Troubled today about the afterlife and just doubts in general

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I work in a school and supported an RE lesson today on the topic of life and death : they studied this guy A. J. Ayer – ‘What I Saw When I Was Dead’ – Peter Sjöstedt-H it really troubled me. When my mother (committed non catholic Christian) was terminally ill she never had nice comforting thoughts and dreams she had very troubling ones she kept praying and reading the Bible though. I am just struggling with the fact we can never really know what happens. Context : Dad in hospital and mum passed in September. Am the only practising catholic in the family. My mam is more Christlike than I ever was but she still didn’t get any nice visions close to death. She did want to get back to church and said she was gonna put her suffering in Gods hands . I know I might get flagged or whatever but what do you do when you can’t really know and you have had your faith shaken by real world experiences and the fact you just can’t ever really know
 
What are your doubts of exactly? ☺️

Are you getting thoughts of Atheism? Different Christian denomination…?
 
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Near death experiences are neither a proof nor a refutation of the afterlife.
 
I guess atheism. I’m a science teacher and a convert of less than a year although Became Christian as a teen. And I’m nowhere close to atheism but just if you could hear my thoughts it would be ‘what if it’s all not true ?’
 
What are they then? I guess I could have done without that lesson today honestly. But I was there to keep the kids listening and on track
 
Okay. ☺️

Have you asked yourself what is causing those thoughts? Is it a certain issue or subject?

You are on Catholic Answers so you can get a sheet of paper and a pen and write your questions down and see if Trent Horn for example has answered a question on a previous CA show.

You can call in also.

But you also might consider asking yourself philosophical questions such as if Atheism is true and there is nothing but this life what makes mankind or any creature have any value? There’s also subjective vs objective morality.

How did all this happen by chance? 🤔 How do I know I’m awake and this all isn’t a dream?
 
My own take is that it’s best not to approach this with the logical, intellectual answers. There are arguments against atheism and for theism, of course, but I doubt they’d resonate with you in your current frame of mind…you’re just especially vulnerable to a sense of doubt because you’ve got a lot on your plate with your dad. It’s not an intellectual problem; it’s an emotional problem (and a totally understandable one, of course).

I don’t think you should try to reason your way out of it. Just bring it to God in prayer and be totally honest. Describe how you’re struggling with what’s going on in your family and it’s causing you to doubt everything. Then accept that maybe God wants you to go through a period of doubt and spiritual dryness. Don’t try to force yourself to feel a certain way. At a certain point, you just have to do accept that you feel the way you feel and trust that God sees you’re doing the best you can with where you are.
 
It has to do with decreasing oxygen to the brain causing hallucinations.
And don’t forget, all NDE experiences have come back to tell.

That being said, I believe wholeheartedly in Heaven and Hell, based on Jesus’ word.

And it’s also not unusual to have a crisis of faith after a parent dies. It doesn’t make you a bad person or a bad Catholic. Grief does things to us—it pulls us apart and then we have to pull ourselves back together.

:pray:t2::pray:t2::pray:t2: For you
 
I can’t say I feel better but I am very grateful that I’m not on my own and if I’m right I will be in a better place and if I’m wrong I won’t know anything about it. Thank you all so much
 
halogirl said:
I work in a school and supported an RE lesson today on the topic of life and death : they studied this guy A. J. Ayer – ‘What I Saw When I Was Dead’ – Peter Sjöstedt-H it really troubled me. When my mother (committed non catholic Christian) was terminally ill she never had nice comforting thoughts and dreams she had very troubling ones she kept praying and reading the Bible though. I am just struggling with the fact we can never really know what happens. Context : Dad in hospital and mum passed in September. Am the only practising catholic in the family. My mam is more Christlike than I ever was but she still didn’t get any nice visions close to death. She did want to get back to church and said she was gonna put her suffering in Gods hands . I know I might get flagged or whatever but what do you do when you can’t really know and you have had your faith shaken by real world experiences and the fact you just can’t ever really know
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Speaking of not really knowing what happens, suffering, and images of death

Consider the following real life story

Ch 4 Bp Ignatius letter to the Church of Rome ~ a.d. 107

on his way to be thrown to the lions in the coliseum, for his faith. He wrote 6 letters. This one to the Church of Rome

Excerpt

I write to the [Churches] and impress on them all, that I shall willingly die for [God], unless you hinder me. I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable good-will towards me. Allow me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to [God]. I am the wheat of [God], and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of [Christ].Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my tomb, and may leave nothing of my body; so that when I have fallen asleep [in death], I may be no trouble to any one. Then shall I [truly] be a [disciple] of [Christ], when the world shall not see so much as my body. Entreat Christ for me, that by these instruments I may be found a [sacrifice] [to God]. I do not, as Peter and [Paul], issue commandments unto you. They were [apostles]; I am but a condemned man: they were free, while I am, even until now, a servant. But when I suffer, I shall be the freed-man of [Jesus] , and shall rise again emancipated in Him. And now, being a prisoner, I learn not to desire anything worldly or vain."

Ignatius was a direct disciple of John the apostle. He was ordained bishop by the apostles. Imagine writing those words yourself on the way to be martyred. How many of us could do it? Imagine, knowing your tomb is going to be in the belly of the lions. Not to make this visual even worse, lions don’t kill their prey quickly. I think it safe to say, most people would probably do anything to avoid such a death. But not Ignatius.

Talk about a test and example of faith… AND no doubts
 
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The answer is love.
‘For he who loves God with all his heart fears neither death nor punishment nor judgement nor Hell, for perfect love assures access to God.’ - The Imitation of Christ
 
halogirl said:
…but what do you do when you can’t really know and you have had your faith shaken by real world experiences and the fact you just can’t ever really know
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Welcome to the Human Condition, I guess…
 
I’m sorry for the loss of your mother. Sadly, this is an area of empathy for me. My mother died following a painful, lengthy battle with ovarian cancer. I was deeply bitter for months on end, and my faith was nearly obliterated.

That started to change when my mother visited me three-four months following her passing; I don’t want to go into raw details, but it is referred to as a visitation dream.

My belief was restored; I can only speak for myself, since that was my personal experience. I would reach out to family or friends, loved ones dear to you mother, and gently inquire if anyone has experienced any supernatural events in the wake of her passing.

Some people may simply be too timid to mention their experiences for fear of negative judgement.

May God bless and strengthen you.
 
I’m not sure that it is timidity or the thought of negative judgement of experiences ,but more along the lines of some things being deeply personal ,given for oneself alone.
 
Since my mother’s passing, I have struggled mightily with the painful “whys.” I often return to the story of the Tower of Siloam, as Christ concisely answered these concerns:

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1–5)

For me, the message is clear. “The most urgent issue is your own soul. If you don’t get right with God, you are going to perish [eternally].” People don’t die because they are sinful or are being punished proportionately for their sins. We can and will pass away from any manner of causes- natural or synthetic- and it has nothing to do with the state of our soul or values. We eventually die, so prepare yourself.

I found this to be a rather rational viewpoint proffered by our Lord.
 
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halogirl said:
had your faith shaken by real world experiences and the fact you just can’t ever really know
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If I have it right you were troubled by the testimony of a committed atheist. His experience (near death) does not surprise me, it gives me chills of fear for his soul, in that he was neither comforted nor disturbed. I started reading the link, but he lost me at
it seems to me that Christians are apt to forget that the resurrection of the body is an element in their creed
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I think he misses the point that the resurrection is the reason for our hope, without which we are “most to be pitied.”

Father Brian Harrison explains:


https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/explaining-away-jesus-resurrection-0

 
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