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Snippet From the Show

“When you fast and experience hunger, turn to Scripture so you can feed on the Word of God.”

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Snippet from the Show

If a Catholic man joins the freemasons, he automatically excommunicates himself from the Catholic Church.

SHOWNOTES
**
Glory Story (2:13)

Listener Feedback (6:30)

Anxiety, Depression, and Mental Illness (11:17)**

Hi Fr Josh,
My boyfriend introduced me to your podcast a few months ago, and absolutely love it. I think it is important to constantly learn more about the Church that Jesus Christ created. Your answers to people's questions and the way you tell stories is truly a gift from God.
I recently graduated from college and am in a period of transition in my life before I start graduate school. The transition has been more difficult than I expected and I am now suffering from anxiety. I also already visit a counselor with Catholic Charities. I know the Lord's grace is sufficient and he will deliver me, however, I am still struggling to control my overwhelming feelings of doubt and worry. What is your spiritual advice for someone in my situation suffering from anxiety, depression, or a mental illness? Whose intercessions should they ask for? Are there prayers already written for this? Thank you for all you do.

• Sloan

Getting Involved in Your Parish (19:05)

Dear Fr. Josh,
You probably don’t remember me, but I will never forget you. I consider this my own little glory story. I was a member of St. Aloysius parish in Baton Rouge, LA. I was also a student at LSU and a student at Louisiana Culinary Institute, but before I became a student at the culinary school I moved back to my hometown for a semester during a really rough period of my life. During that period I left the Church and lost all hope and faith, not necessarily in Christ, but I just lost hope that he could love someone like me. Eventually I made my way back to Baton Rouge and had a little house on Stone Street. I still thank God every day for finding us a house on the same street as the church. I would often walk to Mass with my sister, not really wanting to attend and feeling guilty most of the time. One day after Mass during the final prayer, you stopped and said the following, “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but I feel God urging me to stop and share this message with someone in here tonight.” Then you continued to say, “You are so loved, and whatever you’re going through will pass. You are so loved by our Father.” I wept the entire night. It changed my life. My heart has been set on fire for Jesus ever since, and I truly perceive that to be Jesus working through you. Now, onto my question: I live in my hometown again, and as I said, my heart has been lit on fire for Jesus ever since that night. I have helped to bring so many of my friends to adoration and Mass. I love my parish, but I find myself hesitant to get more involved. I feel like I have a lot of great skills that I can use to better my parish and other young people who have fallen away from the Church. I wanna be an instrument for Jesus but I don’t know where to start. Should I ask someone in the parish office where they need help or my parish priest? Should I plan a meeting or just start volunteering in random ways? There are so many options, I would really love some guidance.
With love - Avery

The Freemasons (25:47)

Hello Fr. Josh,
Just recently found your show. I am loving how real and open you are about answering questions, even hard ones. I also enjoy your bursts of song. There’s a song for every occasion, don’t you think? As many of your listeners, I am a cradle Catholic. The organization of Masonry and its sister organization has recently been brought to my attention. My neighbors whom I respect and know to be faithful Christians, if not Catholic, are members. They are the most giving, warm, welcoming people. Always busy with various events, and community programs. I began wondering what their organization is all about. If I look it up online, there are many websites that for good or bad talk about this “secret” organization. It sorta looks like it was started maybe by Catholic Scotts… But the Church is against it…. I think… There are conspiracy theories, and occult theories… Curiosity makes me want to know more. But I am wary after all the stuff online. Making more connections with my community is something I am seeking. I am involved in my church community, but that only serves a portion of the community as a whole. I’d like to meet more and interact with more individuals in the community. What is the Church’s stance today on this organization, and why?

• Catherine

Resources
More on the history of the Freemasons and the Catholic Church

Broken and Blessed: An Invitation to My Generation by Fr. Josh
Text “askfrjosh” to 33-777 to receive weekly emails for Fr. Josh’s podcast
Sirach 38: Concerning Physicians and Health

Support Ask Father Josh (Your Catholic Question and Answer Podcast)

If you have a question, comment, or response for Fr. Josh, email us at askfrjosh@ascensionpress.com. You may hear your question or comment in an upcoming podcast episode!

Snippet from the Show
“Sometimes it takes a while to accept the difficult teachings that come from Christ. Many of the disciples who were with Jesus in John 6 left when he gave them the bread of life discourse … the ones who stayed did not really understand the teaching but they loved Jesus and over time Jesus gave them the grace to believe.”

SHOWNOTES

Glory Story (1:15)
This past week, Louisiana experienced a few really bad storms. A tornado actually touched down in a few places near Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. Praise be to God, Fr. Josh and his parishioners were unharmed. However, his brother’s family wasn’t so lucky and their house was destroyed by the tornado. By the grace of God, the entire family happened to be in an area of the house that wasn’t completely destroyed and they walked away with cuts and bruises.

