I’m a fairly recent convert and been studying up a little bit on the religion, much less the I hoped due to college 😔, should I get baptized immediately and how long does it take. I’m just really scared of the idea of the second coming of Christ. It’s also not entirely easy for me because my parents are Hindu, and my dad is a guru. He studied in India and learnt Sanskrit so would be really hard to bring this up. Would it be a sin or bad if I did it behind their backs.

I've Googled other responses to this question and the general consensus seems to be that if you have a baptism or exorcism, then it would be seen as irreverent to pass holy water through a soda stream to make it carbonated.

Does this apply if the person doing the carbonation is, e.g. a secret Satanist playing a trick on a priest? So the priest sanctifies some water for baptism or exorcism and the Satanist has either already carbonated or then carbonates the holy water with a soda stream - does this render it not holy water, or does the honest faith of the priest supercede adulteration?

My general research suggests that if a baptism is to occur in extremis and if no other water is available, then carbonated water might be acceptable. E.g. if you have a deathbed conversion and last rites in a building without still water, then clean carbonated water might be acceptable. Is this true?

Hello, guys. Happy Sunday. Recently, I've been meditating about some topics about the faith and how to defend it. And I've come across a dilemma.

Let's say a couple is talking about boundaries that need to be established. In the past, they got a lil too excited during some affection display. Some make out, that's it. The girl (or the boys, it's indifferent) needs to establish some boundaries due to his/her religion. If the other person doesn't really understand chastity, how can one explain in a charitable and understandable way?

One could say "it's normal to have desires, we are wired to have them, but sexuality should be followed according to God's word. And outside of the content of marriage, its just a selfish seek of pleasure?".

Then what if the other part responded with "so... selfish seek of pleasure simply ceases to exist once two people are married? Human selfishness just dissipates after 2 put a ring on each other's finger? Is two non married people showing a more intimate affection with genuinely good intentions a completely impossible thing?". Bc there are non catholic ppl out there who would do those things with a genuine good intent to show their love, according to their POV. Or no?

Another question that the other person could ask to the one who wants to live chastity after a mistake could be "for me, what happened is not a bad thing. But for you and your understanding of reality, its a bad thing. And you did it anyway. So i was the one who was being used, bc according to my POV, i did no wrong. But you ignored yours that you see as correct. So you are worse than me, and you really used me".

Does this make sense? What conclusions and possible debates can we take from this example?

God bless.

First of all, Happy Sunday everyone and a Blessed Advent! I'm excited about Advent and the coming of Christmas. I've been listening to Fr. Mike Shmitz explain about the meaning of Advent and how Advent is all about preparing oneself for the incarnation of Christ, but also for the Second Coming of Christ. He brought up quite serious topics for an otherwise festive season... How de we pepare ourselves for death? Are we ready to stand confidently before God when we die? Because the Second Coming isn't just about Jesus coming back to earth, the Second Coming also means Jesus coming to meet us when we die. I thought it was cool how he asked for forgiveness from those people who he had hurt in the past. Christmas season seems like the perfect time to mend broken relationships. But also to think about those who have no one to celebrate Christmas with or can't afford Christmas dinner and buying presents. I've made it my plan to forgive my enemies and those who've hurt me together with prayer & fasting. I also joined an Advent retreat on PrayMoreRetreat.com, they invite new speakers on each year together with study guides. Do you have any plans this Advent? How are you preparing yourselves? If you know of any Advent related reading material or podcasts to listen to, I'd love to hear them. God bless!

I've understood the value from religious vows as an ascetic exercise in order to get rid of disordered attachments to the things, the pleasures of flesh and own will.

Studying the early monastic life, I can also understand the idea of ​​a group of men taking a vow of obedience to a holy man, so that he would guide them on the path of virtue and holiness.

I also understand what Saint Alphonsus says about works done through obedience consecrated by vow having greater merit than works done by secular people, even if they are pious works, because our will is the most precious good we can offer to God.

That said, I'm not getting the sense of obedience vow in religious orders nowadays.

A vow of obedience is made, according to a constitution (which could be arbitrarily changed), to a superior who can (and probably will) be switched.

When the superior's sanctity is not a premise, what guarantee do we have that the religious, by suspending his judgment to perfectly obey the superior's will, would in fact be guided on the path to sanctity or would he simply be placing obstacles in his journey and possibly putting himself in a vulnerable situation?

