Living a Simple Catholic Life

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Seeking_Wisdom

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I want to live a simple and good Catholic life. it seems that once people were able to do this; life was hard but simple. Is it possible to lead such a life? I am surrounded by intellectuals and theologians which provides for a fuller understanding of the Catholic faith. However, it is so easy to get caught up in the research & understanding of the faith that we forget how to live it.

Any suggestions? Is is possible to just BE?
 
Seeking Wisdom:
I want to live a simple and good Catholic life. it seems that once people were able to do this; life was hard but simple. Is it possible to lead such a life? I am surrounded by intellectuals and theologians which provides for a fuller understanding of the Catholic faith. However, it is so easy to get caught up in the research & understanding of the faith that we forget how to live it.

Any suggestions? Is is possible to just BE?
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throw away (or at least disconnect) the TV… volunteer for organizations that deal with the poor… it’s simple yes, but you will experience the kind of life and love you never knew and you will see the face of God in places you never dreamed… there is life and light out there… 👍
 
Many of the saints did this, choosing to avoid the intellectual side of this. Saint Francis of Assisi initially banned his brothers from seeking higher education so they would focus on the simple life of liviing the faith. We a good biography of St. Francis.

The key is to get your priorities straight and understand and live the spirit of the Catholic Life.

You can also try these meditiations that I have written:
My religious order, the Secular Franciscan Order, an order for lay people, tries to live the simple catholic life. “From the gospel to life, from life to the gospel.”
 
I would also like to live the simple life. I keep getting caught up in worldly things however. I have so many responsibilities. How does one live in the world and not get caught up in it? I don’t have time, it seems. I’ll check out those links. I already don’t have TV, but the internet is a big distraction.
 
I understand exactly what you mean! I find forums such as these to be a big distraction. We get on and discuss and debate every petty detail to death. People even invent bizarre hypothetical situations for us to debate the morality of. Every rumor, hearsay, and contraversy is posted in bold letters.

The more I get caught up in religious forums, the less time, energy, patience etc. I have for living my faith. I find myself muttering inside my head over whatever the hottest discussion is. I rush to the computer to check in on my favorite threads. I get to the end of the day and realize how little time and energy I put into my faith, but the huge amount of time and energy I spent defending it. how ironic.

Sometimes. I just have to stay away from the discussions and focus on reality.

Best to you,

cheddar
 
Sometimes it’s hard for me to live a simple Christian life.

My whole life is so entertwined with Jesus Christ, that my teachers want me to refrain from talking about it since not all people are religious.

And many of my Christian friends are Protestant or religious, that I always seem to have to debate or discuss various Catholic doctrines and practices.

It’s hard, but sometimes I do try. But in such an environment, it is hard in itself.
 
I think it is possible to live a simple life (like St Francis), but it’s not necessarily a good thing. Coz on the complete other end of the spectrum, you’ve got people like St Thomas Aquinas and St Ignatius who were very scholarly - and yet they were saints too. The thing is that each of us has a ‘perfect’ amount of simpleness and complicatedness for us to live our lives in to be the best we can. Can you imagine if St Thomas Aquinas had decided to live a simple life like St Francis, what a great amount of talent would have been wasted? It’s not just a matter of doing the theology for its own sake - it can have just as much a positive effect as people who physically get out there and help poor people, even though it’s not as obvious to the eye. Theology helps to give the church as a whole a direction, and the answers to questions which, even if they haven’t come up now, might be very important in the future. Basically I’m saying don’t idealise the simple life so much that you don’t see the value in the theology and etc. anymore.

But if you feel like your life is too complicated, then it probably is. The people who become theologians are people who love the complicated enviornment and a very suited to it. But if you hang around with them too much, you may find that it’s not exactly your ideal environment. So you just have to find what level is best for you - just because it’s not with the thologians doesn’t mean that it is with the birds and the trees. Somewhere in between will be just fine for you.

Now, how do you get to this middle state? Like I suggested above, it’s partly who you hang out with, but there are other factors. It’s a lot like a thermostat, sense and response. You’ll be able to tell when things feel too complicated, so then you do things which help you to become more simple. And vice versa (for when things feel too simple). So sometimes, you won’t look at the forums or the TV or read the catechism for a while and concentrate on helping people. Then you’ll start to feel a thirst to get involved in all that other stuff again and come back on the forums. Then after that thirst is gone… etc. By doing this you’ll “home in” on your perfect environment.
 
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cheddarsox:
I understand exactly what you mean! I find forums such as these to be a big distraction. We get on and discuss and debate every petty detail to death. People even invent bizarre hypothetical situations for us to debate the morality of. Every rumor, hearsay, and contraversy is posted in bold letters.

