No longer believe

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bobby1965
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Bobby1965

Guest
(I hope this is the correct forum)

I don’t have anyone to talk to about this, but I waited 5 YEARS to finally receive the Eucharist. In the beginning, just seeing our priest raise the consecrated host brought me to tears. Watching others receive would make me sad becasue I wanted to.

After RCIA and all the other roadblocks…the wait…the watching others…I didn’t have that fire anymore. Sooo…I didn’t receive because of doubts. These aren’t scriptural doubts. I believe the scripture behind it and all that the Church teaches, BUT I don’t see anything to make me believe that host has become Christ. I finally received this past Sunday and nothing…not what I expected. Not that I expected anything, but my stomach didn’t even get warm (sounds dumb) but I mean …nothing. Obviously, no fireworks were going to happen, but…nothing…I felt no different.

What do I do? I don’t believe what other Christian denominations teach or how they teach it…I feel like the scripture of “to whom shall I go” !!!

Thank you for your guidance.
 
Dear Friend in Christ,

In actual fact, and without really knowing you, I believe you have received a special gift from God.

You were waiting to experience all sorts of feelings when you went to Communion, your emotions were tightened in the expectation that you would feel all sorts of warm sensations as “proof” that you really do believe, that you really were accepted by God.

Been there, done that! 🙂

The great Saints, however, were often left without sensible consolation in their devotions and relationship with God.

God is simply calling you to cling to Him with naked faith, not because of good feelings or other indications, but simply because you believe in Him (which you obviously do).

Feelings will come and go, but our faith in God does not. Emotional experiences during Communion, prayer and the like are often given to people of weak faith. God obviously considers you to be strong in faith, so accept it as His Gift to you and His great vote of confidence!

Alex
 
Bobby1965 said:
I don’t see anything to make me believe that host has become Christ.
Click to expand...
I had much the same reaction when I first received Communion 26 years ago after I was received into the Church.

All I can say that you won’t see anything to convince you; it’s all up to “the evidence of things unseen” - faith. Remember that Transubstantion only affects the essence of the host and wine, not its accidents (physical attributes); just as God can change the essence of a man from sinful to just, so can He change the essence of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of His Son.

Keep faith in God and His Church. Work for understanding as though it were all up to you, and pray for it as though it were all up to God.
 
Your use of the term “roadblock” as regards the RCIA program speaks volumes to your not learning and understanding the faith. Additionally, you are not unique in your position of “seeing/feeling is believing”. Read the scritures about Thomas, who was absent the moment JESUS returned to the Apostles, and he declared that if he did not put his fingers into HIS wounds or his hand into JESUS side, that he would not believe.
And what did JESUS say to Thomas, “…blessed are those who believe, but who have not seen…” paraphrase.
You are a child, not yet ready for the meat of the faith and crying because you do not understand or know why.
You need to begin a journey of discovery. You need to get some CD’s and books that will teach the faith and begin to step out into the deep water and seek the truth.
 
Bobby1965 said:
…After RCIA and all the other roadblocks…the wait…the watching others…I didn’t have that fire anymore. Sooo…I didn’t receive because of doubts. These aren’t scriptural doubts. I believe the scripture behind it and all that the Church teaches, BUT I don’t see anything to make me believe that host has become Christ. I finally received this past Sunday and nothing…not what I expected. Not that I expected anything, but my stomach didn’t even get warm (sounds dumb) but I mean …nothing. Obviously, no fireworks were going to happen, but…nothing…I felt no different…
Click to expand...
You didn’t say, but did you receive in the hand standing amidst a crowd of people you were just following?
 
Eucharist is also an understanding that we each are participating in Christ’s wedding feast. We walk down the isle toward Christ, where we each express that we wish to be married to Christ, to His Church and to His communion of saints.

I’d suggest reading or watching additional programs about the Eucharist and the Mass.

EWTN currently has two programs on: Biblical History of the Mass and Swear to God.

ewtn.com/series/shows/theBiblicalStoryOfTheMass/theBiblicalStoryOfTheMass.html

ewtn.com/series/2005/swear.htm

Dr. Scott Hahn has a very well reveiwed book titled “The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth”.

There was a beautiful program on EWTN hosted by Fr. Mariusz Koch on the Eucharist.

ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/EUCHARIST±+DVD/shop.axd/ProductDetails?x=25&y=6&keywords=Fr.+Mariusz+Koch&edp_no=17236
 
(
I hope this is the correct forum)
Click to expand...
I don’t have anyone to talk to about this, but I waited 5 YEARS to finally receive the Eucharist. In the beginning, just seeing our priest raise the consecrated host brought me to tears. Watching others receive would make me sad becasue I wanted to.
Click to expand...
After RCIA and all the other roadblocks…the wait…the watching others…I didn’t have that fire anymore. Sooo…I didn’t receive because of doubts. These aren’t scriptural doubts. I believe the scripture behind it and all that the Church teaches, BUT I don’t see anything to make me believe that host has become Christ. I finally received this past Sunday and nothing…not what I expected. Not that I expected anything, but my stomach didn’t even get warm (sounds dumb) but I mean …nothing. Obviously, no fireworks were going to happen, but…nothing…I felt no different.
Click to expand...
What do I do? I don’t believe what other Christian denominations teach or how they teach it…I feel like the scripture of “to whom shall I go” !!!
Click to expand...
Thank you for your guidance.
Click to expand...
This may be an example of what a mistake it is to regard the hyperbole of some Catholics as the standard by which we wshould all judge our own reactions to anything.

Oftentimes on these fora one reads posts from very dramatic individuals who love to declare with all ostentation how the Eucharist moves them to tears or how the sight of “my beloved Jesus” in the monstrance causes their heart to skip a beat, or how they physically tremble at the consecration of the host and chalice at Mass.

I think sometimes newcomers to the Church read sentiments of this nature and assume that they are genuine rather than overly-dramatic and that they represent the normal reaction to the Eucharist of most Catholics. This is unfortunate, because it can, evidently, lead some to assume that if they can’t feel that same sort of emotion every time they receive communion or observe the host, then they must be experiencing a weakness in their faith or that they must not be very good Catholics.

But faith is not about feelings, it is not about emotions, it is not about sentimentality, and it is not about hyperbole. If your intellect tells you that Christ is present in the Eucharist, then you have faith, even if you have no emotional reaction to that knowledge at all. And more blessed are you for worshipping without emotion than he who does. As you aren’t deriving any personal satisfaction from it, you must be doing it soley for God, and not for yourself. That indicates a very strong faith, in fact.

Your faith is intact; don’t worry. You won’t always have an emotional reaction to the Eucharist; in fact you probably seldom if ever will: it isn’t an emotional thing, after all. It’s a sacramental thing. Most Catholics, I would venture, never have emotional reactions to the Eucharist.

And it may be that those who say that they always weep or tremble or go into ecstasies whenever they see the host or receive communion are better dramatists than they are Catholics.
 
People who are devout in prayer, often hit a wall that’s often referred to as “spiritual dryness”.

Giving up, is not an option 😛

I bring as much knowledge as I can to the Sacrament of the Eucharist and to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

I’ve also learned that to deepen my experience of Christ in the Eucharist, I needed a deeper understanding of personal holiness; having a clean heart, mind and soul has helped me to appreciate, accept and work toward communion or union with Christ (understanding that heaven begins here, on Earth).

This examination of consciense guide has been helpful but there are others available as well online and in book form:

ncregister.com/info/confession_guide_for_adults/

I’ve learned that this conversion has changed me, I rarely confess sins of commission, they are more the sins of omission. How I’ve failed to give of myself, to think less about myself and more about the needs of others.
 
I agree with quite a few posters above me. The only time I really have an emotional reaction to the Eucharist is when I am in moral sin and, instead of going to Confession prior Mass, watch as others partake. This shows me what I voluntarily give up when I sin, and I have an emotional reaction in that regard. The only “warm and fuzzy” feeling I have during the Eucharistic liturgy is after taking the wine, and that is because the wine used at my parish is rather strong (compared to a parish down the road), so the alcohol gets to me. I do find myself taking note – almost without intention – during the consecration that “this is the body and blood, soul and divinity of our dearly beloved Lord,” but that is about as non-intellectual as I get during the Consecration. The stories of Bl. Mother Theresa and St. John of the Cross comes to mind – their absence of emotion reminds me of yours, and yours of theirs. Priests, it seems, are the ones who generally have a greater emotional connection to the Eucharist than the layman. I hear my parish priest’s usually strong voice wobble and break during the Consecration, I’ve heard testimonies of priests who just “don’t get” their priesthood except at the Consecration, and then there’s St. Padre Pio.

