In Need of Help

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DylanFTW

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Yes I am…(Please do not lock/close this)

I find myself at a cross roads at the moment and I figured I could turn to people online.

My name is Dylan and I am 14 years of age. I am from San Antonio Texas where there are many catholics in my area. I acutally attend a catholic school. I was born and raised catholic but as I turned 13, I started to feel different. Many questions can upon my mind like “Is God Real?”

This has been tearing me apart for over 2 years. I have recently claimed myself Agnostic and than Non Demoninational.

After approaching a religion teacher and asking about the subject I was told that I need faith. Where do I get faith? I can’t see how I am supposed to be in some book where stories are made up.

I’ve been told about free will and how God lets me do as I please. Than what is the point of religion.

If everything God made was good…where did the Devil come from? He is evil and evil = good. Meaning that God created him, and he is evil. So the Bible is wrong. But if he did create him, why evil? Does that mean God could be evil as well?

It’s crazy to me to see how many people acutally believe in a man that “lives in the sky”. He seems more of an imagerny friend to me for adults.

Once again I am just asking questions that I need some quidence for. So…anyone willing to respond?
 
Faith is a gift from God. Some gain it early in life and some may gain it late. I found my Faith only when I was 42 years old. You still have a long life ahead of you to find your Faith. Don’t rush it, just search for it with love in your heart.

In this Protestant secular nation we live in everyone expects instant results. You must have some “Born Again” experience or you’re not ‘saved’? Don’t believe this bunk. Jesus never promised us instant Faith or a wonderful life. What He did promise us was a great reward if we endured until the end. I have now had countless “Born Again” esperiences in my life, they are just emotions.

Pray and read the Catechism and the Bible. You should pray before and after you read too. Pray as much or more then what you read. Learn how to pray if you don’t know that yet. St. Francis didn’t like to read but he did like to pray.

Learn to pray the rosary correctly. It will take a few months to learn it correctly but when you do, you too will have that “Born Again” experience often when you pray it.

Pray, pray and pray some more. Don’t try to go and find your Faith. Don’t try and force it upon yourself. Jesus is there waiting for you. The Holy Spirit is in you if Baptized. Just stick with prayer. Do everything in Love, your Faith will follow and this will give you ‘hope’ for salvation.

Being a Catholic Christian is not easy, often it is hard. I too have moments when I fear my Faith is weak. What do I do? Simple, I listen to the song “Ave Maria” and think about what Blessed Mary did for us, her obsticles and hardships, the gift she gave us her son Jesus. Just last night I had to listen to it for about 30 minutes. I had that Born Again experience yet again and here I am sharing my Faith with you. Tonight I prayed 2 rosaries (in the Hot Tub @ 104 degrees - Ouch that was hot!) and 3 decades on the virtual rosary here at my PC before writting this.

Try the Virtual Rosary, you may find it will help lead you to Jesus. It helps me often.
 
Thank you for replying Malachi but you’ve got to understand that I go to a Catholic High School where I am in Chapel everyday. It makes it seem as if they are shoving religion down my throat. There is nothing I can do to escape it. I’ve had one of those “born again” feelings you were talking about.

I guess it would be when I was baptised in 6th grade. And than had my first communion the day after.

Also when I was confirmed last year. I felt God speak to me. But after a few days of praying…the effects wore off.

I still need help. Please.
 
the fact that you are struggling with this is in itself a sign that God is pulling at your heart. keep fighting for that…it’s kinda late here and I really really want to reply to your post and I have to wait until tomorrow, but I just wanted to let you know that I have been through the exact same things you described and every pain or frustration will be worth it in the end…just keep your heart open and continue to seek answers, and know that you have an entire Body of Christ praying for you…I’ll try to reply tomorrow, but just know that you’re loved and being called for:) God bless,

Britty
 
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DylanFTW:
Yes I am…(Please do not lock/close this)

I find myself at a cross roads at the moment and I figured I could turn to people online.

My name is Dylan and I am 14 years of age. I am from San Antonio Texas where there are many catholics in my area. I acutally attend a catholic school. I was born and raised catholic but as I turned 13, I started to feel different. Many questions can upon my mind like “Is God Real?”

This has been tearing me apart for over 2 years. I have recently claimed myself Agnostic and than Non Demoninational.

After approaching a religion teacher and asking about the subject I was told that I need faith. Where do I get faith? I can’t see how I am supposed to be in some book where stories are made up.

I’ve been told about free will and how God lets me do as I please. Than what is the point of religion.

If everything God made was good…where did the Devil come from? He is evil and evil = good. Meaning that God created him, and he is evil. So the Bible is wrong. But if he did create him, why evil? Does that mean God could be evil as well?

It’s crazy to me to see how many people acutally believe in a man that “lives in the sky”. He seems more of an imagerny friend to me for adults.

Once again I am just asking questions that I need some quidence for. So…anyone willing to respond?
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Bless you Dylan and welcome to the forums! I remember being at similar crossroads at nearly the same age. Please allow me to share a few snips of what I learned…

You’re right your religion is being shoved down your throat…and that is a very good thing. When I was 14 I thought the same thing. Now 20 years later, I am so glad that happened. You see at 14 we are doubting everything about ourselves. As a teen we tested the boundaries and explored who we are and why we exist. Without our religion to guide us we get drawn into the world that says, “try everything!” and “I can do whatever I want!”

