Left the church for 30 years. Come back and now confused!

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Guys, I met Violapat in the “Meet and Greet” thread. Read her post here and help her.

…really try not to debate too much if you can help it because she will be reading it all and might get very confused (I underlined the part that concerned me most).
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violapat:
Hi, Contemplating on returning to the Catholic Church after 30 years. Im 48 yrs old and joined a charismatic/pentecostal faith during those years. I have visited the Catholic Church twice recently and honestly felt very lost. SOOOOO much has changed. Felt a little overwhelmed. If I choose to continue going, not really sure how to begin my Catholic walk again. I was reading posts about confirmation and confession…geesh overwhelmed. I barely remember confirmation and don’t remember how to go to confession. Like I said, feeling totally lost here.
I would love to hear anyones suggestions.
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Keep coming back Violapat, everything will eventually make sense.
 
Find a traditional parish before you start believing the current madness is a good thing for the Catholic Church.
 
Not that it matters but by the I am a woman. What do you mean by a traditional church>>? Now I am wondering if the church I attended was traditional or not? What is a non traditional church like?
 
violapat said:
Not that it matters but by the I am a woman. What do you mean by a traditional church>>? Now I am wondering if the church I attended was traditional or not? What is a non traditional church like?
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Please do excuse me for that. I edited the original message just now. It no longer refers to you as a man. I wish you all the best
 
violapat said:
Now I am wondering if the church I attended was traditional or not?
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Here are a couple of churches in your area that are traditional, and offer the Traditional Latin Mass at the times shown:

Diocese of Saint Augustine

32201 - JACKSONVILLE - Immaculate Conception Church 121 E. Duvall St
Sun 8 am
Pho (904) 359-0331
icjax.org/
(Fr Antonio Leon)

32258 - JACKSONVILLE - St Joseph’s Parish 11730 Old St. Augustine Rd
Sun 11 am
Pho (904) 268-5422

honneurs.free.fr/Wikini/wakka.php?wiki=FloridE
 
Those two are very far from me. I attended the Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Ft. Caroline Rd.
 
Hi Violapat… the people that told you to go to a traditional church probably did so because this was posted in the “Traditional Catholicism” forum.

Anyways, I myself started going to mass about 2 and half years ago. And, I didn’t really know what was going on either. I’d advise you to keep going and don’t feel any pressure. Plenty of people in the Church you go to were in your exact same boat at one time… they started coming back to the Church and were lost.

Now, they’re acclimated and used to everything going on. But, trust me, no one’s looking around seeing who can say the Our Father or all the prayers.

Anyways, the big change is that the Mass was first translated into English from Latin in the mid-60’s. And, starting in November of 2011 the Church actually implemented a new edition of the English. It was a new translation.

Anyways… if your church has plastic cards, pick those up and study those. Those have all the prayers and responses on them. If there aren’t any plastic cards, just don’t worry about the responses. You’ll get the hang of them eventually. Or, you could find them online or something.

I’d just say keep going to the Church you’re going to. Unless you are interested in a more traditional Church… and by more traditional most people mean that the priest says the Latin Mass there. Although, my personal advice would be that you’d be 10x more lost in Latin Mass parishes than the standard ones which celebrate the Novus Ordo Mass (the one in English).

Hope that clarifies things a bit. Keep asking questions if you have them. This is definitely the place to come.
 
violapat said:
Not that it matters but by the I am a woman. What do you mean by a traditional church>>? Now I am wondering if the church I attended was traditional or not? What is a non traditional church like?
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Best wishes as you sort it all out!!
 
Hi ViolaPat,

I have come back to Catholicism recently, too, so I understand how it could be confusing, especially when browsing this site, which has many accomplished and dedicated Catholics. However, if you feel the church drawing you back, I would follow your heart! I suggest beginning by attending weekly mass at your local Catholic church. Because a newly translated edition of the mass was implemented in November of 2011, a lot of people are struggling to remember the correct responses so, if you feel lost–you are not alone! My church has a printed sheet in each pew to assist in the responses. Believe me, though, once you start attending, it will get easier. And no-one will notice if you aren’t saying the correct response or standing/kneeling in time.

This is my first post to CAF so I am by no means an expert or even competent to give advice, but I just wanted to suggest the same thing as Semper Zelare–keep coming back! The Catholic faith and traditions are really beautiful. Take it slowly if you have to, and make sure to spend a lot of time in prayer to ascertain God’s will for you.

As for your question about confession, I recently went to my first confession in years and I was very nervous. My church has pamphlets in the back which explain how to examine your conscience and how to recite the Act of Contrition. But honestly, when you do decide to go to confession, simply tell the Priest that you are nervous and that you don’t quite remember what to do. He will help you along. Or you can google search or look here on CAF on how to make a good confession. It helped me to write a list of everything and bring it in with me. I burned the list when I was done (at home, of course) and it felt amazing.

Don’t be discouraged on this forum if you find yourself disagreeing with someone or not understanding something. The traditions and teachings can be difficult to comprehend and be overwhelming sometimes, but the message of the Church has not changed in the last 30 years since you’ve left–it’s a message of love, truth, forgiveness, and hope. God bless.
 
