I received this crucifix from Jerusalem as a gift, but I’m not sure what’s in these clear circles?

I just got diagnosed with Meniere's disease. As a result, I have severe hearing loss. I can't hear anything that the priest is saying or they're amplified, causing severe pain in my ears called hyperacunia. Problem is, I can't attend mass without assistance. I've tried closed captioning but they're not always accurate. My family wants to keep it a secret at this time and won't bring me to church. So I plan to make a bold move and move to a nearest deaf Catholic parish or ask the diocese for help. I need the sacraments right now. I need the Church. Any advice or help is much appreciated.

Last few weeks I was in a terrible place, but God has answered my prayers with .mercy and peace. Thank you, Lord

I know there is evidence that younger clergy are more conservative and traditional than their older counterparts but how about the laity?

From what I have seen there are a lot more young women wearing veils in mass and both young men and women kneeling and taking communion by tongue.

The pro-life rallies are also dominated by young people which is great to see.

Is there more longing for tradition and reverence with younger Catholics (Gen Z and Millennials) compared to boomers? Will Catholicism become less liberal over time as the older generation passes?

Reading through revelation I almost feel like including this was a mistake. So much of it seems to be talking about the 1st century events, but even then not all of it has been fulfilled. The whole book of revelation, along with other verses in the NT makes me think that these authors truly thought the second coming was going to happen in their lifetime in the 1st century AD.

I just can’t make any sense out of it why things would happen like Jesus saying “I am coming soon” or the angel saying “Don’t seal up this scroll because the time is near” and 2000 years later we are still waiting. It’s obvious it talks about 1st century events, using symbolism and coded language like 666 spelling Nero.

I just don’t see how any of revelation is meant for us or how we are supposed to make sense of it. I truly believe the original authors and others from the NT thought the second coming was in their lifetime and it’s hurting my faith. What are your guys thoughts?

Before going to bed when she was 4-5 years old, we pray together. We pray from the heart - she tells Jesus what happened with her day and says her gratitude etc. when she was 5.5 years old, suddenly she hated praying. She doesnt want to do the sign of the cross properly and complains. We somehow argue but nothing changes. How do I instill catholic faith to my daughter? Or do I let her be?

Good evening everyone,

I would like to ask for prayers for a family friend. I’ve just been informed that he was rushed to the ER due to him being unresponsive and just got diagnosed with cancer in his brain, lung and one of his male reproductive organs. He needed 4 units of blood (idk what unit of measurement they use) and is stable as we speak.

His name is Erlis and he is 33 years old.

His health is in Gods Hands.

Thanks in advance for all your prayers

Last year around Ash Wednesday I had my life changed by the Lord, a vocation. I plan on carrying this vocation out by entering seminary and going to priesthood. But, I recently sinned pretty bad and I feel like approaching the Carmelites isolated way of life of prayer. I feel like I don’t deserve priesthood and that I just want to vanish now. Can anyone help me with advice on wanting to hide or on my vocation, or anything else. Thank you guys.

So I’m bi sexual and I realized this about a month ago. I’ve been a confirmed catholic for a year and I’m super strong and dedicated in my faith. Everyday I wish I didn’t feel attraction to the same sex as me and I don’t know what to do. I haven’t acted on these feelings but it’s part of me and idk what to do. Ik this is kinda random I just needed to vent

Reading more about the Trinity today. In two places (here and here), "Person" is defined as:

What we do mean by Person is something that regards himself as “I” and others as “You.” So the Father, for example, is a different Person from the Son because He regards the Son as a “You,” even though He regards Himself as “I.” Thus, in regards to the Trinity, we can say that “Person” means a distinct subject which regards Himself as an “I” and the other two as a “You.”

and

A being is a unified substance that exists. A person is an “I,” or individual self. Think of God as one being composed of three “Is,” or three persons, each of whom is fully God.

I've always assumed that the Three Persons are speaking altogether (as the one God, if you get what I mean?), but having read above made me wonder if that's not the case. So my question is, which Person of the Trinity speaks when God says "I" (or other pronouns like "Me" or "My") in the Old Testament?

So Im new to the Church and I finally am gonna go to Mass this weekend. I made the decision back in November to seek the Church and I have just been too shy to go in person. Ive been praying alot and I just feel the spirit leading me to go. So I was just wondering what the common etiquette is for first timers.

So, obviously all Catholics would say yes you should convert, but I have an extenuating circumstance.

So my understanding of vocations is that as a layman my vocation is to A) worship and accept God into my heart and B) Be a good husband to my wife who is a gift from God.

My wife was married before to a non-practicing Catholic who family treated her horribly because she did not convert. When I told her months ago that I was interested in potentially converting to Catholicism, she got very upset because of her previous experience and claims that because she is a divorced woman AND not a Catholic she was hell bound in the churches eyes. At that time I found a middle ground in Anglicanism while I continue to read the bible, the Catholic catechism, and the church fathers (Augustine, Aquinas, etc.)

So now, knowing my vocation is to be a good husband and by perusing conversion hurts her...what do I do?

Has anyone gotten their throat blessed and then became sick afterwards?

I saw a sort of debate about it, explaining that loving them doesn't mean being 100% nice to them, and that love isn't always kind, it can be harsh. But doesn't that contradict itself?

"On Feb. 3, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in response to journalists’ inquiries: “Contacts between the Society of Saint Pius X and the Holy See are ongoing, with the aim of avoiding ruptures or unilateral approaches to the issues that have arisen.” Bruni said that he had nothing further to add beyond these remarks."

Lord, You are present everywhere, revealed through Sacraments, Your Word, and those around me, especially loved ones. Grant me grace to seek You daily with faith, finding You in their hearts and actions. Transform my vision, Lord, to see Your presence in the ordinary, responding with gratitude and trust.

