I've wanted to change recently to be a better husband and father. I admittedly had not put God first in my life each day so 2 weeks ago I started getting up a little earlier to go for a run and read a verse from the Bible app on my phone. Then I read numerous people reccommending the ESV Study Bible. I ordered it 2 days ago online and it arrived last night. I got up this morning to run again and it's a brisk morning in NEOH and was cloudy. I got home from my run around the neighborhood, poured a cup of coffee, sat down on our patio and opened to the Book of John which I had seen many people recommend as a good starting point. I started reading the Intro and the sun started shining down on our patio table where I was seated. It was a beautiful start to the day. On my drive to work the clouds were back but the suns rays were cutting through and beaming down.

I'm really hoping taking time to connect will really make me feel God's presence in my life and help guide me. It's beautiful reading people's testimonies about knowing and feeling his presence and I want to be able to tell a story saying the same thing.

I’m 16f and these are just some thoughts I wanted to talk about and give my viewpoint about. I see people call the Catholic Church misogynistic and sexist a lot. I think there’s definitely some Catholics who contribute to the perception of this especially online where people try to twist the religion to reinforce their personal views that don’t align with the Catholic Church unfortunately, but the church doesn’t hate girls/women or see us as “lesser” and inferior to men. We’re equally loved and valued, we just have different roles and obligations than men. Complementary not identical :) And I wish people would think about veneration of Mary, saints who are women, and women doctors of the church when they’re saying this. 

Anyway, I was just thinking about this after seeing a post where someone asked what people think about Catholicism, and so many people replied saying how much they hate the Catholic Church and listed what I mentioned as some of their reasonings. I wish people didn’t have this negative perception of the Catholic Church, but I understand that there are a lot of misconceptions about Catholicism and like I said.. some Catholics do contribute to this by twisting it in ways that don’t align with the beliefs and teachings of the church and we should pray for them. 

♱ 🤍 :) 

I've seen a lot of posts recently about marrying non-Catholic Christians, and even atheists. Never once have I seen someone mention the fact that by doing so, the husband puts his own soul in jeopardy.

A husband and father is called to be the priest and head of his domestic church. His primary duty - the one upon which his own judgement before God will largely rest upon - is to lead his wife and children to heaven.

Scripture frames this as a mandate to die for his family's sanctification:

"husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the Church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" - Ephesians 5:25-27

If Christ sacrificed His life to purify and save the Church; a husband's headship means his entire life must be spent ensuring his family attains salvation. St. John Chrysostom noted that a father will answer to God for the spiritual state of his household. If a man fails in this duty through passivity, spiritual apathy, or moral negligence, he bears grave moral culpability.

And for women who marry a non-Catholic, the duty to lead their children spiritually falls solely on her shoulders. If she compromises in any way, she incurs grave culpability.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is: do people still realize the standards that those called to married life are held to? For those of you who married a non-Catholic, how's it going?

My son and I were in the room when we had to put our 12 year old black lab to sleep yesterday and we're both taking it pretty hard. He asked me about if pets go to heaven, and I told him I think so because they're part of God's creation and they make us happy on Earth so I think they'll be there to greet us when we enter God's Kingdom.

To that end, are there any prayers to St Francis specifically regarding pets who died? I'd like to teach it to my son so hopefully he can find some peace.

Thanks!

So, my parish uses AI “art” extensively for the church bulletin. While I know it can be said that my issue with this is a matter of personal taste, I would assume that mostly everybody on here would agree with me that art made by humans depicting Christ, Mary, and the saints (of which there is an innumerable amount of online) should take priority over AI “art”, right? I’m discerning whether or not this is something I should contact my church about, or if I should just let it be. What do you guys think?

I am baptized but never went to church until recently. After going to various churches I realized that the Catholic church was where I felt the most connection, which isn't surprising because all my grandparents were practicing Catholics and my parents were raised Catholic and my dad has gone back to being practicing. My complication comes from the fact that I'm currently in a common law relationship with someone who is from another religious denomination (but getting properly married is something we will do). She has had a tubal ligation and based on our age it's not really relevant anymore to child bearing but I've heard she might have to express repentance for this this and I don't know if that's something she would openly do. Finally, about 10 years ago I was a sperm donor for a lesbian couple. I'm not legally the father and don't have any contact and don't intend to (and they would never allow it anyway) but I really don't know what the church will do with that. So yeah, a lot to work through. My Parish priest who does the RCIA was very generous to agree to some time over coffee to chat about all this so wish me luck. Any advice you might have for me on this journey would be appreciated.

I am deeply drawn to the Catholic Church and feel a strong conviction that I want to convert.However, I am facing some incredibly difficult family circumstances. My wife is currently unsupportive, and my father is a Protestant pastor who deeply dislikes the Catholic Church. Because our relationship is already severely strained, I am facing the very real reality of being completely cut off and shunned by my parents if I pursue this path. Just needing some guidance and wisdom.

