Originally posted by Religious Crisis
I am having a religous crisis, I have not been to a mass in about 4 years.
I think we all go through these sorts of phases. My phase was when I was in college. I shrugged off God to please myself, to cater to my own fancies and whims. It left me morally bankrupt and physically ruined. It still pains me to think about the mess I had made of my life when I was in college. So much potential, so little effort put into making myself a responsible young adult... the adage is true sometimes "Youth is wasted on the young."
I just don't see what god/religion has to offer me.
How about self-respect and a sense of purpose? Do you think that we're just all here by random, slated to live a day, a week, a year, a decade, a hundred years or some other amount of time and then that is it? Where is our purpose? If you don't believe in God, life is meaningless, purposeless, pointless. Who cares what you do, it doesn't mean a thing, it will amount to nothing. Talk about a destitute life! Atheism isn't an option for me because I do believe in "first cause", because life isn't some random happening where what goes, goes. And since I can't buy into that bankrupt line of thinking, I've got to recognize the Creator, and I have to give Him thanks and praise for what He has done.
Now I know you are going to say that if I don't I will go to hell
I never give people struggling with faith "Pascal's Wager" (ie: If I do not accept the Christian God I will go to hell, however if I do accept the Christian God I will go to heaven) because it is not that cut and dry. You've got to want to praise and worship God not because it will keep you out of hell, but because you recognize the beauty He has created in the world, and in yourself and you feel drawn to give Him thanks. That is what faith is about... even though we don't see God, we can acknowledge what He has done, just by observing... with our senses, His creation. If we can't be thankful for that... what can we be thankful for?
but I can just have all my sins forgiven like the day before I die and will still go to heaven.
It's not that simple I'm afraid. You need to be truly remorseful and sorry for your sins in order for them to be forgiven, but that is besides the point. If you can understand that God exists (and it sounds like you do)... why wouldn't you be drawn to thank Him for that?
So how will religion help me help myself?
Your faith reminds you daily of whose image you were created in, and you begin to understand that you were created for a purpose, and that your life has meaning and dignity, and that others around you were created with a similar purpose and that their lives have meaning and dignity too. When we begin to understand this, life becomes more beautiful and more enjoyable. Our lives are gospels, testaments of God's greatness and mercy and love. Once we recognize that in ourselves and in others, the world will become a better place.
7:00 a.m. on Sunday, but if you prefer that kind of mass, it is definitely beautiful. If there is any singing at all, it is just the chanting during the consecration. Many daily masses are also spoken (unless it is a mass with the school children).
Hope
