This has been talked on here before but I haven't heard a good reason on how this can happen. I've posted here before and plan on going to OCIA next cycle around. But almost makes me not want to. this "testimony" troubles me. How can anyone change Jesus's mind? And I thought the church expresses only Jesus saves. https://youtu.be/9VFE8ToVatI?feature=shared

The Lord is a Miracle Worker and I’m so excited and grateful for the opportunity to partake in the Sacraments and to grow deeper in my relationship with Christ and to belong to a Church that is so deeply rooted in Christ. I’m very grateful! The process was not easy and I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it this year but The Lord truly came through and allowed for me to have this opportunity and it genuinely fills my entire body with joy!

Some context, I’m (23F) and was raised Baptist then joined a Mormon church and was baptized in the Mormon church at 13 and stayed there until about 16/17 and then after that I left everything completely and honestly went down a road of witchcraft, crystals, and “manifesting.” I’ll say that I’ve always had an inclination towards a Higher Power but I do believe I let Society skew my view on Christianity as a whole. Fast forward to 2022, my friend’s Mom started going to a Catholic Church and joined RCIA and eventually was Baptized and Confirmed. My friend joined her mom and at first I was interested because my friend was doing it and she was also doing a lot of volunteer work with the Church and I love stuff like that so I Almost went but I couldn’t do it. Her mom was honestly planting seeds the entire time and she spoke about the Church and God in ways I’ve never understood before and she made it sound so nice but I just couldn’t give my life to Christ yet. Every time I left their house my heart softened each time and a subtle voice kept nudging me towards checking out the church. I went with them one time and was like…what’s going on? This is not for me. 😭

In 2023, my friend asked if I wanted to join RCIA just to learn about the church and I wanted to but I wasn’t serious and I couldn’t go through with it. A few months later, I went through something extremely traumatic and had to relocate about 30-45 minutes away from my friend and her church. I was all alone and I was lost and confused and it felt like everything I’ve known and had, was ripped from under me. In January of 2024, I decided that I wanted to learn about Christ and grow closer to God. I started praying ceaselessly like truly, I prayed and chance I got. I stopped listening to Secular Music, I read my Bible every single day, I switched to mainly Christian Content and I swore to Abstinence which I am A Year and 4 months down! Woot woot but I noticed my prayers getting answered in the most unconventional ways. Any question I had for God it would be revealed to me through Scripture, speaking with others, a random video I decided to put on. It just all felt so intentional and he helped me heal my wounds. He truly is Close to the brokenhearted. I had a lot of questions about Jesus and like, who He is and What He did for us because I realized I knew of Jesus but I didn’t know Jesus. I was asking that for a long time and on Easter 2024, I was reading John 14:13-31 and cried like a baby. Because the only thing in the world I wanted was Peace and Jesus wanted me to have peace and he went through all of this so I could have peace 😭. It was amazing and sad because ugh, this poor baby.

It got to a point where I needed more resources and I was ready to finally join RCIA but the one problem was I had no car and my friends church was 45 minutes away. My friend offered to pick me up and take me to Church every Sunday and I was like okay girl, that’s a lot of gas but she was like it’s for the Glory of God and I was down cause I really wanted to deepen my faith. I was excited and did really good at first but let’s just say the spiritual attacks were so real. There were days I couldn’t even get out of bed, I didn’t feel like I deserved this, I hated that my friend had to come pick me up and take me all the way there. I felt bad about myself, and also just random sick days, my friend would get sick, or something would happen and I actually missed a lot of classes. But I always studied on my own time and I went to Mass every Sunday, I repented and I would try my best to not do it again. Take Refuge in the Lord’s Grace. I cried a lot during Mass. I missed one Sunday during that entire time. I prayed every night because I refused to be separated from the Lord. I could not let my thoughts win, I prayed my rosary, litanies, novenas, I studied the catechism and I was consistent with Mass and I enjoyed going to Adoration whenever I could.

When it came time to do confirmation, my instructor told me that she couldn’t let me join due to my attendance and that really crushed me because it truly felt like I was fighting for my life this entire time and because it looks like I don’t care or like I’m not interested, the opportunity wasn’t going to happen. It definitely crushed me but I prepared myself to do it over again next year and I honestly wasn’t going down without a fight. I did my Saint Paper on Saint Augustine and I wrote an email to the Bishop about my situation and how I am truly ready to receive the Sacraments. He never replied so I was like okay, I’ll just do it next year and I’ll continue to deepen my faith and it’s not the end of the world so I wasn’t like mad or upset or anything, I definitely understood why they said no.

