Catholic Guilt

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PelagiathePenit

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What is with all the self-deprecation in these threads? I get it we are all sinners and we should never forget that. Gees. People worry about if they are praying correctly. It is great how people want to live their lives to please God. Some people’s worries seem to miss the grand scale of things. God does not expect us to execute every single task effectively. It is good enough that you try and care. I know unfortunately some people who could care less about their salvation or they are too content with living in sin. I just do not understand why people who I see are trying their best to please God seem to be the ones always beating themselves up continuously? Worrying if their confession was valid. Please, some people will never enter a church or confess if they were paid to.
 
It sounds like you are describing scrupulosity, at its worse. At its best, it’s just people wanting to serve the Lord the best that they can. We each have to answer to God so the valid points you made about those who don’t seem to care doesn’t diminish our personal responsibilities. I wish we, as a society, “raised the bar” a bit - it would be a better world!
 
PelagiathePenit said:
What is with all the self-deprecation in these threads? I get it we are all sinners and we should never forget that. Gees. People worry about if they are praying correctly. It is great how people want to live their lives to please God. Some people’s worries seem to miss the grand scale of things. God does not expect us to execute every single task effectively. It is good enough that you try and care. I know unfortunately some people who could care less about their salvation or they are too content with living in sin. I just do not understand why people who I see are trying their best to please God seem to be the ones always beating themselves up continuously? Worrying if their confession was valid. Please, some people will never enter a church or confess if they were paid to.
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Internet fora tend to attract people with obsessional traits, because they (a) permit repeated postings on similar issues, (b) provide reassurance and reinforcement (at the cost of some critical replies), and (c) allow like-minded people to congregate and share their obsessions. If you think this place is bad, I invite you to visit a forum dedicated to any fandom. 😉
 
dmftx said:
It sounds like you are describing scrupulosity, at its worse. At its best, it’s just people wanting to serve the Lord the best that they can. We each have to answer to God so the valid points you made about those who don’t seem to care doesn’t diminish our personal responsibilities. I wish we, as a society, “raised the bar” a bit - it would be a better world!
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That is very true
 
RPRPsych said:
Internet fora tend to attract people with obsessional traits, because they (a) permit repeated postings on similar issues, (b) provide reassurance and reinforcement (at the cost of some critical replies), and (c) allow like-minded people to congregate and share their obsessions. If you think this place is bad, I invite you to visit a forum dedicated to any fandom. 😉
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Yes. Very true as well. I love forums. I love talking to people on the phone. I wonder what my life would be if I was not always constantly searching for interactions with people. Not worrying if or when they will reply. I wish I could make my own decisions regardless of people’s approval/blessings or not.
 
PelagiathePenit said:
Yes. Very true as well. I love forums. I love talking to people on the phone. I wonder what my life would be if I was not always constantly searching for interactions with people. Not worrying if or when they will reply. I wish I could make my own decisions regardless of people’s approval/blessings or not.
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Sorry, I didn’t mean to refer to you personally at all! 🙂 I was referring to those who (a) keep asking if X is a sin or Fr. Y’s actions during Mass were valid, (b) keep trying to link Bible verse X to scientific phenomenon / natural disaster / historical event Y, or (c) obsessively dissect every word that every priest, bishop or Pope utters.

And generalizations like mine are always dangerous. I, for example, visit the forum because (a) it’s a great place to meet like-minded people (I live in a country where there are very few Catholics :)), and (b) it’s one of the few Catholic fora on the 'Net where I don’t have to listen to wacky conspiracy theories and belly-aching about the Pope all the time. 🙂
 
Outside of those with scrupulous tendencies as one moves to a more interior life they become cognizant of sins they were blind to in the past. Let’s say you have a crack in your windshield. It might dominate your view to the point that you simply cannot see the pits and dings in the glass. If you drive straight into the sunset or sunrise, all the sudden all those flaws in the windshield can haze out your view to the point that the crack becomes almost lost in the haze. The same can happen as people grow in their spiritual life. We start by rooting out the mortal sins (cracks in the windshield) and then start to work to root out venial sins (pits and dings). The more we focus on God (driving into the sun) the more we see our flaws and want to fix them.

