Should I convert?

[peppermouse]

I suspect a lot of answers to this question are going to be “Yes, of course, why are you waiting?”

I should probably give you some background information first. I’m a university student in England and am nominally a Protestant although my family is not really religious. As part of growing up, I suppose, I have begun to try and find some meaning in my life. I’ve always admired devout Christians and so started to do some research.

I came to the conclusion if you wanted to be Christian that one might as well do it properly (i.e. Apostolic Succession etc) and that meant Catholicism. I happened to have (rather handily in fact) a Catholic friend who offered to take me to Mass.

Now comes the problem, I’ve studied Catholicism in a reasonable amount of depth (this website has been incredibly helpful), read the Catechism (it now resembles a post-it note hedgehog), quite a bit of the Bible, spoken to priests, saw and listened to the Pope at a General Audience, seen the actual bones of St Peter, attended Mass regularly, pray the rosary, and importantly accept the “rightness” of Catholicism intellectually (most of it, the rest I’m sure I will understand eventually)… but I don’t have faith. I just don’t seem to believe. I think I want to have faith a lot more than I actually have faith if that makes sense?

I’m not sure what I’m asking for, but I’ve seen some wonderful advice on here before, so I’d like any comments or suggestions please.

(Thank you so much for reading this rather rambling question! )

 

[aspirant]

I don’t have faith.

You do not believe it is true? You do not assent?

I think I want to have faith a lot more than I actually have faith if that makes sense?

It sounds as if you do already believe. I am reminded of the prayer of the father whose son was made mute by a spirit: “I believe; help my unbelief!”

 

[Heavens_Flowers]

pray for faith. I felt similar in the beginning because I knew in my mind it was right, and I wanted. So much for my heart to believe but still had doubt. So I prayed for God to give me faith. He showed me loud and clear, honestly I didn’t listen the first time so he showed me louder. Don’t know if I’m making sense to you. But I know now with all my heart, and I have a love I never had before. So as simple as it sounds pray to God to give you faith and he will. Also read my forum page saints working in our lives under thread St. Therese of Lisuex and then maybe my advice may make more sense. Please pray hard when you doubt, when you don’t believe ask god to show you the truth. I’m a stubborn listener so now when I ask god for something I ask him please answer me loudly(usually he answers by someone else telling me or someone else doing what I’ve been asking about) because you know I might not hear otherwise. And I usually get an answer to my prayer.

 

[Julian0404]

I suspect a lot of answers to this question are going to be “Yes, of course, why are you waiting?”

I should probably give you some background information first. I’m a university student in England and am nominally a Protestant although my family is not really religious. As part of growing up, I suppose, I have begun to try and find some meaning in my life. I’ve always admired devout Christians and so started to do some research.

I came to the conclusion if you wanted to be Christian that one might as well do it properly (i.e. Apostolic Succession etc) and that meant Catholicism. I happened to have (rather handily in fact) a Catholic friend who offered to take me to Mass.

Now comes the problem, I’ve studied Catholicism in a reasonable amount of depth (this website has been incredibly helpful), read the Catechism (it now resembles a post-it note hedgehog), quite a bit of the Bible, spoken to priests, saw and listened to the Pope at a General Audience, seen the actual bones of St Peter, attended Mass regularly, pray the rosary, and importantly accept the “rightness” of Catholicism intellectually (most of it, the rest I’m sure I will understand eventually)… but I don’t have faith. I just don’t seem to believe. I think I want to have faith a lot more than I actually have faith if that makes sense?

