As a cradle Catholic, I have totally lost my faith in God as I have never received anything I prayed for. I am tired of waiting for my turn while others receive it unconditionally, and that includes other religions too.
So, Why be a Christian, let alone a Catholic, when your prayers are never answered, while people of other religions have their prayers answered by their god or gods?
God bless your heart, and thank you for allowing us to minister to you 
Sometimes in life, all one can see is grey and dull, and it can be hard to tell oneself that this is just a momentary situation that is not going to last forever. In Denmark we have the famous author HC Andersen who wrote the fairy tale of the snow queen and her mirror, which broke, and the pieces came into the eyes of people, so that suddenly everything they saw was ugly and deformed and depressing. But still there was a solution: The snow queen - H.C. Andersen
I want to leave it there for this post. Read the fairy tale, and see if it resonates.
I wouldnât blame you if you took a break from mass and church all together. I doubt Jesus would hold it against you.
If youâre having a low experience then, why not mix things up? Try something new, try something else you find healthy and beneficial
Today I went to a mass and during SIGN OF PEACE half the young phony people standing around me snubbed me and didnât say hi. I mean, how much snobbier can anybody get? And I dress nice and take good care of my appearance - so itâs not like Iâm some gargoyle
Then I went to a social event afterwards and nobody said hi. Thereâs just so many problems sometimes and it extends into the ranks of leadership being phonies, too
Being Catholic doesnât make you better than everyone else.
But sometimes⌠sometimes the light shines so brilliantly upon me. Sometimes the church is so beautiful and my generosity is received
But stop⌠there are some LAME Catholics. I swear there are Catholic who are so fake itâs enough for anybody to just say forget this
You know something else⌠if there werenât lamos in leadership roles in my church the place would have a THOUSAND times more parishioners. I mean, lame leaders chase people away like you wouldnât believeâŚ
This reminds me of something the conservative satirist PJ OâRourke wrote: Santa Claus is âcute. Heâs nonthreatening. Heâs always cheerful. And he loves animals. He may know whoâs been naughty and whoâs been nice, but he never does anything about it. He gives everyone everything they want without the thought of quid pro quo. He works hard for charities, and heâs famously generous to the poor. Santa Claus is preferable to God in every way but one: There is no such thing as Santa Claus.â
Since you have asked God for things He can give you, I suggest that you now ask what you can give Him. The Bible says itâs better to give than to receive.
Another suggestion: start a prayer journal. It doesnât have to be a lot of words. It could even be like a Christmas list of everything you ask God for. My first wife (God rest her soul) and I had one. We misplaced it and forgot about it. When I found it again, I was surprised by how many requests had been answered, including some big ones: for example, some friends had only one child for a long time and they wanted more. When I found the prayer journal, our friends had three kids.
Another thing: when I was a volunteer hospital chaplain in training, I seemed unable to do it and was ready to give up. I had to get my attention off myself. Once I stopped focusing on myself and what kind of job I was doing as a chaplain, I was OK.
Finally, one guy I used to listen to on a Christian radio station used to say, âFind a burden and get under itââthat is, find someone who can use your help.
Thank you for your question. Iâm sure you are not the only one who feels the way that you do.
I think your understanding of what it means to be Christian is skewed. Many have left the Church, because they didnât âfeel like they were being fed.â But, we should be asking, Lord, how have I not fed others? Even Mother Teresa described as a âdark night of the soul,â where she felt like God had abandoned her. And this went on for years, but she never stopped trusting Him.
Secondly, looking at othersâ blessings and not being happy for them is also disordered. It falls under envy and coveting.
Being a Christian is about relationship, not about what we can get out of it. A relationship that simply takes and takes is not really a relationship at all. Christ gave of Himself fully and He gives us the grace to do likewise.
The life of a Christian is so much more than a relationship. It is the deepest form of relationship. A Covenant. Jesus compares His relationship with the church like that of a Husband and his bride. The Sacraments are like Marriage.