A few weeks later, I get a text from our instructor and she said that The Pastor is going to let me partake in the Baptism this year. I truly froze and shut down from the realization. Like the Things God has done for me this year alone. He is a way maker!!! I’ve learned to fully trust and depend on the Lord and I’m so grateful for everything. The Bishop called me and said he read my wonderful email (it was probably as long as this post) and my Saint report and that he was going to allow me to participate this Year!!! GLORY BE TO GOD. I’m so excited and the fact that last year, I found Jesus on Easter and this year my Grandmother’s birthday is on Easter and she was a Woman of God that I inspire to be like everyday. It feels so full circle, very meant to be. God really does Qualify the Called!

Where to even start. I need to give a little bit of a backstory. I was raised Catholic, but my heart was not in the faith for most of my life. I still believed in God and prayed almost every single night. But having me go to Sunday mass was a struggle. I know part of it was stubbornness, another part was the few priests we had (except for 2 I remember fondly), not being in the best community where no one I knew read the Bible, and it was a fairly gossipy community overall. It just felt spiritually dead.

It wasn't until 2 years ago at the age of 30 that I had an encounter with Jesus and it all started turning around for me from that day on. It led me to running to a Catholic church asap with a list I had prepared from all the sins I had committed in the many years I hadn't gone. Then started my deep diving into Scripture reading and searching for answers to the endless questions I had. This made me stumble (for approx 2 years) into the Protestant world. My good friend invited me to an Evangelical Church and I think I was shocked and pleasantly surprised at how most people brought their Bibles to church on Sunday to follow along the readings and take notes in their notebooks/journals.

I'm conflicted between feeling not proud of having walked away from the Catholic Church for a time and also seeing that it was a necessary step in my journey to eventually return back home. Now, this next part, which I'm scared to admit, because I feel many people won't understand. I got baptized in the Evangelical church even though I was already baptized as a child in the Catholic Church. I have to say that when I was doing it, I didn't think that my first baptism didn't count. I believe only one is needed. I think I did it as just a public profession of faith and as marking me entering a brand new chapter of my life where I was taking my walk with Christ seriously for the first time in my life. And that strong desire to want to learn more eventually led me right back to the Catholic Church.

I am now planning to go do a proper confession since the one I did 2 years ago. I guess I'm wondering about your opinions how much to say to the priest. I feel a strong need to have to explain myself, but I know many priests just want you to list the sin and maybe how many times you committed it without needing a backstory. Any words of advice are appreciated. In any way, I'm happy to have returned back home.

I have been praying the 33 days 33 times novena of Lady undoer of knots.I am going through a lot of problems currently, and both me and my husband are unemployed. On the 10th day of Novena, my visa which was a really important one for me, was not granted. Its my 20th day of prayer today and with only a few days remaining I feel lost. I have only remaining 25 days to be in the country I am in. If I or my husband don't get a job, it's the worst thing that can happen to us. I have read so so many testimonials of intentions fulfilled through this Novena. But for me, I don't know, if Mother Mary will really help me (after visa refusal my faith and hope somehow vanished). I've seen Her always help other people who prayed to her.I cry every night thinking about this.

When you pray at home, do you physically get down on your knees? Is that something that's really common? Or do most folks pray while seated or lying down or whatever? Growing up as a Protestant, I was always taught that I didn't need to kneel because God hears my prayers no matter what I'm doing. Obviously, that's true, but as a matter of reverence, what do you do?

I wanna become catholic most of my ethnicity is and i wanna not only become closer with my ethnicity i mostly wanna become a more religious person and get closer with god but i dont know the first step and Catholic churches are nowhere near me

I read up a bit on how the church banned books. Upfront i wanna say it kind of makes sense in the medieval, post reformation context. But i'm having trouble imagining this in the context of the 20th century, like is it harmful for a university student or a regular informed catholic to read Machiavelli? I'm fully on board submitting, but is one able to dissagree with this?

