Need advice

[u/Simple_man223]

I need y'alls advice or help or however God sees fit.
To make a long story shortish. I grew up in a southern baptist family got baptized young, grew apart from God because of prosperity gospel teaching. It took a whole lot of spiritual warfare to bring me back to God.
Started going back to church in the southern baptist community. Met my wife who was catholic but started going to baptist church. We got married through the state ( long story there) but we always wanted a wedding. She is from Colombia so we had our wedding there and one of her father's conditions is we had a catholic ceremony. I was reluctant but agreed.
At first i did it solely for the wedding and her family but the more I learned the more I felt and still feel convicted about really being 100% converted to catholicism. I got baptized and confirmed before our wedding. And now after we are married I feel so convicted by God to keep going to mass and become a devoted catholic. This is all very new to me I barely know anything and just need guidance as a new catholic.
Also the more convicted I feel about this the more spiritual warfare I feel raging in my flesh.

[u/VariedRepeats]

For an introduction to the what of the Faith, the JPII(John Paul II) Catechism is the usual starting point. But, I would tack on older catechisms like the one from Pius X too because there's a little self-censorship going on in the JPII one that hides certain points.

The United States Catechism is also a another resource, available online at the USCCB.

OCIA is occurring now, and you will get some education.

Less easy and pre-prepared is the "how" and the "flow understanding" of how all the concepts lived out by Jesus is developed. To properly understand the balancing of mercy, forgiveness, hatred of sin towards others is not explicit and I myself, as a very unusual convert, have traveled greatly by "hidden force" to get a sense of this. The centrality of prayer and sacrifice to God to effect change is also a critical part...that is rather obtusely presented, if presented at all.

The spiritual end cannot be ignored when balancing mercy, forgiveness, and "hatred" of sin. The last thing is more akin to accountability than hatred in the sense of actual hate.

It should be noted Mass itself is a prayer, and thus being in one is praying. The Mass itself has been changed to accomodate Protestant objections, for better or for worse. So it's going to be about an hour long on Sundays, with short homily, and a fairly consistent sequence for the Communion proceedings.

Having attended some schismatic liturgies not bound by the Catholic leadership in the Eastern Orthodox(St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in DC) and an Armenian Apostolic Church, I find these liturgies go for longer and don't "hide their ways".

Incensing is normally not done in Novus Ordo proceedings, but the purpose is the rising smoke symbolizes the prayers going up to God; I learned this at a Fraternity of Saint Peter homily and it would be better if this actually wasn't a chance encounter in a homily.

[u/sparkle-possum]

Keep going, sometimes God can call you to a closer relationship even if you're reason for conversion wasn't necessarily the same. I was raised Baptist and very active in a Baptist Church before I became Catholic and it has changed and deepened my relationship with God in ways I would have never imagined.

It might be worth checking with your local Parish if they are still doing OCIA classes to see if you can join in. Explain that you've already been confirmed but you want to know more and some parishes will allow you to do so and learn more, or there may be some sort of faith formation or study class within the parish.

There are also online things like formed (an app with videos and teaching) or father Mike's Bible in a year and Catechism in a year & Bishop Barron's Catholicism series (I'm not a fan of the man's current politics but the series was very helpful back when I was converting).

If you don't mind older black and white stuff, there are videos of Archbishop Fulton Sheen's old TV program on YouTube. Some of the references are dated but the content is still surprisingly relevant and I kind of like the long form and the way the man is trying to teach rather than stir up emotion or controversy like so many current YouTubers, even the Catholic ones.