An analogy if you will: do you get emotional over the air you breathe or food you eat? What of the eyes and ears with which you see and hear? You do not probably become emotional over this because they are a part of who you are – the same is with the Eucharist. It is part of who we are as Catholics, and therefore is not subject to emotionalism.

Pax Vobiscum
 
Bobby1965 said:
(I hope this is the correct forum)

I don’t have anyone to talk to about this, but I waited 5 YEARS to finally receive the Eucharist. In the beginning, just seeing our priest raise the consecrated host brought me to tears. Watching others receive would make me sad becasue I wanted to.

After RCIA and all the other roadblocks…the wait…the watching others…I didn’t have that fire anymore. Sooo…I didn’t receive because of doubts. These aren’t scriptural doubts. I believe the scripture behind it and all that the Church teaches, BUT I don’t see anything to make me believe that host has become Christ. I finally received this past Sunday and nothing…not what I expected. Not that I expected anything, but my stomach didn’t even get warm (sounds dumb) but I mean …nothing. Obviously, no fireworks were going to happen, but…nothing…I felt no different.

What do I do? I don’t believe what other Christian denominations teach or how they teach it…I feel like the scripture of “to whom shall I go” !!!

Thank you for your guidance.
Click to expand...
Hi Bobby1965! Welcome to CAF!

I have been going to communion for many years now and I still consider it a mystery.

I pray for a better understanding of it all.

Reading about St. Padre Pio and his “reactions” during the consecration have been very enlightening for me. I find reading about the saints who had a deep understanding of the eucharist very helpful. Studying early Church history/writings on the topic is very enlightening as well.

I also think of the millions of Catholics around the world who are going to Communion in response to Jesus’ command to “do this in memory of me.”

All of this helps me on my journey to a better understanding of Jesus in the Eucharist.
 
Bobby1965 said:
(I These aren’t scriptural doubts. I believe the scripture behind it and all that the Church teaches, BUT I don’t see anything to make me believe that host has become Christ. I finally received this past Sunday and nothing…not what I expected. Not that I expected anything, but my stomach didn’t even get warm (sounds dumb) but I mean …nothing. Obviously, no fireworks were going to happen, but…nothing…I felt no different.

What do I do? I don’t believe what other Christian denominations teach or how they teach it…I feel like the scripture of “to whom shall I go” !!!

Thank you for your guidance.
Click to expand...
wait this does not compute
you believe what the Catholic Church teaches through scripture and doctrine about the Eucharist but you allow your own emotions to be the arbiter of truth? why? When did God give any of us the right to interpret Truth in light of our own emotions? If you faith rests on a subjective emotional experience, it is not faith, it is merely pleasure seeking.

You can try any other Church you like. None of them, save the Orthodox, even claim to have Christ truly present in their sacraments and ordinances, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity whole and undivided. Even if you had doubts and resolved to make your decision based on the teaching of that church alone, which would you choose: the one that promises union with Christ in the Eucharist, or the one that claims the closest you can come to relationship with Him on earth is through reading scripture.
 
Turn it on its head:

Imagine everyone had a mystical experience when they received their First Holy Communion. You could just wind up the Universe right there. There’d be Catholic Churches on every street.

Don’t think He works like that 😉
 
Do not give up faith my friend. At one time, we have all felt the same way as you. I just returned to my faith after a few horrible years with the dark one. My greatest feelings were when i recieved the host, but that stopped for me and guess what? I turned to the dark side ( i know, sounds corny) but I did. Dont give up, everything everyone is telling you is true. I hope and pray you do not give up hope, the Lord is still and always will be with you.
 
Bobby1965 said:
(I hope this is the correct forum)

I don’t have anyone to talk to about this, but I waited 5 YEARS to finally receive the Eucharist. In the beginning, just seeing our priest raise the consecrated host brought me to tears. Watching others receive would make me sad becasue I wanted to.

