Overwhelmed with Catholocism

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dlobrien

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About a week ago I started to “rediscover Catholocism” and I am SO completely overwhelmed with all the lessons, information, etc. that I didn’t know/wasn’t familiar with. I have been Catholic all my life but now I am really getting into the Faith (I’m 21 now and about to go back to college next week). I am so overwhelmed with all the books, websites, apps, and radio talk about being Catholic that I feel like I can’t really dive into it and maintain a clear, uncluttered head. I’ve started reading the Gospel of John as well as daily Mass readings, researching various Saints, learning about Church dogma and tradition, papacy, some prayers, and the list goes on… Some theologins and apologists have spent their entire lives looking at the meaning of just a couple verses. I feel like I am so overloaded with information that i can’t learn enough of it in my lifetime let alone a week. It crowds my every thought so much that I spend every spare minute on my iPad reading as much as I can about anything I can find. I can’t even pray with a clear mind without random thoughts flitting around distracting me. How can I decipher what to do when I can’t even remember what I am praying about? I feel like I can’t go deeply into everything because there are so many topics that I can only learn a little about each one. I am having a hard time enjoying e rest of my life because these things are taking over my mind (and I just want to know more!) I feel like the devil is preventing me from becoming closer to God by overwhelming me with all this information.
 
You need a balance in your life. A time to pray, learn about the faith and a time for some leisure as well. If you constantly are reading, praying, fasting, etc. etc. you will snap. Relax. The Catholic Church is like the ocean. Its depths are immesurable. And once you think you know something there is still more to be revealed. You can only do so much at a time. If I were you I would take a few topics at a time. With that said it is really good you are wanting to learn more about your faith. I like what St.Bonaventure said when talking about the gift of knowledge…something on the lines of…“If you think you know something, you dont know the meaning of what it is to know.”
 
😃 You’re trying to take in a lifetimes worth of information in too short a time my friend. Relax…pick one or two aspects and focus on them until you finish them and then move on, but only as you finish one.

One of the truly wonderful things about our most holy faith is that it is like a huge diamond and we can (and should) spend our whole lifetimes to learn it all.

Like I said…relax and enjoy what God has blessed you with.
 
Easy now…🙂 I know just how you feel. There is so much information about the faith that we couldn’t read or examine it all in 3 lifetimes. What you need to do is always remember to put God first in your life. Find an area or part of the faith that draws you to it…I am concentrating my learning right now on the Eucharist. I leave plenty of time for reflection on what I learn. I pray the Rosary every day and use Magnificat to structure daily prayer throughout the day. This is the greatest journey you will ever be part of. One of my favorite priests uses the adage…“Keep your eye on the prize.”

Don’t be overwhelmed…Be in awe of the Grandeur of God and His teachings.
 
I have been having a similar experience. It started with the death of a friend, and though I have known some of the teachings of the church, as I had been interested in converting years ago and started RCIA, but could not finish it at the time. So, I have been obsessed with getting right with God. The thing is that the internet is very overwhelming as there is so much information out there. The thing that helped me lots was that I got a copy of the book “Catholicism for Dummies,” which is written by two Catholic priests: Rev. John Trigilio Jr., PhD, ThD and Rev. Kenneth Brighenti, PhD. I actually checked it out from the library! It is very ‘orthodox’ if you will, and easy to read. The reason that it helped so much was that I could read a chapter and then if I had further questions then I would go to the internet. Much less distracting that way:)

In any pursuit, it’s good to pace yourself, I think I need that advise as much as you if not more!

Peace Be with You

Barbara
 
BPhillips1520 said:
I"Catholicism for Dummies," which is written by two Catholic priests: Rev. John Trigilio Jr., PhD, ThD and Rev. Kenneth Brighenti, PhD. I actually checked it out from the library! It is very ‘orthodox’ if you will, and easy to read.

Peace Be with You

Barbara
Click to expand...
This right here (and a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church).👍
 
dlobrien said:
About a week ago I started to “rediscover Catholocism” and I am SO completely overwhelmed with all the lessons, information, etc. that I didn’t know/wasn’t familiar with. I have been Catholic all my life but now I am really getting into the Faith (I’m 21 now and about to go back to college next week). I am so overwhelmed with all the books, websites, apps, and radio talk about being Catholic that I feel like I can’t really dive into it and maintain a clear, uncluttered head. I’ve started reading the Gospel of John as well as daily Mass readings, researching various Saints, learning about Church dogma and tradition, papacy, some prayers, and the list goes on… Some theologins and apologists have spent their entire lives looking at the meaning of just a couple verses. I feel like I am so overloaded with information that i can’t learn enough of it in my lifetime let alone a week. It crowds my every thought so much that I spend every spare minute on my iPad reading as much as I can about anything I can find. I can’t even pray with a clear mind without random thoughts flitting around distracting me. How can I decipher what to do when I can’t even remember what I am praying about? I feel like I can’t go deeply into everything because there are so many topics that I can only learn a little about each one. I am having a hard time enjoying e rest of my life because these things are taking over my mind (and I just want to know more!) I feel like the devil is preventing me from becoming closer to God by overwhelming me with all this information.
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WHOAAAAA…Hold on there bubbalouieeee (from a very old cartoon. ;))

God isn’t about how much information you can cram into your head - and you are quite right in recognizing there is no way you can absorb all there is to know about every aspect of the faith.
So - this feeling of being overwhelmed is telling you that you ARE overwhelmed and you need to stop…and settle down…

Then -
Get to the core of the faith - and start with that.
The core of the faith is this…Love God above all else, and Love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt 22:36-40). As Jesus says here…everything else is built upon this. And this is just as true for the teachings of the Catholic Church as it was for the Mosaic Law.

