K
Kima
Guest
Thank you, that was very beautifully said!
- Status
Tis_Bearself
Patron
I was a near-daily Mass goer before the COVID shutdown.
Now I’m a near-daily Mass livestream watcher.
I can still go to confession on my regular schedule, twice a month, so I do that.
I pray with online prayer groups as well as on my own. If I miss a day of saying a particular prayer I simply try to catch up the next day. If I get several days behind and it’s not a novena where I have to say X days I might ask God to forgive me and just start from scratch again.
It’s normal to have times when your prayer life is not the most exciting thing in the world. Some days I read long prayers in the evening and I’m tired and it’s not having the impact it might have when I read the same prayer at Adoration in the middle of the day. I used to worry about that but then I decided that simply repeating the words of the prayer with a sincere heart is bound to have an impact inside you even if you feel like you’re not having a great prayer hour. So I just do my best.
Adoration is helpful. Where I live, I can still go. If you have that available I recommend it. If you don’t then try a virtual Adoration with a livestream of Jesus.
When the devil puts a thought of unbelief in your head, kick it out IMMEDIATELY and say a prayer to Jesus, Mary and your favorite saints to kick the devil out. If you have some holy water handy you can cross yourself with it. From there I usually remind myself that the great saints such as St. Therese, St. Padre Pio, St. Pope JPII were not wrong and then I just move on.
Bottom line is you have to accept that sometimes the road to Heaven is difficult and not an exciting, pleasant, uplifting or fun place to be, and just keep doing what you’re doing even if it feels dry.
Now I’m a near-daily Mass livestream watcher.
I can still go to confession on my regular schedule, twice a month, so I do that.
I pray with online prayer groups as well as on my own. If I miss a day of saying a particular prayer I simply try to catch up the next day. If I get several days behind and it’s not a novena where I have to say X days I might ask God to forgive me and just start from scratch again.
It’s normal to have times when your prayer life is not the most exciting thing in the world. Some days I read long prayers in the evening and I’m tired and it’s not having the impact it might have when I read the same prayer at Adoration in the middle of the day. I used to worry about that but then I decided that simply repeating the words of the prayer with a sincere heart is bound to have an impact inside you even if you feel like you’re not having a great prayer hour. So I just do my best.
Adoration is helpful. Where I live, I can still go. If you have that available I recommend it. If you don’t then try a virtual Adoration with a livestream of Jesus.
When the devil puts a thought of unbelief in your head, kick it out IMMEDIATELY and say a prayer to Jesus, Mary and your favorite saints to kick the devil out. If you have some holy water handy you can cross yourself with it. From there I usually remind myself that the great saints such as St. Therese, St. Padre Pio, St. Pope JPII were not wrong and then I just move on.
Bottom line is you have to accept that sometimes the road to Heaven is difficult and not an exciting, pleasant, uplifting or fun place to be, and just keep doing what you’re doing even if it feels dry.
K
Kima
Guest
Thank you very much. That was encouraging and uplifting. God bless you!
K
Kima
Guest
Thank you for your good advice. That was very helpful! God bless!
U
upant
Guest
catholic03
Well-known member
Honestly, I think that most of us feel like this at the moment. Remember that many of our ancestors had to go without Mass and confession for a long time.
Satan wants us to follow him. He wants us to feel that we are alone, that God is not there.
He is heartless, and evil. Remember the words of Our Lord - ‘follow me’.
I sometimes feel this way. You mentioned you are 17 - I am 16, and I often struggle to read scripture or to pray because I want to turn on the television etc.
Firstly, remember that pushing yourself too hard (e.g., ‘I’m going to read the Bible for 4 hours today, pray every Office of the Liturgy of the Hours, and go to confession as well’) is not necessary and can be very spiritually harmful. It can cause one’s faith to implode and adopt an ‘all or nothing’ mindset.
Start little. Try saying an Our Father and 3 Hail Marys when you rise. Do the same when you go to bed and maybe read a chapter or two of the Bible. If you can even just devote that 10-20 minutes each day to God, then that’s a great start.
We all have this issue, do not worry! This pandemic has had big consequences on the Church’s ability to hold liturgical celebrations around the world.
Start little, as I said. Don’t push too hard. Don’t ‘beat yourself up’ when you fail. Build up a fruitful prayer life bit by bit.
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K
Kima
Guest
Thank you so much! That was really nice of you!
Thank you all for giving so good and caring responses! I really appreciate it!
Thank you all for giving so good and caring responses! I really appreciate it!
M
Minks
Guest
catholic03:
“Honestly, I think that most of us feel like this at the moment. Remember that many of our ancestors had to go without Mass and confession for a long time.