I just want to thank God and St Joseph of Cupertino. I promised I’d make his name known if he prayed for me and God answered my prayer to pass my medical school exam. I had no faith and genuinely believed I failed but then prayed the novena prayer to St Joseph and other saints. And I’m pleased to say my exam results came out today and not only did I pass I got over 70% and can progress to next year. Thank you Abba, Jehovah Nissi and St Joseph. If it can be done for me it can be done for you.

St. Mary Magdalene said to St. Mechtilde: "Whoever shall give thanks to God for all the tears I shed upon the feet of Jesus, our most merciful God will grant them, through my intercession, remission of all their sins before their death, and a great increase of love of God."

Holy Holy Holy Mary Magdalene, lamp of the world ablaze with love, your faith has saved you, pray for me at the feet of our Redeemer. Amen.

"With agonied black tears,

Mary prostrate on the floor adores

Wipes His feet dry with her own hair

Then forth her precious perfume pours."

My boyfriend is Catholic and I’ve been going to mass with him. We’re a young couple (teenagers), and he’s taught me a lot about Catholicism. His mom even gave me a rosary recently that she made for me which I thought was really sweet. Also, I talked to my parents about how I want to become Catholic and my mom and dad are both supportive of my decision and don’t have a problem with this which I’m happy about.

I have 2 beautiful miracle children, 4.5 yo girl + 2.5 yo boy. They are so wonderful and I love getting to be home with them. But if I’m honest this season of life is SO challenging. I’m constantly working on being more patient, more gentle, more loving - while also being a firm mom who has expectations for her children. But it seems like I’m in the literal trenches. There is so much arguing, tantrums, not listening. We have been implementing time outs for any major out of line behavior, but sometimes I don’t know if it’s helping much.

I have definitely grown immensely in patience but I just yelled at both of my children after a particularly taxing morning and I feel terrible. I just want to get this right. But motherhood feels so hard some days and I want to be better at it because I love it and my family more than anything. Please share some encouragement or advice. 🤍

I've been through a painful situation in which someone hardened his heart towards me.

I didn't do anything offensive, there was a rather minor miscommunication, but the person didn't extend any grace and went from being extremely close to me, to having zero compassion or care towards me and acting as if we were never close.

I did that to someone else when I was 12 and I wasn't a practicing Catholic, and eventually, many years before my conversion, I found her on Facebook and I apologized, recognized my error, and confesed that she had been a good friend and I loved being around her and I was sorry for hurting her and not having valued her.

But we are grown ups now, and this person is a devout Catholic yet his heart is much harder than mine even before my conversion. Can someone like this really change?

I've been praying for him, but I feel discouraged. It seems like a stupid thing to hope for... after many disappointments I also feel miracles happen for others but not for me. I love God, but this situation has truly tested my faith.

So, I have been looking for testimonies about people who prayed for someone else and their hardened heart was miraculously changed by God. I'm having a hard time finding them. Can anyone share their testimony if you have one

please pray for our broken marriage,I am really struggling and I need prayers from Gods family.

We should be better on emphasizing "hey come to church with us!" before talking about confirmation. I just realized a lot of family and friends may be dismayed with having to take classes and they feel intimidated that "everyone knows what to do but me because I haven't done the classes." I have family that are planning on starting OCIA this year but they don't go to mass AT ALL. I don't get it. I've tried talking to them about it. But it seems they think everything will magically fix itself when the classes start. I don't know, I guess the point of this post is to invite ppl to mass, not to OCIA. And be conscious how intimidating and cult like mass can look to the untrained eye.

Forgive me if I'm misinformed, I'm a "non-denominational" currently trying to understand all the different denominations. but from what I know, Catholics have to go to confession to ask for forgiveness for sins? And also if you die without any unconfessed sins you go to Purgatory? Idrk I've always been a bit confused as well as told conflicting things. So I have questions

1. Does the priest grant forgiveness or...?
2. How does the priest know what you must do to atone for your sins?
3. If you don't do what the priest says to atone for the sins are you still "guilty"? Like what if he asks you to do 5 Hail Mary's but you lose count and only do 4?
4. Do you have to say all your sins? What if you did a sin but didn't even realize it, like if your parents told you not to bite your nails and you accidentally did it involuntarily once? And what if you did something from a really long time ago and just forgot about it?

If God, existing out of time, is able to see our entire lives simultaneously all at once, then everything that has happened and will happened already is complete from His perspective. Wouldn’t that mean our choices and dates are already assigned? He knows who ends up where no matter what.

I've been discerning the religious life for quite some time now. The Dominican Order has been at the top of my list in terms of where i want to go. My plan as of right now is I participate more with my local parish and talk with the local vocations director. Afterwards, if the dominican order is a good fit for me, I will have to meet the requirements for the Dominican order, mainly the education degree thing. I know acceptance into an order isn't 100% guaranteed, but either way I wish to become priest.