Set aside everything that does not pertain directly to this - for it is this that most directly effects your daily walk with Christ and it is through Love - not knowledge - that one draws closer to God.

Peace
James
 
I felt the same when I first returned to the Church as well. Catholic theology is deeper than the deepest oceans, and to paraphrase Thomas Aquinas even all that we know is straw compared to the Divine essence and what we learn in Heaven. It is impossible to learn it all in a life time, but luckily if we remain steadfast in the faith and do Christ’s work on earth we have more than a life time, we have an eternal life time 👍. Relax, life in Christ isn’t some roller coaster ride, its an eternal journey. God Bless.
 
PaulinePresbytr said:
I felt the same when I first returned to the Church as well. Catholic theology is deeper than the deepest oceans, and to paraphrase Thomas Aquinas even all that we know is straw compared to the Divine essence and what we learn in Heaven. It is impossible to learn it all in a life time, but luckily if we remain steadfast in the faith and do Christ’s work on earth we have more than a life time, we have an eternal life time 👍. Relax, life in Christ isn’t some roller coaster ride, its an eternal journey. God Bless.
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Better to be overwhelmed with Catholicism than to be underwhelmed with other religions!👍
 
I was the same way. What helped me more than anything else was Dr. Scott Hahn’s Bible Studies from the website St. Joseph’s Communications. He has one on almost every major book in the OT and almost all the books of the NT. I would listen to a few chapters every Sunday, and he walked me through many complex issues of Catholicism very nicely. I still have the CDs and am saving them for my sons to listen to when they get older. They’re worth their weight in gold.
 
LittleFlower378 said:
You need a balance in your life. A time to pray, learn about the faith and a time for some leisure as well. If you constantly are reading, praying, fasting, etc. etc. you will snap. Relax. The Catholic Church is like the ocean. Its depths are immesurable. And once you think you know something there is still more to be revealed. You can only do so much at a time. If I were you I would take a few topics at a time. With that said it is really good you are wanting to learn more about your faith. I like what St.Bonaventure said when talking about the gift of knowledge…something on the lines of…“If you think you know something, you dont know the meaning of what it is to know.”
Click to expand...
YES!!! Beautifully said!
 
I’m not being flippant when I say, “Just go to Mass.” Eventually, it’ll start to fall in to place.
 
my best advice is to simply go to mass every sunday… look throughout your parish bulletin for various groups and seminar series, trips etc… don’t be afraid to go to these, they have wonderful people and you can learn a lot from them… as for reading about the faith like someone mentioned, its like an ocean, because its over 2000 years old of course… read things at your own pace… but the most important my brother is to receive the sacrament of the holy eucharist, Christ;s own flesh which unites you biologically , spiritually with him and your brothers and sisters, you truly do experience a taste on heaven “on earth” eveyr time you experience this

god bless
 
Dlobrien, I sympathize completely. You’ve got 2,000 years’ worth of material to work with. 🙂

I’m a cradle Catholic who joined this forum to gain a deeper understanding of my faith and I too find it easy to feel overwhelmed.

What might help is to pick a few topics that are interesting to you, and copy/paste informative posts into your computer ( a Word document). You could, for example, go through each forum here and choose a subject to study:

Apologetics: What is the difference between dogma and pastoral teaching?

Sacred Scripture: How is “faith + works” justified through scripture, and how did the interpretation of the biblical verses come about?

Philosophy: What is “logos”? What is “metaphysics”?

Moral Theology: Why does the Church hold its stance on contraception?

Traditional Catholicism: What are the differences between the traditional and Novus ordo liturgies?

Sacraments: What *are *the Sacraments? What makes them special?

Most likely, as you learn about one subject, 10 other questions will come to mind. Try to understand one subject fully before moving on to another. Get a copy of the Catechism, and perhaps some sort of dictionary/reference book of Catholic terminology to help you out.

I don’t post often on “heavy” theological topics - I keep busy enough just sitting back, reading, copying-and-pasting information, and re-reading it. Slowly but surely some of the information sinks in.🙂
 
Firstly congratulations you’re doing well. If I were you I would concentrate on the new testament. Us catholics don’t get taught to remember quotes and stuff but it’s important to know what’s in there. I went to mass every week my whole life and when I got serious a few years ago there were heaps of things in the new testament that I swear I never heard before.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.
 
By clicking the following link on your computer and subscribing it to your daily email, you can learn Catechism within one year. An email will be sent to you every morning. It takes less than two minutes per day to read and learn your Catholic faith.

flocknote.com/catechism

This site presents a very simple Youcat format and also provides a “dig deeper link” to the actual Catechism readings for those who want to read more in detail.

This is a good start to be familiar with our Catholic faith.
 
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