Protestant: Emotional Barriers

[Monica4316]

Hi, I’ve had many similar fears when I was looking into Catholicism…

I just wanted to say that probably at the time you grew up…was this after Vatican II? There was a lot of bad catechesis back then and a lot of confusion. People were trying to find balance after the Council. But now it is getting much better. I’ve met many great devout Catholics at my parish and university Catholic group who know the Lord and pray and read the Bible

To answer your question about the Bible, - actually the Pope has recently talked about this and encouraged everyone to spend time reading Scriptures and meditating on them. Personal reading of Scripture definitely is encouraged. We interpret the Bible according to Church teaching, not individually, because our understanding can be wrong, but - we’re free to apply it to our lives and let it speak to us in a personal way.

I was very afraid before that i’d lose my relationship with God once I become Catholic… but I’ve found that just the opposite happened, and my relationship with God really grew

I think what helps is just experiencing more of Catholicism, not just going to Mass but reading about the devotions, the Saints, etc…

God bless you in your journey!!

 

[Craisin]

I wrote this some time ago, but I just wanted to thank you all for your prayers and encouragement - and just understanding. Really. I am in a city which has very orthodox teaching - praise God - but can lack…something? Emotional/spiritual understanding? Something of the heart… Sometimes the hardest thing is just when I feel misunderstood, so thank you for your sensitive and uplifting responses. I am still struggling spiritually/emotionally with such topics on Catholicism, but RCIA has cleared up a lot of the definitions that I think I just needed as a grounding (what I pity I did not learn this before Confirmation). Needless to say, it isn’t the intellectual truth that is holding me back, but more of the spiritual understanding in the heart. A conversion of heart…does the Lord will I make this journey alone?

 

[losh14]

A conversion of heart…does the Lord will I make this journey alone?

None of us are alone on this walk, even when we walk by ourselves for a time.Your faith in Christ is strong, as is your love for Christ. Perhaps your love is a gift from God to your parish, to share the emotional side of this Christian walk with a community that gets it intellectually right but has trouble being on fire for Christ.