P
Philthy
Guest
Hello! :tiphat:
I’m posting this because I have some conflicts within myself that I need help with.
Get in line!
I’ve been raised a Catholic,
Not good enough!
I call myself Catholic,
Practically useless and pretty hypocritical, no?!
but I havn’t been a practicing Catholic in a while. I havn’t gone to church in about a year…
I bet you feel great, right? Totally liberated and enjoying life to the fullest?!
and I really feel that I’ve lost touch with God and my faith.
You have - but not because He isnt with you, but because you have chosen to ignore Him. He will let you do that forever if you really want to.
I pray sometimes at night but I feel so far away from God. I have many doubts all the time about religion in general. I get discouraged because I hear all the time that “God loves you unconditionally” and “God loves the whole world” and so forth, but then I hear stuff like “You are eternally damned if you do this or that” etc. and it’s like, how can God love me unconditionally if I can be eternally damned because I don’t do one thing right or if I sin at all.
You are just one big ball of confusion. We’ve all been there…
It seems at times as if the demands are set so high that I will never be able to reach them.
Very important observation you have made. The demands are too high for you to reach them - on your own. Dont you realize that it is for this very reason that Christ was crucified? Christ became the sacrifice acceptable to God FOR OUR SINS. It is not you who reaches them, but God who does so by empowering you with the Holy Spirit through the Sacraments. This was all made possible by Christs life, death and resurrection. Listen to St Paul in his letter to the Galatians…
Galatians 2:20 “For I have been crucified with Christ yet I live - no longer I, but Christ lives in me. Insofar as I now live in the flesh I live by faith in Christ who has loved me and given himself up for me.”
And then there’s people within the church that show so much hypocracy that it turns me away. People that speak like they’re such Christians, but are almost hateful in their constant judgements of others, and seem to hold themselves in such esteem that they just “know” that they are going to heaven no matter what and then condemn a whole race of people accross the world because they arn’t Christians.
That’s why its important to know what the Church teaches and not just what “Christians” believe. Guess what the Church teaches? We are ALL sinners - Pope included!
My thing is that if God created everyone in this world, why would he create a whole civilization of people just to condemn them to eternal suffering in Hell, because they aren’t Christians? Because their society and the way they were raised was not Christian, because they don’t know any different? These are some of the things that are hard for me to get over. If somebody could enlighten me or help me with this it would be great.
As a matter of fact, God wishes all people to be saved - Christ died for every person. You need to understand what the Church actually teaches - because you dont and it is leading to confusion.
I really want/ need God back in my life. I feel so far away and so alone and so unfulfilled. I can feel that I’m on the wrong track, but I don’t really know how to get back. If you’ve read all of this jumbled up stuff, thank you for your patience with me!!!
Why don’t you start by getting on your knees and praying out loud to God and telling Him everything that is going through your mind. Do not hold anything back! Confess any and all sins that you are aware of and ask for forgiveness knowing full well you don’t deserve it. It’s the whole reason Christ went to the Cross for you!
You will recognize the sincerity of your own heart and the fact that you are beginning to “get it” when the tears begin to flow profusely…
Vow to give a little bit of each day to God in prayer from now on, regardless of how you “feel”.
Next step will be to get your butt into Church for a solid Sacramental Confession followed by reception of the Eucharist and praise to God for the gift of Jesus Christ.
