The Story of Padre Pio and the Penitent Padre Pio had a remarkable gift called the reading of souls — he could see into a person’s conscience and know whether their confession was sincere or whether they were holding something back. One day, a man came to confess. He listed out some sins but deliberately withheld one serious sin he was too ashamed to admit. Padre Pio listened quietly and then, with piercing eyes, firmly told him: “You must leave. You are not forgiven.” The man was stunned. He thought he had fooled the priest, but Padre Pio had read his soul. Angrily, he stormed out of the confessional, humiliated and indignant. That night, though, his conscience tormented him. He could not sleep. He knew Padre Pio was right — he had not confessed honestly. The next day, broken and humbled, he returned to the friary and went back to the confessional. This time, he poured out the full truth, admitting every sin with a contrite heart. Padre Pio listened, then gave him absolution and said with great tenderness: “Now your soul is clean before God. Go in peace.” The man left transformed. His anger was gone, replaced with deep gratitude and joy. The Lesson Padre Pio always insisted that confession must be made with full honesty and true sorrow. His gift of reading souls was not for shame, but for mercy — to bring people to true repentance so they could receive the fullness of God’s forgiveness. We must bring our whole heart of repentance to the Lord so that we can receive the Lord's full forgiveness, mercy, and love. And as a sign of his holiness, Padre Pio’s body remains incorrupt to this very day — a visible witness that God’s grace is greater than death itself. God is good all the time.

Hi everyone, I'm Charles Ripley, an 18-year-old from the UK currently converting from agnosticism to Catholicism. God willing, I will enter into communion with the Church next February! I joined this community to meet other Catholic men who are perhaps facing similar challenges in terms of fitness, diet, and faith. Personally, I struggle most with lust and gluttony even though I train regularly. Right now, and when I go to university next month, I feel slightly isolated as a Christian amongst my atheist friends so I really appreciate this community and hope I can help in any way I can! God Bless. ❤️

Hello Everyone! My name is Joseph Hafenbredl and I am 22 years old. I was born and raised in Colorado and have been Catholic my whole life. I am currently going to CU Denver to get my Bachelors in Information Systems with a minor in Business Analytics. I have recently started my fitness journey and I have started to take my faith more seriously. I realized I have been a lukewarm Catholic by only doing the bare minimum and not focusing on improvement at all. My goal is to grow stronger in my faith through community and discipline. I plan to achieve this by doing a weekly Bible study and losing 30 pounds by the end of the year (For context, I started at 250lbs, I am currently 230lbs, and I want to be 200 by the end of the year). Thank you all for reading and God bless!! Joseph Hafenbredl

Hi what's up my fellow catholic brothers, I'm a 19yr male who's just trying to do better in life by joining this group to help me grow my faith in Jesus Christ, I'm just tired of falling into the same sin over and over and want a change

Hi gents, apologies if this is not appropriate to post a question so soon after joining. But I'm seeking advice. I broke up with my first ever girlfriend 2 months ago but still feel called to marriage and fatherhood. Before dating her I was considering religious life, so didn't really 'set out to date'. I'm now navigating actively seeking a relationship for the first time in my life and unsure what I should do. There is a lovely Catholic young lady who I really like - who unfortunately lives a long way away (~20 hours flight) - with whom I am good friends but I'm not sure she views me as an option due to the distance. I'm hoping to visit her this Christmas, but in the mean time I'm just keeping up messaging and also writing her letters (without being overtly romantic in tone, as I want to have that discussion in person). Tbh, there's been mixed signals about whether she is interested in me - we met in a country that was neither of our homelands, I asked her on a date which she accepted but then cancelled because we were returning home that week and so she thought it was best to stay friends. Since then however, she's messaged me saying she misses me, and that her mother wants to meet me, and encouraged me to visit her. There's no level of exclusivity between us (I know she's talking to another guy), this is relevant because of the below. I've heard a (female) Catholic dating influencer say that when single you should just go on lots of first dates, meet different people and see if someone clicks. I'm wondering if you think this is good advice, and whether I should be trying to go on other dates before Christmas when I have an opportunity to visit her. For example: There's another girl who I'm somewhat interested in, who I think is interested in me, but I'm not sure of her religious beliefs. Do I just ask her on a date to see how we go? And similarly, do I try to go on dates with other Catholic girls in my broader network?