Fr. Josh asks for your prayers for his family. He also wants to thank everyone who has been praying and those who have financially helped his family.

Listener Feedback (6:49)

TV Mass on Sunday (12:07)
When does Mass on TV fill Sunday Mass obligation? We missed Mass this past Sunday due to severe weather conditions in our area. So we watched Mass on TV. Do I need to go to confession, or is that OK?

-Erin

Finding Happiness (15:58)
[This question has been edited for length] Hi Fr Josh, I found your podcast from Abiding Together. I love it and I love how you answer questions. I started binge listening to all your podcasts.

I was sexually assaulted a few times while growing up: by family, by my doctor, and my swimming instructor. I kept this all to myself, afraid to tell anyone. I kinda forgot about it; or so I thought. In addition to this, my siblings and I were so scared of dad, we would tiptoe around and only talk in whispers. He was physically and verbally abusive. As I grew older, I started to hate him despite mom telling me and my siblings not to because he is our father.

I was diagnosed with depression earlier this year. I thought I was just tired. But when I started crying out of the blue while grocery shopping, and thinking about ramming my car into trees or anything while driving, sleeping or lying in bed from Friday to Sunday - waking up only for Mass - I realized this is not just tired. Dad passed away in 2017 and mom told me that he asked for a priest and had his confession and his last sacrament after so many years of being away from the Church.

I love my family, so I try to do everything I can to help. They ask me for help whenever they're short on cash so I started doing part time jobs - 4 at the same time, plus my full time job. But it wasn't enough. I kept pushing myself, telling myself to be strong and this will pass. But I’ve started to have suicide thoughts.

I often ask myself, how strong does God want me to be? I’ve reached out to members of my church and family but they don’t seem to care. I also don’t want to talk about my family’s secrets or open myself up to be vulnerable. I can't sleep. I don't even sing anymore, I don't clean my house. My days don’t have any meaning. I still pray but the peacefulness doesn't last long. I did get help medically but I’m still falling deeper. I also joined a meditation workshop by The World Community for Christian Meditation.

Why Fr. did those things happen? Where was God when it happened? He can't stop people from doing bad things, but why can't God help me to forget or give me strength to fight or to scream when that happened?

Is it really me? Is it my fault that I'm depressed and have anxiety? Should I be strong? I hate the word strong because I felt that I have been as strong as I can all these years. And now I need help but people are expecting me to ignore my feelings. They say that there are people out there that have it worse and I need to just move on. I am so sorry if my email is all over the place and doesn't make any sense. And I'm sorry if I'm taking so much of your time reading this. Help me Father Josh. I'm in so much pain and I don't know how to help and heal myself.
-C.

Cafeteria Catholics (30:08)
Dear Fr. Josh, I am writing because I think I messed up! To summarize, my question is how to talk with "cafeteria Catholics," those who pick and choose which parts of the faith they will follow, without sounding like you are right and they are wrong. The bottom line is I accidentally offended a good friend and a recent Catholic convert and made her feel unwelcome in the church! Yikes! All our lives we have been a case of opposites attract: Her family was very liberal politically and on social issues and not religious and mine was politically conservative and Catholic. Knowing that she's always been pro choice (she's had an abortion) and pro gay marriage I asked her if she considered herself still liberal in social issues or more Catholic. She still thought that they should be able to be legally married and that she didn't see what religion had to do with it. She also said she regretted her abortion but didn't want to take that choice away from women. I kind of pushed back by asking, if she talked about this in RCIA? she said, "No". In the end, she felt that I thought she shouldn't be Catholic (even though I told her she belongs in the church but just missing out on some of the beauty of the faith). We essentially agreed to disagree and it just left a sour feeling to the reunion.

Should I follow up with her in some way, share some other insights with her? and how should I have handled it? I wouldn't ask that of most people but I felt our long history gave me special permission. How do we talk with "cafeteria Catholics" without pushing them away? Thanks so much for your insight in this matter. I am so appreciative of your podcast and of you!
-Please Don't Use My Name!

Universal Call to Holiness (38:43)
Lean into Jesus. Christ and his grace are enough for all of us.

Resources
Want to browse the previous resources Fr. Josh has recommended? Go to ascensionpress.com/askfrjosh to select an episode and view the shownotes.

• Broken and Blessed book by Fr. Josh Johnson
• Abiding Together Podcast

Support Ask Father Josh (Your Catholic Question and Answer Podcast)

If you have a question, comment, or response for Fr. Josh, email us at askfrjosh@ascensionpress.com. You may hear your question or comment in an upcoming podcast episode!

For full shownotes, text ASKFRJOSH to 33-777 or visit [AscensionPress.com](ascensionpress.com/askfrjosh)

Support Ask Father Josh (Your Catholic Question and Answer Podcast)