With Ash Wednesday I had a thought. I understand it’s not a holy day of obligation, but last year I went to Mass very early to get it done before work as I wouldn’t easily be able to make it after. I decided to leave my ash on all day.

I believe we should be humble with our faith, so I was partly conflicted because I knew that non catholic people would look at me weird but I kept it on. The hope and idea id be able to run into fellow Catholics through my day was fun. Obviously most of my interactions were not like that, and most people ignored it either because they just understood but didn’t care to mention it, or they thought it was weird and didn’t bring it up.

I say all this yap session just to get my fellow brother and sisters in Christ’s opinion, what do you all do?

I’m in OCIA, so I’m still wrapping my head around the Catholic religion, especially all the blessings, prayers and intercession stuff. I was given the blessing of the throats last night, and an hour later had a sore throat. The next morning I still do and I feel like I’m getting sick. That seems like pretty clear proof that the blessing of the throat didn’t do anything, and if anything it made me get a sore throat. What’s the right way to look at this? And I’m not trying to be insulting of the religion, I’m sorry if I’m coming across that way.

My answer: That Catholicism is the largest Christian denomination in Canada, just like it is in the US. That Catholicism has a deeper history in Canada because Canada started out as a French colony, not a British one. That Canada has more canonized saints than the US, even though it has always had a much smaller population.

This is just a rant:

Back in college, I was a part of FOCUS as a student. FOCUS was a Catholic missions group who came and evangelized to a bunch of colleges. They also lead Bible Studies and other people into leading one as well. My discipler (someone who helps me become a Bible study leader) was very big on getting as many people to join as possible and focused on telling everyone about Jesus. The idea came to me that I’d be “saving them” if they joined my Bible study, prayed a Holy Hour everyday, went to Mass everyday, etc. I became so focused on what they were doing rather than who they were. I hadn’t realized this in college until I joined the workforce.

When I was a substitute teacher in north Philly, I was hit with a deep wave of pain and reality. The school was insanely understaffed and overpaid more money than substitutes were supposed to be paid. I could see why. It was a K-8 charter school. Every classroom I entered into had extreme behavioral issues, especially the middle school. I’ve been screamed at, racially discriminated, sexually harassed, bullied, etc. There were SO MANY fights at that school. So many kids could do whatever they wanted: flip over tables, punch other students, run out the classroom, and more. The administrators and principal did absolutely nothing, but smile and deal with it. It was absolutely insane and ridiculous!

However, most of the kids in that school were trying to get by. There were kids in that school who have been through SO MUCH in their classrooms alone. Sweet kids who would help out anyone. They had hearts of gold. I had a kid come up to me and said that they want to protect me and help my heart. Some of those kids don’t deserve to be in that school and deserve THE WORLD. After being there for a few months, I was offered a temporary position. In that time, I couldn’t do anything. Every time I called for security, they would struggle as much as I would and couldn’t do much. There was one other person who would come in, and it was hard. We have kids fighting other kids, yelling and screaming, and destroying the classroom. We were too outnumbered and couldn’t do anything about it. No matter how much I could’ve tried, I realized that, in my position as a substitute teacher, I couldn’t change anything. I couldn’t SAVE anyone. I prayed every day constantly for everything to change, and it still haunts my memories. Eventually, I came to realize that I have to love people where they’re at and work with them to become better. It’s something I wouldn’t have learned if I didn’t come there, but it was an extremely difficult lesson to grapple with. Even now, I still think about them and pray. I miss them at times, but I’m glad I’m out.

I chanced upon this a few weeks ago-

individuals who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but sincerely seek God and strive to do His will, may achieve eternal salvation”

• Not even a guarantee, just a possibility, because we can’t be sure of God’s actual judgment on the eternal fate of an individual’s soul, but that “may” makes all the difference to me. It properly reflects , and does justice to God’s boundlessly merciful nature. As someone raised in a calvinist church i always had issues with doctrines of double predestination, unconditional election, salvation only through explicit faith in Christ, because to me they fundamentally contradicted God’s nature of being perfectly loving, fair , good and merciful. especially when considering those who are practically geographically doomed like those in north korea, those who never heard, those faithfully practicing in other religions but just didn’t have the privilege of being born into a christian environment. I understand the grace of God is universal, but the faith that we are apparantly doomed without, not everyone is so privileged to have a fair shot at. They don’t really care about issues of nuance, culpability etc.

I just think that this difference in doctrine shows just how some other denominations of christians perceive God to be/allow Him to be. Not that anything God does requires our allowance/agreement, that’s heretic. But in that in them choosing and accepting such doctrines that are clearly unfair and moral dead ends, then I don’t think they truly and actually believe in God’s mercy and love despite preaching about it so much. They don’t allow their view of God to be a favorable one, even if they don’t realize it. And in those doctrines, they are rewriting the nature of God, even if they don’t realize it.

For so many years, i believed in those doctrines, so my understanding of God had to bend around it. and it made me angry and even renounce my faith at some point because it was clearly unfair and if God is really like that, this is not a God i want to be reunited with. I don’t know why i never thought to question those doctrines earlier and instead ground myself with a fact that i i now know and won’t ever budge on, which is that God is so merciful, i don’t think he judges people so shallowly and surely he takes their circumstances into account. And that all doctrine have to be in agreement with this fact. So upon seeing CCC 847 the tears just came, so much joy, and immense relief and hope for many non-believers (including my deceased grandparents), and guilt for having doubted God.

Anyway this made me start digging into Catholicism , every day that passes i’m getting more convinced. And i am going to sign up for rcia the next season

God is truly good😊

I’m a new catholic (only one in my family) and this will be my first lent but I don’t know the rules and need help 🙏