretical, and downright different religions contending for Catholicism’s mantle in my life. I sometimes feel like I should fast or something(Other than the Lenten Friday meat give up) to earn God’s favor, even though it’s not healthy and I would be dishonoring my parents by disobeying them.(I actually asked, I was on fire for my faith before the doubts)

That many “options” would break my brain. Good for you for not giving up! I gotta step in here and say, though, you don’t earn God’s favor. You already have it; you just need to get closer to it. The better you know God, the more you “feel” His favor. I highly suggest fasting, even if it’s not from food. Fast from video games! Fast from movies! Fast from sarcasm! Whatever it is, it can get you on a better path by teaching yourself to let go of earthly stuff.

Also, as far as the “not healthy” bit, it all depends on how you handle the fasting. If you’re only eating sticks, yeah, that’s bad. But you can forgo snacking between meals and survive.