Also, from what I see, many times the superior's focus is not on the sanctification of his subjects, but on "managing" the house in a way not much different from that which the head of a company does.

Exaggerating a little to highlight my doubt: I could make a vow of obedience to a random person I met on the street. And I would be mortifying my will. But that doesn't seem like a good idea.

More specifically, it is a doubt that I am trying to resolve in order to make a decision about which vocational path I will follow.

Among the options, I have a monastery (where I would also be ordained a priest) that is lax, with an abbot who is neither holy nor very competent, with an old community and selection criteria for entry that are also lax.

At the same time, I could go to the diocesan seminary, which is also not that great, but at least it would be something temporary and would not have the seriousness of the vows of poverty and obedience, in addition to the observance of the enclosure.

On the one hand, religious life is objectively more perfect (and therefore more meritorious) than secular life.

That is why I wonder if it would not make sense to embrace these difficulties mentioned in the monastery as a means of sanctification.

Since observance is lax, the abbot hardly uses his authority, so my "commitments" end up being basically the DIvine Office, works (quite easy) and community life. Otherwise, I could follow my own path, with my studies, spiritual readings, etc. But it is true that sometimes I feel a bit "tied".

But if it is meritorious and gives glory to God, as in the cases raised by St. Alphonsus, it would be worth considering.

Today it has been one of the craziest days of my life, I woke up and everything went normal as every other day, the real deal started like at 5 pm, when I started to feel I bit shaky, anything concerning, I just felt some weird sensations in my body, but after a while in a lapse of 30 minutes they started getting stronger, just as if I had electrical currents flowing through me and a great feeling of depersonalization started appearing it was as if I was losing control of my thoughts and my sensations.

I am an atheist, but for some strange reason in that state, I had a huge urge to go to church, and I decided to go. I was a little bit scared of the sensations and the depersonalization, but because of some strange reason my will to go to church was 100% percent. As I was approaching the church, which was 40 minutes away from my home, I started feeling more the sensations, and I was starting to panic a bit and getting super concerned, this had been the first time something like this happened to me, and I was also worried that I would encounter someone I knew, because I don't want anyone to think I am doing drugs or anything, which is not true.

When I arrived to the church I thought I was going to explode, I was feeling every part of my body at once and the energetic sensations now felt like being connected to a motor. And when I entered and sat on one of the many benches of the church, and felt the religious ambience, all the sensation and vibrations I felt, became accompanied by a feeling of bliss, that I can't compare to anything in the world, not sex, not food, just on another level, then I just became a vegetable, just being in the bliss of the present moment, no thoughts, no plans, no past life for what I think it was less than an hour, I was just melted with the present, my personality was erased, and everything I felt was God and the divine.

Things started to "normalize" after an hour when the mass started at 7:30 pm, which was to my surprise the start of the advent mass, of which I had no idea, the preparation to receiving Jesus Christ on Christmas, then I intuited that maybe what happened to me, was to prepare and making sure that I receive god and Jesus in my life, it was a big coincidence or does it mean something? What I now for sure is that the divine is going to play a role in my life from now on, because when I was in that state, maybe I didn't understand if god existed or not, for me that was the least important question, being the most important that everybody doesn't matter if atheist or Christian needs to take Jesus acts as example of a life we need to learn from. Mercy, empathy, sacrifice for others. I think we need to believe on this three for having good conscience, and these three are the ones that if you use for the rest of your life, you will have no regrets. And I think that is a life well lived. I live well deserved for paradise.

Sorry for super long text, I really think it could not be any shorter

My first impression of this film was liberal garbage. But thinking some more about it, the film actually works quite well as a horror story about what happens when you let the Catholic church rot from within from the woke mind virus. It is quite prophetic in that way, because this is unfortunately where Catholicism is heading. The cinematography is excellent and the actor performances too. So it can be redeemed.

A film student or aspiring film maker could fairly easily re-cut this film to make it a masterpiece with some creative use of mood sounds (music, etc), and perhaps a few pieces of added background dialog. Then it can also work as a stark warning of what will happen if the Church is not reformed back to its original roots.

