Is Being Catholic A Challenge?

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For me, the easy part of being Catholic is attending mass. But being reminded of what Jesus wants or even requires of us(His disciples) seems quite a challenge for me. Forgiveness, living the Beatitudes, love of God and our neighbor etc. How challenging is it to be a Catholic in today’s world?
 
Very, and it’s only going to get worse as the persecution becomes stronger. As we were told at Mass today, if the government passes a law that goes against God’s law, you do not obey the law, even if there are consequences.

If one finds being a Catholic “easy” then they’re doing it wrong.
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
Very, and it’s only going to get worse as the persecution becomes stronger. As we were told at Mass today, if the government passes a law that goes against God’s law, you do not obey the law, even if there are consequences.

If one finds being a Catholic “easy” then they’re doing it wrong.
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Agreed.
Luke: 18:8 But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

This scripture haunts me! Of course, as Catholics we’ve been challenged in our faith, even til martyrdom. Today’s secular society mocks us, degrades us, tries to coerce us. (Lately so many people have approached me asking for more definition of our beloved Pope’s statements. I pray that the Holy Spirit guides every word that comes out of my mouth in response.) I am grateful for our Creed, which defines us in our faith. As a people, we should pray this prayer with as much fervor as we can muster, and live it as best we can.

I believe that we are called to understand and live our faith much better than we have in the past. As things get crazier and crazier out there (and it is) I pray that we stand in unity as the Bride of Christ … one … holy … CATHOLIC … apostolic.
 
I was born just prior to WW II, and being Catholic could be bad in the '40’s and 50’s, unless you lived in a primarily Catholic neighborhood. It has gotten a LOT worse in the past 30 years, and seems to get worse yet every year. It has never been easy – how “easy” did the Apostles have it?? But it is going to be worth it in the end. Praise God!
 
Being Catholic is easy. It’s the world that makes things hard.
 
mexolic said:
For me, the easy part of being Catholic is attending mass. But being reminded of what Jesus wants or even requires of us(His disciples) seems quite a challenge for me. Forgiveness, living the Beatitudes, love of God and our neighbor etc. How challenging is it to be a Catholic in today’s world?
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It is exhausting… being very honest. Not only is it a challenge in and of itself - but also all the other “Christians” that don’t think we are Christian and we have to defend ourselves all the time. There are times that I miss being non-denominational, it was so much easier. But you know there is this thing called truth and its cousin - conscience…

Oh well, why save up treasures in this life when we can’t take them with us?

Let’s store up for heaven! And a good will for those we leave behind ;).
 
Jesus never promised it would be easy – just that he would be with us “always”, so we just have to get through this life, then we will hopefully receive the reward for being “good and faithful servants”. Servants in the First Century were often badly treated, even beaten, but if they were “good servants” they were eventually granted their reward. If not in this life, then, thank God, in the next!
 
Yes, but it will be worth it if we endure to the end :heaven:

We live in a secular world. How can it not be a challenge unless you are more isolated from the rest of the world than the average Catholic? Even then, you have your own mind that you have to deal with. I feel fortunate that at least, where I am from, we don’t have to be worried about being killed just for being Catholic like some of our brothers and sisters.
 
Yes, it’s a challenge if you live with a non-catholic. But it is so worth it. At one point early on I was ready to give it up thinking any christian church would do. Then we read the bible together as an family activity. Me-because I never had read the bible, him-to poke holes in my belief system. Finally, I came to realize that the Catholic church is the one for me because it has existed from the very beginning when Christ walked the earth and was started by Christ’s own words (and sacrifice) so why would I go somewhere else. Let them persecute. It will be worth it in the end.
Lord, thank you for loving me into existence. Thank you for your plan of salvation. Thank you for Jesus, and Mary, and Joseph and all the angels and saints. Amen
 
No. It is a gift and a privilege. Of course I’m in RCIA. I attend daily Mass as often as I can and of course Sunday Mass and I cannot tell you the peace it brings me. It is overwhelming. Jesus is in the Eucharist and we get to receive him in communion every day. (I can’t though…yet.) We have the gift of the Sacraments. We have beautiful prayers for every situation in life you can imagine…both the good and the bad. We can pray to the Saints who walked the Earth. We have Mary to intercede our prayers to Christ and to be our own mother and comfort us. We can sit in Adoration in silence and be with Jesus. If you have doubts about Catholicism just go and sit in Adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament for one hour in silence and your doubts will be gone. Catholicism is full of history and dates back to the Apostles. Everyday you will find treasures, knowledge and life lessons in the sacred scriptures.

