What can a catholic teen do to expand his faith?

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Treytot99

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I was wondering what could I do to expand my catholic faith…keep in mind I’m only fourteen and cannot drive a car, I can’t make adult decisions etc… I want to know as a teenager how can I stay faithful to god with all of the temptations of being a teen. Any ideas??
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                                                              Thanks in advance:), 
                                                                             Trey C.
 
Some ideas. I’m sure others will have more. 🙂

Study and practice cultivating Christian virtues (there are many overlapping virtues, such as faith, hope, love, justice, prudence, moderation, courage, humility, generosity, compassion, mercy, self-control, respect, chastity, honesty, forgiveness, gratitude, zeal, etc.). You can break it down somewhat if you need to: You could spend one week focusing on respect, for example, and another focusing on compassion. That doesn’t mean you stop respecting people when you start focusing on compassion or honesty. It just gives you a way to focus your efforts. 🙂

Periodically throughout your day, pause to observe where you are and what you are doing. Will your current activities help you to cultivate the virtues you want to attain, or make it harder to attain those virtues? When that question is answered, act accordingly and say a prayer of thanks to God.

Start reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or at least the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. (If you don’t have one or cannot afford one, try your local library, or ask around to see whether someone might be able to give or get you one.) You don’t have to read a lot at once, just set aside a little bit of time each day to read maybe 5 to 10 paragraphs. If you don’t understand something, read it anyway and don’t worry about that. Sometimes you’ll discover that they make sense later (when you’ve read further, when some experience gives you an “aha!” moment, when you’ve learned something elsewhere).

Pray each and every day, whether you “feel like it” or not. Set aside some time that you will pray every day, such as when you get up in the morning or when you go to bed. Even if you’re doing nothing more than putting aside distractions to spend some quiet time alone in the presence of God, it’s worth doing.
 
Feel free to message me, I’m a 16 year old convert 🙂

God Bless,
BVMFatima
 
Things to do at home.
  1. Read the Bible - particularly the New Testament
  2. Read the Catechism
  3. Pray the Rosary often
  4. Cultivate a good prayer life. (mornings, midday, evenings, and nighttime)
  5. Read books by the Saints.
  6. Engage actively in this forum.🙂
Things to do at Church (maybe with your parents, or at least they can drop you off)
  1. Mass more often
  2. Confession more often
  3. Find a parish teen group, or even better start one.
  4. Ask to serve more. (altar server, greeter, music ministry, anything)
 
Pray the rosary and read faith books a lot. I am 16 and a convert to the Church and I try my hardest to make the rosary and faith reading part of my daily routine. Also read the catechism to get a full sense of the Catholic faith. Maybe try a routine or make a commitment to like read the Catechism in 6 months or a year or something since some sections can be very dense. One thing I also suggest doing is to engage in a deep personal relationship with learning of the saints and praying to them.

God bless!

And if you want to talk or have any questions on my faith life feel free to email or PM me.
 
Visit the Catholic Answers home page … and click on the “Tracts” … the Tracts were the original Catholic Answers … many written personally by Karl Keating.

catholic.com/tracts/browse

They provide insights into many of the questions that people have about the faith.
 
Also beneficial:

If you have access to an mp3 player and/or computer, listen to talks and other podcasts about the faith. Catholic Answers Live has a podcast, Busted Halo has several podcasts. Pray as You Go is a podcast that encourages prayerful reflection on one of the daily readings. Fr. Robert Barron has a YouTube channel & sermon podcast. Try several to find out which you find most beneficial.
 
Read Intro to the Devout Life
Pray the Rosary Daily
Practice Mental prayer
Practice Divine Mercy Devotion
 
I’m 15 and I know exactly what you mean!

For lent, I got an app on my iPod called iMissal, and I would read the bible readings for the day, read 5 bible quotes, and a prayer from the app. That helped in the scripture standpoint.

This website has helped me by looking at the questions and concerns of others. When I see the feedback they were given it helps me understand things I may have had questions about.

