My faith is being questioned

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sorrowful1

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Recently, I sustained some minor injuries at home and because of it, I’m not able to go out. Nothing serious but I do have to take rest for recovery. Fortunately or unfortunately, I’ve been called up for an interview ( if you’ve been following my post, I’ve asked my fellow Catholics for your intercessory prayers for employment).

I had to postpone the meet up with the manager, and now, the thing is people (non-Christians) tell me " You do pray so much. You should’ve been protected from such injuries in times like these especially when you’re looking for a job!! What do you pray for, girl?".

That literally hurt me. I don’t think injuries like these happen because God isn’t watching over me, but because of my own carelessness. Also, Non-Catholics are there who seriously question my faith, and sometimes amidst all these questioning of my faith, I find myself confused and distracted!!

Has it happened to you?
 
Speaking as a non-Christian, I can only say how rude those people are. If anyone in your life questions your faith, not because of genuine interest but because they’re trying to catch you out/criticise, tell them they need to stop. Especially when you are already in a difficult situation - it’s incredibly unhelpful and quite frankly unnecessary.

I hope you recover soon, and things go well with your job interview.
 
Things like that don’t happen to me because I don’t associate with people who are rude and disrespectful.

If these people are your family or your teacher or someone you can’t get away from , then I am sorry you have to deal with that.

If these people are just “friends” or someone else who is not a necessary part of your life right now, I would suggest you distance yourself from them. If they want to know why, tell them it’s because they disrespected your beliefs and were not supportive when you were having difficulties.

I hope you get well soon and have a good interview.
 
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One thing we know from the Bible and history is that bad things don’t happen to truly religious people.

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That was a joke and is not true at all, of course. Yet it seems to be what many people still think, as if the reason to be religious is to receive many blessings in this life.

I’m sorry for your injuries. I hope you can put the comments of those people out of mind.
 
I pray you get better soon.
For you Psalm 23.

For your friends… all you have to tell them is God has something better for you.

Let them question you as much as they want, you keep your eyes on God and He will lead you on the path to where life is best for you. Remeber that poem Footprints, where the man is walking on the beach with Jesus. I love it because it’s a beautiful way to remember God will always be there for you.
 
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These people are rude and unkind. Friends respect and care for each other. Time to find new friends.
 
Lou2U said:
it’s incredibly unhelpful and quite frankly unnecessary.
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That hits the nail on the head. Make good eye contact and repeat these words to them and as often as you need to.
If you call someone rude, which they are, what happens is that they will get all bristley and annoyed, and keep talking. You can avoid that headache by just saying, Stop, and the above.
 
I want to address the idea that God is this Holy dispenser of good things. Of course He is in that if He should turn away from us in a moment the universe would cease to exist. He does bless us, of course. However, as we get more mature in the faith, we know we have a crucified Lord. It’s when things don’t go our way that we have the opportunity to offer our sufferings to God, united with Christ. That really is the meat and potatoes of the faith. How are we going to manage inconveniences and set backs, disappointments, job loss, illness, etc. Are we going to get mad at God or hang on to Him more fiercely? That’s why the Church offers us saints to look at and be inspired.

These struggles are what we bring on Sunday at Mass, and put on the altar.

That’s what this scripture talks about. From day to day, how are we building? How are we working, for Christ? Yes.

1 Corinthians 3: 11-15
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
 
Of course it happens to me. My brother tried to say that religion is based on faith, and I said that’s not how Catholics look at it. I explained to him, that Catholics don’t believe in faith alone, so we are really interested in ways we can prove our beliefs. I will say though, even though I get frustrated with my brother, he actually is asking a lot of questions about Catholicism, why he couldn’t learn that stuff at the three Catholic schools he went to, is beyond me. I also had a well-meaning ex-girlfriend, that decided that not only did she not want to be Catholic, but she didn’t think I should be either. But I’m still Catholic. I’m never not going to be Catholic. I’ve accepted that bad things are going to happen in my life, I had a parent die when I was a child, so suffering is something that I was prepared for. Although, naturally we want to avoid it, that’s just human. But, Christ didn’t avoid the cross, even though he asked for his father to take his cup from him if it be his will. I think we should embrace suffering, that’s not saying we shouldn’t complain about it, sometimes you need to cry out , but to me suffering does nothing about my faith, because I accept it as part of my faith.
 
sorrowful1 said:
I had to postpone the meet up with the manager, and now, the thing is people (non-Christians) tell me " You do pray so much. You should’ve been protected from such injuries in times like these especially when you’re looking for a job!! What do you pray for, girl?".
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This is why I think that prosperity gospel is harmful to Christianity. It makes people think that you should be Christian because God will give you nice things in this life. If you approach Christianity with that mindset, then your faith will be shattered the first moment you face a real trial, and you’ll end up thinking Christianity is bogus. Jesus didn’t offer us happiness in this life - he promised us the opposite. Christianity teaches you how to endure hardship - how to strive for goodness despite pain and suffering.
 