Also, are these books still sinful to read? The abolition of the list goes along with it saying that it remains morally binding (and i don't understand the terms written there. Link: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19660614_de-indicis-libr-prohib_en.html ). This is well beyond ny understanding.

(I would of course submit, God forbid i go against his Church).

I was aware one had to get rid of things one shouldn't have (amulets, demonic books and stuff), but i often see people say to burn them. Thing is, i can find no official church teaching on the matter, just opinions(as in, individuals). Is it more like a traditional thing, therefore you don't need to literally burn them, just get rid or destroy it, or is it a sin if one does not burn them?

Is it wrong to ask God to kill me? I won't even be able to go to Mass on Easter, I'm finished, I wait all year for this, and this is the 3rd year in a row that I've been unable to, I hate my life, I hate living far from the church and being dependent on my mother, worse is that there will be a curfew and the streets will be dangerous with muggings and crackheads, I hate my city.

This is mine that I usually carry with me or my WW1 Roman Catholic gear rosary.

Good evening, I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this question but I'm a mid-30's guy moving to San Diego this summer for a new job and was looking for recommendations on a parish to join. I'll be likely living northeast of the city and would like to join a parish with an active men's group, young adult group, or ideally both (although I know I'm on the older side of the young adult spectrum). Thanks for any suggestions.

Does anyone know where I could get a copy of the three ages of the interior life by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange? I can't seem to find it widely available.

I am having to get an annulment before my wife of 1 year can get confirmed into the Catholic Church. My first marriage ended in 2002. I cannot find a copy of the divorce decree (I have checked the four neighboring counties, and none has record of the divorce). I sent a messsage to my ex via Facebook Messenger, and she reported me for harassment. My account was deleted as a result.

What are my realistic options? I can turn the forms into the Tribunal, but have no documentation or witnesses.

My Nana got it in the mail 2 weeks ago and I was looking at it the other day and was wondering what this is. Another thing I was wondering about this is, where did the coin tradition come from. I'm pretty new at this so, sorry for being uneducated

Former muslim turned atheist turned agnostic that has felt drawn to catholicism for years after going through on and off existential/spiritual crises. I want to be certain that this is true. with regards to arguments for god and christianity, I am thoroughly agnostic. One benefit of christianity/judaism over Islam is that textual/scriptural critiques are less damaging to the faith since (afaik) you do not believe that the books are the literal word of god, verbatim, unlike the Quran. So, with regards to things like Genesis and evolution, it isn't much of a problem for me.

I've been drawn to catholicism while looking for signs or evidence of the supernatural, and out of all the religions I looked at, I think catholicism has the best case for its defence. Eucharistic miracles, Lourdes' healings, incorruptible bodies, Marian apparitions, St. Charbel's 33000 healings , I'm unsure what to make of all of it, if it is true and backed with records, but I'm impressed, it gave me slight hope of there being something more to the world than the cold, meaningless, naturalist world I believe in and feel mostly drawn to. Maybe it's my fear of death speaking, but I do want to give catholicism a chance. Where do I start? How do I ask god for a sign? What miracles have you personally experienced?

I've really been struggling with this for awhile and I think today something finally clicked. I was contacted by this company with the promise of 25 dollars an hour to sell knives with few details on how this would all play out. Upon, researching this company, it sounds like an MLM scam where you basically pressure your friends and family into selling knives, in order for you to actually make money. The 25 dollars an hour is per presentation and turns out there's some stipulations. It got me thinking: this is literally the same scummy business practice that FOCUS uses to fundraise.

Last year, I had to fundraise for Summer Projects which is basically where you go to a resort and work there for the summer with other Catholic college students. The catch is it costs 4 thousand dollars (no clue where this money goes) but with their fundraising guide you'll get there in no time. Let me tell you it was high pressure. You were assigned a fundraising coach, had to attend weekly meetings with them and other people who were fundraising for this, had to brainstorm a list of 50 names, send letters to all of these people, call them and basically heckle them for money. Me not wanting to beg my family for money, I would lie at the meetings each week saying I was fundraising but in reality I was paying the money to go myself. I didn't want to flat out say I was paying for it as we were expected to fundraise and rely on God's providence. We were guilted into this. If you weren't raising money, you weren't trying hard enough. Like having these weekly check-ins and saying how much money we raised, how many phone calls we did and letters we sent, and comparing the amounts to each other was so unhealthy. Additionally, they wait so long to have you start fundraising and put you in contact with a fundraising coach so you're expected to come up with 4k in a few weeks. That's a lot of pressure for a busy college student.

