i mean, i can't imagine going back to being Protestant. ever.
but, i haven't been to Mass in ...forever...at least a year anyway. i mean it started back when both my husband and i both lost our jobs and our family was really struggling. even though things are way better now it just got really hard to make myself go back after being gone for so long.
i still pray every day, i still believe but i struggle so much with certain aspects of the faith that i don't even know if i should bother calling myself Catholic anymore.. any help?
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I struggle a lot too, with faith generally, not just Catholicism. Can I ask what it is about Catholicism you struggle with? A lot of the teachings are difficult to accept, in my experience. For me at least, it's being able to live with certain teachings (for example, I don't understand what's so bad about female priests, but I can accept that that's the way things are). There is a lot of variety of beliefs within in the Church. It's easy to feel like a 'bad Catholic', especially with the attitude some people have, although I'm not convinced there's such thing.
Do you feel the urge to go to Mass? If so, could you start attending a different church? It might help if you want to make a new start with Catholicism. But if you don't feel the need to do that, I don't think that's a bad thing either. You can't just force faith, and struggling doesn't make you a bad person.
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Wenn aber man kann nicht meinem Rede Verstehen, so werde ich ihm später dasselbe übersetz, wenn er solche Dienst verlangen wollen haben werden sollen sein hätte.-Mark Twain Waiting for the German verb is surely the ultimate thrill-Flann O'Brian
I've never been Catholic, but OTOH I guess I've been Anglo-Catholic as long as I've been a Christian, because it was really C.S. Lewis who led me to Christ. He was as Anglo-Catholic as they come, and he was the first major influence on my theology. So, I suppose I could be Catholic, though if I were, I'd be a relatively liberal member of the Charismatic Catholic Renewal.
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I find that message boards can easily sour me on religion, and that some of the "catholic-ier than thou" types found on the internets can make it seem impossible to meet some standard.
If the Church and the mass don't do it for you anymore, then you can either force it, or quit for awhile.
To paraphrase Joyce in Portrait of the Artist (I'm too lazy to find the book and quote it verbatim), many religious people have doubts, but are able to overcome them or put them aside. Are yours too great to overcome, or do you not wish to put them aside?
But then again, this is all coming from someone who doesn't even consider herself a seeker anymore, so it's probably not worth the... pixels used to display it?
Godspeed.
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i still pray every day, i still believe but i struggle so much with certain aspects of the faith that i don't even know if i should bother calling myself Catholic anymore.. any help?
I think All Christians are Catholic....so you're just fine. As for Rome...well just because she thinks she alone is the Catholic Church doesn't mean the rest of us have to believe it.
BTW...maybe try going back to your Parish and I'd hope they'll just be glad you are there. If not, find another Parish or another Liturgy-intensive Church like Anglicans or Old Catholics.
__________________ "Look with the eyes of Thy love upon our manifold imperfections and pardon all our shortcomings, that we may be filled with the brightness of the everlasting light and become the unspotted mirror of Thy power and the image of Thy goodness."
I struggle a lot too, with faith generally, not just Catholicism. Can I ask what it is about Catholicism you struggle with? A lot of the teachings are difficult to accept, in my experience. For me at least, it's being able to live with certain teachings (for example, I don't understand what's so bad about female priests, but I can accept that that's the way things are). There is a lot of variety of beliefs within in the Church. It's easy to feel like a 'bad Catholic', especially with the attitude some people have, although I'm not convinced there's such thing.
Do you feel the urge to go to Mass? If so, could you start attending a different church? It might help if you want to make a new start with Catholicism. But if you don't feel the need to do that, I don't think that's a bad thing either. You can't just force faith, and struggling doesn't make you a bad person.
well i'm kind of like you in that i don't really have too much issue with female priests but i can live with things the way they are. i struggle with the stance on birth control although i'm personally not on it nor am i condoning abortion, but i just think it's not the Church's business to tell me what to do in my sex life. i really struggle with how homosexuals are treated and how they're treated as if they're diseased or something. i think my biggest struggle though is the teaching that if you don't go to Mass every Sunday and you don't repent of it that you'll go to hell. i can't grasp that. i cannot accept it and it makes me resentful.
Originally Posted by Loki
I find that message boards can easily sour me on religion, and that some of the "catholic-ier than thou" types found on the internets can make it seem impossible to meet some standard.
THAT right there hit the nail on the head. although i realize that 'real-life' Catholics are not like the ones i've encountered online but i have met a few from my parish that know the exact way to implement the good old Catholic guilt on you.
