New to Catholicism

Catholicism has a potencial in itself to enable to change one's life for good. It has powerful means like teaching on grace and resulting from it devotion ( Mass, Communion, Adoration of the Holy Sacrament, litanies, breviary....) and teaching.
Unfortunately, you can meet plenty of Catholics who don't know their faith and who live almost like pagans ( as if God didn't exist) and they are a great obstacle to converts. But you'll meet for sure some groups or individuals who live strictly Catholic way of life and faith and they are examples. The best way is to read books written by Catholic saints because there you can find a living faith and it can inspire you. At first I would recommend to you ,, Forty Dreams of St. John Bosco,, - it's a stunning book, maybe on youtube you find a film version.

Thanks to Catholicism I' m a free man , free from pmo for many years. And I know that I wouldn't have so powerful means to get rid of this addiction plus to change my life either in a protestant faith or in Orthodox because I investigated what the two denominations can offer to beat an addiction. Protestantism can offer very little in that case ( mostly reading the Bible) and Orthodox Church hasn't developed a clear way to get rid of addiction although the Church being very similar to Catholic One in dogmas and teaching is able to be very effective here.I'll add that so called modern Catholic Church ( the modernist teaching) has either not so much means to beat addictions. I found powerfull means to beat addictions in the traditional teaching of the Church dating years 400 - 1950. There I found an atomic bomb against addictions.

Simply go to the next Catholic church and ask for preparation to conversion.
Are you coming from a Protestant denomination? and why are you thinking about Catholic Church?

 

Yes, you've got 3 possibilities. You could go up to a priest after Mass and talk to him ( not only on Sunday but on every week day there are Masses.
Or you could phone to a parish and say the priest your wish to convert and he' ll tell you what to do in this time of pandemia.
Or there are so called ' parish cancellaries' in every church where the believers can come and talk with a priest about baptising their child or Catholic funeral etc. On internet site of the church you can read on which days and at ehat time such a ' cancellary' is open. This is called cancellary in my country - I don't know what's the name in Spain. And it's possible that such cancellaries are closed now in epidemic but for sure you can phone.
Before you meet a priest pray to God so that He can send you a suitable priest who'll tell you what Jesus wants to tell you.

I found for you one dream of St. J. Bosco free on the internet called ' The road to hell'

http://www.todayscatholicworld.com/bosco_hell.htm

 

I understand that you mean preparation to conversion. I don't know if you were baptised or had the Sacrament of First Communion and the Sacrament of Confirmation - if not then usually all the 3 Sacraments are given to converts after some time of teaching and preparation in the local parish but it's the usual way in case of ' usual' believers ( who are born in Catholic families and receive the first two Sacraments as children). In case of adult converts like you sometimes another church collects a small group of adult converts to teach them and prepare. And in addiction we have this pandemia where all can be changed - so I don't know. You'll get to know this after you ask the priest who either will tell you about it in the first conversation or he' ll first make an appointment with you.
But if you asked to which church you can regularly go after conversion then I' ll answer that you can choose a church or you can ask a priest in the closest church if you can be enrolled in this parish because of the long distance to your local parish church.

By the way, what I named in my previous post as ' parish cancellary' is actually in English - parish office. So each church has got a parish office to contact with parishioners in various cases and the best way is to contact it. On the internet site of your church or your closest one you' ll find the phone number or opening time of the parish office and you can either phone it or go direct to it. Some modern parishes have even possibility to contact them or individual priests per an e- mail.

If you read ' the road to hell' by St. John Bosco you'll get to know the traditional Catholic way to get rid of pmo which is called in the dream - ' impurity' or ' the 6th comandement'. I use the means - they give freedom from pmo.

 

So, you are already a Catholic because you were baptised in Catholic Church, so you aren' t a convert but you only lack two Sacraments. The document of your baptism is in the church where you were baptised.
Remember that the hell described in the dream/ vision of St. J.Bosco is his subjective description and even in this description it is said that the vision was shaped so that the hell could be understood by the boys of J.Bosco. Another saints describe the hell in other pictures. But for sure it will be horribly there and without hope plus some element of fire which can be an inner fire coming from our sinful desires.