I have occasionally been tempted in my prayers. Thinking that I´m only sitting there talking to myself and feeling tempted of mockery in my thoughts. I do certainly believe in God and I do not doubt His existence nor presence even the slightest, but these thoughts do arise. Know, when thinking about this to a deeper level, I do think it might be that these thoughts are temptations from the evil one, trying to lead me astray and into sin.
Satan wants us to follow him. He wants us to feel that we are alone, that God is not there.
He is heartless, and evil. Remember the words of Our Lord - ‘follow me’.
I sometimes feel this way. You mentioned you are 17 - I am 16, and I often struggle to read scripture or to pray because I want to turn on the television etc.
Firstly, remember that pushing yourself too hard (e.g., ‘I’m going to read the Bible for 4 hours today, pray every Office of the Liturgy of the Hours, and go to confession as well’) is not necessary and can be very spiritually harmful. It can cause one’s faith to implode and adopt an ‘all or nothing’ mindset.
Start little. Try saying an Our Father and 3 Hail Marys when you rise. Do the same when you go to bed and maybe read a chapter or two of the Bible. If you can even just devote that 10-20 minutes each day to God, then that’s a great start.
We all have this issue, do not worry! This pandemic has had big consequences on the Church’s ability to hold liturgical celebrations around the world.
Start little, as I said. Don’t push too hard. Don’t ‘beat yourself up’ when you fail. Build up a fruitful prayer life bit by bit.”
[/quote]
You’ve given excellent advice in each response in this post, @catholic03, in this case, wise beyond your years. Mother Church tells us the points you’ve made because if a person will just do what he SHOULD do, and forget about how he feels (often, Satan) or what his intellect tells him (often, Satan), he can progress to a deeper level of understanding, surpassing that which he had before his inertia or doubts began creeping in.
Method acting requires an actor to go through all the appropriate “motions & emotions” with appropriate facial expressions and vocal inflections until the viewer could conceivably believe that the actor actually is the character he’s playing. Our souls are far more important than an acting role. Maintaining faith during certain trying times in our lives is more easily accomplished if we keep at it and go through the motions until, like the actor, we get it right.
One way to think of it is that we are auditioning for our director, God, so to speak, to become the most authentic actor possible to star in this play that is our Life’s Journey toward heaven or hell.
“Honestly, I think that most of us feel like this at the moment. Remember that many of our ancestors had to go without Mass and confession for a long time.
I have occasionally been tempted in my prayers. Thinking that I´m only sitting there talking to myself and feeling tempted of mockery in my thoughts. I do certainly believe in God and I do not doubt His existence nor presence even the slightest, but these thoughts do arise. Know, when thinking about this to a deeper level, I do think it might be that these thoughts are temptations from the evil one, trying to lead me astray and into sin.
Satan wants us to follow him. He wants us to feel that we are alone, that God is not there.
He is heartless, and evil. Remember the words of Our Lord - ‘follow me’.
I sometimes feel this way. You mentioned you are 17 - I am 16, and I often struggle to read scripture or to pray because I want to turn on the television etc.
Firstly, remember that pushing yourself too hard (e.g., ‘I’m going to read the Bible for 4 hours today, pray every Office of the Liturgy of the Hours, and go to confession as well’) is not necessary and can be very spiritually harmful. It can cause one’s faith to implode and adopt an ‘all or nothing’ mindset.
Start little. Try saying an Our Father and 3 Hail Marys when you rise. Do the same when you go to bed and maybe read a chapter or two of the Bible. If you can even just devote that 10-20 minutes each day to God, then that’s a great start.
We all have this issue, do not worry! This pandemic has had big consequences on the Church’s ability to hold liturgical celebrations around the world.
Start little, as I said. Don’t push too hard. Don’t ‘beat yourself up’ when you fail. Build up a fruitful prayer life bit by bit.”
[/quote]
You’ve given excellent advice in each response in this post, @catholic03, in this case, wise beyond your years. Mother Church tells us the points you’ve made because if a person will just do what he SHOULD do, and forget about how he feels (often, Satan) or what his intellect tells him (often, Satan), he can progress to a deeper level of understanding, surpassing that which he had before his inertia or doubts began creeping in.
Method acting requires an actor to go through all the appropriate “motions & emotions” with appropriate facial expressions and vocal inflections until the viewer could conceivably believe that the actor actually is the character he’s playing. Our souls are far more important than an acting role. Maintaining faith during certain trying times in our lives is more easily accomplished if we keep at it and go through the motions until, like the actor, we get it right.
One way to think of it is that we are auditioning for our director, God, so to speak, to become the most authentic actor possible to star in this play that is our Life’s Journey toward heaven or hell.
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catholic03
Well-known member
Thanks for reinforcing this point.
Our feelings can often be holy and point us towards God. But at the same time, they can be very misleading, and Satan can easily take advantage of this.
I remember Martin Luther. His feelings lead to the worst division in Christendom.
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K
Kima
Guest
Thank you both! 
- Status