To top it all off, they never told you where the heck the money was going. I would ask and they could never give me a direct answer. Like 50 students raising four thousand dollars each.. 200,000 dollars for who knows what. I found out however that the missionaries who came to the resort with us were staying in an air bnb house with a jacuzzi. Our rooms at the resort (which we didn't pay for since we were employees) were bug-infested tiny rooms the size of a shoe box we shared! We were in the same rooms as international workers who could barely speak English so it's not like they could advocate for better conditions lol. It was a terrible couple of days and I ended up leaving. I got extremely ill (constant vomiting and diaherria); I don't think the water was clean, and no one there seemed to care. I think the intentions of FOCUS are good (seek is pretty awesome) but their business practices are very scummy. Tell me why it's so similar to an MLM scam. I feel for the missionaries that have to fundraise their own salaries. I only had to do it for a month but that must be exhausting.

Someone wanna become friends or just talk? small talk is fine, and I always like to encounter new people. Unfortunately I feel quite isolated right now and I would love to just talk to someone, I also feel bored sometimes. I'm from Poland and 19 yo, almost 20. I'm also male but I don't think it should matter in that case

Hey all,

I am a computer science major looking to bring the faith into the digital world. I've had this idea for an app and I was wondering what people would think.

I think learning to write is a great spirital practice both for really thinking through/understanding the faith yourself, and for learning how to effectively communicate that faith to others. I am personally very into apologetics and have been writing a lot myself. My app would bascially be a space for people to learn to write for their faith, share their writing with others as well as get 1-1 feedback from a mentor/preist. There would be tutorials and recorded advice from priests, a feed where you could see writing your friends uploaded, a daily prompt with the gospel and readings of the day and maybe some reflections or theme ideas for inspiration, and chat features for discussing the readings and writings with piers.

This would also be helpful for seminarians learning to write homilies.

Does this sound like something people would actually use?

Thanks everyone!

p.s. If you have any christian app ideas you think would be good let me know and Ill talk about it with my other catholic CS friends. We all really want to help spread the faith online and we have a lot of time during the summer to work on them.

Hello, I have a question it's simple, would it be ok to wear jeans and a nice shirt to mass?

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 1488 - Conversation of the Merciful God with a Soul Striving after Perfection

Jesus: I am pleased with your efforts, O soul aspiring for perfection, but why do I see you so often sad and depressed? Tell Me, My child, what is the meaning of this sadness, and what is its cause? 

Soul: Lord, the reason for my sadness is that, in spite of my sincere resolutions, I fall again into the same faults. I make resolutions in the morning, but in the evening I see how much I have departed from them. 

Jesus: You see, My child, what you are of yourself. The cause of your falls is that you rely too much upon yourself and too little on Me. But let this not sadden you so much. You are dealing with the God of mercy, which your misery cannot exhaust. Remember, I did not allot only a certain number of pardons. 

Soul: Yes, I know all that, but great temptations assail me, and various doubts awaken within me and, moreover, everything irritates and discourages me. 

Jesus: My child, know that the greatest obstacles to holiness are discouragement and an exaggerated anxiety. These will deprive you of the ability to practice virtue. All temptations united together ought not disturb your interior peace, not even momentarily. Sensitiveness and discouragement are the fruits of self-love. You should not become discouraged, but strive to make My love reign in place of your self-love. Have confidence, My child. Do not lose heart in coming for pardon, for I am always ready to forgive you. As often as you beg for it, you glorify My mercy.

Striving for perfection in God's eyes is holy if pursued humbly as a lifelong spiritual exercise, in the humble knowledge that it will never succeed to completion. Even absent our perfection, Christ will be “pleased with your efforts,” and since He knows we will not achieve perfection in this world anyway, maybe even more pleased if we're humble enough to know that ourselves. Temptations will never leave us in this world but in an odd way, if we heartily and truly strive for perfection in God, then our temptations and maybe even our failures come to serve God, or as Christ says, “glorify My mercy.” Sin drives us to pursue the mercy of God's forgiveness and even temptations of sin drive us to seek the Mercy of Christ's strength. Satan will always use sin and temptations to drive us from God but God will always frustrate Satan, using temptations and sin to lead us to the pursuit of strength and forgiveness. Ultimately then, even though temptation and sin are evil they both serve God by glorifying His Mercy.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 

Psalms 118:91 By thy ordinance the day goeth on: for all things serve thee.