Why get Married? If it is just to get instant gratification, then you are getting Married for the wrong reasons.
Why be Catholic and not some other religion? Because all other religions is manâs search for God, but the Catholic Christian Faith is Godâs search for man. God sent His Son (Jesus) to show us the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus founded a Church (The Catholic Church) and through her, salvific grace flows, so that we might have eternal life.
In this relationship, there is unity, intimacy, forgiveness, unconditional love, and life (the good and the bad, but we live it together).
Why Pray if my Prayers are never answered? Matthew 7:7 says, âAsk and it will be given to youâŚâ Some interpret this to mean that God will give them whatever they ask for (like a magic genie), but this is not what this verse is saying. Letâs first look at how this chapter begins.
Now letâs look at what follows.
It all comes back to Covenant (Godâs relationship with us). If you would like to read more about this, may I recommend Dr. Scott Hahnâs book titled, âA Father Who Keeps His Promises: Godâs Covenant Love in Scripture.â
Have you ever heard that Garth Brooks song, âUnanswered Prayersâ? It talks about how sometimes the unanswered Prayers are Godâs greatest gifts. God gives us gifts that we cannot see, because we are focusing on what others have been gifted. If God gave us everything we wanted, then we would (A.) become like spoiled children and not be grateful for anything and (B.) God, our loving Father can see our lives outside of time and knows what is best for us, when we can only see what is right in front of us. Say we are driving down the road (of life) and there is an accident over the hill. God has a helicopter view of whatâs ahead, so if we ask him to give us something that would make us go even faster over the hill and he gives us what we want, that would disasters. And if we donât ask the man above anything at all, we will destroy ourselves on our own. We should be asking God to show us the way, for He sees even more than what is directly ahead in that time, but He knows what is in the past, present, and future. And He knows us.
I once had a non-Christian friends ask me to Pray that she would win a sports care give-away. I told her that I would Pray that God helps her find reliable transportation : ) It wasnât what she had in mind, but I believe God knows what is best for her and had she won the sports car, I donât know that she would have given God the glory, but might have been ungrateful (especially when the shine fades off). Or maybe she would have driven it above speeds that were safe and perhaps crashed it, injuring herself and/or others.
Go give that Garth Brooks song a listen or re-listen if youâve heard it before : )
The fact that you write like this on this site, means that you are still looking for answers. Therefore there is still hope for you. Catholicism is perfect, in that Jesus provides the bottom line: âThou shalt love the Lord , thy God with all of your heart.â And that is the perfect answer. But there are so many other questions that the Catholic Church doesnât answer. If you want to consider answers that are provided by other lineages, write to me at peterishandas@gmail.com. Then you can consider, and direct your heart as you see fit.
âWoe to you, blind guides, who say,
âIf one swears by the temple, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.â
Blind fools, which is greater, the gold,
or the temple that made the gold sacred?
And you say, âIf one swears by the altar, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.â
You blind ones, which is greater, the gift,
or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it;
one who swears by the temple swears by it
and by him who dwells in it;
one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God
and by him who is seated on it.â Pope at Audience: Even at darkest moment, never too late to love and forgive.
âThe Pope said that when the light of forgiveness âsucceeds in filtering through the deepest crevices of the heart,â âwe understand that it is never futile.â
âEven if the other does not accept it, even if it seems to be in vain,â Pope Leo said, âforgiveness frees those who give it: it dispels resentment, it restores peace, and it returns us to ourselves.â
Hence, Pope Leo XIV concluded, âJesus, with the simple gesture of offering bread, shows that every betrayal can become an opportunity for salvation, if it is chosen as a space for a greater love.â
Peace to all,
So true, Pope Leo could not have said it better, I believe.
Logically, The Mind of God Transforms the Temple from Adam and Eve becoming through sanctified immortality from the Power of the Holy Spirit Family One God in being for the created souls of all in the flesh becoming in all from the living waters of Baptism through the Flesh of the Immaculate Conception for all becoming transformed in the New Eve for Jesus in the New Adam Virgin Born becoming The Christ in all mankind from Sacrifice through Penance becoming sanctified forgiven in all becoming again glorified and transfigured in all One Holy Spirit Family One God in being One Holy Holy Family, I believe.
Peace always,
Stephen
I agreeâŚ.why try to be a perfect person and try to live your faith the best way you can, and pray the best way you can and your prayers never get answered? I prayed for 16 years for a friend and never got one. Why would getting a friend not be in Godâs will? I thought God wants us to be happy, so why am I not happy? All I wanted literally was one thing, a friend. The rest of the stuff I prayed for was for other people, but the only thing I wanted was a friend, and when I was a Catholic, that was one prayer that was never answered.
See, not a whole lot of people will talk about this, but itâs good to have dialogue about this kind of thing. Iâm sure you try to be an outstanding person in this religion, and I admire you for that, cause at one point I was the same way. But, if God doesnât want me to have any friends (which is seriously stupid, and a loving God wouldnât want me to be alone), and itâs literally the only thing I wanted for 16 years for myself, and I never got it? People always told me that God answers prayers on His time not yours. WellâŚhow much longer do I have to wait? 50 more years? 100 more years (which by that time Iâd be dead)? I mean, at this point Iâm just spinning my wheels. This is ridiculousâŚ.I have to wait longer than 16 years for a friend? Cause I guarantee that most people my age has at least one good friend. All I seem to make are acquaintances, not friends.
I hear yaâŚ.after a while, religion seems like one big clown show. I was a really good person and tried my absolute best to be the best person I could possibly be for 16 years, and you mean to tell me it is against Godâs will for me to have a friend? Sorry but I call b.s. And ever since Iâve left that religion, I started making all sorts of friends. And, seeing as though I donât believe in coincidence, it just shows that the Catholic Faith really wasnât for me to begin with.
I said it once and Iâll say it again, religion can help people. Iâm sure Catholicism and Christianity can help someone. But, 16 years is a long time, and Iâm not getting any younger, nor am I making any friend anytime soon. SoâŚ.I went and found the truth for myself, cause honestly, I canât and wonât trust people, even if they say theyâre a Priest, a Bishop, even the Pope. Everybody seems to have an agenda, and truth seems to fly out the door anymore. If finding the truth for myself makes me an evil person, then Iâll be the biggest villain to ever walk this Earth, cause Iâm pretty sure that Catholicism isnât the truth (at least in my eyes).
In response to your question, should you leave the faith? Well, follow your heart. What is your heart telling you? What is your spirit telling you?
Maybe it would be helpful to write down the good things you experienced being a Catholic, and the downfalls of being Catholic. That way you have a visual representation of how you feel about the faith. Iâm not saying that doing this exercise will give you an answer, but sometimes itâs nice to have something in front of you that shows what you actually believe is going on. Thatâs something I had to do, I had to basically write down not just about Catholicism but other things I was a part of, I wrote down good and bad and that helped me in my decision making. But thereâs a whole bunch of other factors that played a part in me leaving the Church, it wasnât just 3 or 4 things, it was a whole list of stuff I questioned.
So, since your external is a reflection of your internal, Iâll ask you, should you leave the faith? What do you think?
Peace to all,
Logically we all want to be âThe Catholic Teacher,â I believe.
The greatest gift is teaching Catholics, logically the Holy Spirit is the Family and Mary is God, I believe and always together with The Father and The Son in One Holy Holy Family.
No Catholic can ever deny logically, the Holy Spirit is One Holy Spirit Family One God in being preexisting Gods from preexistence and personal Gods in being preexisting created from the Father becoming through The Mother for The Son becoming again in all One Family, I believe.
Peace always,
Stephen
Catholic teacher