T
Thoughtfulone
Guest
I have 2 questions that seem unrelated, but in fact, are not.
1.) My Mother has remarried (after the death of my father and the annulment of a subsequent marriage) in the catholic Church, but to a man who is a Protestant. This man is great and we all love him, but he never went to church on any sort of regular basis, nor did he really understand anything about Jesus until recently. She has really brought him to God and he is pretty fervent now and they go to a Protestant church every Sunday and teach Sunday school classes there. It takes up most of their day. My Mom also works 12 hour days 5 days a week as a Kindergarten teacher. she loves God with all her heart, but has not been going to Catholic mass lately because her husband just doesn’t understand the ritual and practice and he really likes the preacher at their current church. My question is this: Is she committing a mortal sin by not going to mass even though she is attending church and teaching Sunday school and has brought her husband to Christ? And I know for a fact that she does not believe she is doing anything wrong or she would never miss mass, ever. Is it my obligation to tell my mother that she needs to start going back to Catholic mass because of the Real Presence, etc? Or can I just invite her to go with us to church when we go and leave it at that?
2.) My brother is 21 and really starting to get back on the right track after a long period of hardship. He is going to go to confession this week and start attending Mass with us. I know for a fact that although he is a confirmed Catholic, he is pretty unaware of certain things being mortal sins (masturbation, etc.) because we recently had a conversation about missing Mass and he didn’t even know THAT was a mortal sin. Well, I have him convinced to go to confession and start going to Mass, and he is great kid, really trying hard after having had a really difficult past 2 years. My question is, is it my obligation to tell him about all the mortal sins, etc.?
Basically, my question for BOTH of these scenarios is this: Am I under any obligation to tell these people that they are committing grave sins? I know that without sufficient knowledge, they cannot really be said to commit mortal sins, so for the sake of their souls, I am inclined to let sleeping dogs lie. I don’t want to tell them that these things are mortal sins and then have them end up committing them anyway, putting their souls in danger, or having them start to doubt and lose faith at an important time in their spiritual development. My instinct is to say nothing and hope that they come to the fullness of truth eventually on their own.
It’s a can of worms because once you know something is a mortal sin, you can’t really go back. I think it’s safer for them if I just say nothing. Am I right?
1.) My Mother has remarried (after the death of my father and the annulment of a subsequent marriage) in the catholic Church, but to a man who is a Protestant. This man is great and we all love him, but he never went to church on any sort of regular basis, nor did he really understand anything about Jesus until recently. She has really brought him to God and he is pretty fervent now and they go to a Protestant church every Sunday and teach Sunday school classes there. It takes up most of their day. My Mom also works 12 hour days 5 days a week as a Kindergarten teacher. she loves God with all her heart, but has not been going to Catholic mass lately because her husband just doesn’t understand the ritual and practice and he really likes the preacher at their current church. My question is this: Is she committing a mortal sin by not going to mass even though she is attending church and teaching Sunday school and has brought her husband to Christ? And I know for a fact that she does not believe she is doing anything wrong or she would never miss mass, ever. Is it my obligation to tell my mother that she needs to start going back to Catholic mass because of the Real Presence, etc? Or can I just invite her to go with us to church when we go and leave it at that?
2.) My brother is 21 and really starting to get back on the right track after a long period of hardship. He is going to go to confession this week and start attending Mass with us. I know for a fact that although he is a confirmed Catholic, he is pretty unaware of certain things being mortal sins (masturbation, etc.) because we recently had a conversation about missing Mass and he didn’t even know THAT was a mortal sin. Well, I have him convinced to go to confession and start going to Mass, and he is great kid, really trying hard after having had a really difficult past 2 years. My question is, is it my obligation to tell him about all the mortal sins, etc.?
Basically, my question for BOTH of these scenarios is this: Am I under any obligation to tell these people that they are committing grave sins? I know that without sufficient knowledge, they cannot really be said to commit mortal sins, so for the sake of their souls, I am inclined to let sleeping dogs lie. I don’t want to tell them that these things are mortal sins and then have them end up committing them anyway, putting their souls in danger, or having them start to doubt and lose faith at an important time in their spiritual development. My instinct is to say nothing and hope that they come to the fullness of truth eventually on their own.
It’s a can of worms because once you know something is a mortal sin, you can’t really go back. I think it’s safer for them if I just say nothing. Am I right?
