Who in your life is a fallen away/non-practicing Catholic?

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i a way i guess i would be, i was never one to bother about religion i guess i believed it got in the way of enjoying live but now i see differently. My Daddy is irshish born and bread but he married my mum who is english and has been divorced and i guess in a way he has never left the faith but it left him. And i realised that being a Catholic is in mhy blood, it’s in me and it doesn’t get in the way unless you let it, you can enjoy yourself as well as believe. And i jusy wondered if because i have never been baptised nad i believe i have depression does it mean i have know right to be a catholic? i have just found my faith and i don’t want to lose it again.
 
Most of my family is Catholic INO. But the one that really bothers me the most is my son’s stepmother. She married my son’s father a little over a year ago. This woman told me that she was going to have her daughter baptized and that there was “nothing he(my son’s father) could do about it” My son’s father is an atheist. Well, guess what? The baby was born Oct. 2004 and NO BAPTISM!!! Whenever her husband is around, she conviently does not believe in God. She tells me she believes in God. He tells me she doesn’t. Why this matters is because she has an influence on my son. I just don’t understand. I know I did some pretty stupid things for a man and I haven’t always lived the right way, but denying I believe in God? So, can I still go to this website group? This is a pretty weird situation and like I said, the only reason it bothers me so much is because of my son.
 
My husband, who was raised by devout Catholic parents and was an altar boy walked away from the faith and became an atheist when he was nineteen and has never looked back. He has an illness which has turned brittle and unpredictable but still no change.

Daughter #1 refused to be confirmed, is actively hostile to religion and will not step foot in any church.

Daughter #2 is indifferent to religion, not sure she believes Catholicism, lives with a man, but will go to Mass with me on ocassion.

Daughter #3 had the privilege of Catholic education from kindergarten through college. I worked long shifts with rarely a day off to put her through Catholic college. She is somewhat hostile to the faith, believes in abortion and gay marriage but will go to Mass with me to humor me. 😦
 
My wife and kids. My wife and I were married outside the Catholic Church. We were both raised Catholic and both became protestant before we met. I have since come back to th echurch. Now I pray my wife will come back too.
 
Dad

Mother in law, father in law, brother in law, and sister in law…several of their extended family members…

several friends

my husband was, but isn’t now…

we try to be a good example…
Jamie
 
My brother. My cousin - who was my confirmation sponsor!
The funny part is my sister-in-law (they are getting divorced - poor things) who is not Catholic is 100% behind me teaching the children about Jesus, and she knows I will do it from the stand point of being a Catholic.
 
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lost_forever:
i a way i guess i would be, i was never one to bother about religion i guess i believed it got in the way of enjoying live but now i see differently. My Daddy is irshish born and bread but he married my mum who is english and has been divorced and i guess in a way he has never left the faith but it left him. And i realised that being a Catholic is in mhy blood, it’s in me and it doesn’t get in the way unless you let it, you can enjoy yourself as well as believe. And i jusy wondered if because i have never been baptised nad i believe i have depression does it mean i have know right to be a catholic? i have just found my faith and i don’t want to lose it again.
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That is truly wonderful that you have found your faith again!!! I encourage you to talk to a Catholic priest about your personal situation for more guidance. There is something called the RCIA - Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, that would be ideal for you. Your local parish may have this program. It is a program for those wanting to become Catholics, and can also be appropriate for Catholics who never received all the sacraments. People who have never been baptized receive the sacrament of Baptism, as well as Reconciliation, First Eucharist, and Confirmation through this program. I encourage you to check into it, as well as talking to a priest at a local Catholic parish. Once you join the Church through a program like the RCIA (or through another similar program or whatever procedure is in your local parish, then you can fully participate in all the sacraments of the Church.) May God bless you in your journey!!!
 
Momofone:
Most of my family is Catholic INO. But the one that really bothers me the most is my son’s stepmother. She married my son’s father a little over a year ago. This woman told me that she was going to have her daughter baptized and that there was “nothing he(my son’s father) could do about it” My son’s father is an atheist. Well, guess what? The baby was born Oct. 2004 and NO BAPTISM!!! Whenever her husband is around, she conviently does not believe in God. She tells me she believes in God. He tells me she doesn’t. Why this matters is because she has an influence on my son. I just don’t understand. I know I did some pretty stupid things for a man and I haven’t always lived the right way, but denying I believe in God? So, can I still go to this website group? This is a pretty weird situation and like I said, the only reason it bothers me so much is because of my son.
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Yes, you are most certainly welcome in our group. If you have any problems figuring out how to join, please let me know. Hope to see you there!
 
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auroraj42:
Dad

Mother in law, father in law, brother in law, and sister in law…several of their extended family members…

several friends

my husband was, but isn’t now…

we try to be a good example…
Jamie
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What brought your husband back to the faith? Was it anything specific? It gives me HOPE for my husband!!!
 