The more I get caught up in religious forums, the less time, energy, patience etc. I have for living my faith. I find myself muttering inside my head over whatever the hottest discussion is. I rush to the computer to check in on my favorite threads. I get to the end of the day and realize how little time and energy I put into my faith, but the huge amount of time and energy I spent defending it. how ironic.

Sometimes. I just have to stay away from the discussions and focus on reality.

Best to you,

cheddar
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Amen!! 🙂
 
Thanks for this thread…so many things to think about, talk about.

My first addition is to the comment regarding time spent on the forums–boy is this addictive!! I have learned from my few posts in the last few weeks how I too am turning to my “internet friends” much more than those around me. Every morning the past four or five days I’ve tried to get myself to stop going here first but saving this for the “treat” after all my other work has been completed. I’ve also learned how abrupt and one-sided I can be! I’m at the point now to take this concern to my best friend, Jesus, in prayer–should have done that before I began…but that’s a weakness.

Leading a simple life…does “simple” mean “non-intellectual”?

Maybe I’m just too naive or ignorant but I see simple more on a materialistic side. I try hard to eat/serve simple meals; dress in whatever clothes we have and rarely buy new; the house has furniture we need and religious art and child-made trinkets for decoration; tv is a bare minimum in our home; only get the weekend newspapers; kids are not involved in all activities. We have a good deal of family time–enough to read scripture together four nights per week.

But as far as staying away from philosophy, theology or theological discussion, I’ve not really thought of becoming simple in that way. I love to read about and discuss faith and life. Maybe I do need to follow Francis more in speaking less.

Thanks again for the thread. I look forward to reading other replys tomorrow. I’m going to pray that I can stay away from this forum until tomorrow…coming here once a day should be more than enough for me! Pray for me!

Jesus, I Trust in You!
 
Read the book Happy Are You Poor by Fr. Dubay…you won’t regret it!
 
on a journey:
Leading a simple life…does “simple” mean “non-intellectual”?
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Not usually, no.
on a journey:
Maybe I’m just too naive or ignorant but I see simple more on a materialistic side. I try hard to eat/serve simple meals; dress in whatever clothes we have and rarely buy new; the house has furniture we need and religious art and child-made trinkets for decoration; tv is a bare minimum in our home; only get the weekend newspapers; kids are not involved in all activities. We have a good deal of family time–enough to read scripture together four nights per week.

But as far as staying away from philosophy, theology or theological discussion, I’ve not really thought of becoming simple in that way. I love to read about and discuss faith and life. Maybe I do need to follow Francis more in speaking less.
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I think you are on the right path here.
 
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spiritblows:
I would also like to live the simple life. I keep getting caught up in worldly things however. I have so many responsibilities. How does one live in the world and not get caught up in it? I don’t have time, it seems. I’ll check out those links. I already don’t have TV, but the internet is a big distraction.
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that is the charism of Benedictine Oblates, to learn how to apply the simplicity and order of the monastic rule to daily life in the world. I am sure other third order movements for laity have similar goals, If any Catholic has trouble making time for spiritual duties I suggest as I have many times before that the next book you read should be Time Management for Catholics from Sophia Institute Press by David Durand. If we are not making time for our duty to God, then we are in violation of the first 3 commandments.
 
well, there’s always a favorite quote of the saints (which I can’t remember, cause I know so very little about them)

“Preach the faith at all times, use words if necessary”.

Stop talking to the people who already know it, and start talking to the people who don’t know it. Except, don’t let them know what your doing. That’s my favorite thing to do. Help the poor, needy, unloved soul out of their mental anguish and push them towards the lord without ever telling them I’m doing it (or waiting a while). It’s fun to make them realize it on their own. Others you just have to tell flat out, and you can help them too. I used to have a drug problem and go to N.A. Although I see the benefits of N.A., the fellowship shared and the “higher power” they speak of is not the same as the catholic church. These are people, some, who would never come to church. It’s almost like a cult… I get to deal with my residing drugs issues, and get to meet people to try and convert. They teach me things, I teach them. Better than arguing with someone who things they know it all. When someone starts quoting scripture boastfully it makes me wanna run away. I love scripture, but it pains my ears to hear it explained falsely.

Go out into the streets and be the ear for people to listen to, be the friend who never gets anything in return. Be that one who never gets to talk. I know I never get to talk, that’s why I come on these things. Cause I’m always listening to others problems, and slipping little bits of wisdom in there. Either that or just alone with God…Mary…etc.

I don’t know, I lost track. I tried to answer, but I’m unsure of what your asking.

