Struggling with my faith

[devonsams]

Hello, first of all I’d like to say that I’m from Brazil and i would like to apologize that i dont speak english very well

These days i have been struggling with my faith, I don’t know anymore what to do, then I decided to make this topic here.
I’ve actually been thinking about my faith since 2 years ago, I think about it everyday, about the arguments for existence and non-existence of God, about the dogmas of the church, I read about theology and this stuff and I think I evolved a lot in my conversion and in the understanding of our faith. But I believe sometimes I have some crisis o faith, and it got stronger this week.

I’ve been reading a lot of the existence of God, and debates, and reading books, and my faith is causing a terrible suffering daily, there are so many countless arguments inside of me screaming to disbelieve, so many people saying that Faith is waste of time, that religion is superstition, there are people around me telling to disbelieve but in counterpart more strongly my soul asks to believe! There is nothing more beautiful, more indescribable, more virtuous, and more divine than Christ! Nor it doesn’t have and it will never ever have! My soul doesn’t allow me to rest outside the Church! as Saint Augustine said: “You have made us for yourself Lord and our heart are restless until they rest in you!”

And I feel lonely to talk about it because I don’t know many Catholics engaged in the discussion of Faith around me to talk about it. So I would like to say if anyone has go through it and you suggest anything?
I would like if anyone have skype that could send me in message so we could talk about our faith?

Thank you!

 

[ApologiaSophia]

I almost became an agnostic/Deist during my greatest crisis of faith. I hated the feeling, because your world feels turned upside down. I prayed “God, I want to believe, but I need your help. Show me. If Jesus is Your Son, help me to see, if He is not, show me what is true.” I wanted truth. I, too, began looking up arguments for and against God. I also read St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas Aquinas helped a lot, and his arguments for God helped me see reasonableness of the existence of God. Look up also William Lane Craig, John Lennox, and Ravi Zacharias. If you are struggling with your faith, not in God, but in Jesus Christ as God incarnate, look up Gary Habermas, Lee Strobel, Paul Copan, and the three other men I mentioned before on the resurrection of Jesus.

Ultimately, it will still come to faith. You will never be “certain,” but you can be confident in your faith. Remember what God has done in your life and how He has helped you. Continue to pray and He will help you see what you need to see. Your trials and tribulations are like fire that purges you. When you come out of this struggle, you will be wiser, bolder, and holier than before. Trust in the power of God, and search for Him. Seek and you will find. Amen?

 

[Philthy]

Hello friend!

I believe we all share in your struggle to varying degrees.
Our intellect - if not carefully managed - can often lead us to believe that “it makes more sense” to believe that God does not exist. Remember that Christ said that only by becoming “like a child” do we enter the Kingdom of God(cf Luke 18:17). Part of becoming like a child means that at certain points we need to trust beyond our ability to reason. The truth is that our reasoning can only take us so far and if we are honest we must admit that there are many flaws in our intellectual efforts. Furthermore, there is the whole problem of seeking the truth to begin with. Why do we seek it, exactly? No other known life form does so. Why do we feel incomplete without it? I believe the quote you have from Augustine is a great one to explain that “longing for truth” that does not appear to come from “nature” as no other part of nature exhibits it. There are many other issues we could discuss, but that would depend upon what is bothering you and causing you grief. Why not share some of the specific intellectual struggles you are having?

blessings!

 

[Dorothy]

“devonsams”,

It is important and good to have friends who are also interested in their faith and practice it. They are out there, you may have to check out a few parishes to see what kind of groups are available.

There is also good Catholic reading you can take advantage of, and of course, prayer.

There will always be spiritual warfare, as the evil one is busy to sway people away from the Lord our God.

We have all the means in our Catholic Church to grow in grace and become stronger in our faith.

You may be led to talk to a priest you feel comfortable with about this, if you are so led.

The Lord’s blessings to you this glorious Easter season!

 

[zz912]

For those who are trying to get you to doubt your faith, don’t just allow them to throw out attacks on the faith. Make them offer up the alternative that they propose to fill the void they are trying to create.

Lots of agnostics/atheists will attack the faith, but when you turn it around on them, and make them offer up their wordlview and beliefs for discussion, you see the utter emptiness and nonsense of their views.

 

[devonsams]

Hello, first of all I’d like to say that I’m from Brazil and i would like to apologize that i dont speak english very well

These days i have been struggling with my faith, I don’t know anymore what to do, then I decided to make this topic here.
I’ve actually been thinking about my faith since 2 years ago, I think about it everyday, about the arguments for existence and non-existence of God, about the dogmas of the church, I read about theology and this stuff and I think I evolved a lot in my conversion and in the understanding of our faith. But I believe sometimes I have some crisis o faith, and it got stronger this week.

