1.) You don't.

2.) No.

3.) In the US, $40k.

4.) When you consent to it.

5.) Yes.

Another question. There have been times in my life where I have been seriously depressed, and thought about taking my own life. I guess you could call it despair. Do I need to confess this too?

Yes, please do.  And fasting will help very much to mortify any unwholesome passions, including listening to the devil when he suggests that you end your life.

Understand that it is the devil LYING to you about ending the life God gave you, shrug it off at once the same way you would someone selling you a maggot-infested hamburger.

Another question. There have been times in my life where I have been seriously depressed, and thought about taking my own life. I guess you could call it despair. Do I need to confess this too?

If you actually entertained it and seriously started thinking about it, it would probably at least be a near occasion of mortal sin. I'd confess.

Quote from: curiouscatholic23

I was in a military like boot camp/academy for a few weeks. I was so hungry that I ate meat and I also did not do the ember days fast.

I'm thinking, for the future, ask for a dispensation from a priest if you know you'll be exerting yourself that much.

Good advice.

Contrary to the silly bourgeois attitudes of many, especially the citizens of the US government, you do not need to be making $40,000/yr in order to get married.  You do need to be mature, resourceful, and have a realistic understanding of the dynamics of the married state, however.  But there is no particular monetary amount required -- the Church allows even the poor to marry, and not the wealthy or the bourgeois only, believe it or not !  That being said, one must have some means of supporting a family or a skill or some knowledge that allow for the probability of such support in the near future, in order to get married.  But don't listen to those who say $40,000 is required.  It is quite possible to make ends meet with less, so long as both the man and his wife-to-be are willing to endure the lack of luxuries; they ought to be disposed such that they are morally prepared to go without those luxuries, anyway, since everything is granted by God alone.

Again, to reiterate (and hopefully add something useful):

1) Don't. Treat the scapular the way you would a fine sport-coat or a necktie made of silk. Wear it, keep it clean and don't go places where it could get soiled (literally OR spiritually). If it gets soiled physically, try to clean it. If it is beyond restoration, as was said, bury it or burn it and get a new one. You won't have to be re-invested in it, but I have read that a new scapular should at least be blessed before use; someone more knowledgeable about them can say for sure.

2) The Scriptures tell us that whatsoever is not of faith is SIN. If you feel convicted that you disagree with the socio-political mandates of a country, then don't go there, because you WILL very likely encounter those attitudes and they will make you go around with bitterness and malice in your heart. Avoid those occasions of sin at all costs, especially in this day and age, when there are SO MANY things going on politically and economically that it can be very hard NOT to be angry and bitter, even on your own home soil.

3) Speaking as a married man, I can tell you that you need to take whatever amount YOU ALONE would live on and TRIPLE it for you and a spouse. Rent or mortgage, utilities, gas in the car, clothes, food, a savings fund for emergencies... total it all and multiply it by THREE. That way, you've got the basics paid for, you've got an equal amount available for day-to-day expenses and/or increases in any costs, and then you've got the SAME amount that you BANK and don't use unless there's a genuine problem and something must be paid for immediately. Also, SIGN UP FOR WHATEVER SOCIAL SERVICES ASSISTANCE YOU CAN, while you STILL can, before the liberals who have been giving it all away to the undeserving finally drink the well dry. There is NO shame in receiving assistance if you KNOW that otherwise you would have to resort to serious hardship or the loss of necessities. Just make sure that you are doing everything YOU can possibly do to earn your own way, and allow the system that YOU are funding to assist you when and if you need it. One last thing about marriage: I am assuming you are a traditional Catholic with access to the Sacraments. AVAIL YOURSELF OF EVERY CHANCE YOU HAVE to receive them licitly, ESPECIALLY CONFESSION AND PENANCE. Your personal sanctity will matter MORE in life than how much money you make, and believe me, as the Bible says, if you do NOT live a sanctified life, your money will wind up in bags with holes in them because you put other things before your duty to God Almighty.

4) Again, speaking as a man with MANY years of experience (more than my 30-some years would lead one to imagine), sɛҳuąƖ sin is THE thing that will cripple your spiritual life, destroy your marriage and obliterate your witness to the world for Christ and His Church. FAR HOLIER men and women than ANY of us, like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Gemma Galgani and others, routinely took it upon themselves to abjure themselves and endure strict disciplines so that they might keep their flesh in check. The Apostle St. Paul of Tarsus said the he 'buffet[ed] his body and made it [his] slave, so that [he] who preached to others would not [himself] be disqualified'. How much more should prayer, confession and daily adherence to the pious exercise of your Faith (the Office, the Rosary, etc) be used as weapons against Satan and sin?
PLEASE understand that you are NOT different or worse or more 'sick' than anyone else when you are faced with temptations of the flesh; you are experiencing the attacks of your enemy, the Devil, who would consume your sanctity and destroy your interior life. Take my, and the Church's, and the saints' advice, and spend time daily thinking about Our Lord's Passion and how he suffered the unjust accusations of not only the Jєωs and Romans, but of Satan, all of whom wanted to see Him crushed under the weight of law and of sin. Think of how He endured all of those things so that when you and I, unworthy and GUILTY, come confessing and repenting, there are graces untold waiting for us instead of punishments. Now, think even harder about what would await you if you DISREGARD the love and mercy of Christ and His Cross and trade it flippantly for some temporary and worthless 'pleasure'. The Apostle St. Peter tells us that those who choose persistent and obstinate sin and disobedience over the Body and Blood of Christ will be guilty of trampling Him underfoot, and counting His Cross as pointless. Would you trade His Sacrifice, and the CONTINUING GRACES and FORGIVENESS that pour from It, for the things of this world?

5) As was said, DON'T take it upon yourself to do or not do anything when it comes to straying from the mandates of Holy Church. TALK to your priest, or at least A priest, and get instruction, and allow him to offer dispensations where permissible. Otherwise, you become like the woman in the Proverbs who says she can behave however she wants because she already went and made the appropriate offerings at the temple. In other words, she believed that making the right gestures, going through the motions, was license for her to now do as she pleased. You, as a Catholic, should know better and make sure you abide by the words of the Authority in your life, namely, Christ and His Church, Who said "whoever listens to you listens to Me".

Be assured of my prayers for you, friend. God's graces and the succor of the saints are yours for the asking if you come in humble, obedient faith.

Our Lady, spotless Virgin, pray for us.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

that was a very thoughtful post. I am struggling right now because I am in my early 20's and I'm unemployed. I have too much pride to ever go on welfare. I converted to the faith from Novus Ordo about a year ago and at first it was very intense. I thought God wanted me to be a priest. Now I am not so sure, and my original desire for marriage seems more natural. Yet at the present moment my economic situation does not allow me to explore marriage by dating/courtship since I am not making anything.

All the entry level jobs I am applying for, like a bank teller job, start at like $10.00-12.00 hr. There is no way I could raise a traditional catholic family on that unless I worked 2 jobs, 16 hours a day, 80 hours a week. Is a man lazy if he only wants to work 50-60 hrs a week?

I know this sounds crazy but I am considering moving to Korea/Taiwan for a year where I can save 25k-30k teaching English.

Can you speak Mandarin or Korean? (2 entirely seperate languages)

You mentioned Hong Kong, and they speak Cantonese there, which is entirely different from Mandarin as well.

Obviously as an English teacher you wouldn't have to speak too much Mandarin or Cantonese, but if you wanted to actually move to Taiwan, it would help. A lot.