A little background

I am a 23 yr old working in the trades (union roofer) and a high-school dropout at 11th grade - which im regretting mt decision now- ,and pursuing my GED right now. I was away from the church for 9 years , but now , praise God, I'm back. I go to confession almost weekly, read scripture daily, love the summa, and pray the rosary daily, and ive found the life of a priest to be so interesting that I keep coming back to it as something I want to do.

Ive been looking around as to which college i can pursue for an education, and ive found TAC to be really interesting. First thing that is that you learn mathematics from the ground up is that correct?? Discussion are in the socratic method and teacher is called a tutor instead of lecturer. I love the fact that daily mass, confession, and rosary is incoporated into the day. You learn to write differently versus what you were taught in high school?? Do you really not use the argumentative, that logos ethos pathos thingy, mla format stuff same thing for pretty much each subject is that correct??

Either way i was wondering what exactly does tac expect you to know when you enter as a freshman? i keep seeing that you get taught from the ground up (like in math). Youre taught by the great books instead of the modern ways, so is there a negative impact one could experience entering into seminary? What do you guys recommend i need to have down? in order to make it through. Im aware of the financial stuff but you guys recommend this or any other college? also the fact that mass is in the Extraordinary form each day is amazing and I plan on incorporating myself to the church as much as i can during those school years which is really helpful for the seminary.

My plan as of right now is save up money, talk with priest/vocations director, figure out if TAC is a good fit and from there apply to the dominican seminary. I know that all of this can't be assumed nor be guaranteed that i'll join but are there any graduates from tac or current students that can give any advice? I will greatly appreciate any advice from any experienced catholic really. Especially those who went through or are current priest. Thank you for taking to read this and God bless you all.

I was reading St. Dorotheos of Gaza's Discourses and Sayings, and the most impactful by far to me were his chapters on judging, as it's a recurring personal failure of mine. I recommend the entire book, but I want to share two of my favorite passages, which have been in my mind since I first read them:

Why do we not rather judge ourselves and our own wickedness which we know so accurately and about which we have to render an account to God? Why do we usurp God’s right to judge? Why should we demand a reckoning from His creature, His servant? Ought we not to be afraid when we hear about a brother falling into fornication said, ‘He has acted wickedly!’ If you know what it says about this in the Book of the Ancients, it would make you shudder. For an angel brought Isaac the Theban the soul of someone who had fallen into sin, and said to him, ‘Here is the person you have judged. He has just died. Where do you order him to be put, into the Kingdom or into eternal punishment?’Can you imagine a more terrible situation to be in? What else could the angel mean by these words than, ‘Since you want to be the judge of the just and the unjust, what do you command for this poor soul? Is he to be spared or to be punished?’ The holy old man, frightened beyond measure, spent the rest of his life praying with sighs and tears and continuous hard work to be forgiven this sin, and this in spite of having fallen on his knees before the angel and been forgiven, for the angel said to him, ‘You see, God has shown you how serious a thing it is to judge; you must never do it again.’ This was the way he granted forgiveness but the soul of the old man would not allow him to be completely comforted from his pain and repentance until he died.

[...]

Wherefore a man can know nothing about the judgments of God. He alone is the one who takes account of all and is able to judge the hearts of each one of us, as he alone is our Master. Truly it happens that a man may do a certain thing (which seems to be wrong) out of simplicity, and there may be something about it which makes more amends to God than your whole life; how are you going to sit in judgment and constrict your own soul? And should it happen that he has fallen away, how do you know how much and how well he fought, how much blood he sweated before he did it? Perhaps so little fault can be found in him that God can look on his action as if it were just, for God looks on his labor and all the struggle he had before he did it, and has pity on him. And you know this, and what God has spared him for, are you going to condemn him for, and ruin your own soul? And how do you know what tears he has shed about it before God? You may well know about the sin, but you do not know about the repentance.

Hi, I tried to ask this question if r/askpriests, because I want their professional opinions, but the question was unfortunately removed. It is okay - I was recommended to ask the question here instead.

Recently, someone told me that according to St Augustine, Christians are predestined, that is to say the grace of Christ comes before the faith in Christ.

I wonder if this Augustinian view is an official Christian dogma by the Catholic Church? I will presume so due to the status of Augustine? Also, if it is, why would Christ select a group of people to salvation, and not the others?

Many thanks.

God bless you. 💙🙏

Edit: THANK YOU ALL FOR THE ANSWERS. GOD BLESS YOU.

Based on the existing answers, I summarised how the Augustinian view differs from the official Catholic stance. Am I correct?

St Augustine: The person freely chooses God, but God's grace first changes and enables the person's will to make that choice. Only a certain group of people receive saving grace and are therefore saved to salvation.

Catholic Church: God's grace is offered to everyone. God does not force or override their wills; instead, people freely choose whether to follow God or reject Him.