The film is already unintentionally a story about Lawrence, a man with good intentions but who has been led astray by modern ideas of relativism and liberal ideology, and now has trouble telling reality from his on imagination. He looks at Tedesco (the hero of the story, who tries to save the Church) and in his twisted mind he sees a racist and fascist. His fellow liberal cardinals fight tooth an nail to get the nomination. Even the most meek among them (Bellini) turn out to be driven by ambition cloaked as a fight against fascism. At the end the woke win, and that ending should be kept, because it is a horror movie. Thanks to the lie of relativism, all the cardinals have let themselves to be spellbound to such an extent that they vote a completely unknown person into papacy. All it took was to say the right few cliché sentences at the right time. At the final reveal scene I'm imagining the sound track of the shower scene from Psycho (1960).

As far as I'm aware, the Catholic Church states through its Catechism andteachings that the one thing necassary to go to Heaven is being in a state of grace / sanctifying grace at the time you pass from the world. Obviously, this is obtained through baptism, and if you commit a mortal sin you confess and then you are back in grace. But I find myself constantly having doubts and anxiety about this belief / doctrine, as when I look at the life of early Christians and their teachings, it seems like the barrier to salvation was much higher than simply confessing a mortal sin. It seems difficult to reconcile some bible verses that emphasize the necessity of almsgiving/mercy for salvation (Matthew 6:14-15, Matthew 25:31-46) with just being in sanctifying grace at death, since a person who is in this state could be the most selfish, mericless person out there.

I feel anxious that even if I do manage to die with moral certainity of being in a state of grace (confessing all my mortal sins and not comitting any after), I'd be damned as I'm not confident in myself and my actions (Mainly due to a lack of "good works"). Are there saints or theologians that go in further about this topic explaining how this doctrine fits with scripture and tradition of the early Church?

What will happen to the love husbands and wives have in heaven? Is their love here on earth somehow incomplete compared to the love everyone will have for each other in heaven? Will the special bond between two spouses be gone in replacement for an equal love everyone will have in heaven?

I remember reading online somewhere that at some point in Spain two priests were at Eucharistic adoration when o e said “don’t see what I see brother?” And the other said “The face of Christ has appeared in the Host, and is moving from side to side, now to the left, now tot he right, etc”. I know there’s a similar story in India but this involved two priests and the face moved from side to side. I think in Spain.

Star of the Sea parish in San Francisco, which offers TLM, reverent Novus Ordo, 24/7 Adoration, and many pious Marian devotions for the lay people to participate in!

False allegations against priests and the Church have a profound impact on everyone—both the Church as an institution and individuals involved. These cases often result in intense media pressure and public judgment, regardless of whether the allegations are proven true or not.

Examples of false or unproven allegations include:

• Residential Schools in Canada: Accusations of genocide involving unmarked graves gained widespread attention. However, no evidence has been found to substantiate these claims.
• Michigan Abuse Scandal: Out of 300 priests named, only 11 were convicted. This means 289 priests—96% of the accused—were judged by public opinion rather than by courts. The damage to their reputations and lives was immense, even for those never convicted. This pattern of disproportionate accusations versus convictions is emblematic of other dioceses as well.

Financially, the Church has often opted to settle claims out of court. Settlements listed on Bishop Accountability show payouts totaling over $33 million for 257 people in Michigan (with 90% of these cases never going to trial) This has created a system that incentivizes false accusations, particularly involving deceased priests who cannot defend themselves. In many cases, these settlements exceed $100,000 per claim.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/settlements/

The Church must confront some critical questions. How should it handle the “trial-by-media” phenomenon, where accusations alone lead to public condemnation? And to some priests even committing suicide as they can't handle the pressure? What systems should be in place to support priests who are falsely accused, both spiritually and emotionally? And how can the Church balance its mission of humility with its responsibility to stand up for truth and justice?

I think the Church must take a more proactive and courageous stance. It should become the beacon of truth, unapologetically naming false allegations when they are proven untrue and defending those who have been accused without conviction. This is not about dismissing legitimate claims but ensuring that truth prevails over assumptions or public pressure. By boldly standing for justice, the Church reaffirms its commitment to fairness and protects the dignity of the innocent.

Why is the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” not being firmly defended, especially when Christ Himself was falsely accused and unjustly convicted despite His innocence?

What do you think?

