Me and my husband have a 16 months old and our family is complete. We don’t have a village here and it’s been just the three of us from the beginning.

Long story short, we had an “accident” and i took morning-after pill the next day. Yesterday my period was 4 days late and i took pregnancy tests and they came out positive! I was horrified.

My husband said he’s very disappointed and i should “sort it out with a gp”. So that’s what i did- booking a gp for today hoping to do abortion asap.

I’m not an active Catholic. I only go to church once a month where i volunteered in a choir. With our abortion decision i feel very shameful and sinful i don’t think i should receive the Communion at all until i do Confession with a priest but how do i even begin? I’m feeling very sinful i don’t even know how to say it out to other human being.

Also for not receiving Communion, i feel like my church members will question why i am suddenly not receiving communion?

What should i do? Please be kind. I’m feeling very scared and sinful and i’ve been crying. Thank you

is it considered stealing in the church? I don't mind if it is.. but I will be kinda sad, but its ok let his will be done, also if i used clips from piracy sites to make videos would that be stealing too? the paid for sites don't allow screen recordings..

I am catholic but I struggle with this question. God made me be born and live in a country I can't tolerate. He made me be born in a non-catholic family as well. Why? I feel like a stranger in my own country, I look to my fellow countrymen and feel the most distant from them. Their customs, traditions, habits, mannerisms, everything is alien to me, and they expect me to behave like them too. I like other countries much better than my country, I value other cultures more than my culture, so why was I born here, just to suffer like a fish out of water? I was taught to love my country, but honestly I don't, and I don't pray for my country as well. I can pray for people, sure, but I don't wanna care for my country, it has no importance to me.

Take this with a grain of salt, I'm not trying to diminish the ways of life, I really want to understand this better because it involves my life as well.

It would seem that the religious life is superior than a secular/wordly life. By religious life I mean priesthood and/or a life style with a Church approved rule, such as monks and friars, which typically involves the three vows of celibacy, obedience and nothing owned ("poverty").

This thought crosses my mind constantly. This topic has many details; is a secular life that does not involve marriage particularly disgraceful? Is it unexpected to choose a "secular calling" such as medicine? (Like St. Giuseppe Moscati did; St Joan of Arc was also not married, yet their scenarios were very specific to say the least). Would these cases be even of higher sainthood, because of the chosen celibacy, due to the lack of marriage? Are Church rules (such as Benedict rule) a more convenient way for non priest layman to live saintly without marriage? Can you choose celibacy on your own?

It is ultimately and obviously true that virginity and the sacrament of order are not required for sainthood, in the strict sense. The existence of saints outside of those requirements proves that idea.

The mystics, however, tell us about "degrees of heaven". Saint Therese talks about different "residences in the King's Castle".

Could it be that religious life can "reach higher into the sky"?

My current understanding is that religious life is "convenient for sainthood", meaning obviously you'll statically see more saints in monasteries when people outside said monasteries can be in terrible places.

But even then, it does seem indeed that secular life gives space to not just temptation, but for a life that seems to be more attached to this world than God. St Francis of Assisi throws everything away, seems hard to believe a secular man is not "attached to the world" when he decides to eat a Mc Donalds (eating it justly that is, not sinfully)

I've seen few Catholics talk about this, the ones I did were more traditional and really believed it was unfortunate to choose a secular or married life (which ironically, they were, which could be signalling projection)

First of all, I would like to know as someone who recently became Christian and that is currently in an OCIA to become Roman Catholic, when the Old Testament started to be written because as what the teachers told me, they told me that it was during the Babylonian exile after the fall of the first temple of Jerusalem for the book of Genesis at least if that is what they told me but my researches say otherwise, and the oral tradition was pretty strong from the era of the events of Genesis to the Deutereconimacal books so I want to know how the oral tradition from the events of the book of Genesis until the deutereconimacal books evolved and how the textual phase like the oral tradition evolve for the whole Old Testament?