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Light…” and is sounds to me that you have throughly immersed yourself in intellectual part of “the Way”, as indicated by your participation above. However, “the Truth” has not found a spot in your heart. The faith you know you are lacking, is not intellectual, it is a heart felt spiritual embrace of God, a “we walk by faith and not by light” effort. And again apparently that heart felt embrace is not strong enough to reach out and -walk the talk -.
I have four suggestions:
First - go live the faith. You have seen it, read it, participated in the Mass, gone to see and hear the Pope, now live the faith. Involve yourself in something that you will not obtain a reward or recognition, but from which you will be a source of God working in this world. Make yourself available for God to use you to advance His faith. Volunteer somewhere, regularly, make it a year long committment. Soup kitchen, home for unwed mothers, train to be a hospice aid and to sit with and help those who are dieing - make yourself a conduit of God’s love, and see what God does with your lack of faith.
Second - Faith rises like yeast. If not now, does not mean not ever. Do the above and let God’s love warm your soul and the faith may rise.
Third - take it to God. He hears our prayers. Ask Him - in your own words and before the Blessed Sacrament - God help me find the TRUTH I am missing that connects the Way to the Light, so that faith will grow within me.
Fourth - Continue to ask for the help of the Virgin Mary, who told the servants at the wedding of Canan “Do whatever He tells you”. Say a rosary only for yourself. Be selfish that way, and ask the Virgin Mary to intercede for you on your behalf before God, that you may receive a tiny fraction of faith each day, not a lot, not immediate, but each day a little that as a child learns, She will lead you little by little to the Truth of Her Son Jesus, and through Him to the faith you desire.

 

[GwenL]

As a former agnostic/atheist, my definition of “faith” was always preceded by the word “blind.” Meaning that I thought that faith in God was simply a blind belief that people had, unsupported by reason or rational thought. In this worldview, I thought that having faith meant you just had to believe, regardless of what your observations and deductions were, based mostly on emotion. Boy, was I wrong.
From Peter Kreeft’s Handbook of Catholic Apologetics, here’s a quick summary of key ideas that helped me get over this block.

• we must distinguish between the act of faith and the object of faith. The object of faith means all things believed; the ultimate object of faith is God. Everything else (e.g., liturgical and moral acts) is an expression of the act of faith.
• the act of faith is more than merely an act of belief. Most to least important, Kreeft ranks these:

1. emotional faith is trust or confidence; this includes hope
2. intellectual faith is belief; it’s more stable and unchanging than emotional faith
3. volitional faith is an act of will, a commitment to obey God’s will; faithfulness and fidelity
4. faith begins in the center of the soul

I also found the definition of faith in the Catechism of the Catholic Church helpful. From the glossary, faith is: “Both a gift of God and a human act by which the believer gives personal adherence to God who invites his response, and freely assents to the whole truth that God has revealed.”

So, faith is an act of the will that we take, based on trust, confidence, and reason. It is given to us by God as a grace. I think that when you make the voluntary act to have faith, it increases by God’s grace, in a positive feedback loop. At least, that’s been my experience .

Bottom line: I think you have the beginnings of faith. What you don’t have is blind, unreasoned belief, and that’s probably a good thing. Pray to God to increase your faith. And listen carefully.

 

[mark_a]

I came to the conclusion if you wanted to be Christian that one might as well do it properly (i.e. Apostolic Succession etc) and that meant Catholicism. I happened to have (rather handily in fact) a Catholic friend who offered to take me to Mass.

… but I don’t have faith.

I just don’t seem to believe. I think I want to have faith a lot more than I actually have faith if that makes sense?

Join the crowd. Mother Teresa was with the crowd for a while, 40 something years.

So here ya go:

“Yes, of course, why are you waiting?”

 

[arcee]

I always define FAITH as:

F=Father
A=And
I= I
TH=Thereafter

In order for me to be with Him in paradise, I should know Him. Knowing Him takes a lot of time and effort on my part to understand of what He wants me to do in order to merit eternal life. Often times it is not easy. But as you know very well in your readings and study of the Catholic Faith, you have more questions than answers. This is alright, for God is leading you to his Church. Often times, I myself has questions about my faith. It has been my experience that God will give me an answer sometimes in a day or two. Other times in a week, weeks, or months after I posed the question. Some answers are the obvious, in the readings of the Mass. Other times it is with a co-worker or even a stranger in a bus stop who struck a conversation with you. I am always concious in my daily activity that somehow I feel that God is always there beside me. It takes time to understand all of His plans for you. Open your heart, mind and soul through prayers and in the Mass and you will discover that He speaks directly to you. I also discovered that God has a good sense of humor. God bless and live Jesus in our hearts.

 

[poetryforjesus]

pray for faith. I felt similar in the beginning because I knew in my mind it was right, and I wanted. So much for my heart to believe but still had doubt. So I prayed for God to give me faith. He showed me loud and clear, honestly I didn’t listen the first time so he showed me louder. Don’t know if I’m making sense to you. But I know now with all my heart, and I have a love I never had before. So as simple as it sounds pray to God to give you faith and he will. Also read my forum page saints working in our lives under thread St. Therese of Lisuex and then maybe my advice may make more sense. Please pray hard when you doubt, when you don’t believe ask god to show you the truth. I’m a stubborn listener so now when I ask god for something I ask him please answer me loudly(usually he answers by someone else telling me or someone else doing what I’ve been asking about) because you know I might not hear otherwise. And I usually get an answer to my prayer.

I agree with this advice. You need to pray for the gift of faith. True faith is not just forcing yourself to accept something you are not convinced of. True faith comes with the touch of the Holy Spirit that brings you to the knowledge and understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. Something needs to happen in your spiritual life, in the depth of you soul you need to have an encounter with Christ so you will be convinced you are going the right direction. Just pray to Christ in the depth of your soul. Pray for Him to give you some light. And then,

WHEN YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEART.

 

[Lief_Erikson]

aspirant:

It sounds as if you do already believe. I am reminded of the prayer of the father whose son was made mute by a spirit: “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Good choice of quotes, as usual .

Now comes the problem, I’ve studied Catholicism in a reasonable amount of depth (this website has been incredibly helpful), read the Catechism (it now resembles a post-it note hedgehog), quite a bit of the Bible, spoken to priests, saw and listened to the Pope at a General Audience, seen the actual bones of St Peter, attended Mass regularly, pray the rosary, and importantly accept the “rightness” of Catholicism intellectually (most of it, the rest I’m sure I will understand eventually)… but I don’t have faith. I just don’t seem to believe. I think I want to have faith a lot more than I actually have faith if that makes sense?

It seems to me that you are acting in faith without feeling faith. This searching the Kingdom more and more deeply, walking into it in trust without feeling one’s belief is a deeper faith than is the faith that relies on seeing or feeling. Jesus said to Thomas, “you have believed because you have seen me; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” This is the faith that you’ve been acting in thus far, an interior pursuit of the Kingdom, following where the Spirit leads without actually “feeling” or “seeing” what you are following.

For it is obvious from what you’ve written that you are acting in the Spirit and according to the Spirit’s purpose.

I think it’s very important to distinguish clearly between truly believing and feeling belief.

If you don’t believe what you’ve learned is true, then you should not convert yet. But believing is different from “feeling belief.” Let me share a personal example.

There have been several times where I haven’t felt any belief in the bodily resurrection of the dead. In fact, my feelings have far more often gone against this doctrine than in favor of it. Sometimes I just look at it and think, “I can’t imagine that ever really happening.” However, at such times I always say, “I may not be able to grasp it with my heart but I accept it because God says it. And I don’t need to grasp it with my heart; I trust God and leave it in His hands. It will come true whether I can feel it in my heart or not.”

This is faith without sight. My heart cannot fully comply with my desire but I choose to trust in God whatever my heart and imagination feel or comprehend. This is faith of the will, not of the feelings. My will is saying to God, “I trust in You.” And I trust Him and follow Him, whether I am in the darkness of being unable to feel or see what I believe or whether I can feel it as clear as the light of day, like Thomas did when Jesus appeared to him.

Here’s another example. I was walking to Mass one morning recently and was plagued by all kinds of atheistic thoughts that I don’t hold to but which gripped me sharply for a while, preventing me from feeling any of my belief in God. I prayed, “I may not be able to feel my faith now, but I trust in God,” and I continued in His path regardless of how the thoughts darkened my ability to perceive what I was believing.

That is the distinction I’m trying to draw. Faith is not beholding, either with your feelings or with your eyes. Faith is trusting, and that choice comes from the will. And your will shall only choose to trust because that faith flows secretly from the mind and heart as well. There is an “invisible” faith in the mind and heart that enable us to choose to trust God with the will. In this case we don’t see, we don’t feel belief, but we trust in God regardless and accept His teachings because we trust Him. That is the meaning of faith.

You can choose faith, and I think you’re already living on it. You don’t have to wait to feel its presence for it to be there.

Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”

When you choose to trust God, that is faith.

(Thank you so much for reading this rather rambling question! )

I say convert in faith even as you have been converting in faith . I suspect the feelings will follow in time, but even if they never do, that is all right. It would mean that God has called you to live in a “dark” trust rather than one filled with lights, but this is an even more blessed condition, the trusting without perceiving.

I recommend praying for strength to hold firmly to the Lord, all the while thanking God for the spiritual guidance He has given you up to now. Pray also to grow always ever closer to Him . The prayer aspirant recommended is a good choice, “I believe; help me in my unbelief!” Though who knows; if you pray that, God might only deepen the darkness so that you will be forced to trust with even less evidence of feelings.

My guess is you’ve been praying for faith for a long time. Is that true?

I suspect the darkness you’ve been experiencing, and your persistent spiritual pursuit of God’s Kingdom in spite of the darkness of the senses, is God’s answer to your prayer. The Spirit has been strengthening you from within to follow Him, and He has been darkening your senses so that the act of trust that flows from your will shall be all the more pure. Thus, in accordance with Jesus’ words to Thomas, you will be more blessed than those who live in faith that comes from seeing or feeling.

God guides many Christians in the light of seeing or feeling, but it seems to me He has decided to guide you in the darkness of the senses, pure trust without the evidence that signs, the mind or the heart often provide. I find your spiritual journey, and your pursuit of God in this darkness, deeply fascinating.

 

[Mike_Dye]

Hi and welcome, even though you may not be sure right now you are going to become Catholic. The reason I feel confident saying this is because you have already gone through the process and have found the truth. I suppose that I am like you in a lot of ways. I would also like to experience the “warm fuzzy” feelings that we think should be associated with religious belief but you know what? Sometimes they are just not there. or at least on the surface all of the time, but trust me the Holy Spirit will give you all of the strength you need if you will but ask.

 

[peppermouse]

Thank you all very much for replying! I’ll try and reply individually to you all. Despite the fact I am meant to be one of the generation that’s at one with technology, I’m not wonderful with forums!

It sounds as if you do already believe. I am reminded of the prayer of the father whose son was made mute by a spirit: “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Aspirant, I happened to come across this part in my bible the other day. I love it, it’s short and sums up what I feel rather well. I’ve been using it a lot - I think it helps.

I’m a stubborn listener so now when I ask god for something I ask him please answer me loudly(usually he answers by someone else telling me or someone else doing what I’ve been asking about) because you know I might not hear otherwise.

Heavens Flowers, (wonderful name btw) I’ve been incorporating this idea in my prayers quite a lot recently “Lord, please give me a sign this is the right thing to do and please please make it an obvious one - I can be quite slow sometimes!”

I think I’ve seen a few “signs” but I always end up second-guessing myself. The most obvious one was, a few days ago I was walking to visit a friend in her college. There’s some security doors that you need a college key to get into so I usually try to follow someone in rather than call her to come meet me. For some reason, I fixed on a girl in front of me on the path and thought (strangely strongly) “I’ll follow her”. Guess where she turns into, you guessed it - the Catholic Church…

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Light…” and is sounds to me that you have throughly immersed yourself in intellectual part of “the Way”, as indicated by your participation above. However, “the Truth” has not found a spot in your heart. The faith you know you are lacking, is not intellectual, it is a heart felt spiritual embrace of God, a “we walk by faith and not by light” effort. And again apparently that heart felt embrace is not strong enough to reach out and -walk the talk -.
I have four suggestions:
First - go live the faith. You have seen it, read it, participated in the Mass, gone to see and hear the Pope, now live the faith. Involve yourself in something that you will not obtain a reward or recognition, but from which you will be a source of God working in this world. Make yourself available for God to use you to advance His faith. Volunteer somewhere, regularly, make it a year long committment. Soup kitchen, home for unwed mothers, train to be a hospice aid and to sit with and help those who are dieing - make yourself a conduit of God’s love, and see what God does with your lack of faith.
Second - Faith rises like yeast. If not now, does not mean not ever. Do the above and let God’s love warm your soul and the faith may rise.
Third - take it to God. He hears our prayers. Ask Him - in your own words and before the Blessed Sacrament - God help me find the TRUTH I am missing that connects the Way to the Light, so that faith will grow within me.
Fourth - Continue to ask for the help of the Virgin Mary, who told the servants at the wedding of Canan “Do whatever He tells you”. Say a rosary only for yourself. Be selfish that way, and ask the Virgin Mary to intercede for you on your behalf before God, that you may receive a tiny fraction of faith each day, not a lot, not immediate, but each day a little that as a child learns, She will lead you little by little to the Truth of Her Son Jesus, and through Him to the faith you desire.

Julian0404, this is pretty spot on. I was trying to walk the walk so to speak in the hope that I could find the utter faith that everyone else walking seems to have. I’m not a particularly emotional person and this is also why the “heartfelt embrace” seems to be a little harder for me. I’m currently quite busy studying but I’m hoping to volunteer over Easter and also possibly with a Catholic charity over the summer.

I was always a little reserved about praying to the Virgin Mary. Not because of the whole anti-Catholic you’re worshipping Mary etc… but because it didn’t seem to be very “me”. However, I have been praying the rosary, I’ve been aiming for once a day although sometimes its quite nice to say a decade whilst I’m walking somewhere. My church has a chapel and portrait devoted to Our Lady of Oxford and I found a lot more comfort than expected praying there.

So, faith is an act of the will that we take, based on trust, confidence, and reason. It is given to us by God as a grace. I think that when you make the voluntary act to have faith, it increases by God’s grace, in a positive feedback loop. At least, that’s been my experience .

GwenL, I used to be a wavering Christian/agnostic but in a very scientific community and so faith was and still is derided in a lot of settings. I think I tended to go along with the crowd albeit with feeling of envy towards those with faith. As I scientist, I know how powerful positive feedback loops can be - hope this is the case here.

Join the crowd. Mother Teresa was with the crowd for a while, 40 something years.

So here ya go:

“Yes, of course, why are you waiting?”

mark a, yes, I remember hearing about Mother Teresa’s dark night of the soul - is that what it is called? And thanks for the encouragement!

Often times, I myself has questions about my faith. It has been my experience that God will give me an answer sometimes in a day or two. Other times in a week, weeks, or months after I posed the question

arcee, Yes - this has happened to me! The readings and the homily at Mass always seem to be strangely appropriate. I was wondering about the teaching authority of the Church - guess what the next homily was on…

 

[peppermouse]

I didn’t realise I’d written so much! Here’s the second half:

I agree with this advice. You need to pray for the gift of faith. True faith is not just forcing yourself to accept something you are not convinced of. True faith comes with the touch of the Holy Spirit that brings you to the knowledge and understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. Something needs to happen in your spiritual life, in the depth of you soul you need to have an encounter with Christ so you will be convinced you are going the right direction. Just pray to Christ in the depth of your soul. Pray for Him to give you some light. And then,

WHEN YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEART.

poetryforjesus, I have been praying for the gift of faith, and I think possibly it is working. I don’t think I’ve had an encounter with Christ but I feel closer to Him.

It is quite difficult to explain, I still do have a few reservations but I’ve somehow switched from thinking “if I become Catholic” to “when I become Catholic” and I’m not quite sure when it happened!

It seems to me that you are acting in faith without feeling faith. This searching the Kingdom more and more deeply, walking into it in trust without feeling one’s belief is a deeper faith than is the faith that relies on seeing or feeling. Jesus said to Thomas, “you have believed because you have seen me; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” This is the faith that you’ve been acting in thus far, an interior pursuit of the Kingdom, following where the Spirit leads without actually “feeling” or “seeing” what you are following.

Lief Erikson, thank you very much for your post, it was very very interesting and heartwarming to read.

I wish I was more like the person you seem to be describing, if I am proceeding in darkness, I definitely keep stumbling. I never thought I was the sort of person to believe without seeing, I’ve never demonstrated that sort of trait ever before so this is very strange to me. I feel like a toddler taking her first steps.

