{"id":153330,"date":"2021-08-17T09:30:59","date_gmt":"2021-08-17T13:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-my-son-doesnt-believe-in-an-afterlife\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:03:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:03:09","slug":"ask-a-priest-what-if-my-son-doesnt-believe-in-an-afterlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-my-son-doesnt-believe-in-an-afterlife\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: What If My Son Doesn’t Believe in an Afterlife?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: How do I respond to my 22-year-old who no longer believes that God created the world (“That\u2019s your truth”), that we don\u2019t have souls, and that we just stop existing when we die? I know there\u2019s more to his disbelief, but that is the basis of it right now. \u2013 Kim<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0I’m sorry to hear about your son. He might be going through a stage in life where he rebels against religion and questions everything.<\/p>\n

Or, as you mention, “there’s more to his disbelief.” I’m not sure if that means there are other things he doesn’t believe, or that is something bothering him beyond the religious issues.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, when people question their faith, there is another kind of problem bubbling beneath the surface.<\/p>\n

You might want to try to keep open dialogue with him as much as possible. But don’t feel as though you have to argue every point. He might not be ready to hear your arguments. In any case, the arguments might not really be about his core problem.<\/p>\n

More important is that he senses your unconditional love and that you are listening to him. Keep praying for him.<\/p>\n

And think about getting some books that explain the faith, and leaving them around the house discreetly. Maybe he will pick one up and read it.<\/p>\n

Some suggestions: The Essential Catholic Survival <\/em>Guide<\/em><\/a>; Surprised by <\/em>Truth<\/em><\/a>; <\/em>and the Youth Catechism (YouCat<\/a>). You might read them yourself, too, to be prepared for more dialogue.<\/p>\n

I hope some of this helps. Count on my prayers.<\/p>\n

Keep learning more with <\/span>Ask a Priest<\/a><\/p>\n

Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type your question HERE<\/a>\u00a0and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153330"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}