Yes, you have free will. You can do whatever you want. So the question for me was: do you want to go to heaven and live for eternity with God? When I was a teen this question seemed to be filled with a list of don’ts. It didn’t sound fun at all. So, during those years I often followed the ways of the world. I also got the pain and agony that went with the ways of the world.

Yes God created the devil. Do you know who the devil really is? He is an angel who decided to use his free will to rebel against God. God loves him so much that he let him rebel. God loves us all so much that he lets us choose Him instead of forcing us to choose him.

So that brings me back to the original statement. I said that yes, your religion is being forced down your throat and yes, that God does allow us free will to choose Him. The two things don’t seem to make sense do they?

Well, recently my infant son had some health troubles. He wouldn’t eat because it hurt. My son doesn’t have enough information yet to know that he must eat or he will die. So I had to hold him and comfort him and give him medicine and make him eat even when he didn’t feel like it. One small bite at a time, but oh the fuss he’d make! You’d think I was forcing it down his throat!

This time in your life is to grow in knowledge and faith. What is faith? How do you get faith? Ask my son. He now has faith that Mommy and Daddy want what’s best for him. Mommy and Daddy are showing him as he gets older that God, ‘Our Father who art in heaven…’ truly knows what’s best for him.

Bless you in your search, Dylan. Come back often and ask as many questions as you need. If you have certain ones that are really tough, start a thread on just one topic so it is easier to discuss.

P.S. That “man who lives in the sky” is an interpretation by individuals of a passage in the Bible. Trust The Church. She (The Church) knows how to interpret the Bible to avoid these kinds of pitfalls.
 
Dylan, you ask about the devil. He was not evil when God created him! He was an angel, but he chose not to serve God. This choice changed him.

Now, when you say “a man who lives in the sky”–If that were what God is said to be, I would have no faith either! God is so much more than that. He is the origin of all that there is. He made us all, & He loves us all…He loves you, Dylan, enough to die for you!!
Faith is a gift. But we have to accept the gift! We are not puppets on a string…God holds out this wonderful gift, and we have the choice: We can accept this gift, or, like the devil, we can :crying: throw it back in God’s face, like a small child who got the “wrong” toy under the Christmas tree…
Keep praying & let God have a chance to show you what wonderful blessings await you when you choose to follow Him.

God bless.
 
Dylan,
I went through a similar experience when I was your age. I rejected everything that had to do with church and God, although I could never reject the exixtance of God totally. I had to find Him on my own and let Him speak to me. I had to be ready to hear His voice. It was a tough time for me.
But God never let go. He won’t let you down either.
There is a book that you might want to read. It explains simply the reasons for following God and His Church. It is called Yes or No by Peter Kreeft. It is in diologe format so it is a really easy read. Also if you are music minded you might want to try visiting the Teenlife website. There are some very faithful guys there that you might be able to relate to who may be able to answer your questions. They also have some links to some great Catholic comtemporary music.
I will pray for you.
 
Dylan

Just the fact that you are here asking for help is telling. It shows that you indeed have faith. Otherwise, why would you be here? I, too, struggled with faith. Only thing was, I wasn’t raised catholic. My mom is still a baptist. I’ve attended other denominations as well. It took me a long time to consider the catholic church. I had been taught that everything catholic was wrong.

Ask your priest for an understanding spiritual director. Not just any spiritual director will be of help. Some are worse than having none at all. Believe me, I’ve been there!! Hang tough, and know that we are praying for you. :yup:
 
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DylanFTW:
If everything God made was good…where did the Devil come from? He is evil and evil = good. Meaning that God created him, and he is evil. So the Bible is wrong. But if he did create him, why evil? Does that mean God could be evil as well?
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Dylan, I think what you’re asking here is “If God made everything, then where did evil come from?” That’s a very intelligent question and it has been asked by many people.

I’ll try to explain it to you the same way I explained it to my CCD class of 14-year-olds.

Suppose you invented a love potion. Not suppose this potion really worked. It really, really worked! All you had to do is give it to the person you wanted to fall in love with you, and she would fall madly in love with you.

Now suppose there’s a girl you’re just crazy about, but she doesn’t even know you exist. Would you give her the potion?

Every kid in my class said no. When I asked them why, they replied that it wouldn’t be true love. Love always must be chosen. If you gave someone a love potion, you would know it was the love potion that was making the girl love you, not the girl herself.

We cannot truly love God unless we choose to love Him. That’s why God doesn’t force us to love Him. And, since He doesn’t force us to love Him, He gives us a choice whether to love Him or not love Him.

Some choose not to love Him. *That’s where evil comes from. *The devil was made good, but he chose not to love God. God did not create evil, but He did create the possibilty of evil by giving us free will.

Hope this helps!
 
Thank you all so much.

Today while in chapel I choose to do something that would help me grow as an individual. Last night I did in fact pray but this morning…I don’t know what got into me.

I felt as if I didn’t want the Eucharist. Therefore I did not go up to get it althought I have had my first Eucharist. Instead I knelled down and prayed and asked for him to speak to me in anyway to prove to me that he is real and that he does care for me. I need his guidence now more than ever.

Is not going to get the bread wrong even though I have had my first eucharist?
 
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