Questions from Teens

My question is about promises to God. When I was younger, I made some promises to the Lord - along the lines of not doing certain things and avoiding certain things during Lent every year for several years. In retrospect, I may have made these promises rashly. Some were very difficult to keep and sometimes caused problems with me and my family, caused me alot of anxiety, and made life quite difficult for me. I came to the conclusion that I shouldn't have made those promises in the first place and that I didn't have to honor them because of their illegitimacy. Now I'm having doubts as to whether I should honor those promises during Lent or not. Please help. Read more »

My dad cheated on my mom, and because of this my mom and dad got divorced.  Also, my dad drinks a lot.  How do I forgive him?  I just want my dad to be happy…and I want to be happy, too…

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Due to new circumstances in my life I'm finding myself doubting a lot of things.  I want to know what forgiveness really means; this is something I felt I used to know the answer to but I've really lost myself - and the answer - recently after a serious crime was committed against me.  I’ve been in therapy trying to deal with everything, but I cannot bring myself to forgive the person who committed the crime against me.  Any advice?  Please pray for me.

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I am a devoted Catholic and I thought I had everything figured out. But lately new doubts have arisen.  The question that bugs me the most lately, is why are "ghosts" or "spirits" still here? I thought in the Catholic faith we weren't supposed to believe in ghosts? I've had grandparents pass away in the past couple of years and I've felt as if I've had experiences with them, like they were here with me. Does that make them "ghosts" too? I'm so confused on this topic I confuse myself trying to figure it out.  I believe there's a God; I just don't understand everything that comes with the Catholic faith. Read more »

I am having issues with my peers and even elders attacking me and I guess bullying me when I say I am Catholic. They start getting rude and of course all the ignorant junk about 'oh those priests...we know what they do'. It really gets to me and I want to usually leave or yell. But I know that isn't good. What can I do when this happens to me? Read more »

Our two teenagers have lost their interest in attending Mass on Sundays; though they continue to go because we believe in God. We want our children to have positive experiences at church. Any ideas? Read more »

Lately, my parents have been finding excuses to try to miss Mass and they call me selfish for wanting to go to Mass when they don't want to.   I've asked them to just drop me off, but they won’t.  I don’t’ know what to do.  In the 10 Commandments God tell us to keep the Sabbath holy, but he also tells us to honor our father & mother.  Am I in a state of sin because I can't go to Mass because I cannot drive?  Am I being selfish? Read more »

There is a girl that I know, which happens to be my girlfriend, and I really think she is beautiful. She truly is. I'm not talking about just what is on the outside, but also what is on the inside. I am convinced that she is beautiful. The problem here is, she doesn't believe it. Obviously I've tried to tell her, & convince her. But she just doesn’t see it. So what do I do? How can I make her see that she really is beautiful? Please help, because she deserves to know!
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I just had a few quick questions.
 I understand that everything you do is to glorify the Lord, and I
understand that you shouldn't drink or smoke because your body is a
temple for the Holy Spirit, but I don't understand why lust is a sin.

  Also, I've heard two different theories of why bad things happen (to good people). One
 is that God doesn't make them happen but sometimes he allows them to, 
but then turns the situation into a learning experience or a blessing 
in some way.  The other theory is that he does make them happen but 
he has a reason for doing so and will turn it into a blessing somehow.

  Just some things that are on my mind.  I've been praying about them
a lot, and I am just very confused at the moment.

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