Don't be afraid if you don't remember some sins or their number because in every confession we finish saying our sins to the priest with words ' I don't remember more sins' or you can add saying your sins that you did such and such sins but you remember only that it was often or sometimes for example that it was 2-3 times a week or many times every day or very often daily or weekly for many years ..... The most important is that we mustn' t lie or be silent (leave some sins unsaid and how often we did them when we remember it - so when we hide the information because of shame or fear) during confession. We absolutely must tell all that we remember but what we don't remember during confession is absolved or nullified too.so we are not guilty of something what we don't remember or remember only to some extent.

If you read the passage about impurity or 6th commandement once more you notice that we people or addicts aren't able to stop such sins alone without help of God and that without prayer and Sacraments ( especially confession and Communion) we have no chance to get rid of this addiction because we are too weak ( our will ) and the power of satan is too strong. Only God can rescue us provided we pray - especially at the time of temptation and do what God says through His word and Church.
I'll write about it in my next post below commenting some passages of ' the road to hell'.

 

I'd like to comment on some passages of ' the road to hell' by St. J.Bosco so that you can see what you can do and what's really effective in the fight with pmo.

'' I kept tugging, and after a long while a huge, hideous monster emerged, clutching a rope to which all those traps were tied together.... It won't do to match my strength with his, I said to myself. I'll certainly lose. I'd better fight him with the Sign of the Cross and with short invocations.''

Look what did here St. J. Bosco- he admitted that he has not enough strength to fight the monster ( that pmo monster in our case) and he begann with short invocations (short prayers) and the Sign of the Cross. When we pray God works with His power in us and only God is able to defeat the monster not we alone ( and our efforts)

''fully examining many of the traps, I saw that each bore an inscription: Pride, Disobedience, Envy, Sixth Commandment, .. and so on. .... Looking even more closely, I spotted knives among the traps. A providential hand had put them there for cutting oneself free. The bigger ones, symbolizing meditation, were for use against the trap of pride; others, not quite as big, symbolized spiritual reading well made. There were also two swords representing devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, especially through frequent Holy Communion, and to the Blessed Virgin. There was also a hammer symbolizing confession, and other knives signifying devotion to Saint Joseph, to Saint Aloysius, and to other Saints. By these means quite a few boys were able to free themselves or evade capture.''

You'll find in the passage above the some types of means to rescue us from pmo:
meditation (meditative prayer), spiritual reading (reading the Bible or Catholic books), Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (staying in the presence of God before the Blessed Sacrament - in the presence of mind that God is there), frequent Holy Communion (during Mass), prayer to Mary (Blessed Virgin) at the time of temptation, Confession (look this is called hammer for 'pmo addiction') , prayer to Saint Joseph, to Saint Aloysius or to other saints. Look in all the means we ask for the help and rescue from God, we don't fight with our own strength which is nothing compared to satans strength and the strength of our addiction.

''Then is there no way to save these unfortunate lads? Please, tell me what I can do for them. -They have superiors; let them obey them. They have rules; let them observe them. They have the sacraments; let them receive them."

So in order to quit this addiction we must obey our church (what the teaching of Catholic faith says - Cathechism), obey the Bible and we must receive the Sacraments - Confession, Holy Communion during Mass.

''They have been warned a thousand times, but they still choose to rush into the fire because they do not detest sin and are loath to forsake it. Furthermore, they despise and reject God's incessant, merciful invitations to do penance.''

So we must do penance and this means that we must every day come back to God trying to pray, read the Bible, trying to do what God says we should do...

''Always preach against immodesty. ... Bear in mind that even if you did admonish them individually, they would promise, but not always in earnest. For a firm resolution, one needs God's grace which will not be denied to your boys if they pray. ... On your part, pray and make sacrifices''

In the passage above you can see that a firm resolution to fight pmo is not enough because without God's grace we won't have enough determination , will and power to keep our resolution not to do pmo every day. This power we get from God but only when we pray - especially at the time of temptation to do pmo. and make sacrifices means our daily efforts to live according to the Gospel.