I’m the only 23 year old I know this devoted in my parrish. I’m always hanging out in study groups and such with people twice my age if not three and four times my age. I see a lot of grey hair and wrinkled faces. No one my age wants to be Catholic. They wanna get drunk and screw. In fact, so do I, but I don’t. There needs to be more fellowship in the catholic church. Protestant churches have support up the ying yang, but everybody wants to be down with them when there’s not much rules (like, no confession, birth control is ok, etc.)
 
I think the problems for me are
A) A lack of discipline… Someone mentioned spending too much time here. I too am finding this place a lure away from the more simple things, such as playing the piano, watching the stars, reading a book, knitting a scarf
B) Lack of time… I have so many worldly things to attend to.
C) Feeling overwhelmed… I find the world overstimulating. I am a weak, inadequete person in many ways
D) Materialism… My quest for economic goals detracts from my professed goal of living a more simple life.
E) I’m a cloddish oaf who complicates my life unneccessarily by my thoughtless deeds and actions.
 
I don’t spend enough time here! 😃 For me, this place reminds me of the most important thing in life : God. It’s mostly everything else that distracts me, including my homepage, Google, the doorway to distraction. Here I am finally able to cast out my worries and troubles and annoyances with life and just lay them before God.

I wish I could have a simple life, but my job doesn’t really allow it, and I can’t really quit without becoming homeless.

I think a simple life would actually allow me to be more intellectual, as I would have more time to reflect on the mysteries of God and more time to dedicate to prayer. But it’s not like a can really afford a quiet home in the country or anything. 😃
 
To me a simple life is about being selective in what you spend your time on.

With most things in the world, listen to your heart and try to hear what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you. If a particular prayer resonates in your heart, pray it frequently and well. If a particular spiritual word brings God to mind, just say that word. Usually something that actually works for you is simply done (or done simply).
Remember that you have a whole life to lead with many facets. Its not about doing one great thing and a lot of mediocre stuff, but it is about doing all things in your life with purpose and thankfulness, no matter how small. When you do one thing slowly and well, every time that you do it, then your life seems to get simpler of its own accord.
As I heard Fr. John Corapi say, you could spend your whole life just meditating on the first two words of the ‘Our Father’. How much simpler could it be than that?
 
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cheddarsox:
I understand exactly what you mean! I find forums such as these to be a big distraction. We get on and discuss and debate every petty detail to death. People even invent bizarre hypothetical situations for us to debate the morality of. Every rumor, hearsay, and contraversy is posted in bold letters.

The more I get caught up in religious forums, the less time, energy, patience etc. I have for living my faith. I find myself muttering inside my head over whatever the hottest discussion is. I rush to the computer to check in on my favorite threads. I get to the end of the day and realize how little time and energy I put into my faith, but the huge amount of time and energy I spent defending it. how ironic.

Sometimes. I just have to stay away from the discussions and focus on reality.

Best to you,

cheddar
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I find this to be true, as well. I have taken time off from the forums, limited my time on the forums, etc., but I ALWAYS come back in the same way as before—too much time here!!
I’d hate to cut myself off completely as it is enjoyable, and I have learned a lot, but I have yet to find a way that doesn’t take up a lot of my precious time.
 
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timcath:
Remember that you have a whole life to lead with many facets. Its not about doing one great thing and a lot of mediocre stuff, but it is about doing all things in your life with purpose and thankfulness, no matter how small. When you do one thing slowly and well, every time that you do it, then your life seems to get simpler of its own accord.
As I heard Fr. John Corapi say, you could spend your whole life just meditating on the first two words of the ‘Our Father’. How much simpler could it be than that?
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Very true! 👍
 
I grew up and still live in the country, so although I feel very well off, my life would be what many of my friends have called simple or old fashioned. Most of my clothes come form Goodwill or my older cousins. I watch only a few hours of TV a week (though it was, unfortunately, my babysitter as a child…grew up really smart form watching Jeopardy though XD) and most of that is as background noise while I’m drawing or painting.

I don’t have a car, I have a bike. Most of the things I cherish are of sentimental value; my great grandmothers porcelain bells, stuffed animals I recieved in the hospital. Even my laptop, the ite with the most earthly value, was a gift from my father on being the only one of his children to graduate,so I take ridiculously good care of it!

I don’t have or do a lot of things that others my age have. I’m entertained by making up stories, going to the dog park, reading a good book outside in the summer. I don’t need new this and new that to be happy. And if something comes along that i DO wish for, I think about it. I wonder how much I want it. Usually, after a while, I realize, I didn’t want it so much afterall, and if I would still like it, it usually means it’s something I’ll value much more.
 
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