Wyatt
Archon
Hello. I hope everyone is doing well. I have not been on this forum in quite some time. I could go over all that has transpired since then that brought me here today, but there is not enough time in the day to do that so I will be as succinct as I can. My conduct on this forum the first time I was on here was horrible and even sinful. I am deeply sorry. There were many times that I had felt wronged, but I know that I said many things that hurt and made you feel wronged too, and I apologize about that.
My next question is sort of a double question, and forgive me if this is not the right place for it. I am having, as many likely are, a difficult time right now, so now is the perfect time to sort this out. I am feeling disillusioned and pulled in a lot of different directions right now. I feel like I am at the lowest point in my life, and I really do not know what to do. From the time I was a child, but it worsened as I got older, I had a deep unhealthy fear of Hell. Deep! Severe! Lingering guilt even after asking for forgiveness in prayer as a Protestant...worried thinking: "Am I REALLY forgiven?" Same thing with the Sacrament of Confession after receiving Absolution. First I would feel deep relief, but as time passed (and I mean minutes and hours...not days or weeks), I would fear and dwell on the guilt of already forgiven sins. I have had multiple Priests tell me God is Merciful and that I am harder on myself than God is, and that it is the Sacrament of Mercy and I need to forgive myself. I understand that intellectually, but it is like it has not integrated with my gut, heart, conscience, mind, or whatever. I thought it was my exposure to Protestantism that was to blame for this neurosis, as I was raised a Protestant Christian. I was baptized and raised United Methodist, but later was exposed to a variety of different fundamentalist, evangelical, etc....many denominations.
I would explain more, but honestly I am getting a bit tired and don't have as much energy at the moment, but I have a question in several parts (or perhaps separate loosely related questions)
DISCLAIMER: these are simply thoughts and brainstorming right now...not even tentative plans. I still have a lot of prayer, reflection, and study to consider, but any help that could be provided would be much appreciated:
-How would I start the process of entering the Orthodox Church were I to leave the Catholic Church (Latin Rite)?
-How would I enter the Orthodox Church, meaning jurisdiction: OCA, GOAA, ROCOR, etc.?
-Were someone to want a canonical transfer out of the Latin Church to one of the Eastern Catholic Churches, what is the protocol for that and how would one get that started? This last one is for any Eastern Catholics on the forum who could provide useful information.
Thank you, God's blessings to you all, and please pray for me,
-Wyatt
My next question is sort of a double question, and forgive me if this is not the right place for it. I am having, as many likely are, a difficult time right now, so now is the perfect time to sort this out. I am feeling disillusioned and pulled in a lot of different directions right now. I feel like I am at the lowest point in my life, and I really do not know what to do. From the time I was a child, but it worsened as I got older, I had a deep unhealthy fear of Hell. Deep! Severe! Lingering guilt even after asking for forgiveness in prayer as a Protestant...worried thinking: "Am I REALLY forgiven?" Same thing with the Sacrament of Confession after receiving Absolution. First I would feel deep relief, but as time passed (and I mean minutes and hours...not days or weeks), I would fear and dwell on the guilt of already forgiven sins. I have had multiple Priests tell me God is Merciful and that I am harder on myself than God is, and that it is the Sacrament of Mercy and I need to forgive myself. I understand that intellectually, but it is like it has not integrated with my gut, heart, conscience, mind, or whatever. I thought it was my exposure to Protestantism that was to blame for this neurosis, as I was raised a Protestant Christian. I was baptized and raised United Methodist, but later was exposed to a variety of different fundamentalist, evangelical, etc....many denominations.
I would explain more, but honestly I am getting a bit tired and don't have as much energy at the moment, but I have a question in several parts (or perhaps separate loosely related questions)
DISCLAIMER: these are simply thoughts and brainstorming right now...not even tentative plans. I still have a lot of prayer, reflection, and study to consider, but any help that could be provided would be much appreciated:
-How would I start the process of entering the Orthodox Church were I to leave the Catholic Church (Latin Rite)?
-How would I enter the Orthodox Church, meaning jurisdiction: OCA, GOAA, ROCOR, etc.?
-Were someone to want a canonical transfer out of the Latin Church to one of the Eastern Catholic Churches, what is the protocol for that and how would one get that started? This last one is for any Eastern Catholics on the forum who could provide useful information.
Thank you, God's blessings to you all, and please pray for me,
-Wyatt
Last edited: