K
Kraftster
Guest
Hello there, it has been a little while since I have posted, but I need some help with a friend and I am hoping this is a good place to start!
My friend says she believes in God, but has no real upbringing in any faith, so she does not know who Jesus is, Mary is, or basically anything beyond the fact that there is a “God” out there, but not sure who He is…or in her words, “why we have to worship Him”
She is married to a Catholic who really isnt practicing, and has his own “issues” with the Church, so he isnt really helping her. She listens to my husband and I try to talk about it on occasion, and has even come to Mass with us a few times, but is totally lost as to what is going on and why. She feels like since she really wasnt raised any religion, that she should try to see which one is the right one, otherwise she is just picking Catholic because its easy to pick one that her husband and friends know, but feels she should explore others. She thinks she may have been baptized Lutheren as baby, but is not sure, and wouldnt know what Lutheren really “means” either.
It really seems like she is making an effort to be somewhat open and learn, I mean, she is showing up at Mass, even though I think she thinks its all way to strange and we are nuts to believe that bread and wine is God…
So when she asks me questions, sometimes I find it hard to explain things and get tripped up in the basic stuff, so I would like to post a few of her questions here and see if someone could help me try to anwer them for her…oh, one thing to keep in mind with her…she has a science background…
Michelle
My friend says she believes in God, but has no real upbringing in any faith, so she does not know who Jesus is, Mary is, or basically anything beyond the fact that there is a “God” out there, but not sure who He is…or in her words, “why we have to worship Him”
She is married to a Catholic who really isnt practicing, and has his own “issues” with the Church, so he isnt really helping her. She listens to my husband and I try to talk about it on occasion, and has even come to Mass with us a few times, but is totally lost as to what is going on and why. She feels like since she really wasnt raised any religion, that she should try to see which one is the right one, otherwise she is just picking Catholic because its easy to pick one that her husband and friends know, but feels she should explore others. She thinks she may have been baptized Lutheren as baby, but is not sure, and wouldnt know what Lutheren really “means” either.
It really seems like she is making an effort to be somewhat open and learn, I mean, she is showing up at Mass, even though I think she thinks its all way to strange and we are nuts to believe that bread and wine is God…
So when she asks me questions, sometimes I find it hard to explain things and get tripped up in the basic stuff, so I would like to post a few of her questions here and see if someone could help me try to anwer them for her…oh, one thing to keep in mind with her…she has a science background…
- “I believe there is a God, but why do we have to worship Him and pray to Him? Doesnt He already know everything in our hearts? Then why do we have to go through all the formal religious stuff if He already knows how we feel? Seems pointless to me, Why would God care what we do with our lives?”
- “How do Christians know they are right and their Bible is right? Muslims believe just as strongly in their Koran and they fly planes into buildings. Buddists believe just as strongly in their religion…so whay makes Christians so sure that theirs is right and all the rest are wrong?”
- “People lose me when they start explaining things and then when they cant explain something (like the Trinity) they say…’ well that is where faith comes in’, or ’ you just have to have faith’, doesnt that just mean they cant answer because they dont know and maybe its not true”
I have some more I need help with, but I thought I would start there! You guys are so great on here…I lurk alot and read alot of the posts, so I just know someone will be able to help me explain things to her. I get so frustrated because I believe God has put us in her (and her husbands) path for a reason, and when I get all flustered and cant come up with simple explanations, I feel like I must be such a failure in Gods eyes. Its like I KNOW in my heart the answers to her questions, but I can never find the right words to say or explain it! Pretty sad, huh?
Michelle
