Painful Close Friend

[Burt_Mack]

I have a close friend whom I love, but she hurts me sometimes with her actions or inactions. I have forgiven her in the past for heavy lies that broke me, and several other hurtful situations. She also indirectly makes me question my morals and the values I uphold. I feel as though with her I’m moving further from the Almighty instead of closer. Although I must say the Almighty has taught me true forgiveness, love, and patience through her with the pain she has brought me or who she is in general. I want her to get closer to Our Father in Heaven and I feel like I should teach her how to pray; also pray more for her. I know we are suppose to forgive, and I’m ready to do that again and again, but would it be wrong to give her the tools, forgive her, and then separate myself from her to pray for her and love her from afar in order to avoid anymore pain? Thank you for your time and God bless.

 

[Lou2U]

There’s nothing wrong with distancing yourself from her. With friends like her, who needs enemies?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

This person may be “close” to you, but she is certainly not behaving like a “friend”. She sounds like she has problems and isn’t capable of being a good friend.

I think your strategy of forgiving her, separating yourself from her, and praying for her is a good idea. Don’t spend a lot of time trying to “teach her how to pray”, that’s just going to prolong the situation. Direct her to a couple of good prayer resources like books or web pages and then get yourself out of this toxic fake “friendship”.

After you’ve gotten some distance from the person and some time has passed, you might want to think about how you ended up in a situation where you loved a person who repeatedly lied and did hurtful things. Were you misled, or did you think you could help her, or were you drawn to some exciting or good quality she had, or is she like someone you remember from your past like a relative, etc. Reflect on how you might pick better friends in the future so you don’t get yourself into this situation again when choosing friends.

 

[upant]

Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on Burt_Mack, I pray You provide him guidance and have mercy on the whole world. (x10)

I did pray a decade of My daily Divine Mercy Chaplet for your intention.

 

[TheLittleLady]

This is not how friends treat one another.

Friends respect each other, apologize when they make mistakes, and want the best for each other.