"Exactly! Disobedience is the root of all evil."

So the root of pmo is disobedience too. Disobiedence to what God in His word and the church say. In order to get rid of pmo we must try to be obiedent every day but without prayer and confession (when we are in deadly (grave) sins it's impossible. We won't have enough strength and desire to be obiedent.


''Others go to church, but, ignoring recommendations, they misbehave; instead of praying, they daydream or cause a disturbance. There are also those who make themselves comfortable so as to doze off during church services, and those who only make believe they are going to church. Woe to those who neglect prayer! He who does not pray dooms himself to perdition.''

This passage shows why so many believers are addicted even if they go regularly to church, even if they pray - it's because they actually don't pray (are not in the presence of God) they daydream during prayer and Mass - so they in fact neglect prayer. We must learn how to pray well so that every prayer every Mass must be our meeting with God but not a time when we are distracted and think about our past, future, about our problems, desires, funny things ... etc. we must make every prayer our pesonal meeting with God, if not then such a defective prayer won't help us. We will stop God from working in us.

"Keep telling them that by obeying God, the Church, their parents, and their superiors, even in little things, they will be saved."

We aren't children no longer so to be saved from pmo and all other miseries we must be obiedent to God and Church in its teaching.

''We know that Our Lord always portrayed Hell in symbols because, had He described it as it really is, we would not have understood Him. No mortal can comprehend these things. The Lord knows them and He reveals them to whomever He wills.''

So the all description of the hell is only a symbol but it's enough to know that there will be very unpleasant, much pain and that it will be everlasting.

''What a torture to think that they couId have been saved so easily , yet now are irredeemably lost, and to remember the many good resolutions made and never kept''

Look at this passage - to be saved is not difficult - it's really easy. To get rid of pmo is not difficult either - this is my own experience since 2013 - if we do it with God realising what St. John Bosco described in his dream.
We must pray - it's not possible that we keep good resolutions ( for example good resolutions of not doing pmo) without praying enough because we are too weak to keep them, only God can give us the power (grace) to keep them.

And I'll add that to be saved from pmo is easy too provided we pray (especially at the time of temptation), live without grave sins and when we commit them then we must go to confession as soon as possible, provided we receive Holy Communion, go to Mass, read the Bible.... all in all when we try to meet God every day...

I have done for many years what I commented above to the dream of St. John Bosco and I've been pmo free for over 6 years so I can tell you - it's not imagination or wishful thinking or theory - it's true and it's working well (God works in us).

It's enough to try to live a good Catholic (Christian) life, to try honestly to live according to Gospel to be set free from every evil, sin and addiction.

 

Nobody can it correctly but we can honestly try, the rest will be done by God.

 

Looks like @Mr Eko has already been guiding you through the process of entering more fully into the Catholic Church! Welcome!

Yup, by nature of your baptism you are already a member of the Mystical Body of Christ (the Church). Simplest option is just talk to a priest and he'll probably set you up with the RCIA - the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. It'll help prepare you doctrinally, mentally, and spiritually for becoming a good and well-formed Catholic who actually knows what they're talking about... there are plenty of worldly Catholics as you well know. And it'll set you up to receive God more intimately through the sacraments.

God bless you on your continued journey toward faith and purity!

 

Have you talked to a priest? What did you get to know?

 

Yeah, what @Tryin' Hard said, they will likely set you up with RCIA as a candidate. I started the RCIA process last year as a catechumen (unbaptized), but there were other people there who were Christians who had been baptized but were now seeking reconciliation/admission to the Church like you are. All the best @SomeSpanishGuy !

 

Hi Somespanish guy!! I am new to this forum, but I am spanish too, so I offered myself if there is any doubt I can solve surrounding "Spanish Catholicism". Best wishes!