Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ummm... I have heard of what Saint John of the Cross (well that's what his name means in English) called the "Dark Night of The Soul." a phrase taken from the title of a poem he wrote. What it is however is an event to where a Catholic starts to question the value of their faith, even losing it in the process. From what I can tell you may be suffering from this very phenomena.

You really aren't alone in your suffering, even saints have suffered in the way you are now. In fact this dilemma may quite in fact eventually bring you closer to God in the end. a]U|You see it's something of a blessing in disguise, at first bringing torment but afterwards bringing us that much closer to God.

A lot of times this is supposed to happen quickly. Unfortunately there have been cases of this event happening for YEARS (worst case was Mother Teresa.)

The best I can truly say if this is the case is stay calm. Don't panic and trust in both God and whatever saints you pray to and associate yourself with. Assuming that I'm right about what's happening to you this'll be for your spiritual best.

welcome.

Lose of faith, what has lead to this lose of faith? Are you questioning your faith? What has taken you to this point? If you don't mind me asking?

Doubt is something we all have to deal with. It may be a fleeting thought, or it may be a pervasive feeling stretching on for years. If you have never doubted your faith, you're not looking at it hard enough.

Things always get worse before they get better.
Ok, not always, but it does seem to be a startlingly common trend. When we are children, we accept the faith of our parents without a lot of questions. Actually, there usually are a lot of questions, but these are made to better understand what's going on (or sometimes just to annoy our parents), not as a way to actually question our faith. As we get older and grow in maturity, new demands on our thoughts start competing with our faith in God. I know I need to be logical about things, but sometimes my faith doesn't really mesh with that. At times like this, I feel doubt. But after looking deeper into my faith, I find that confirmation of my beliefs and can go on with the same faith, but a deeper understanding.

What is it that you have doubts about? Maybe if you told us, we could help you find that confirmation you're looking for.

One thing that I always find helps me when I start to loose faith is to look at my Church community. Being Catholic isn't about my faith or your faith. It's about our faith. God's Church is not a Church of one. It has many members, and we are all part of one body. We are here to help one another and to receive help from one another.
Personally, I know that when I focus on MY faith, as if it belongs to me alone and exist apart from the faith of my church family, I begin to loose faith, but when I think about it as our faith, the faith of Christ's body, the Church, it helps. I don't know if that will help for you, but maybe give it a shot.

And if you can't reconcile your beliefs with the Catholic Church, maybe that's God calling you in a different way. If you find that you can't in good conscience remain a member of the Church, then you might have to leave it and go on your own journey for a while. But remember, we will always be here to welcome you back if you decide to return.
It's like the story of the prodigal son. The son had to leave his father in order to truly understand how much he needed him and how great his father's love was. God is always waiting to welcome back his sons and daughters who have wandered away.

confused Huh? I thought this topic has passed on a while ago? confused

Sorry I was just surprised to see it come back up after all this time.