I have prayed to St Thomas for help with this, I’m sure he understands how I feel. I do envy the way his doubts were taken away, there couldn’t have been much room for wavering after that!

Yes, I have been praying for faith for a while. I finally feel I can see the mountain range though I am still navigating the foothills.

even though you may not be sure right now you are going to become Catholic. The reason I feel confident saying this is because you have already gone through the process and have found the truth. I suppose that I am like you in a lot of ways. I would also like to experience the “warm fuzzy” feelings that we think should be associated with religious belief but you know what? Sometimes they are just not there. or at least on the surface all of the time, but trust me the Holy Spirit will give you all of the strength you need if you will but ask

Mike Dye, I do have more of a certainty about actually becoming Catholic than the last time I posted. I have been asking and have more confidence than I ever thought possible at being answered.

I’ve had another meeting with my priest since I last spoke. I am rather lucky in that all the catechesis in my parish is one-on-one with a priest and he agrees with many poster here that the best idea in this situation is to pray before the Blessed Sacrament (is that meant to be capitalised?). I attended holy hour today and it was different to how I expected. Honestly, I didn’t think I would cope very well with an hour on my knees in silence - I tend to get distracted I’m ashamed to say. However, time seemed to fly by, I’d only just finished praying before benediction began. As I mentioned before, I do now have faith that I will, if it is God’s will, develop faith (if that makes sense!).

I will keep updating everyone on my journey though I’m sure it will not be particularly interesting to read. I do have one question to ask, if people wouldn’t mind, when receiving the Eucharist, how do you feel? I’m not asking this to see if its a complete remedy to my problem i.e. just get through and receive and all will be sorted, I’m just curious.

 

[GwenL]

GwenL, I used to be a wavering Christian/agnostic but in a very scientific community and so faith was and still is derided in a lot of settings. I think I tended to go along with the crowd albeit with feeling of envy towards those with faith. As I scientist, I know how powerful positive feedback loops can be - hope this is the case here.

Peppermouse, I know exactly what you mean. I was an atheist/agnostic in a scientific community as well. These scientists are atheists and ridicule people of faith, holding that faith and religion are for the stupid, uneducated people. After all, if you can’t prove it via the scientific method, if there is no testable hypothesis, it can’t be proven, right? I can see that now for the pride, arrogance, and self-worship that it really is. Whenever I have doubts, I bring up that vision and know I’ll never go that way again.

 

[Lief_Erikson]

Lief Erikson, thank you very much for your post, it was very very interesting and heartwarming to read.

I wish I was more like the person you seem to be describing, if I am proceeding in darkness, I definitely keep stumbling.

What I meant is you can choose to trust God in all these matters, trusting Him that they’re all true without feeling faith inside you. As I mentioned, I have trouble imaginatively or in my heart grasping the resurrection of the dead. I don’t “feel” faith in this doctrine of the Christian faith. However, I choose to trust God that this is true even without feeling that interior certainty. I just trust God in the matter. That’s faith in darkness, and that’s what you are experiencing on a much broader scale, trusting God (at least enough to follow the Spirit this far!) as to the truth of these teachings without “feeling” the faith within you.

I never thought I was the sort of person to believe without seeing, I’ve never demonstrated that sort of trait ever before so this is very strange to me.

I can imagine!

I have prayed to St Thomas for help with this, I’m sure he understands how I feel. I do envy the way his doubts were taken away, there couldn’t have been much room for wavering after that!

Yes, I have been praying for faith for a while. I finally feel I can see the mountain range though I am still navigating the foothills.

But remember, what faith you are feeling right now is a form of “seeing,” a glimmer in the darkness, which is fine. But the darkness is valuable too and you can convert to Catholicism by simply trusting in God that this is His truth, whether you feel the faith or not. This trust is an act of the will that you can choose to make, choosing to trust His Word and act accordingly without feeling the faith inside you that it is true. This choice to trust is real faith; the rest is feelings, “lights” from God which are delightful to the soul and give us confidence, but which are not faith itself.

Faith itself is what you have already been displaying by following the Spirit persistently toward the Catholic Church. You will be showing it further when you decide to join her fold, for this is a choice to trust God and the truth of the Church’s teachings. That choice can be supported by feelings or not.

