In need of help.

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grafy

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I hope I can get some feed back here. I was directed to this site from a member. And a very good friend of mine.
My friend cannot answer my concerns and answers so they directed me to you.

I am putting my heart on the line here so please be kind.

I am thinking of leaving the church. I just dont feel it is right for me. I have always had concerns with aspects of the church and its beliefs. My family tells me to just believe and dont get bogged down in details; but its the details I fuss over.
Has anyone been in this situation before?

Maybe I just dont understand the church?

How can I better understand ?

ETA:
I always seem to be searching for God; well not God. I KNOW he exists; but the path to God is what I seem to always be looking for. What IS the path to GOD? Where is the Path?
I have been contemplating this for the last 15 years of my life.
It never ends with me! I feel I have and am letting HIM down?
 
Grafy, I want to reply immediately so you know how important your questions and need are, but I want to think about it a bit before I say much.

But I understand fairly well. My questions about the Church put me outside it for around ten years, but for the last 30 I’ve been back. Anyhow I’ll pray and see if God inspires how I may answer you.
With love and good wishes, Trishie
 
Maybe in a way I was worse off because you believe in God. I had lost even that, and in grief I wrote the following.This poem wrote itself, more or less. I include it only because I want you to know that your genuine sadness and confusion is understood and appreciated. I had been a devout child, but always with a questioning mind.

Loss of faith
What is this lethargy,
this tomb-cold, sad complacency
that binds me to the physical.
That allows no spiritual flight or insight—
no vision of a world that I had glimpsed and felt—
Divine world of mystery and truth.

Am I dead to thus exist
abandoned by the fire that once
would blaze my heart to heaven’s light?
Then bury me!
For this is not to live.
And I am not myself.
I have no soul, no God, no peace…

Hand—hits stone and tingles pain—
atoms conglomerate,
to soon disintegrate in death…1967
 
grafy said:
I hope I can get some feed back here. I was directed to this site from a member. And a very good friend of mine.
My friend cannot answer my concerns and answers so they directed me to you.

I am putting my heart on the line here so please be kind.

I am thinking of leaving the church. I just dont feel it is right for me. I have always had concerns with aspects of the church and its beliefs. My family tells me to just believe and dont get bogged down in details; but its the details I fuss over.
Has anyone been in this situation before?

Maybe I just dont understand the church?

How can I better understand ?

ETA:
I always seem to be searching for God; well not God. I KNOW he exists; but the path to God is what I seem to always be looking for. What IS the path to GOD? Where is the Path?
I have been contemplating this for the last 15 years of my life.
It never ends with me! I feel I have and am letting HIM down?
Click to expand...
There are many paths to God, but the Blessed Mother Mary is a short cut.
 
Well I understand that sometimes many aspects of Catholicism can seem very confusing, because society in general wants quick answers to everything. And anything that seems ‘old’ or ‘out there’ is dismissed.

I think you have taken a good step in actually coming forward and addressing this issue. Feel free to ask questions, there are many people here who are seeking, getting to Catholicism better or just here for a good experience once in a while. There are a lot of knowledgeable people here, so you can learn much.

I think some family members of yours have gone about this the wrong way saying “just believe it”. Everything in our faith has a justification to it, so don’t be afraid to look for it.
I always seem to be searching for God; well not God. I KNOW he exists; but the path to God is what I seem to always be looking for. What IS the path to GOD? Where is the Path?
I have been contemplating this for the last 15 years of my life.
It never ends with me! I feel I have and am letting HIM down?
Click to expand...
This is not easy, I don’t think anyone can answer these kind of questions immediately, neither for you, or themselves. But that being said, I’m sure we all agree that prayer will help us answer this, just live each day, take it as it comes, do not fret what’s going to happen 20 years down the line, not yet.

Any particular concerns you had about the faith that you needed addressed? If so, post a thread in the particular forum.

God Bless and may your experience here be a good one!
 
