Kind of new catholic (sort of) with some questions

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marchehare

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If this is in the wrong topic I am sincerely sorry.

I have been a confirmed catholic for going on two years but never really “took it seriously” till this past month when I had a series of events happen to me that put me under great stress emotionally and physically I can say this past month has been the hardest in my life to push through. In all honesty I didn’t learn much about being a catholic until everything happened to me. At the time I saw a lot of signs and I began to pray with my wife who is devotedly catholic and I started to enjoy praying and things in my life started to change for me. From where I was broken I felt better than I have earlier in the month and have been excited for mass/praying the rosary and taking on novenas with my wife together in addition to doing my best to hear god. The problem I face right now is how does one differentiate a sign or word from god from your own subconscious or a coincidence?
My example would be this morning after praying the Rosary I asked god if he could give me a sign that hes listening and that im on the right path. Later that day a friend messaged me saying hes been reading the bible more lately and asked me if we could talk about religion, and this was from a friend ive known a long time and never in our time knowing one another did we ever talk about religion. It stood out to me greatly, would one consider this a sign or just a coincidence? I am new to prayer and new to trying to hear gods voice and work please forgive me if anything I say sounds disrespectful or out of the ordinary.
My next question would be “where the heck do I even start?” to learn more. I am currently looking through the youcat and getting a hold of the full catechism however where do you really start to learn about god? There is so much in the bible and it seems so daunting to start reading the entire thing. Are there any forms of media I can use that would give me a better start on how to pray better? I’ve talked to my priest and although I love him dearly the extent of my questions are never fully answered due to time constraints, and ive talked to my god parents and that has helped as well but I feel I need to expand to a great catholic community online in order to broaden how to grow my faith.

I am sorry if my questions seem out of place, even a part of me is still a skeptic but that is slowly dissolving the more I put myself into trying to learn more. I’m still even learning to pray which at times I feel like im doing wrong.
 
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I don’t believe in coincidence.
The fact that your friend asked to talk about the bible and religion later on in the day like that is very much the kind of thing I’d expect to happen. I would warn you about asking for signs though, we shouldn’t, because we can be mislead by them since we can’t be sure on their origin so to speak. Praying for help and assistance is great and if you notice what you might call a sign then fine, perhaps that’s how the help has been forthcoming. I’d suggest praying for an increase in faith is a great idea.

I’d also recommend firstly reading the Gospels and whilst doing so bearing in mind that this is Truth, very important. I expect you’ll feel a desire to read more widely after that.

CAF is a good place to visit of course. Lots of resources available and you can always use the search button to explore various questions already answered.
God bless and help you on your journey.
😊
 
My wife calls coincidenses like yours, God-incidents. In your case I would say that you have had the answer to your question. Personally, When God speaks to me, he usually has to hit me up side the head with a 2X4 to get my attention. I’d say you got off light.

As to learning more:
  1. The Gospels are a good place to start.
  2. Take RCIA, again if you already have. Write down questions during the lessons as they occur and after class ask for further reading to help answer them.
  3. Search Catholic Answers and CAF for areas of current interest.
  4. Goon a retreat.
  5. Do not try everything at once and get yourself burned out.
You have had your knock on the door from God. Remember it and do not let it fade into the background.

Patrick
AMDG
 
If you want to learn more, learn about confraternities, graces, and additional sacramental such as the Saint Benedict medal.

Terms such as “patron saint” their intercessions and relevance/usage of prayer is also relevant. Mystics who became saints are also interesting to learn about. Mysterious powers like Saint Padre Pio being able to be in literally two physical places at once. Victim souls and their relevance is also essential.

We have miracles like Lourdes and Guadalupe, which teach us about earthly visits and miracles involving the blessed Virgin Mary. History, Saint Peter and Saint Paul being buried at and near the Vatican is essential to understand the keys in the Vatican flag.

We have an Exorcist who wrote books, Fr. Gabriele Amorth.

Learn about all this and if you want more when you are done send me a message!
 
marchehare said:
My next question would be “where the heck do I even start?” to learn more.
Click to expand...
I started on the intellectual/educational side first. I needed to understand the why before I was able to get a grasp on my prayer life.

I started by filling up my gap time with listening to Catholic Podcasts. You can get these on your phone and listen to them in your car on your commute to work or while on the tractor cutting grass, etc…

My favorites are.

Called to Communion
Catholic Answers Live
Open Line Monday

If you want to start by reading the Bible I would start with John’s Gospel. If you go to St. Paul Center


You can listen to the free Bible Study course first then read the gospel. They have many more courses their that will help. Dr. Hahn’s Journey through Scripture series was awesome. He usually let’s you do them for free during lent.

If you are looking to build yourself up as a Catholic man, I just led a group of 10 men through the 30 day Rise Challenge at www.menriseup.org and it was life changing for me and them.

Hope these help,

Message me if you want to discuss any of these sites in detail.

God Bless
 
Are there any particular areas of Catholicism you want to learn more about? Knowing that would help with recommendations.
 
For me right now its more about learning about prayer and how to go about it in receiving guidance. At the moment I just finished reading Matthew and moving onto the next book in the set I received so im slowly learning more about the faith while also looking into the catechism.
 
marchehare said:
For me right now its more about learning about prayer and how to go about it in receiving guidance.
Click to expand...
For me, the advice I’ve heard is to not over think it. It’s a conversation with God. So talk naturally.

I also recall (though I can’t rmember if it was a homily or something I read) someone saying that God wants to be part of our life, to hear from us how we are even though He already knows. Share with Him your joys, your worries.

What book setis it that you’re reading?
 
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