Welcome!
I have a few questions so am going to put them all here, apologies if it’s wrong…
Um, so first off I’m from Scotland, if that makes a difference at all?
I’m a bit confused with the idea of sins and hell, to this I should add that my catechism stopped at 12 after I’d made my confirmation.
Join the club! This is, unfortunately, very prevalent in a lot of places. People think that their religious formation and education
ends with Confirmation. In actuality, that is just the beginning! I applaud you for taking your responsibility seriously and seeking answers to your questions. Would that more people would do that!
I know taking the Lord’s name in vain is a sin, but I can’t go to conffession for family reasons, and if i dont go but feel bad for making this mistake and apologise to God in my mind, will i still go to Hell?
No one here can answer the question as to the eternal fate of your soul. That being said, the Church teaches the necessity of Confession of
mortal sins. There are three qualifications for a sin to be mortal:
(1) grave matter (i.e. something serious like breaking one of the 10 Commandments);
(2) full knowledge (i.e. you know it’s wrong); and
(3) deliberate consent (i.e. you chose to sin freely; you were not coerced)
If you are in a state of mortal sin, you should make every effort to get to Confession
immediately! Also, if you are in a state of mortal sin, you cannot receive the Eucharist. Your soul is at stake, so why take any chances? If you were physically sick, you would make every effort to get to the doctor as soon as possible. When we are spiritually sick, it is
even more imperative that we go to Confession to be spiritually healed. If we are physically sick, the worst thing that can happen is death. If we are spiritually sick, the worst thing that can happen is to spend eternity in hell. Obviously, the latter is infinitely worse!
I’ve also had a couple of crushes on other females in my time, over the last few years, is this wrong? my mum, a Catholic and my doctor both say I shouldn’t worry,it’s a normal part of puberty but am I sinning by thinking things about other women? I’m 17 by the way.
The Church condemns homosexual
actions, not the inclination. So, unless you acted upon these feelings, you have done nothing wrong. I don’t know whether or not I’d say it was “normal”, but it’s not sinful provided you do not act on it (either physically, or through deliberate fantasizing).
I also ‘play with myself’ if you know what I mean, without using the terminology,
is that wrong?
Masturbation is
objectively and gravely disordered. It is never okay! The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly states this (
CCC 2352).
However, it also states:
To form an equitable judgment about the subjects’ moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety or other psychological or social factors that lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.
In other words, as with other types of addictive behavior, it might not be mortally sinful in a particular circumstance. But it is still always sinful! And now that you have been informed of this, you are responsible for this information. (Sorry!
)
I also am not nasty to , nor do I stop openly Gay people from living normal lives as a normal couple would - each to their own, i believe - is that too a sin?
Obviously, the Church does not require, nor does it desire, that Catholics be “nasty” towards gay people. However, “to each their own” is
not a Catholic view. Catholics are called to accept ALL of the Church’s teaching. We cannot pick and choose what we like and what we don’t like. As Catholics, we believe that the Catholic Church was established
by Jesus Christ Himself and that the Church faithfully and without error hands on all of Christ’s teachings on faith and morals. To not accept the Church’s teaching on the sinfulness of homosexual activity is to deny that the Church teaches without error on faith and morals. If you believe the Church is wrong on this, then why would you take anything the Church says seriosuly?
Should my religion be everything to me? Should I be worried, that I’m not being Catholic if I sin?
God should be everything to you. The Catholic Church is the visible structure on earth, instituted by God, to lead us all to Heaven. Getting to Heaven to spend eternity with God, and leading others there is very important. So, you should take your Catholic faith very seriously.
You should not be worried about “not being Catholic” if you sin. All of us are sinners. No one is perfect. However, it is important to get to Confession and make sincere efforts to overcome our sinfulness.
Please help me, I’m a bitty worried!!! Thank you!
Hope this helps a little!
