Rediscovering my faith as a young adult

[gabriel96]

Hello everyone,

I am a 21 year-old male and I have recently rediscovered my faith and I am looking for some advice. I was baptized as an infant into the Catholic Church and I went through catechism through third grade. I also received the Sacraments of Confession and Communion. I regularly attended mass with my grandparents. However, when I was 9 years old, my dad (who is no longer a practicing member of any Church) and I moved to another city and it was just the two of us. Because he’s no longer a practicing member of any Church, that part of my life kind of disappeared. I was never Confirmed and I rarely attended Mass at all. However, as a young adult, I have a strong desire to rediscover Catholicism and get Confirmed and become an active member of the Church again.

I’m wondering if anyone would have some advice about this and how I can go about it? Will I need to take classes? I am perfectly willing to admit that I don’t know a lot about the faith that I was born into due to my 12 year absence from it. I regret that it has been so long and that I was never Confirmed. Any help is appreciated.

 

[joegrimer]

Technically speaking, to be Catholic, you are only obliged to attend mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation, confess and go to holy communion once a year (please correct me if I’ve missed something out). However, as you’ve no doubt found, Catholicism has a way of drawing one in deeper and deeper. I suggest finding a good parish with loads of stuff going on, and just get into the flow of it all. If you can find a good RCIA class, I’ve never been to one, but I’ve heard that they’re really good.

Intellectually, there are loads of books out there too. To start with, I’d recommend Orthodoxy, by GK Chesterton. After that, there are thousands more where that came from.

 

[DarkLight]

You are a Catholic and are permitted to approach the sacraments (beginning with confession) immediately. However many parishes will suggest that you attend RCIA in any case as it’s the easiest way to catch up. I would talk to a priest though - it’s not weird! You can just call up your local parish office and say you were baptized Catholic but never confirmed and haven’t been practicing, and ask them what the next steps are.