My uncle is a devout catholic, spent all his life praying and doing good deeds...

Now his son(that's my cousin) was never too zealous about spirituality but 3-4 years back he got in touch with The Da Vinci Code and since then he's lost whatever faith he had in his religion.

He now calls himself an agnostic... My uncle is really heart broken, he wants his son to be a true catholic, to attend church every Sunday.

So he comes crying to me to ask my help.. I'm all mixed up, I can't force a 25year old boy to follow a religion that his family has been following... But I do want him to come back...

What to do? Any ideas??

I have an agnostic mother and an atheist brother, so I feel your pain.

My best suggestion is prayer. Other than that, I believe in leading by example. Hopefully, in time, he'll come to the right conclusion, no matter what.

It is not up to anybody. I was brought up Catholic but you know what everybody has a right to their own personal beliefs and feelings and spirituality. Every soul has their own path to take. To force or try to convince somebody of something they do not necessarily agree with is counter productive.

Oh, as far as church going on Sunday, does not make anybody any better. Whether your cousin goes church or not is not the point. It is how your cousin lives their everyday life that truly matters.

Joe

Many people go on a spiritual journey and look at other religions and spiritual paths.

Very often that is what is needed to truly come to a place where you have an intimate relationship with God.

I was raised Catholic and I had no choice about my religious upbringing.

When I was older,I studied other ways and eventually found my way back home.

On my own,and so I was a true believer.Not just someone who was forced to believe a certain way.

This may be a blessing in disguise.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by artlady

Many people go on a spiritual journey and look at other religions and spiritual paths.

Very often that is what is needed to truly come to a place where you have an intimate relationship with God.

I was raised Catholic and I had no choice about my religious upbringing.

When I was older,I studied other ways and eventually found my way back home.

On my own,and so I was a true believer.Not just someone who was forced to believe a certain way.

This may be a blessing in disguise.

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I have to agree. I was raised without a "spiritual path" and it gave me the perfect opportunity to follow my heart. :D

R-J-S-InLove, First of all The DaVinci Code is pure fiction and is full of bogus history, misconceptions, and distortions about The Catholic Church.
It is also very wrong about The Holy Grail that no one ever heard about till over a thousand years after Christ rose from the dead and that was from a book of fiction.
Do your cousin a big favor and give him a copy of The Davinci Hoax by Carl E. Olson.
It is Available in book stores and from Amazon at a discount price.
Not only does that book expose the great many errors in The DaVinci Code it also tells the truth about the Church, History, and the art work. It is fully illustrated.
Read it yourself. It is a real eye opener.
I have read both books so I know what I am talking about.
If you do give him a copy as I suggested same you trying to convince him about how much he has been mislead (that is if he reads it).
Aweek or so after you give him the book you'll need to ask him if he has read it and keep on doing that until he has.
Most likely he'll read it soon .
Peace and kindness,
Fred

We all want our loved ones to believe but we can only pray and hope that their path in life brings them to God. Be an example and tell him things that refute the Di Vinci code and other doubts he has.
John 1:12-13 says
12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Well first you mind your own business and do not get into family fights.

The best example is for the person to see you living your faith, not having it shoved down their face.

Beyond that you pray for them, if you have contact with them you share your faith.

Now The Da Vinci code was a novel and a fiction movie, not real, there are tons of books that explain what fake info there was. So you could just give them some of the books showing this was a movie, and even a boring one at that.

FR Chuck,
Right you are again.
Fred