omg, great. Thanks for the motivation. Wasn't expecting this thread to be like this but I enjoyed it anyway. I'll be sure to use the link you provided me. I'm working on going seminary and I'm sure there will be a lot of opportunities for me to write then. Honestly, I'm not sure I'm passionate about writing or I'm just passionate about theology and that's why it seemed like it was easy to write. btw, my friend isn't a bad guy if it seemed that way. We're actually planning on reading philosophy together and he's teaching me Latin. Currently we're reading the Iliad.
He's a great guy.
Celibacy
Justin Reed
Carter Lopez
Ok, I will. I do need to get into the habit.
Juan Price
This isn't a Catholic doctrine. Why is this important?
Dylan Hernandez
Hey user, looks like you're getting a lot of help with your vocation which is great! One book that's helped me a lot with my social issues is "How to Win Friends and Influence People". I know it sounds like some kind of manipulation handbook but it helps just to know a bit about how people think and react. I didn't even read the whole book but a few chapters years ago. It takes a long time to change how you act but just thinking on these things and how you could have dealt with a recent encounter differently from time to time can help, and the sooner you start the better. Self Improvement is a lifelong process but things can get better faster than you think. You can't stop trying to make yourself better every day! God bless you user
Liam Perry
sharelatex is overleaf now
Juan Miller
just what the world needs: more broken, depressed, despairing men as clergy
Until you have gone years – and I mean, like, five – and don't fap, don't still look at women longingly, and don't still wish and pine for a waifu, you're not embracing this.
This is what we do to honour God, to commit ourselves to God. You're an incel. You don't want it, it's clear, and you wish God would take it away from you, but you're resigning to it. This is a recipe for being under temptation, sin and condemnation for a lifetime. Don't bother.
If your pastor's abandoned you, ask yourself, truthfully, whether he gave you advice you ignored. "It's too hard." "I can't do it." etc
If so, doesn't he have a right to seem to give up? He's waiting for you, perhaps?
But, if he's not, then move on. But, speak to him before you do explaining your reasons. Don't be autistic and leave in a huff.
All of this doesn't mean that God hasn't chosen celibacy for you. This may be your cross. But, the key point is you will never know until you've gotten to age sixty (C.S.Lewis married at 58, fwiw, but he wasn't incel.)
What you need to decide is not whether God has or has not chosen this for me, the question is how will I live now in a way that honours who He is? You might be waiting until you're 58. (What of it? You gonna hate God for that? To whom else can you turn?) So, there's thirty years ahead of you, or maybe a lifetime. How are you going to live until then? Pining. Fapping? Rolling around in emotional anguish, hating yourself and the world? Turning more incel?
The only appropriate response is the same response any man can give in any of their circumstances:
< Now all has been heard;
< here is the conclusion of the matter:
< Fear God and keep his commandments,
< for this is the duty of all mankind.
Seek God. Learn about Him. Study His word. Pray. Be a useful man in your Christian community and later your wider community. No Pastor or parishioner can spurn the friendship of a quiet man who does all this work for others' sake. This isn't about quid pro quo. This is about serving God.
If you're too broken, maybe go see a Christian shrink. Seek their counsel.
I truly hope you can find your way out of this. You do not want to end-up taking my path. There be dragons.
Isaiah Torres
Also, you should read Job and Ecclesiastes repeatedly until they sink in.
Dominic Long
Can confirm, Dale Carnegie made a pretty good book.