Not the same thing as being there in person of course , but you can watch the Mass on EWTN too.🙂 and of course go to the nearest Church also.
 
prettiefly said:
Here are a couple of churches in your area that are traditional, and offer the Traditional Latin Mass at the times shown:

Diocese of Saint Augustine

32201 - JACKSONVILLE - Immaculate Conception Church 121 E. Duvall St
Sun 8 am
Pho (904) 359-0331
icjax.org/
(Fr Antonio Leon)

32258 - JACKSONVILLE - St Joseph’s Parish 11730 Old St. Augustine Rd
Sun 11 am
Pho (904) 268-5422

honneurs.free.fr/Wikini/wakka.php?wiki=FloridE
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Hey! 🙂 it’s pretty cool seeing my mom’s old church listed! Immaculate Conception in Jax is a wonderful church! My mom went there, but has now moved back to San DIego so now attends another. She misses that parish dearly. I have never been there and have only seen pictures. Physically, it’s beautiful. I love the two big angel Holy Water fonts as you walk in. My mom tells me that she always loved the blessing of the pets day. Everyone shows up with their cats, dogs, birds, etc. outside in a line to have their pet blessed by the Pastor. Isn’t that great?! 🙂

It’s so wonderful that you are returning. I was absent for a bit too, it has been wonderful teaching myself even more. I know so much more now than before I left for a bit. Every day I thank God for being a part of the Catholic Church. When in church, I listen to every word of the Liturgy, knowing so much went into those words through the centuries.

My sister is returning like you as well. She had a few bumps, was confused too. I ask her to pray. God will help your adjustment, He will strengthen your faith. He will make you delight in going to church.

I truly say this from my heart: Welcome back to the Faith of the Strong and the True.

God Bless You Always
 
Zundrah said:
Guys, I met Violapat in the “Meet and Greet” thread. Read her post here and help her.

…really try not to debate too much if you can help it because she will be reading it all and might get very confused (I underlined the part that concerned me most).

Keep coming back Violapat, everything will eventually make sense.
Click to expand...
I left the Church in the sixties, pre-VII, and started my attempts to return in the nineties. I say started my attempts because the Liturgy had changed so much I could not even believe it was still the Catholic church. It took me roughly ten years, several attempts and countless rosaries to recover my faith. Finding a TLM parish run by the FSSP has finally stabilized my faith and brought me comfort. Don’t give up.
 
I too came back to the Church after after being gone for over 30 years. It’s funny, isn’t it, how God let’s you know it’s time to come home?
Anyway, one of the things I did till I felt more comfortable was to sit more toward the back of the church so I could watch what others were doing and follow along without feeling like I was standing front and center. And I definitely followed along with the missal. If you look in it, it has everything you need and the best part (at least in our missal) is that it’s in order! So helpful!
So let me say, welcome home! from another revert. Trust me, you’ll be glad you came back. And what the other poster said about all the regulars being a little lost and stumbling too since the recent changes is true. We still have LOADS of people who are still saying “And also with you.” 😃
But hang in there, pray and speak to the priest when you’re ready to really immerse yourself in this. When I went to confession for the first time after returning, I was SO scared, not to mention lost about how to do it. I told the priest (while I was kneeling in the confessional) and he just walked me through it step by step. He made something that was potentially so difficult into the smoothest thing I could imagine.
So, bottom line - talk to the priest and trust in God. Not necessarily in that order. 😉
 
ViolaPat, you have been given a lot of good advice. Go to weekly Mass, you are just a bit younger than I am so I am guessing you had a lot of warm fuzzy CCD classes so, check to see if your local parish has a “Coming Home” session or even attending RCIA would be a good start, even though you are not converting.

As for Confession and not remembering how, not to worry, your local Priest will help you through the how and may even help you with your examination of conscience. I suggest you make an appointment for your first Confession so you have the time to do so. Your Priest will be thrilled to help you (or should be). I know mine are because they talk about the thrill they get when a person who has been away for a long time comes to them (they do not reveal any details except that someone has been gone for a long time and are now home, my Parish is huge so it would be hard to figure out who that is just from that).

Confirmation, you remember going and being Confirmed, it has happened. Going to the classes I suggested above can help you with this.

So, in the end I encourage you to seek out more education. Even those of us who have never strayed (for years, we all stray to some extent) learning about our Faith, God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit is a lifelong pursuit. The more I know the more I know I don’t know much :D.

Here is a source for all of us, even has mp3 files so we can listen: kofc.org/un/en/cis/index.html

God Bless,
Brenda V.
 
While the classes are a great idea, if you are already Confirmed, all you really need to do is to go to Confession and you can jump right back in. Whether it is a traditional parish/priest or a more modern one that you meet in Confession, just tell him you have been away for a long time and ask him to help you through your Confession. I know that our priest has mentioned that he has done this several times and has a “routine”. It won’t bother him at all that you are out of practice.

Welcome back!
 
Hi ViolaPat! Welcome home!! I too came back to the Church after 27yrs at 45 yrs old. I came back home because I missed Jesus in the Eucharist. I think it was the only teaching that I really understood thanks to my dear father.

I did not know what was going on at mass and was really lost. I decided to look in the bulletin and find a group to join so I could start to meet people and understand my faith better. I joined a group called the Legion of Mary and they taught me everything about our Catholic faith. It was amazing and I fell in love with Christ and His Church. I cannot believe how little my Catholic education had taught me about Catholicism! :rolleyes: I went to confession for the first time as an adult and it truly gave me peace and joy.

If you cannot find people to teach you your faith then you can listen to EWTN on Catholic Radio 1050AM or watch EWTN T.V. You can also study the history of the Catholic Church.

God bless you in your journey back!
 
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