Yes. We live in a secular world and there is sin and temptation all around us. Everyday we must refrain from this evilness and pray always. Yes it is hard to avoid sin since it is thrown in our face constantly. But God loves us so much and wants the best for us and leads us to Him and away from sin through prayer. He gave us free will. When we do fall from grace we have the Sacrament of Confession so we can confess our sins to God through a Priest.

It is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Pray always. Live a simple, quiet, generous, prudent, happy and peaceful life. Pray the Rosary everyday. Follow the rules of the Church and everything will be glorious. Yes we will all experience death’s in our families. We will be sick, in pain, lonely, depressed, suffer from addiction, etc. But we have Jesus who is beside us every minute of our day. His eyes are 10 times stronger than the sun and He sees both our suffering and our happiness. Trust in Him for peace and relief. Pray always.

God Bless You! 🙂
 
I believe that being a Catholic is a challenge, but that the hardest spiritual battle to fight is within, no in the world. Even though we live in a relatively secular society, I think confusing that with living in a society that persecutes us for our faith is a great disrespect to people living in countries where they suffer true persecution. We may have issue with the government or “society”, but no one criminalizes our faith. People are ridiculed for everything from their hair color to how much they weigh and I don’t believe it’s fair to say that Catholics or Christians are persecuted in the United States today.

The world has always been the world and I think we should feel blessed that we are able to freely live our faith, participate in the mass, and wear our religious symbols without real fear of repercussions. We may meet unpleasant people along the way, but that’s not because we’re Catholic; it’s because we’re human.

I truly believe that the greatest struggles are internal: cultivating spiritual discipline and training our faith to be unwavering. For some people, it’s easy to thank God when times are good but as soon as they hit a bump in the road, they feel abandoned or disillusioned. I think I fall into that category and it is a constant struggle. For other people, turning to God is really only possible in hard times. This is perfectly grounded in psychology. Did you know that humans tend to make internal attributions for positive outcomes (I got an A on this exam because I studied and deserve it), but make external attributions for negative outcomes (This happened to me because I have bad luck or God willed it)? I think the struggle is different for different people, but it is ever present.

I think God reminds us so many time to “Not be Afraid” in the Scriptures because He knows we are prone to it. We need constant spiritual nourishment or our faith suffers. I think having the fortitude to say “Yes” to God every day, the good days AND the bad ones, is a big part of it. Finding the courage to bring our petitions before our Lord, to ask for the intercession of our most Blessed Mother and the Saints, and to do so with confidence is a great task that only gets easier when we humble ourselves and learn that struggling is normal and is what makes our faith so rewarding. If it were easy, everyone would do it. But that’s what makes the prospect of salvation so, so worthwhile.
 
mexolic said:
…Forgiveness, living the Beatitudes, love of God and our neighbor etc…
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The forgiveness and love our neighbor parts are extremely challenging sometimes.

Hate the sin, love the sinner. I find this one really hard.
 
. We may have issue with the government or “society”, but no one criminalizes our faith.
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That’s actually not true in the US. While Catholicism isn’t downright illegal, it is illegal in several states to practice its moral teachings, especially homosexual “marriages”. There are a number of business owners who have been targeted because they have refused to have anything to do with clients’ homosexual “marriages” who are now facing fines and jail time. There is also the HHS mandate that requires Catholic organizations to pay for its employees’ abortions, birth control, etc. If you refuse, you are fined several thousands of dollars or face jail time.
 
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