Perhaps you might benefit from others’ thoughts if you actually express the doubts and questions you have regarding the Church, not that I can’t guess at some of them, because in the end, when God suddenly and unexpectedly gave me grace to return to the Church, I ended up saying to Christ that I knew now that the Catholic Church is His Church, and those things which I found hard to accept, partly because they are human laws that are sometimes inhumane, I would accept for His sake.
The Church is not perfect, as nothing in this world is, but while there is dross, the gold is undoubtedly there.
 
I second Trishie; what is it that has you confused or doubting?

As someone who has been outside of the Church, I would definitally say there is much more uncertainty about doctrine outside Her than within.

Also, doesn’t having doubts or not fully believeing in every tenent lend credibility to your Faith? If you believed everything 100% then aren’t you most likely coming up with your beliefs by yourself? If your beliefs truly are being guided by someone outside yourself (God in this case) then isn’t it likely that some of them will seem difficult or strange?
 
grafy said:
I always seem to be searching for God; well not God. I KNOW he exists; but the path to God is what I seem to always be looking for. What IS the path to GOD? Where is the Path?
I have been contemplating this for the last 15 years of my life.
It never ends with me! I feel I have and am letting HIM down?
Click to expand...
One person says He is the Life, Way and Truth.

What are your concerns about?🙂
 
grafy said:
I hope I can get some feed back here. I was directed to this site from a member. And a very good friend of mine.
My friend cannot answer my concerns and answers so they directed me to you.

I am putting my heart on the line here so please be kind.

I am thinking of leaving the church. I just dont feel it is right for me. I have always had concerns with aspects of the church and its beliefs. My family tells me to just believe and dont get bogged down in details; but its the details I fuss over.
Has anyone been in this situation before?

Maybe I just dont understand the church?

How can I better understand ?

ETA:
I always seem to be searching for God; well not God. I KNOW he exists; but the path to God is what I seem to always be looking for. What IS the path to GOD? Where is the Path?
I have been contemplating this for the last 15 years of my life.
It never ends with me! I feel I have and am letting HIM down?
Click to expand...
God is never angered by our questions or doubts. This is how we strengthen our faith. These are trials of faith, my friend.

Perhaps you shouldn’t look at it as a “path” to God. God isn’t a ‘goal’ or an ‘end’. God is God. You’re already with him. If you’re a practicing Catholic, you’ve already had the most intimate experience with God possible on earth by receiving him at Mass. Perhaps visiting Him a few hours a week at adoration and just praying and pondering and adoring him would help you?

Of course, if you’re having doubts about specific teachings of the Church, the Catechism is the first place to go, but you can also discuss particular teachings and doubts with people here, or a knowledgeable Priest at your Church. There are also many good articles on difficult or ‘controversial’ teachings here on CA.:
 
Techno2000 said:
There are many paths to God, but the Blessed Mother Mary is a short cut.
Click to expand...
How can you even make that statement when Jesus Himself tells us that HE is the only way to GOD. Mary is not our intercessory to GOD, only Jesus.

You are basically telling this individual they don’t need Jesus just Mary. Shame on you.
 
I find no shame in Techno’s answer. It is a good and truthful answer. The blessed Mother will intercede on your behalf because she told us so. She has stated many times in her apparitions, (especially the ones approved by the Catholic church), that she comes to tell the world that Her Son truly exists. There are several books written by the Early Church Fathers and others that the blessed Mother will bring you to her son. The proof being here is that she brought myself to Him.

I think you should study history on the Catholic church. If you do your research, you will find the CC is truly the church Jesus founded.
 
NDfan said:
How can you even make that statement when Jesus Himself tells us that HE is the only way to GOD. Mary is not our intercessory to GOD, only Jesus.

You are basically telling this individual they don’t need Jesus just Mary. Shame on you.
Click to expand...
Where did the poster say that Jesus isn’t necessary? Where, in fact, did the poster say that Jesus isn’t God? Because if Jesus is God, then Mary can be a shortcut to Him.
 