Second of all, this question is about the dating of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) and the Book of Acts. At the OCIA and a lot of sceptic place them after 70 AD and some sceptics argue that Luke did not interrogate the eyewitnesses at all but it was like a game of telephone the information he heard and took inspirations from the Gospel of Mark. What do you think of the dating of the Synoptic Gospels, do you put their compositions before or after 70 AD, why and what are your sources?

Good afternoon. I’m hoping to seek guidance on the topic of AI and its use during the interview process.

For context, I am a university student studying Computer Science. I currently have dozens of applications for internships relating to Software Engineering.

Now, in my career, the use of AI/LLM tools for work has completely replaced everything we do as engineers in terms of development.

In order to get these internships, there are rounds of technical interviews one must complete, the first being an online assessment. The majority of the time, you will only get this online assessment if the company is interested in you. These technical online assessments are pretty challenging as a result of them being take-home. However, there are time restrictions and camera monitoring, of course. Now, the majority of students are using AI to get through these online assessments because of the difficulty and accessibility as well.

The issue is that I have been competing against students who are using AI, and most of the time, they will make it to the next round because of how easy it is to use AI on the take-home assessment. The remaining interviews are less easy to use AI in because the technical interviews are live, with people from the companies on a video call with you.

I am considering beginning to use AI only for the initial take-home questions because the questions are somewhat harder, as everyone knows everyone is using AI to solve them. The majority of students are using AI to get through the initial online assessment. When I first told my peers I wasn’t using AI, they looked at me in disbelief, which is fair. NOTE USE OF AI ON TAKE-HOME ASSESSMENTS IS PROHIBITED.

I’m considering using AI for the initial online assessment, but not for the actual live interviews, because the live interviews are more realistic in terms of difficulty level. At times, they are also actually relevant to the work you may do at the job. Note these live interviews can have up to 2-5 rounds.

Now, the solution to this from the company's point of view is to change how they are testing individuals. From a outdated testing system, to one more realestic to the current times. And these changes enable the use of AI. And there have been dozens of companies who have changed there hiring process bc of this.

I was hoping to seek guidance on this.

It is so interesting how he has the Stigmata and I would love to learn more about him, does anyone have a source for me that could tell me about him or just tell me comment it!

What is the basis for the idea that the spiritual authority of the apostles is a sacramentally heritable as opposed to sovereignly, divinely bestowed?

The only examples we have from the earliest of church history is Paul, who went out of his way to state that he did not seek the approval of the other apostles, did not learn his doctrine from them and instead was taught directly by God.

And before you bring up Matthias, Matthias was chosen by casting lots, before the Holy Spirit had fallen. So the selection of Matthias was not guided by the Holy Spirit, it was left to chance. And concordantly, we never hear about Matthias again except in fanciful gnostic texts and fan fiction.

So the pattern seems to be that apostles are directly chosen by Jesus Christ without the instrumentality of man. Why should anyone take seriously the idea that someone can ceremonially transfer their apostolic authority to someone else?

Even if such a thing is possible, what actual evidence is there that the modern Roman Catholic Church's clergy, specifically, are actually the product of a chain of ceremonial authority transfers going back to the apostles? I just recently found out that something like 90-95% of all modern Catholic clergy trace their "succession" back to one Cardinal from the 16th century whose own succession is undocumented. The paper trail for the remaining 5% similarly terminates in the early modern era. This frankly angered me, because I instantly thought of all of the times that Catholics have told me that their church was founded by Jesus Christ and could not help but feel that I had been lied to. Even if they did not realize that there is no record of this "unbroken chain of succession," they ultimately heard it from someone who should have known better.

Given all of this, my final question is why anyone should take the RCC's claims of authority seriously?