Hi, I just noticed that the color theme for this subreddit and the Reddit guy icon changes color to match the liturgical calendar! I just think that’s nice and sweet. That’s it! I love you all

Hello, I’ve been reconnecting with my faith and studying my Bible more often & consistently but came across a post that talked about how some specific translations are more widely used by Catholics. Is there a reason? I’ve been reading NIV & ESV for about 4 years now, mostly due to my university that gave use those versions as a gift. Are there benefits of using Catholic versions?

Hello all, I just wanted to ask you all what you considered too much for the consumption of Alchohol? I’ve been prehaps blessed with a quite high alchohol tolerance, where even when drinking spirits I tend to simply shrug it off when drinking stops and go about what I was doing beforehand, maybe a little disorientated but that’s all. Yet, Ive been worrying that prehaps sometimes I’ve stepped into sinful territory with how much I have drank. There’s the quite known quote that “a Catholic funeral is more fun than a Protestant wedding”, which implies that Catholics would drink to the point where it would impede the senses, yet I see constantly that drunkenness is a sin; so I wished to ask here, how much is “too much” for Alchohol? I have never gotten to the stage after drinking where I look back in regret and think “I shouldn’t have done that”, or done anything explicitly sinful while under the influence, but I am very worried since I don’t know at which point I am damaging my soul by drinking too much. My current hope is that it’s based on “common-sense”, which I know I haven’t broken and never plan to, but I still am unsure what the “limit” should be for a Catholic. Another big gripe of my own is that I know that if my current life situatuon was better, I wouldn’t be drinking perhaps at all. I like drinking socially, it helps me connect with friends, but knowing I’m doing it while trying to find other things to replace it with leaves me with a troubled mind. Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on this? I’d love to hear others on how they view alcohol.

So i serve in the Church of my School, and i noticed that they allowed female altar servers, and to be honest, i really didn't care or pay too much attention to them serving. But i heard from Traditional Catholics that Females shouldn't serve at the Altar, and that only Males can serve. Idk what opinion to take lol.

I suppose this all stems from this question: can someone suffering in purgatory speak/pray to a future version of themself that is in heaven? Could I even ask the heaven version of myself to intercede for the present version of myself?

I'm learning about the communion of the saints and it's kinda tripping me up. It seems to me that heaven is nonlinear. So, when Saints enter heaven, they should join that same non-linear time (can you even call it time?) and that has some weird implications.

Thanks for your ideas!

Source: https://books.google.com/books/about/Le_mois_des_anges_ou_Le_mois_de_septembr.html?hl=fr&id=9V7P2CUxQxsC#v=onepage&q&f=true

PROTESTATION of Saint Charles Borromeo to His Guardian Angel to Obtain a Good Death:

In the name of the most holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I, NN., a hapless and miserable sinner, do declare in thy presence, O holy Angel of God, my faithful guardian:

1. That I desire to die in the one true faith, which the holy Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church doth hold and teach; the faith in which all the Saints who have gone before have died, and outside of which there is no salvation. *Our Father.*
2. I do further declare, O my holy Angel, that, aided and upheld by thy protection, I wish to leave this life filled with great trust in the mercy of God, despite the magnitude and multitude of mine offenses, firmly believing that but one drop of the precious Blood of Our Lord is sufficient to wash away not only my sins but also those of all mankind. *Our Father.*
3. Likewise, I do declare, O blessed Angel, that I ardently desire, notwithstanding the enormity of my offenses, to partake in the infinite merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ, whose tenderness and mercy doth never turn away a contrite heart. Oh, how I wish I had never offended my God, whom I love above all things and long to love more and more! I repent with all my heart; I freely forgive all who have offended me, and I cast all mine offenses into the adorable Heart of my Jesus, that He may deign to blot them out forever. *Our Father.*
4. I beseech thee also, O my faithful guardian, to intercede on my behalf with the divine goodness, that it may please Him to receive me among the blessed ones He hath predestined from all eternity and who now behold His glory. I protest that, to obtain this joy from the infinite mercy of God, I am ready to endure not only all the sufferings of this wretched life but also all the pains of purgatory, even unto the last day of judgment. *Our Father.*
5. Finally, O my most dear and wise guardian, I declare that I appoint thee the executor of my last will. Obtain for me, I pray thee, these three final graces from my God: first, that I may not leave this life without worthily receiving the sacraments of the Church; second, that Our Lord Jesus Christ may then soothe and calm the pains and anguish of my heart with one of those tears or sighs He did breathe forth upon the Cross; and that His most sweet Mother, casting upon me one of those tender glances she directed from the foot of the Cross to her dying Son, may admit me among those who, under her powerful protection, shall obtain eternal salvation on the day of judgment. Lastly, I ask that thou, my holy Angel and faithful guardian, mayst deign to assist me in that final hour when my soul shall part from its body, and that thou mayst render me favorable to Jesus Christ, my Judge, whose Heart did burn upon the Cross with so fervent a love for the salvation of sinners. *Our Father.