Some are devout Protestants and i’ve known them since my diaper days. I try to put aside our differences in vision/faith but doesn’t seem to work. For instance, the Protestant friend used to be very persuasive in changing my Catholic beliefs saying, praying/worshipping the Saints and the Virgin Mary is nothing more than just an idolatry. On my part, I haven’t yet said anything about or against Protestantism except asking a lot of questions about her faith but she either ignores it or just gives a monosyllabic answers - which is the reason I’ve never ever thought about the other denomination. I mean, if you want to convince others of your faith, you gotta be willing to get cross questioned, examined and, poked and prodded. But all she does is deny Catholicism. If anyone asks me about mine, I turn into a “prophet”. Haha. Well yes, seriously, I enjoy and I love explaining to others, why I follow a set of dogma that’s different from theirs.
 
Exactly. My non-Christian acquaintances think that I converted to Christianity to be free from life’s many sorrows. No, it’s not that, and when they see me battling sicknesses and whatnot, the curve of their eyebrows go higher than the height of Mount Everest. Oh well, I’m tired of arguing them back that Christ has given me peace and inner strength like nothing had done before.
 
I, for one, will never understand why one would not want others to be a Catholic.
 
I spent around forty two years in the protestant churches. Many were non-denominational. There were several things that caused me to leave evangelical churches. One certainly was the wide acceptance of what I believe is a false teaching. Call it the Word of Faith teaching, prosperity teaching or the blab it and grab it. Seed faith. They all take bits of Scripture and build doctrine out of it. And I might add their leaders are getting rich off it. Sorry, the Gospel is not for sale. Keep the faith and your eyes on the things above God really cares for you and is always at your side in good times and bad.
 
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I want everyone, without exception, to be Catholic. This is why I devote so much of my free time to studying the faith. She kept telling me that Catholicism was “unbiblical”, but would never tell me why. My brother is starting to head in that direction, so at least that is good.
 
A rabbi I happened to see on television jokingly stated that social distancing is a convenient reason not to associate with people you don’t like because they disrespect you.

OP, practice extreme social distancing from these people!
 
No guarantees whatsoever in this life, which is why our hope is in the next even as we seek to live this one to the fullest with whatever time and opportunities God grants us, accepting the good with the bad. Wherever we are are and whatever happens it’s all endurable so long as we keep placing God first, remaining in Him.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matt 5:45-47
 
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sorrowful1 said:
Recently, I sustained some minor injuries at home and because of it, I’m not able to go out. Nothing serious but I do have to take rest for recovery. Fortunately or unfortunately, I’ve been called up for an interview ( if you’ve been following my post, I’ve asked my fellow Catholics for your intercessory prayers for employment).

I had to postpone the meet up with the manager, and now, the thing is people (non-Christians) tell me " You do pray so much. You should’ve been protected from such injuries in times like these especially when you’re looking for a job!! What do you pray for, girl?".

That literally hurt me. I don’t think injuries like these happen because God isn’t watching over me, but because of my own carelessness. Also, Non-Catholics are there who seriously question my faith, and sometimes amidst all these questioning of my faith, I find myself confused and distracted!!

Has it happened to you?
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I know what you are saying. Prayer is sometimes seen by non-believers as a way of asking for stuff from God. They have not yet encountered God, so they see his intervention as proof of his existence. So they say that since you have been praying, you should be protected. Like that was the point of your prayer.

You are past that. You have encountered God and pray to him out of love and desire to be with him. These challenges you face regarding your injury will make sense in time. God will be glorified through you. You also know that you have a part in creation so stuff happens.
 
I agree so much with your post.

It is by our trials that we grow closer to the Lord…as long as we trust in Him!
 
More often than not, answers to my prayers have involved a lot of suffering! 🥴 Life will always have trials and prayers are not always answered in the time or way we plan. When we read about the lives of the saints, they suffered constantly! But we do have to trust it’s for a greater good. If it’s one thing sufferings and trials have taught me, it’s taught me how to trust and strengthened my spiritual life. Prayer doesn’t always stop bad things from happening, but it can help you deal with them. And it sounds like your acquaintances don’t really understand this.
 
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