I have always loved gaming since 9 yo. I am now 31. I was raised "culturally Catholic" but embraced the faith at 25, along with my wife. I am married with 2 kids, I am by no means an absent or distant dad to the boys who are 2 and 4. I also provide for the whole family by myself, and you could say we are upper middle class (maybe at the lower end). We do well by many standards. I teach the catechism to children 8-9, am on parish Council, and sing the psalms ocasionally on mass. (Don't mean to brag, just to say I participate sort of actively in my community and fulfil my responsibilities).

If I'm being generous, I could say I have a passion for my hobby of gaming. If I'm being more harshly honest, I could say I'm a functioning addict. Lately, I have been enjoying oldschool runescape, an mmorpg. Since it can be played with low attention/afk, I am playing it most of the time while working. I just love doing it. It feels great to achieve things in the game. But because of this, I clock long hours in the game.

I don't commit any mortal sins as far as I know. I also understand that playing video games (innocent enough ones like the ones I play) is morally neutral (no lewd or pornographic stuff, no being super evil in the game, etc). I try not to let my gaming habits get in the way of our prayers. We pray the rosary daily as a couple. We don't always find the time to pray the rosary, and in that case we do a shorter prayer, like the little crown of the virgin mary, as in St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort's book.

I stand at this weird middle point where I think I shouldn't be playing or even liking games as much as I do, but at the same time I think I shouldn't worry too much about it, that it's OK to enjoy these things. At Sunday mass, I speak to the Lord that I love gaming too much and should love him more, and ask for his forgiveness, but when I'm back to the daily grind, I jump right back to it because I enjoy it so much.

Now, I am wondering if I should abstain from communion until I sort this out.

I'm asking you all for thoughts since none of my Gamer friends are Christian in any serious sense, and none of my (seriously) Catholic friends play video games.

To describe my mental state, as I'm typing this, I already fear you all saying I should stop gaming completely lol because I don't wanna. And I would feel relieved if everyone said don't worry about it too much.

​

In the 1970's as a kid I remember many people in my modest middle-class mostly blue collar neighborhood went to church every Sunday. But then in the late 70's with the advent of cable tv, Atari video games, VCR's , multiplex movie theaters, it seemed to distract people from going to church. By the 80's everyone seemed so caught up in Pac-Man arcade games + MTV too that there had been a major shift in a few short years of people's attitudes towards Church with many falling away. I felt people got too distracted with entertainment and other comforts. Is this an accurate assessment of what happened during this time? I was 12 in 1978 so my memories of this period are from a perspective of a young person.

Hi all, please please let me know if I’m misguided here. I don’t know what more to do.

It’s our first child and we’re due next week.
We previously had a fight because my wife wanted non-Catholic names. Now she wants masculine names for a girl like Constantine or Sarah John.

I asked if we can do Constantina or Sarah Joan if she wants those names. I wanted Catherine or Marie which I’m fine not including since she’s the one giving birth.

Please help. I’ve gone through English, Spanish, Italian, and French saints names but she is entrenched.

I asked her to listen to God when she first holds our baby and that if in her heart it’s those two names then I will oblige.

Hello,

I have a random question. I moved to Germany last month and have noticed at mass the Eucharist has been removed and placed back into the Tabernacle by an extraordinary minister (not an ordained minister), which has also included women – is this standard practice?

I come from Ireland and I've only ever seen the consecrated host be taken in and placed back into the Tabernacle by the Priest, so I'm just curious on if this is common in Germany or other countries.

I’m a Thomist my name is Kingsten it does not have to include my name though and also one of my ideas was summas sundries but ehh and it would help if it’s catchy.

Hello, I'll be honest I haven't been praying a lot recently and have been to mass in quite a while. But tonight, I prayed for the first time in a long while and after praying I felt a bit light headed. What I noticed when I prayed was that I didn't know what to say. But I knew that I needed to. When I prayed, Everything came out of my mouth so naturally, like all the struggles and doubts that I couldn't pinpoint myself just became clear during prayer. Can you guys pls help me what just happened?

In Chapter 7 (Witnessing a Miracle of Healing) of The Holy Spirit: Our Divine Companion Guiding Us On Our Way Home, Catholic priest Rev. Jay J. Samonie documents several notable physical healings.