Look upon my soul, therefore, as wholly entrusted to thee, O my most tender Guardian, and when it departeth from the prison of this body, do thou present it into the hands of its Creator and Redeemer, that, with thee and with all the Saints of Heaven, it may delight in His presence, love Him perfectly, and enjoy Him fully for all eternity. Amen.

Is it appropriate or a non-issue to dress in colors associated with the litirugical season? For instance, wearing a purple church-appropriate dress for reading during Advent?

Im struggling with like self doubt honestly and just Lust in general. I've definitely been getting closer to God but I've just kept falling back into this sin. I know I gotta lean on Him but it's hard a lot of the time. I would appreciate any suggestions and prayers.

I need advice on how to cleanse the soul, mind and body from filth, evil and sin. I indulged in sexual sin over many years. I feel like my soul has become perverted and evil. I even sometimes have evil and offensive thoughts that I cannot stop, sometimes even about holy things and people! This is a new low for me. All I want know is to cleanse my heart and soul from all the filth and make it like a newborn child's heart. I wish I could turn back time and cleanse myself and not sin. I already say the holy Rosary every day and I go to mass and I go to confession. I am afraid of my own capacity for sin. Please God if you see this, I want to be cleansed from evil. Sometimes I feel like I should have never been born at all, and I fear the darkness in my soul will only grow more and more dark until I go to Hell. I wish there was some way I could be cleansed from sin instantly, like a one-time thing where the priest just puts his hands on you and you are immediately restored. But I guess that will not happen for me and that the path will be longer. But I am honestly lacking in resolve to become holy at this point, since I have failed so many times on this path, too many to count. I feel like the lowest of the low and I think many people around me hate me. And because of the darkness in my soul, I feel it is incredibly hard to hear God. When I receive interior visions, they are very faint.

Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for my sinful soul.

I really need advice on what to do, because at this point I will probably go to purgatory for the longest time.

Whenever something is lost, do you guys also pray to St. Anthony? Ever since I was little I did so, and to this day I find the thing I’m looking for in record timing! Just an hour ago I lost my keys and prayed to St. Anthony - BAM! Found them!

I (17F) During my first confession told the priest that I was taking birth control pills for medical purposes. He asked me if I had sex and I responded yes because I have had sex, although I haven't had sex since I started taking birth control. The priest responded that it is still a sin because I am still aborting the child this way. I have PCOS and because of this condition, I am very prone to becoming infertile and taking birth control pills is my treatment so that in the future my chances of becoming infertile are lower. I don't know who I can come forward to because I think I wasn't able to explain to the priest the entire reason why I am taking it and that I haven't had sex since I started taking birth control so I'm not sure if it really is considered a sin.

I talk with a priest, but I'm a night owl and night time hits me the hardest. I'm super depressed not suicidal, but struggling. Everyone tells me trust in God and that God gives us hard times to pull us closer to him, but they push me further away from him. Following him in these hard times is like swimming up a water fall with a broken arm and leg. I need a mentor or something I had a friend who used to always encourage my walk with God, but he went to become a priest and I can't talk to him much. I can't make it to church a lot that's probably a reason behind the struggle and when I am there I feel this deep dread in my heart like I'm not supposed to be there. Like this super intense spiritual attack that puts me on the verge of a panic attack. I'm good in public it's only in churches I get these feelings like I have a demon in me that's just fighting hard for me to leave.

I sin more than I'd like I know it's wrong yet I can't seem to prevent myself. I fail God a lot and I feel like I can't have a relationship with him no matter how hard I try. I know he's there, but I still struggle to be with him. It's like I'm forcing myself to pursue him. I want to pursue him, but I fail.