The last paragraph of Saint Faustina's entry is revealing. It tells us “the greatest obstacles to holiness are discouragement and an exaggerated anxiety,” not the temptations or sin which this soul, and  many of us, are always striving against. This soul is anxious and discouraged because self-love makes it think too much of itself and  believe it can do more than it can. It ends up trying to strive into perfection by its own might rather than striving closer to perfection in Christ's strength, and ultimately receiving perfection in Christ's Divine Mercy. Even when faced with its own failure in “striving after perfection,” the soul still makes too much of itself, wallowing more in its temptations and despondency than moving restfully into Christ’s Mercy and forgiveness. 

On the surface self-love can sound like a vainly joyous kind of thing, reveling in one’s misperceived greatness and glory. Self-love can also work the opposite way though, wallowing in the misperceived power of temptation and sin to the point of missing God’s grace. Self-love always aggrandizes self more than something else but it does that in different ways, some pleasing to the ego but in the case of this soul, in ways that torment the spirit with despondency and suffering. Christ's solution is simple, “strive to make My love reign in place of your self-love.” With self love out of the way we will be possessed of a greater, supernatural love from the God of Mercy, Who “did not allot only a certain number of pardons,” nor pour out from the Cross a limited measure of Mercy. 

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 

Romans 5:20 Now the law entered in that sin might abound. And where sin abounded, grace did more abound.

Before I begin I want to confirm I am Catholic. I am 13 and am just wondering if there is true proof that the Bible is real. I feel like I believe but if it could be proved I could be more motivated and have more desire to believe in God and do work for him. So any proof that anyone knows of?

I posted this a few hours ago and I wanted to thank all of you who commented. I have decided to take my faith and trust in God and fully believe. Thank you for your help and God bless

I'm seeking spiritual guidance.
A presumably well-meaning church server of some sort handed out cards with scripture passages face down so you didn't know which one you were getting. Thinking they were gifts, I took one.

On it was written "don't plan for the future because you know I can turn everything upside down." Not what I was expecting.

So if I were to take this as a message:

God, if Im not to plan for the future why am I given talents at all? Building things takes time.

So does training.

Then I remembered Proverbs 19:21 and James 4:13-16. And it occurred to me that maybe it is the acknowledging of God's will in future plans that needs a tuneup.

So do you all personally effectively acknowledge God's will in your future plans? I mean where things are not a moral quandary but apparently morally neutral stuff like study the oboe or the bassoon, buy the house or wait, get the chreseburger or the salad, etc.

I haven't had a study Bible since I was a Protestant... Like a decade or so ago. I've sort of narrowed my choices down to either the Didache or the newly released Ignatius Study Bible. I'm leaning a bit toward the Didache, but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise. Maybe some folks here have used both? If so, I'd most appreciate your commentary, but I welcome all the input.

What do we think about annotating our Bibles? Personally, I like to annotate mine to make sure I'm fully understanding God's Word.

I was baptized Catholic as an infant, and went to Catholic school throughout my elementary. I drifted away for more than a decade, and I am barely finding my way back home to the church. To my surprise. I’m finding out that many Catholics don’t believe in the creation story as literal. They see it more as metaphorical. I see many people here say that the Big Bang can exist side-by-side with Genesis. I have a big problem with this ,and it’s eating me up inside.I believe that the creation story is literal. The Big Bang theory suggest that land came first and then the waters, Genesis suggest that the waters came first and then dryland. Genesis suggests that The earth came before the sun, the Big Bang says the opposite. I just don’t understand how this can be allegorical. when people try to fit Genesis into the Big Bang theory, it just feels like confirmation bias. I surely can’t be the only Catholic that feels this way, can I? If the very first page of my entire faith is not literal and is only a metaphor, it makes me have big doubts. For those who disagree with me, at what point in genesis do you draw the line and say it’s literal? Sure, the Big Bang has SOME “metaphorical” similarities to genesis, but everything about it contradicts our very 1st page of our whole faith. Just need to hear some feedback! Thanks 🙏