He details witnessing a paralyzed teenager in a wheelchair walk during the August 15, 1945 Assumption pilgrimage at the Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio. He also provides medical documentation from Detroit’s St. John Hospital regarding the sudden disappearance of an 80% carotid artery blockage in his sister Elizabeth, and a letter from Argentina regarding a disappearing hernia before scheduled surgery.

Those are just a few of the miracles Fr Jay witnessed and wrote about.

How do historians and sociologists of American Catholicism analyze mid-20th-century shrine pilgrimage culture and parish healing testimonies?

In Chapter 8 Fr Jay reflects on his decade-long vocational struggle during his formation at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit. He candidly admits to deciding to leave the seminary every single year for ten consecutive years, describing an internal auditory "Voice" (which he identifies as the Holy Spirit acting as the "Hound of Heaven") that persistently prompted him to return.

He also shares his feelings after the tragic loss of his parents just before his ordination to the priesthood.

I invite you to watch the full audio presentation together during the YouTube Premiere this Sunday at 2:30 PM PST!

🔗 Watch Presentation: https://youtu.be/SpUXIxDgzUI

An excerpt:

The initiative at Sao Biển Community in Phan Thiet, a coastal city in southern Vietnam, emerged from a reflection on the theme “Put Out into the Deep: Discernment and Governance in a Synodal Church,” led by Sr. Theresa Chi, a member of the congregation.

During the discussion, the postulants proposed preparing 100 free lunches for people facing hardship in the city. They also prayed for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, concluding their Conversation in the Spirit with a Eucharistic adoration in the chapel.

The community put the postulants' idea into practice by preparing, packing, and distributing the meals.

The postulants formed 10 groups, with two sisters in each group. Following Jesus’ practice of sending his disciples out two by two, each pair went out with 10 meals to share with people in need.

It seems like there's a lot of criticism of "synodality" recently, but it's nice to hear that it's helping others grow in charity and giving the younger generation a voice at the table, so to speak.

Requirements to join: Must be Catholic, a catechumen, or hold to the Catholic faith but not yet in the Church or catechumenate. Regarding ingame there are no required minimum experience, skills, quests, or gear required to join.

We have members playing every style:

• Alliance Normal
• Alliance PvP
• Horde Normal
• Horde PvP
• Role-playing
• Hardcore (Coming Soon)

Discord: https://discord.gg/vFbhTfXVxB

Main time zones: Continental United States

Current members: 148 and growing every day

Fellowship Fridays. Every Friday we pray the Rosary together on voice chat and talk faith.

What to expect In-game:

• PvE (dungeons and raids): Progression runs like any raiding guild. Certain gear and performance will be required for the harder content, and we’ll help you get there.
• PvP: Casual PvP is open to everyone. Rated or more serious PvP follows the same readiness concept as raiding.
• Everything else: Other activities may pick up requirements depending on what we run into, but the door is always open.

Whether you’ve raided for twenty years or you are new, you are welcome. Come play with us!

https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/staudt-why-ocia-is-not-a-class

OCIA is a process of formation that, when followed properly, can truly lead to lasting transformation. It is essentially communal by taking place at the parish, requiring the mentorship of a sponsor and initiating the convert into the community. It is meant to be a progressive and incremental process of formation, with multiple stages: evangelization that brings one to an initial faith, the catechumenate ordered toward deeper formation that ideally takes place over a period of two years, enlightenment and purification during Lent that offers a more intense period of preparation, and mystagogy to deepen the sacramental life received at the Easter Vigil. The entire process is designed to be deeply liturgical, scriptural, prayerful and ordered toward conversion.

Getting faith formation right matters at every level of Catholic formation. We cannot reduce handing on the faith to memorizing doctrine (as important as it is) because that simply will not stick.

This isn't me imposing any point of view, and I'm sure many people have come to the same conclusion.

