Will my Priest understand?

  • Thread starter Thread starter StranraerHibby
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

StranraerHibby

Guest
Hi everyone,

I’ve not been on CAF for a good while. I’ve been struggling with my mental health and my attendance at mass has been poor. I was wondering if the priest will understand? I’m extremely interested in the faith and joining the church and finally feel like I’m finding my feet.

Any help / comments would be greatly appreciated.
 
Priests are – for the most part – a very understanding group of men. Time and again I hear stories of people who put off talking to a priest and thought of them as unapproachable only to finally go see one and feel like they have had a huge weight lifted off of them.

I would encourage you to talk to your priest about anything you are struggling with.
 
StranraerHibby said:
Hi everyone,

I’ve not been on CAF for a good while. I’ve been struggling with my mental health and my attendance at mass has been poor. I was wondering if the priest will understand? I’m extremely interested in the faith and joining the church and finally feel like I’m finding my feet.

Any help / comments would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Welcome back! You will always be welcome in the Church! I would suggest that you meet with the Pastor at you local parish, and ask his about the RCIA program.
 
StranraerHibby said:
Hi everyone,

I’ve not been on CAF for a good while. I’ve been struggling with my mental health and my attendance at mass has been poor. I was wondering if the priest will understand? I’m extremely interested in the faith and joining the church and finally feel like I’m finding my feet.

Any help / comments would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Of course he will! If you’ve been having difficulties with your mental health, he has no right to judge or work against you joining the Church, because it is something that you can’t control. The first thing you should do is call your priest and set up an appointment to speak with him. I am positive he will welcome you with open arms. 🙂 Take care and God Bless you!
 
Hi, I hope he is understanding, I find most priests very kind. I myself had an opposite situation. I have been going through a rough time and was going to mass daily I found it really helped me more than any medication or therapy it gave me peace. Unfortunately, I have a young priest that likes to joke all the time and I tried to approach him and his reaction was to me insensitive, to the point I am too embarrassed to even go to mass, I do pray that God gives him the knowledge of how to treat people suffering with mental illness, he comes across as immature, don’t think he has had too much difficulties in life, I don’t believe he even knows how much that can affect another. I must say I don’t want to discourage you because of my bad experience, i have always found priests, deacons are very caring and have a lot of knowledge about these things. It is unfortunate that this has happened to me, as I really miss mass and it does really help, so would encourage you to go it may make you feel better. Pray that I get the courage to go back to mass…God Bless, I hope you feel better.
 
Yes most priests are very kind and will understand. Please be sure to tell him of your illness and how that causes you to go up and down to the point of sometimes being unable to attend mass. And then do what he suggests. God bless you!
 
As a Convert I was always worried about going to Confession, as I go very regular, every 3/4 weeks and have done so for years, I have not met one priest to talk or act in a condescending manner, all have been most helpful, even funny, and the last week on going to Confession as I knelt down the priest said to me “Welcome to Confession” which I thought was really cool. Again very courteous, understanding and a small chat after confession. I think Confession is great, people pay a fortune to talk to all sorts of medical people about problems, here we go as Catholics and get it free in Confession.

We come out as Laundry out of a washing machine, that clean feeling.
 
A huge thank you to everyone who responded - I appreciate it. I’m going to mass at 10 am tomorrow and must admit I’m feeling a lot better than in previous weeks. 😃
 
Wonderful, I am sure it will be helpful…Hope it works out:) God Bless
 
StranraerHibby said:
Hi everyone,

I’ve not been on CAF for a good while. I’ve been struggling with my mental health and my attendance at mass has been poor. I was wondering if the priest will understand? I’m extremely interested in the faith and joining the church and finally feel like I’m finding my feet.

Any help / comments would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
It’s so good to have you Home!

Are you currently Catholic and looking for a home parish, or seeking to become Catholic? As for the mental health, if you are concerned, mention to the priest what you are struggling with, and the reasons behind it (not attending Mass…unable to get out of bed due to mental health (for example) ).

God bless you. For the record, my confirmation Saint, St. Dymphna, is a powerful saint against the struggles of mental health issues.
 
Welcome! You are always welcome in the Catholic Church, regardless of circumstances. You will probably find a lot of peace with talking to a good priest in your area. Sure, they are human, so you may occasionally run across one that isn’t great, but in my experience the vast majority of them are wonderful and very understanding. Some of them actually have degrees in psychology and counseling prior to going to seminary.
 
StranraerHibby said:
Hi everyone,

I’ve not been on CAF for a good while. I’ve been struggling with my mental health and my attendance at mass has been poor. I was wondering if the priest will understand? I’m extremely interested in the faith and joining the church and finally feel like I’m finding my feet.

Any help / comments would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Of corse the priest would understand:)…you arent deliberately missing mass…you miss mass because of illness (your mental health problems )…we arent allowed to give medical help on this forum…but maybe if you see a dr or a counsellor they may be able to help you with medication to feel like you can make it to mass without it causing any more harm to your mental health
 
Are you in RCIA?

You say you are interested in joining the church. Maybe you could have one on one sessions instead of being in an RCIA group, if that would help you. It is possible to do it that way, and is worth asking.

Good to have you back. 👍
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top