I suspect most that ask if x is a sin or if they did y correctly tend toward scrupulousity, but it could also be someone that is trying to move beyond just doing good enough. One of the things I was told about spiritual direction was that if you are fine with venial sin then perhaps you are not ready for spiritual direction, but if you are earnestly interested invested in strengthening your interior life you grow to dislike venial sin also. I strongly suspect though that those in the later group are likely working under the direction of a spiritual director and not asking random strangers on the internet.
 
Usige said:
Outside of those with scrupulous tendencies as one moves to a more interior life they become cognizant of sins they were blind to in the past. Let’s say you have a crack in your windshield. It might dominate your view to the point that you simply cannot see the pits and dings in the glass. If you drive straight into the sunset or sunrise, all the sudden all those flaws in the windshield can haze out your view to the point that the crack becomes almost lost in the haze. The same can happen as people grow in their spiritual life. We start by rooting out the mortal sins (cracks in the windshield) and then start to work to root out venial sins (pits and dings). The more we focus on God (driving into the sun) the more we see our flaws and want to fix them.

I suspect most that ask if x is a sin or if they did y correctly tend toward scrupulousity, but it could also be someone that is trying to move beyond just doing good enough. One of the things I was told about spiritual direction was that if you are fine with venial sin then perhaps you are not ready for spiritual direction, but if you are earnestly interested invested in strengthening your interior life you grow to dislike venial sin also. I strongly suspect though that those in the later group are likely working under the direction of a spiritual director and not asking random strangers on the internet.
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That is truly amazing. Well God Bless Them!!!
 
Hey, we’re Catholic!!! Guilt is what we are about!!!

:):)🙂

ICXC NIKA
 
There’s a correct way to pray? Didn’t know that!! I think all prayer is good as long as it is genuine and good. A prayer from the heart is ever so good as the prayers that are mouthed without thought. You kind of have a pessimistic slant on the Church. You can destroy churches. but you can not destroy the foundational rocks The faith is built upon.

Keep in mind that many of the precepts of the early Church were carried over from the OT, but Christ came not to destroy, but to make it “new” upon the precept that we “love one another.” Anyway, I could go on, but hey, look for it in your Bible!!
 
Mary_Estelle said:
There’s a correct way to pray? Didn’t know that!! I think all prayer is good as long as it is genuine and good. A prayer from the heart is ever so good as the prayers that are mouthed without thought. You kind of have a pessimistic slant on the Church. You can destroy churches. but you can not destroy the foundational rocks The faith is built upon.

Keep in mind that many of the precepts of the early Church were carried over from the OT, but Christ came not to destroy, but to make it “new” upon the precept that we “love one another.” Anyway, I could go on, but hey, look for it in your Bible!!
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Ok. Our Catholic faith at times can feel very overwhelming. Why do all this and deprive myself of that if in the end Christ will forgive those who repent at the 11th hour? This is great temptation of mine. I should not whine why life is so difficult. It is difficult for everyone. I do not know what someone’s life is like without God. I cannot imagine it. Maybe it is materially easier or maybe not. There are people who do not practice but they have less vices than I do. Oh the world is so complex some days.
 
The number of Catholics in the world who would be interested enough to post on a forum about faith matters has to be very small!

My Catholic friends certainly wouldn’t do this, they are simply Catholic, full-stop. They are good people, they go to Mass, they do charitable works, they are kind. They certainly wouldn’t be dissecting their feelings about their faith on a daily basis.
 
PelagiathePenit said:
Ok. Our Catholic faith at times can feel very overwhelming.** Why do all this and deprive myself of that if in the end Christ will forgive those who repent at the 11th hour? **This is great temptation of mine. I should not whine why life is so difficult. It is difficult for everyone. I do not know what someone’s life is like without God. I cannot imagine it. Maybe it is materially easier or maybe not. There are people who do not practice but they have less vices than I do. Oh the world is so complex some days.
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The best reason would be for love of God.

And if not for love, remember that you neither know the time nor duration of your eleventh hour. Why wait?
 
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