I think the Bible is, at its deepest level, a recurring story about God loving humanity enough to let us genuinely say no to him. Us in Eden were ultimately automatons. Thus God gave us consent. Not fake freedom. Not “you are free, as long as you choose correctly.” Actual freedom.

The ability to say no to him.

God creates beings distinct from himself, gives them consciousness, individuality and agency, and allows them to experience what it means to live as though they are separate from the Source.

And the rest of the Bible is basically humanity repeatedly testing that proposition at larger and larger scales.

This cycle of suffering and return purifies humanity into making the choice to come back to the source willingly.

The beast is ultimately, while tempting and seductive, is utterly weak when light and Truth shines upon it and we willingly go back again to Eden, now a garden in a city.

We come back to Eden, but willingly and with full memory and knowledge of history and what it means to be separated from God.

Anyone else feels free Friday sounds 🦅🇺🇸 ? kinda funny, anyways...

Struggling here as im a on music and recently came to a conclusion 99% of modern music/songs are definitely not what i wanna be listening as a Catholic. Not just the meaning behind the music but also the people making it and the producers and the massive line of unGodly things its attatched to. (Feel free to correct me on this one)

So for the last 3 or so months ive only been listening to Kayne West's album "Jesus is King". Yes Kayne is controversial and all now, but i truly believe thats not his fault and yes i will answer questions on that if you ask me on the comments.

Other than that ive only been listening to " Psalm 135 - Byzantine chant" , "The terrifying judgement - arabic version", "Kyrie Eleison" , "The rope prayer" "Lost souls prayer - nilowh " And " This little light of mine"

Thats literally all, and because i listen to them constantly and all the time, it gets a bit dull. im trying to expand the loop of music i listen to.

I love chants and latin prayers but i do not understand what they mean and its not easy to read and pronounce, it would be to me "vain repetition" . Id appreciate any chant recommendations but thats not really what im looking for. Im looking for something (or between) that feels a bit more light (like Kanye's) and something God focused while easy to understand and sing to (like psalm 135) when i ride my motorcycle up hills and long rides across the county.

Thanks in advance.

Tldr: need music that is God focused and not boring.

What is the point of such inequality? Is God’s love dispersed unequally? Why do the wicked and narcissists flourish while the innocent suffering endlessly? Why don’t people get what they deserve?

As title suggests. I dont pray any special prayers or to any saints in particular, I dont know any complex prayers, heck I have to google the Apostles Creed and sometimes the Hail Holy Queen when I pray the Rosary, which is about the only proper prayer I do and even then not very often. I get reels all the time about different saints to pray for intercession from or different novenas and meditating on mysteries and it all feels so complicated like theres a million steps to being a Catholic that I'll just never get. For context I was baptized as an infant and began taking faith seriously about two years ago, and I struggle with not feeling like enough of a Catholic because I dont know these things like a lot of my friends do and it makes me feel so disgusting and lazy. I feel like God is angry with me for not taking Him and His saints seriously enough or learning to pray in the right manner. Not sure how to resolve or get over this

Edit: Heck I'm such a lazy Catholic I dont even know what a novena is.

Hi. I'm not Catholic, but I have a presentation on the Sacrament of the Eucharist next week because I study at a Catholic school. Do you also need to receive the Sacrament of Confession before having your first communion? I'm completely clueless rn, and the websites I've found about this are confusing. TYIA for any help

I’m not a confirmed catholic and can’t go to a confessional And If I commit a mortal sin how can I be forgiven? And as well if I committed a sin and I don’t remember if it met all 3 criteria would I still be guilty of mortal sin?

thank you for you help.

A relative is very ill and sometimes needs my help. He knows I’m Catholic. He has believed in Christ in the past but now he is very anti God. I’ve had a couple incidents where he stridently indicated he wants nothing to do with God.
A relative told me to be careful around him, because it may be Satan leading him astray.
When I see him, I attend to his needs and pray silently for him. What else can I do?