Last night I was talking with a good friend of mine, who had told me that her parents were arguing very loudly, and her father was talking about how he wanted to get a divorce.

Knowing that she AT LEAST believes in God (which puts her farther along the road than most), I told her to pray the Rosary. Apparently she did, and after doing 1 decade and finishing off the Rosary (because she didn't know she was supposed to do 5 decades), her parents suddenly stopped fighting. I thought this to be miraculous, if not a very strange coincidence, but then I was met with her doubt. I asked her if she trusted in Our Lady and she said no, and: "If I had done this (x) minutes earlier, nothing would have happened". This is the kind of attitude that she has with God.

Every time I try to discuss the faith with her in any way, she takes it as though I'm trying to show how much more Catholic I am than her. I told her she should pray the Rosary more often, and she answers with "I don't pray as intensely as you". In the past, I've told her she should go to the mass, confess and so on. She makes it quite clear that she doesn't "need" the sacraments and that she has God by her side. When she told me that she prayed to her grandparents in heaven, I told her that she shouldn't do that when she doesn't know if they're in heaven, because it's not at all like praying to saints. She then answers with "they were more religious than you", as if that somehow adds anything to the discussion.

*sigh*

I just don't get it. This girl is so depressed in many ways and I want to help her by actually bringing her to the Church, but she won't listen. She seems to have her own brand of pseudo-spirituality that you CANNOT break through with any kind of reasoning. She's also the kind of teenager that won't listen to any speech longer than 5 minutes, and will not read anything more than 3 paragraphs because it's always too long for her. Sometimes, I wonder if these people don't want to convert to Catholicism, simply because they think it's difficult. As much as I would like to, I cannot condense 2000 years of the one true faith in a couple of sentences.

Please counsel me my fellow CI members. What do you believe I should do besides pray? Maybe I'm just thinking wishfully, but I truly believe that I can get through to her somehow, and then only God will be able to do the rest.

Daegus,

If I may, since I'm not sure if you're male or female, ask which gender you belong to? If male, are you attracted to her in any way as being more than friends? Unfortunately, to 'at least' believe in God, is not much better than being an atheist or pagan (if this is where conclusion and belief of him stop). I believe the only thing left to do for your friend, is pray for her.

I was speaking with a priest about how it is a mystery why some people are saved and others aren't. And if you think about it, it is a mystery. Why is it that some people are open to the Truth, and others reject it outright? Why is it that some people are evil, and others charitable? It is a mystery, and God has allowed it to be so. So at this point, I would only be able to say live your life by example, counsel her if she requests it and is open to it, and pray for her and to her guardian angel; perhaps a novena?

s2srea,

I am a male. I have, admittedly, at one point been attracted to her, but I do not find myself being that way anymore. My attraction to her was purely infatuation, and not an actual yearning for her. It seems as though it was only a phase. I've had this attraction phase with a few others before her, so it's not exactly new to me.

You also bring up some pretty good questions. You're right that it IS a mystery, and only God knows what the answers to these questions are. You've also given me a great idea. I will be praying a Novena to her. What do you recommend?

Thanks Daegus. Infatuation is usually what grabs most people, especially us young ones, at first. I'm only 25 so I can't say what its like for 30+ yr olds... But I'm glad you were able to realize it was indeed infatuation, and seperate yourself from it. I believe a novena is a great idea- how about to Our Lady of Sorrows and to St. Joseph? I don't use them as much as I should, but I believe they are very powerful!

I've run into these teenagers, and there's some kind of switch that you have to pull in order to be effective.

Something that you say, will hit home with her, and you kinda have to figure out what it is.

Maybe introducing her to the catechism will help her. It seems from what you've said, she really doesn't know her Faith at all.

Give her the link to the Baltimore Catechism and pray that she reads it. Everytime you talk to her, ask her if she looked at it. Hopefully she'll become curious.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/balt/

There's a start anyway. Let me know what she says.

Hey, thanks for that! This seems like something she (w/c)ould actually read.

On another note... This girl has such a skewed belief system, before I told her that God is 3 distinct persons in one being and all of which are equally God but not the same person, she didn't know this! I was actually surprised! A Christian who didn't know this? Man!

No chance she was mormon eh? lol jk jk

Well her parents are Polish, so from what I understand it's unlikely that she would be influenced by anything other than Catholicism at home.

Quote from: s2srea

No chance she was mormon eh? lol jk jk

Well her parents are Polish, so from what I understand it's unlikely that she would be influenced by anything other than Catholicism at home.

Must be modernistic Novus Ordo teachings at home.

I'll pray for her.