I’ve been reading a lot of the existence of God, and debates, and reading books, and my faith is causing a terrible suffering daily, there are so many countless arguments inside of me screaming to disbelieve, so many people saying that Faith is waste of time, that religion is superstition, there are people around me telling to disbelieve but in counterpart more strongly my soul asks to believe! There is nothing more beautiful, more indescribable, more higher, and more divine than Christ! Nor it doesn’t have and it will never ever have! My soul doesn’t allow me to rest outside the Church! as Saint Augustine said: “You have made us for yourself Lord and our heart are restless until they rest in you!”

And I feel lonely to talk about it because I don’t know many Catholics engaged in the discussion of Faith around me to talk about it. So I would like to say if anyone has go through it and you suggest anything?
I would like if anyone have skype that could send me in message so we could talk about our faith?

Thank you!

 

[humble_catholic]

For those who are trying to get you to doubt your faith, don’t just allow them to throw out attacks on the faith. Make them offer up the alternative that they propose to fill the void they are trying to create.

Lots of agnostics/atheists will attack the faith, but when you turn it around on them, and make them offer up their wordlview and beliefs for discussion, you see the utter emptiness and nonsense of their views.

I agree, and it usually shows that atheism is an emotional worldview than a rational or logical one.

 

[humble_catholic]

For those who are trying to get you to doubt your faith, don’t just allow them to throw out attacks on the faith. Make them offer up the alternative that they propose to fill the void they are trying to create.

Lots of agnostics/atheists will attack the faith, but when you turn it around on them, and make them offer up their wordlview and beliefs for discussion, you see the utter emptiness and nonsense of their views.

Hello, first of all I’d like to say that I’m from Brazil and i would like to apologize that i dont speak english very well

These days i have been struggling with my faith, I don’t know anymore what to do, then I decided to make this topic here.
I’ve actually been thinking about my faith since 2 years ago, I think about it everyday, about the arguments for existence and non-existence of God, about the dogmas of the church, I read about theology and this stuff and I think I evolved a lot in my conversion and in the understanding of our faith. But I believe sometimes I have some crisis o faith, and it got stronger this week.

I’ve been reading a lot of the existence of God, and debates, and reading books, and my faith is causing a terrible suffering daily, there are so many countless arguments inside of me screaming to disbelieve, so many people saying that Faith is waste of time, that religion is superstition, there are people around me telling to disbelieve but in counterpart more strongly my soul asks to believe! There is nothing more beautiful, more indescribable, more virtuous, and more divine than Christ! Nor it doesn’t have and it will never ever have! My soul doesn’t allow me to rest outside the Church! as Saint Augustine said: “You have made us for yourself Lord and our heart are restless until they rest in you!”

And I feel lonely to talk about it because I don’t know many Catholics engaged in the discussion of Faith around me to talk about it. So I would like to say if anyone has go through it and you suggest anything?
I would like if anyone have skype that could send me in message so we could talk about our faith?

Thank you!

Devonsams, the most important thing you have going for you right now is that you want God with all of your heart and all of your soul. This I can see in your posts. You have an incredible desire for God. This shows that the Holy Spirit is still there. Right now ur faith is much stronger than you realize.

Can I ask you something my friend? Have you heard of scrupulosity? You might actually have that . Now I’m not saying that you so but it could be a possibility.
You can go through my old posts and see the agony I went through for a while. I still get attacked with thoughts once in a while but no where near the extremity that it was back then.
I also had scrupulosity but I never realized it, and when I did realize it I had a hard Tim talking about it because I come from a family that didn’t want us to share our problems outside the family.

If you need to talk just send me your Skype ID.
But it’s also imperative that you try to get a spiritual advisor , and you can usually do that by going to your church rectory and requesting a spiritual advisor.
He might also recommend seeing a professional that will determine if you have the symptoms of scrupulosity. Also make sure if you see a therapist that he or she is from your faith.

I will send u a PM
And try not to worry, God has you right where he wants to, you just have to hold onto him.
God bless

 

[humble_catholic]

Hello friend!