After RCIA and all the other roadblocks…the wait…the watching others…I didn’t have that fire anymore. Sooo…I didn’t receive because of doubts. These aren’t scriptural doubts. I believe the scripture behind it and all that the Church teaches, BUT I don’t see anything to make me believe that host has become Christ. I finally received this past Sunday and nothing…not what I expected. Not that I expected anything, but my stomach didn’t even get warm (sounds dumb) but I mean …nothing. Obviously, no fireworks were going to happen, but…nothing…I felt no different.

What do I do? I don’t believe what other Christian denominations teach or how they teach it…I feel like the scripture of “to whom shall I go” !!!

Thank you for your guidance.
Click to expand...
Come to the dark side…we have cookies…😃

I KID!!!

I am getting that you don’t have a question about the WHY and the rational understanding of your faith, but you don’t have the physical rush, kinda like when you first start dating and you have that giddy rush, and after about-what? 6 months to a year or so…hehe, the honeymoon’s over? Yeah?

Perhaps that’s a good thing, in a way. Now you have to study, understand your faith in depth and understand the nuisances of it, like you’d understand the good and bad things about your relationship with a SO?

Just my take on it…mind, might be an odd observation, coming from someone like me, but there it is…
 
ProVobis said:
You didn’t say, but did you receive in the hand standing amidst a crowd of people you were just following?
Click to expand...
Don’t dump this on our new brother. You know perfectly well that COTT, kneeling is no guarantee of consolations.
 
Bobby, If I understand you correctly, you delayed your reception into the Church until you could receive our Lord with a clear conscience. Thank you for that, and welcome to the Catholic Church.

My advice is to not give up. I’m sorry that you weren’t blessed with a sensible feeling of peace or joy at your Holy Communion, but whether you are blessed with consolations or not, you’ll still have the same task: to seek and follow God’s will.

It has taken you a long time to get this far and it may be many more years before you are ready for heaven. You just have to accept by faith in the meantime that our Lord offers you His body and blood for the healing and strengthening of your soul, even if you cannot perceive any change in yourself. Do you what you can to make good use of the gifts God gives you to become a true follower of Christ, offer Him thanks for the mercy He has shown you already, ask for His help, and hope with confidence that you can draw closer to Him.
 
Bobby1965 said:
(I hope this is the correct forum)

I don’t have anyone to talk to about this, but I waited 5 YEARS to finally receive the Eucharist. In the beginning, just seeing our priest raise the consecrated host brought me to tears. Watching others receive would make me sad becasue I wanted to.

After RCIA and all the other roadblocks…the wait…the watching others…I didn’t have that fire anymore. Sooo…I didn’t receive because of doubts. These aren’t scriptural doubts. I believe the scripture behind it and all that the Church teaches, BUT I don’t see anything to make me believe that host has become Christ. I finally received this past Sunday and nothing…not what I expected. Not that I expected anything, but my stomach didn’t even get warm (sounds dumb) but I mean …nothing. Obviously, no fireworks were going to happen, but…nothing…I felt no different.

What do I do? I don’t believe what other Christian denominations teach or how they teach it…I feel like the scripture of “to whom shall I go” !!!

Thank you for your guidance.
Click to expand...
As a member of Our Lady of Fatima,and a
member of the Sacred Heart.I wish to tell you this.The Devil is trying to take your soul away from the church of which Jesus, ispresent at the alter in the host. During Mas when the priest raises the Host,I think of the time he did it with Aposlates at the last Supper, and said “THis is my body” than when the priest raises the Chalice,again I thing of the last Supper,So when I go to receive,the Host, I beleive that Jesus is truely persent in the Host. I hope that God helps you understand, what I,ve said. God Bless my friend.😉
 
Layman said:
Turn it on its head:

Imagine everyone had a mystical experience when they received their First Holy Communion. You could just wind up the Universe right there. There’d be Catholic Churches on every street.

Don’t think He works like that 😉
Click to expand...
Oh, how I wish that was true. Why must the Devil make us so confused? Devil, get a life! It’s been eternity and you need a new hobby. Try golf. Wait, no, I saw what you did to Tiger Woods. Um, try…Soduku! There, something safe…I think.

ahem

I see a lot of chastising about emotional responses in these posts. I was so overcome during communion, thinking about how unworthy I am but God that I started crying. And there have been other times I’ve felt that way as well. And I know that when I asked God to come back into my life, it was a powerful feeling. There are other times when I feel meh.

But I’ve read that sometimes the Holy Ghost overfills us when we are lacking.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top