Before we got married (I’m a convert from the UMC) we discussed faith, children, divorce, anything and everything that we should know about each others beliefs. During those discussions, my then fallen-away Catholic fiance told me in no uncertain terms that when we have children they will be raised Catholic, no if ands or buts about it. I had already tried to start RCIA through a parish near our university, but couldn’t due to schedule conflicts. I made it perfectly clear that I was very interested in becoming Catholic, and that meant that we would live the faith. Last summer, we found the parish on his current duty station (he’s air force) and I talked to them about RCIA, we discovered that he had never been confirmed, so he also talked to them about RCIA. We were confirmed on 10 April of this year.
There is always hope sweetie, always. I don’t think that I did anything specific that brought him back, but I do think that he was touched by the Holy Spirit. I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but I’m pretty sure it happened. If it hadn’t he wouldn’t have been so adament that our future children be raised in a Catholic home.
Jamie
 
Thanks for sharing your story. I find it very inspirational, and yes, it does give me HOPE for my husband. Please pray for him and for both of us. Thank you for any prayers!
 
My Brother became a Morman and a sister who “shops” for a Church that will be fun and allow her to practice birth control because she considers her high power, high earning career more important than anything else(she had one child and wants no more). In fact she loves to put us down for having lots of kids and having little money.(I think she’s childlike and selfish but that my opinion and I keep it to myself) In fact she made a cruel remark about my other sister who passed away last year with Lupus, she became pregnant and kept the baby even though she knew she was in the early stages of lupus. she already had 4 children and she said to her widowed husband “Your wife might be alive today if you two would have gotten sterlized” My poor mother prays daily for these two, especially my sister. But she also thanks God for the five of her children who are/were fully practicing Catholics. But she blames herself for their falling away. He is 45 and she is 32. I don’t fight with with my sister, I just advoid her at all cost.
 
My dad stopped going to church when I was younger. He has set a bad example for my brothers, but my family is trying to make a huge come back. When in this year, one of my four brothers came back (we even when to mass and confession last night together…my mom cried!), my sister in law wants to start RCIA classes and my oldest brother (her husband) is coming back to the faith, and my other two are just hanging on. One is luke warm and the other has lost his way completely. Not all hope is lost, pray, pray, pray!!!
 
Gee where should I start. Being the youngest of 4 children… I am the only practicing Catholic besides my parents. Oldest brother, claims he’s Catholic, but NEVER goes to church, prays or anyting, Next oldest brother went to seminary, it closed, now is athiest and studying objectivism… SCARY STUFF hidden behind a smiling face:bigyikes: ! My sister was at best agnostic, but has been turned on to objectivism by my long lost, gonna be a priest, second oldest brother. My sisters husband is DEEP into objectivism… Wasn’t when she married him… Anyway, I pray for them all of the time. But, I refuse to say happy solstice instead of merry CHRISTmas to them each year!
 
In our clan we have lost so many from the Faith, it is easier to list the few who have stayed: the matriarch of our once proud Scottish clan, my two brothers, one cousin,one aunt, one uncle and myself out of a family reunion that numbered in excess of 200 people last year.

The worse part is what we are losing them to. Many are returning to a polytheistic, pagan religion that hasn’t been practiced since tribal days, around 1200. They calling it going back to their roots, what it really is is they are butting heads with the Church when running afoul of the marriage laws.

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_2_17.gif

I couldn’t help but notice this return to “mother goddess” happens when one marriage fails and the next one is all lined up and ready to go.
 
Two of my four children, several nephews, and a niece have all stopped practicing their faith. My entire extended family prays daily for their return. My wife has three siblings. Two are non-practicing and the other is extremely liberal. Upon the opening of the recent papal conclave, the liberal sibling made a comment that she would leave the Church if Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Pope. So far she hasn’t made good on the threat. We live in tumultuous and scary times. Prayer and sacrifice for the out pouring of God’s grace is our only hope.
 
Should have been multiple answers…2 of my 3 kids, brother, sister, nephews, nieces…

I pray for all of them… a few years back one of my brothers returned along with his whole family … that was a pleasant surprise… it was his non-Catholic wife who converted and brought him back.

It makes me wonder if there is anything I can do to help this process along. I try to send out a yearly Christmas and Easter message over the family web site. They probably think I’m the holier-than thou family religious fanatic.

wc
 
Dad, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, everyone except my family and my Grandparents…sad really and I am praying for them. Maybe when I enter the seminary this fall they will have second thoughts about dismissing the Catholic Faith.
 
My son is not a practicing Catholic since going away to college.
I am not sure he even considers himself Catholic. He went to Catholic grade school and high school. None of guys on his tennis team are Catholic, or his roommates. He became a follower and not a leader. He is graduating this weekend and moving home.
This should be very interesting.
 
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