NDfan said:
How can you even make that statement when Jesus Himself tells us that HE is the only way to GOD. Mary is not our intercessory to GOD, only Jesus.

You are basically telling this individual they don’t need Jesus just Mary. Shame on you.
Click to expand...
sorry but you have no say so here. you are not a Catholic. you have no right to tell Catholic what they should say or not say.
you neither have authority nor the faith nor the knowledge to rebuke any Catholic.

Peace
 
NDfan said:
How can you even make that statement when Jesus Himself tells us that HE is the only way to GOD. Mary is not our intercessory to GOD, only Jesus.

You are basically telling this individual they don’t need Jesus just Mary. Shame on you.
Click to expand...
I can see how you might read it that way, and perhaps it wasn’t phrased as exactly as it should have been, but I don’t think the poster intended to imply that Mary was an alternate means to the Father.
 
Grafy, I agree that you should tell us what your doubts are, so that we can steer you to the great love that is behind all the teachings of the Church.

And, folks, please do not begin debating Mariology unless Grafy asks us to! Let’s stick to the OP’s questions, and not let this thread devolve into something that is no help to him.

Grumpily,

Ruthie
 
Trishie said:
Perhaps you might benefit from others’ thoughts if you actually express the doubts and questions you have regarding the Church, not that I can’t guess at some of them, because in the end, when God suddenly and unexpectedly gave me grace to return to the Church, I ended up saying to Christ that I knew now that the Catholic Church is His Church, and those things which I found hard to accept, partly because they are human laws that are sometimes inhumane, I would accept for His sake.
The Church is not perfect, as nothing in this world is, but while there is dross, the gold is undoubtedly there.
Click to expand...
Trishie, in charity, The Church IS perfect, it is we, the members who are not. As to the OP, I would reccomend getting more involved in the parish, ask the tough questions, ALL the answers are there! God Bless You on your journey!
 
grafy said:
I hope I can get some feed back here. I was directed to this site from a member. And a very good friend of mine.
My friend cannot answer my concerns and answers so they directed me to you.

I am putting my heart on the line here so please be kind.

I am thinking of leaving the church. I just dont feel it is right for me. I have always had concerns with aspects of the church and its beliefs. My family tells me to just believe and dont get bogged down in details; but its the details I fuss over.
Has anyone been in this situation before?

Maybe I just dont understand the church?

How can I better understand ?

ETA:
I always seem to be searching for God; well not God. I KNOW he exists; but the path to God is what I seem to always be looking for. What IS the path to GOD? Where is the Path?
I have been contemplating this for the last 15 years of my life.
It never ends with me! I feel I have and am letting HIM down?
Click to expand...
Perhaps god is pushing you onto a different path? Following this post I imagine there will be a lot of anti-mormon sentiments expressed. However, for me The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints provides clear understandable answers to those questions. I know who god is. I know what I must do to return to his presence.
 
Grafy, please ignore the statements by the non-Catholics. When they smell blood they go crazy. Only the Catholic Church has the fullness of truth. Your knowledge of the Catholic Church is weak otherwise you would never consider leaving the Church that Jesus established 2,000 years ago. You probably have had people hitting you with questions condemning the Church that you could not answer. You need to learn more about the Catholic Church to be able to defend her and your faith in her. Go to a Catholic bookstore and find a book that explains Catholicism like “Catholicism for Dummies”. Also, Catholic Answers home can answer many of your questions. Take your time and pray. God Bless.
 
Ricko is right on the money! Sometimes it takes someone embarassing us (as it did for me) to stand up for the Church and what she teaches! As to our LDS friend, I would only ask on what/whose authority do you place your faith? The Truth about the foundation of The Catholic Church is historically irrefutable, one only needs to check it out–as I did–that is why I converted!! God Bless you all!!
 
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