Your path certainly is fascinating. God is blessing you very richly.

I think you’ll come out of this with a deeper understanding of faith than most Catholics have.

 

[Heavens_Flowers]

Peppermouse God has answered you, its hard to believe I know but he’s calling you! From reading your posts, I do believe your ready to start RCIA. In this class which takes a year, they will teach you about the Catholic faith, and answer any questions you may have and as well as help you. Discern or decide if you want to become part of the church. Take to a Catholic priest about how to join RCIA.

 

[zaramarie81]

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Light…” and is sounds to me that you have throughly immersed yourself in intellectual part of “the Way”, as indicated by your participation above. However, “the Truth” has not found a spot in your heart. The faith you know you are lacking, is not intellectual, it is a heart felt spiritual embrace of God, a “we walk by faith and not by light” effort. And again apparently that heart felt embrace is not strong enough to reach out and -walk the talk -.
I have four suggestions:
First - go live the faith. You have seen it, read it, participated in the Mass, gone to see and hear the Pope, now live the faith. Involve yourself in something that you will not obtain a reward or recognition, but from which you will be a source of God working in this world. Make yourself available for God to use you to advance His faith. Volunteer somewhere, regularly, make it a year long committment. Soup kitchen, home for unwed mothers, train to be a hospice aid and to sit with and help those who are dieing - make yourself a conduit of God’s love, and see what God does with your lack of faith.
Second - Faith rises like yeast. If not now, does not mean not ever. Do the above and let God’s love warm your soul and the faith may rise.
Third - take it to God. He hears our prayers. Ask Him - in your own words and before the Blessed Sacrament - God help me find the TRUTH I am missing that connects the Way to the Light, so that faith will grow within me.
Fourth - Continue to ask for the help of the Virgin Mary, who told the servants at the wedding of Canan “Do whatever He tells you”. Say a rosary only for yourself. Be selfish that way, and ask the Virgin Mary to intercede for you on your behalf before God, that you may receive a tiny fraction of faith each day, not a lot, not immediate, but each day a little that as a child learns, She will lead you little by little to the Truth of Her Son Jesus, and through Him to the faith you desire.

Just wanted to jump in here… it’s actually, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”… not light. Christ came to give us life and to the full. This gets misquoted a lot, and just wanted to clarify (although he is also the light of the world). I think these suggestions sound great though and in keeping with what you’re saying. Live the faith out and interact with those whose lives have been changed. Read the stories of Saints as well or their own words… they’re faith is very inspiring and very real. It sounds like you’ve been heavily pursuing the intellectual side of the faith and it’s time to pursue other aspects of the faith… the part where we act on our intellectual beliefs. I personally understand this struggle as I am often more of a thinker than a doer and often decide on things intellectually before they become “real” to me. But some things in life must be experienced, not just read about or thought about.

 

[EmmanuelGIWU]

I will keep updating everyone on my journey though I’m sure it will not be particularly interesting to read. I do have one question to ask, if people wouldn’t mind, when receiving the Eucharist, how do you feel? I’m not asking this to see if its a complete remedy to my problem i.e. just get through and receive and all will be sorted, I’m just curious.

Hi there! I am a student in Plymouth. Welcome to the world of Catholics (of the past present and future) and more specifically that of Catholic youths! (You’re a student in Oxford right? I think I might have read it somewhere…)

Normally (i.e. not straightly after Reconciliation, or in a retreat, or otherwise in a spiritual hight) I don’t feel anything at all while receiving Communion, but sometimes I have weird thoughts like “oh hello, You taste a bit weird today…” and sometimes I ‘threaten’ Him to answer my prayers at that point (usually something related to the church, or to bring faith to those whom I have in mind- would do that for you tomorrow ;p). But really, I don’t usually feel much when I receive Communion.

But then, I don’t really think it is more about feeling than about faith. I think you’ve already gone pass the stage when God sort of have to attract you to him by feelings, but now he is retreating a little bit so that you learn to have faith while he is apparently not there, or not giving you the psychological incentives. He wants you to have faith, I am pretty sure (cause He loves you, lets face it). I actually had several discussions with friends, trying to explain why university CUs have such a high turnover (and why so many just goes away after uni).