If the Church and the mass don't do it for you anymore, then you can either force it, or quit for awhile.
To paraphrase Joyce in Portrait of the Artist (I'm too lazy to find the book and quote it verbatim), many religious people have doubts, but are able to overcome them or put them aside. Are yours too great to overcome, or do you not wish to put them aside?
But then again, this is all coming from someone who doesn't even consider herself a seeker anymore, so it's probably not worth the... pixels used to display it?
Godspeed.
i don't know if they're too great to overcome or not. that's the problem. i just don't see any light at the end of my tunnel. i've been dealing with this now for the last year and you'd think it'd get easier but if anything it's becoming harder.
Originally Posted by JasonV
I think All Christians are Catholic....so you're just fine. As for Rome...well just because she thinks she alone is the Catholic Church doesn't mean the rest of us have to believe it.
BTW...maybe try going back to your Parish and I'd hope they'll just be glad you are there. If not, find another Parish or another Liturgy-intensive Church like Anglicans or Old Catholics.
i've thought of maybe going Episcopalian but everytime i give it real considered thought, i struggle with the notion that if i could turn so easily from something that once meant so much to me, how can that be the TRUTH? and if it's not the TRUTH then what do i even believe in and where does that leave me?
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I choose~therefore I am.
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Proverbs 18:2
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i've thought of maybe going Episcopalian but everytime i give it real considered thought, i struggle with the notion that if i could turn so easily from something that once meant so much to me, how can that be the TRUTH? and if it's not the TRUTH then what do i even believe in and where does that leave me?
Something tells me that if you chose to go Episcopal, it would not be "easy". The very fact you struggle shows that you are growing and maturing in your faith. You are taking charge of your own spirituality, and not being told how to find God.
You speak of Truth. Don't worry about Truth. There is a great saying I'm gonna paraphrase: "Believe those who seek for the truth, don't believe those who claim to have found it."
Listen to God within.
__________________ "Look with the eyes of Thy love upon our manifold imperfections and pardon all our shortcomings, that we may be filled with the brightness of the everlasting light and become the unspotted mirror of Thy power and the image of Thy goodness."
i just don't understand why some think that if you just don't blindly accept what the Church teaches , that somehow makes you less of a Catholic. i mean, becoming Catholic didn't stop my ability to think and reason for myself.
when i converted i honestly felt that i could accept everything. i meant what i said when i went thru confirmation about believing it all. so why upon more study do i feel this way? i don't know. i've tried to get help. it just doesn't seem to work and where i live Catholics are the minority so it's not as easy as findiong a new parish.
i love my priest and if it were just me and my priest i'd probab;y have zero issues going back to Mass. shoot, even HE said take baby steps till i felt more comfortable coming back fulltime and that God knows my heart and knows i'm trying. why do the members of the Church have to make you feel second class?
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LIBERAL is not a dirty word.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I choose~therefore I am.
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Proverbs 18:2
When the power of love To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Just remember that no one's got it all figured out, including the ones who are making you feel second class.
Sort of an oddball question, and if it's impertinent feel free not to answer:
Do you lack self-confidence as a Catholic because you converted?
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"You certainly don't want to go walking through a field of disoriented, agitated and wet honey bees."
-Richard Duplain, vice president of the New Brunswick Beekeepers Association
Just remember that no one's got it all figured out, including the ones who are making you feel second class.
Sort of an oddball question, and if it's impertinent feel free not to answer:
Do you lack self-confidence as a Catholic because you converted?
do you mean since i'm not a cradle Catholic? hmmm, not particularly. i mean sometimes i think THEy'RE the ones who've got it figured out because it's been ingrained in them since birth adn somehow i have to catch up but most times i think it's my Protestant background that helps me understand certain things better. like i've seen both sides, know what i mean? but the fact that noone whether they're a convert or a cradle Catholic can explain certain things to me in order for me to "get it" makes me question all the more.
i completely believe that no one faith has got it all 100% right and maybe i'm just being too anal about stuff.
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LIBERAL is not a dirty word.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I choose~therefore I am.
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Proverbs 18:2
When the power of love To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I struggle a lot too, with faith generally, not just Catholicism. Can I ask what it is about Catholicism you struggle with? A lot of the teachings are difficult to accept, in my experience. For me at least, it's being able to live with certain teachings (for example, I don't understand what's so bad about female priests, but I can accept that that's the way things are). There is a lot of variety of beliefs within in the Church. It's easy to feel like a 'bad Catholic', especially with the attitude some people have, although I'm not convinced there's such thing. 
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