Anonymous

Anonymous asked:

Hi, I'm a senior in high school waiting to hear back from my dream university, Univ of Notre Dame. I would like to know what novena would be good to pray. I want to pray to guide the admissions counselors to accepting me and keeping me in their mind. I'd love to go to a Catholic university. Thank you so much.

Hi, Anon!

I cannot tell you how excited I am to get this message, because I go to ND! Please know that I will be praying for you. Notre Dame is one of the greatest blessings I’ve received, and I will pray that you find an even greater sense of peace and joy at the university you end up at!

Here are a couple of suggestions:

This novena to St. Joseph of Cupertino.
Here is a novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Notre Dame’s namesake!
Finally, this has a little biography of St. Andre Bessette, the first saint of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, the religious order which founded ND. There is a prayer to ask for his intercession at the end!

Please keep this in mind: even if you do not end up at Notre Dame, have faith that God is working in your life and has a plan laid out for you that is better than you could ever imagine.

Pax et bonum, friend.

(Please don’t hesitate to message me off of anon if you are accepted and have any questions about ND! I’d be happy to give you my personal URL so I can help you in whatever way possible.)

Let us pray for the Holy Father and ask for St. Peter’s intercession

Faithful followers, I humbly ask and encourage you all to pray for our beloved Holy Father in what is undoubtedly a difficult time for him. May we also pray for St. Peter’s next successor and for his success in leading our loving Church.

approximatelyinfinity

approximatelyinfinity asked:

To your most recent anon: Find your bible and read Luke 15:11-24, the parable of the Prodigal Son. This son basically told his father, "I wish you were dead," and see how the father reacts: "He got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him... 'Let us celebrate... because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'"

^ This.

Thanks for the submission!

Anonymous

Anonymous asked:

months ago, I lost my faith entirely. I left the Catholic Church, and any form of Christianity. I had a friend hide my Bible, my Rosary, my Crucifixes, and the cross I wore around my neck since I was 14 (I am 23 now). I abandoned God. I must emphasize that in no point in my life have I ever been an atheist. Last week I was offered employment. I feel like a cheat to go back to God now that something good has happened to me. I feel unworthy of forgiveness for losing faith. Will He take me back?

Anon, God will take you back in a heart beat, plain and simple.

He gives us such unconditional, profound, perfect love. A love that we cannot possibly understand. He knows that we will hurt Him, leave Him, betray Him, sin against Him, go against His wishes, and fail at loving Him in return. Despite all of this, He still loves us as much as He ever did and as much as He always will.

He created you, you specifically to be loved by Him, enjoy this world that He created for you, and to eventually join Him in perfect happiness in Heaven.

He loves you. Always has, always will.

You are not the only person to lose faith. God understands that we are fallible beings, we are human and we sin. He calls us to ask for forgiveness (which He graciously gives to all who are repentant, no matter what), shed our sin, and work towards unity with Him as much as we can. It is through His grace alone that we succeed.

Do not feel like a cheat for wanting to go back to God! While I do not know God’s motives, it could be that He has given you this job to help you see the light and come back to HIm. No matter how much we sin, God does not seek to punish us. He wants us to be happy. Look at this job as a sign of God’s love and forgiveness: He wants you to be happy and He wants you to come home. Sometimes, despair gets us so down that we struggle to see the light and goodness that God gives us. Ask Him for forgiveness, give Him your love, and strive to love Him more each day. When and if you fail, ask Him to stand you up so that you can try again.

I will be praying for you.

Pax et bonum, my friend.

For Anon: Catholic men on tumblr who are willing to answer your questions!

A huge thanks to these gentlemen who kindly offered to answer Anon’s moral questions. Here they are!

And here’s a tumblr run by a group of Catholic men: thehungrycatholic

Anonymous

Anonymous asked:

are you a guy or a girl?? bc i have some guy moral questions

I’m a girl, but I’d be happy to direct you to some great men of God who are on tumblr for your questions. =]

Gentlemen, feel free to shoot me a message if you’re willing to reach out to Anon!

Pax et bonum.

Further response to Anon’s question: “So, you say that Christ alone can forgive us for our sins. We go to a priest because he is His representative. Why can’t we just pray to God himself and ask for forgiveness?”

Thank you to those who gave these great responses to Anon’s question! I sincerely appreciate them. This is such an important topic and deserves a well-crafted and thoughtful answer, an answer much better than one I could provide. Followers, please don’t hesitate to suggest answers to help me explain things!

“I might be important to add to that the Bible says that we cannot pray about mortal sins (sometimes called “sins unto death”)(1st John 5). So the question is, how can we get this sins forgiven if we can’t pray about them? Well, Jesus gave his apostles the ability to forgive sins (John 20:21-23). And the apostles’ abilities are passed on to priests today. Thus, confession.” -inomnibusrebus (I would add to this what tradcatproblems says below about the priestabsolvingus.)

“maybe you’d like to point out that the priest doesn’t forgive us, he absolves (unbinds - Matt 18:18). Only God forgives. Also: “The Lady told me,” said Claude, “that when we go to confession we are kneeling down not before a priest, but we’re kneeling down by the Cross of Her Son. And that when we are truly sorry for our sins, and we confess our sins, the Blood He shed flows down over us and washes us free from all sins.’
http://www.theworkofgod.org/devotns/divmercy/claude.htm” -tradcatproblems

Anonymous

Anonymous asked:

I've been looking to better my own personal relationship with God. I think I love this girl, but I know that I can't know love until I can learn to love God myself. I'm not sure exactly what I'm asking for here, but if you can help in any way possible (whether through prayer, guidance, or something like "Hey, look at this...") that would be nice :) Thank you!

Hey, Anon! I apologize for the delay in responding to your question, honestly I thought I had already responded, haha.

Anyway, it’s great that you recognize that you should seek to better your own personal relationship with God first and foremost! Remember that it is also in loving others that we learn to love God.

I’m not sure what your age is or what sort of relationship you have with this girl, but I would start by praying and asking God what you should do. Ask Him to help enlighten you and help you realize how you feel about her. If you determine that you do love her, ask God to help you stay virtuous in this love that you have for her. As long as you pray and ask God what He thinks you should do, you can’t go wrong.

I myself am called to marriage, so I think about this sort of thing pretty frequently. What helps me is to do a bit of researching on the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. You can find resources about dating (like this one), engaged life, marital preparations, etc. Even if marriage is a long ways off, it can be helpful to remind yourself what the purpose of dating and marriage is. In short, it should help you stay virtuous and God-centered during this whole process.

One more thing, and this may be the scariest suggestion I give you: have you considered talking to her about this? Speaking as a girl, we sometimes have a hard time telling how guys feel about us and an honest, frank conversation can really help. If you feel it’s appropriate and your relationship (whether it be dating or friendship) is strong enough, talking to her about it could be very helpful.

Please know that I’ll be praying for you!

Pax et bonum.