Sometimes I sit in Church and can't feel God. Does that mean He isn't there?

I think this is Mass for most people, most weekends! Being a Christian can be the easiest thing in the world when your prayer life is good and you’re getting all those warm fuzzies that make loving others and loving God and loving yourself a sinch!

But then that dreaded time comes. When you rock up to mass after a late night and you can’t focus or you try to pray before you go to sleep and you... just go to sleep. That’s when you really have to work hard!

There is a lot of weird stuff about the spiritual life and this is the weirdest. It can seem the harder you work, the “harder you pray” (whatever that means), the less likely you are to feel those nice emotions that may have been really important for your conversion! And then all of a sudden, when you’ve hit the wall and forget to try hard, you have a moment of spiritual bliss! So what does all this mean? Is God not there when you are trying hard to feel close to Him?

No way! As Catholics we know that God is still with us in the Eucharist, even on those days where we’ve daydreamed from the end of the gospel to the communion line. Sometimes we forget that God knows what’s best for us and sometimes the best thing for us to be strengthened. How strong is our faith? Do we crumple as soon as the going gets tough? Or in those times of spiritual dryness do we stick in there and remain faithful to God’s call? The answer to those questions doesn’t come when things are good, they come when stuff is hard.

So don’t get worried! If you feel you haven’t been close to God in a while, don’t stress! He probably just thinks you’re ready for the next level.

Sometimes faithfulness is the hardest witness to give to your friends and family. Make sure you are supported by other people for when those hard times come!

Kieran is a 20-year-old IT and Arts Student from Canberra. He is a keen film buff and enjoys a variety of sports including cricket, soccer, squash and table tennis. Kieran spent a year in Ballaraton the CSYMA National Team in full time ministry at an all boys Catholic school. Since returning to Canberra he has been working with DOJ Youth and has also done an APSE trip to Fiji!