Sometimes, I will just google questions I have about the faith and read about things. (Usually from catholic.com or catholic.org because I know it will most likely be accurate!)

For example, the other day I wanted to learn about angels so I spent time reading about them.

And of course, keeping dedicated to prayer. 🙂 Maybe try to learn some new ones. I like the ones that are for specific causes and for souls in purgatory, etc. It is more meaningful to me than just saying the few I know only.

The Internet is a great resource if you know how to use it!! 😃
 
Actually I think instead of reading the regular Catechism it might be better for you to get a YouCat (short for youth catechism) and read that instead. We got them in our confirmation class this year and I love mine. Its a lot easier for us teens to read and understand I think. There’s even these stick figures in the bottom corner of the pages like in those flip books and you can see him doing flips and stuff. Its fun. :

There’s this thing for reading and understanding the Bible called the Bible Timeline. I’m currently doing the intense Bible Study, but I reccommend googling and finding whatever freebie info they have on that if you wanna try to get the big picture, the story of Scripture.

I also recommend not over doing yourself. I know when i try to get into exercise during the summer I do some intense awesome workout for like a week and then I miss a day and end up giving up on it. So my point is to be careful not to get caught up in doing everything at once. Say you’re trying to do all this stuff every day to deepend your faith. If you miss one day- don’t worry. Just continue on and go back to it the next day.

Don’t think you’ll always be on a spirtual high either. There will be lulls in your faith life when you’re like "ugh do I haveee to pray?"Just keep going and continue to act in a Christlike manner. Mother Theresa went through years of spirtual dryness, yet she continued loving and serving Christ and the poor without faltering.

Another important thing is to stay pure. At fourteen you’re either in high school or about to enter it (if you live in the U.S.). Pray and ask God to help you stay pure and avoid the sins of fornication, masturbation, etc., Its also good to get a purity ring I think just to remind yourself that you’re saving yourself for your future wife. (You are a guy right? I figured so from your name. If not, my deepest apologies!!!) You might feel awkward for having it around your friends and they might tease you , but if they really judge you for it and than they aren’t really your friends. Also, it might attract the right kind of girls because honestly I started liking this one guy I was already kind of attracted to but not quite sure about yet when I saw that he wore a purity ring.😛

I wish you the best of luck and God bless!! Feel free to PM me if you wanna talk to someone or help with anything you think an 18 year old daughter of God might be able to help ya with! (:

xxStella
 
Hi ! I am 15. i want to share something from Carlo Acutis ( he died in 15. please pray for his speedy canonization ) i found this on the internet 😃 :

How to reach Holiness…
  1. You must want it with all your heart, and if this desire has not arisen in his heart, must ask with insistence to the Lord.
  2. Go to Mass every day and take Holy Communion.
  3. Remember to pray the Rosary every day.
  4. Read every day a passage of Holy Scripture.
  5. If you can make a moment of Eucharistic adoration before the altar where Jesus is truly present, you see how wonderfully you can increase your level of holiness.
  6. Go to confession every week, even the sins that are frivolous.
  7. Make requests and offer flowers to the Lord and Our Lady, to help others.
  8. Ask your guardian angel to help you continually, so that it becomes your best friend"
Hope this help 🙂

God Bless !!
cliff_vinc
 
Treytot99 said:
I was wondering what could I do to expand my catholic faith…keep in mind I’m only fourteen and cannot drive a car, I can’t make adult decisions etc… I want to know as a teenager how can I stay faithful to god with all of the temptations of being a teen. Any ideas??
Code: 
                                                              Thanks in advance:), 
                                                                             Trey C.
Click to expand...
Does your Church have fellowship for teenagers? That would be a good way to stay with the faith. Also check with your Diocese if they have any retreats for teenagers. Best thing to do is to stay with the Catholics who are faithful and practicing. Or you can join a Bible study group if your Church offers one. That way you will be able to answer people who are always asking questions about our faith.
 
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