If you look at the Bible, put it into sequences of when they were writen rather than when they were writing about, you’ll see a trend to God seemingly more and more remote from mankind, at least until Jesus. For example in Moses’ time (Exodus was the first ever book to have been written, i think) God appeared in bushes and talked to Moses, and shout very loud on mountains. Than He seems to be a little remote in Genesis, only talking to man and women but not having a visible form. And you have the gradual decline of his “proximity” with mankind throughout the time of the prophets.

Not because He have deserted mankind though, as proven by Jesus coming. So I guess He is just loving you more and more, and wants you to make up your own mind rather than “forcing/persuading” you with feelings like “happiness” or “peacefulness”. So in some sense, when you say you don’t have faith, I think I kind of read it as you’ve increased in faith so much you’re mind’s just not copping with it at the moment. ;p

Good luck!!

 

[fxcc]

Faith is “contact with mystery”.
What mystery?
At its deepest level, the mystery of perfect love.
Look around the world, and it can often be hard to believe such a thing exists.
Gaze at a crucifix long enough and you’ll start to believe it does.
The longer you look, the more you’ll be drawn into that love (be “warned”!). You’ll find yourself wanting closer contact - with the mystery.
And one day you’ll wake up realising you do have faith!
In God. In Perfect Love. And in His (one, true) Church, given all the things it is witness to and the vehicle of, through thick and thin and rain and shine. As unchanging and eternal as God’s love.
Shucks, I pray it happens yesterday for you!
God bless,
Francis

 

[crazzeto]

I suspect a lot of answers to this question are going to be “Yes, of course, why are you waiting?”

I should probably give you some background information first. I’m a university student in England and am nominally a Protestant although my family is not really religious. As part of growing up, I suppose, I have begun to try and find some meaning in my life. I’ve always admired devout Christians and so started to do some research.

I came to the conclusion if you wanted to be Christian that one might as well do it properly (i.e. Apostolic Succession etc) and that meant Catholicism. I happened to have (rather handily in fact) a Catholic friend who offered to take me to Mass.

Now comes the problem, I’ve studied Catholicism in a reasonable amount of depth (this website has been incredibly helpful), read the Catechism (it now resembles a post-it note hedgehog), quite a bit of the Bible, spoken to priests, saw and listened to the Pope at a General Audience, seen the actual bones of St Peter, attended Mass regularly, pray the rosary, and importantly accept the “rightness” of Catholicism intellectually (most of it, the rest I’m sure I will understand eventually)… but I don’t have faith. I just don’t seem to believe. I think I want to have faith a lot more than I actually have faith if that makes sense?

I’m not sure what I’m asking for, but I’ve seen some wonderful advice on here before, so I’d like any comments or suggestions please.

(Thank you so much for reading this rather rambling question! )

I would pray for faith, and I wouldn’t convert simply because it’s something that “seems right”. I might suggest attending some RCIA classes, there is no requirement to follow through with a conversion so if you’re still not “feeling it” you can opt not to convert. I suggest this though, because not only will you get more education, but you’ll also get to meet and interact with more Catholic’s, and share in the graces that are going to be happening there.

Ultimitly faith is a gift from God, as others suggested I would pray unceasingly for it, try attending regular masses and adorations.

 

[John_Pascendi]

First good for you…you sound like a real university student not just a person sitting in the third row nodding his head to all that is pronounced from the headmasters desk!.As a former hs teacher I recall how many times I would instruct the students to have faith in me and what I am teaching on a particular topic…later you can make your own decision on whether or not I was truthful or not…just give me time to prove myself! This is pretty much what the RCC is all about. Of course in a world of cynicism and cartoonish lampooning of all that is decent the RCC stands up to all of this with the record of seeing other public enemies numbero uno come and go while it is still here teaching we common folks how to live a decent life downhere on this third rock from the sun. Like moving along in a line towards a table fulled with goodies…you wont know what you will like till you sample a bit here and there. As the Man of all seasons declared: I am the kings good servent but Gods disciple first!..all the best,I will pray for a wee bit of light to enter study and lead you to the faith you deserve…all the best…Pas