I believe we all share in your struggle to varying degrees.
Our intellect - if not carefully managed - can often lead us to believe that “it makes more sense” to believe that God does not exist. Remember that Christ said that only by becoming “like a child” do we enter the Kingdom of God(cf Luke 18:17). Part of becoming like a child means that at certain points we need to trust beyond our ability to reason. The truth is that our reasoning can only take us so far and if we are honest we must admit that there are many flaws in our intellectual efforts. Furthermore, there is the whole problem of seeking the truth to begin with. Why do we seek it, exactly? No other known life form does so. Why do we feel incomplete without it? I believe the quote you have from Augustine is a great one to explain that “longing for truth” that does not appear to come from “nature” as no other part of nature exhibits it. There are many other issues we could discuss, but that would depend upon what is bothering you and causing you grief. Why not share some of the specific intellectual struggles you are having?

blessings!

 

[Brendan_64]

I’ve been reading a lot of the existence of God, and debates, and reading books, and my faith is causing a terrible suffering daily, there are so many countless arguments inside of me screaming to disbelieve, so many people saying that Faith is waste of time, that religion is superstition, there are people around me telling to disbelieve but in counterpart more strongly my soul asks to believe! There is nothing more beautiful, more indescribable, more virtuous, and more divine than Christ! Nor it doesn’t have and it will never ever have! My soul doesn’t allow me to rest outside the Church! as Saint Augustine said: “You have made us for yourself Lord and our heart are restless until they rest in you!”

We have intellect and we have ‘feeling’. Both are important to our Faith, but don’t fall into the dangerous trap of allowing your intellect and your powers of logical reasoning to ride roughshod over what you sense, what you feel.

Trying to justify Faith purely on man-made laws of logic and reasoning, argument/counter-argument, debate etc. is flawed. How can we justify the Divine through application of man-made laws of logic and reasoning? Logic and reasoning can help us understand up to a point, but don’t ignore what you feel in your heart and soul, and don’t fall into the trap of believing that what you feel has to be logically justified in order to be valid.

 

[CalCatholic]

there are people around me telling to disbelieve but in counterpart more strongly my soul asks to believe! There is nothing more beautiful, more indescribable, more virtuous, and more divine than Christ! Nor it doesn’t have and it will never ever have! My soul doesn’t allow me to rest outside the Church! as Saint Augustine said: “You have made us for yourself Lord and our heart are restless until they rest in you!”

Devonsams, take it from someone who did not know God for the first 47 years of his life, your soul is never truly at peace until you come to know and have faith in God and his Son Jesus Christ! As you mentioned above, you know this in your soul. This is the Holy Spirit who continually calls out to us to believe.

 

[fred_conty]

Hello, first of all I’d like to say that I’m from Brazil and i would like to apologize that i dont speak english very well

These days i have been struggling with my faith, I don’t know anymore what to do, then I decided to make this topic here.
I’ve actually been thinking about my faith since 2 years ago, I think about it everyday, about the arguments for existence and non-existence of God, about the dogmas of the church, I read about theology and this stuff and I think I evolved a lot in my conversion and in the understanding of our faith. But I believe sometimes I have some crisis o faith, and it got stronger this week.

I’ve been reading a lot of the existence of God, and debates, and reading books, and my faith is causing a terrible suffering daily, there are so many countless arguments inside of me screaming to disbelieve, so many people saying that Faith is waste of time, that religion is superstition, there are people around me telling to disbelieve but in counterpart more strongly my soul asks to believe! There is nothing more beautiful, more indescribable, more virtuous, and more divine than Christ! Nor it doesn’t have and it will never ever have! My soul doesn’t allow me to rest outside the Church! as Saint Augustine said: “You have made us for yourself Lord and our heart are restless until they rest in you!”

And I feel lonely to talk about it because I don’t know many Catholics engaged in the discussion of Faith around me to talk about it. So I would like to say if anyone has go through it and you suggest anything?
I would like if anyone have skype that could send me in message so we could talk about our faith?

Thank you!

Devonsams,

Sometimes arguing can be the worst enemy and not our friend.
I would suggest that for a while, stay away from any contention about your faith.
Instead, rest in peace and solitude for a while.

One way to help do this is to fix your gaze and attention on our divine Saviour. Concentrate on that every day and several times a day even if it is only for a minute. Get a picture, either real or imaginary, of Jesus, and then in your mind or with your eyes just simply look at it in a restful way, saying nothing, doing nothing, but just giving full attention to what you see.

Here is one that may be of help to you. The enlarged image is better.

churchsupplywarehouse.com/catalog_product.asp_Q_categoryId_E_112_A_subcategoryId_E_731_A_categoryItemId_E_17232_A_The_Holy_Face_of_Jesus_E_The_Holy_Face_of_Jesus#

The crucifix is another source of help. The crucifix speaks a language all its own.
Look at it without saying a word. Let it take up all the power of your mind and imagination for a few moments, only resting on what you see.

A thought that will heal.