Catholic Hypocrite?

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St.Louis

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I was away from confession for approximately 25 years. I had not been since 8th grade. Needless to say I was very lax in my faith. I have gotten very serious in my faith over the past three years and have tried to re-learn and live my catholic faith.

My wife and I used birth control our entire married life. That was one of the sins I feel the most guilt about. I went to confession last June however I feel like a hypocrite whenever I speak to others about my catholic faith. I know I have to accept Gods forgiveness however I struggle with guilt over past sins.

Any suggestions on how to move forward.
 
Try to keep in mind The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7), where Our Lord says “… there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”

Also, try not to feel like a hypocrite … that’s the last thing you should consider yourself! Sounds like you’re doing your best and being a witness to the Faith, which is more than one can say about many of our fellow believers.

I hope I was of some help my friend … God bless you!
 
Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future.

The hypocrite is the one who pretends to be Catholic, without ever accepting the doctrine.
 
I know exactly how you feel. But I think that the main thing is to acknowledge that you were once sinful and have now repented. I am sure that you can see that your life would have been/would be more fulfilled if your marriage had been open to life.

The wonderful thing about our God, is that he takes us where we are. Yeah, if you had converted sooner things would have been different, but you didn’t. And, as his mercy is infinite, he forgives you. I think of it like being a recovered alcoholic. We were fools once, but now we know better.

I tell all the young women I can that the one thing I regret is not having more children. As a 50 year old with just one child, I can honestly say that my arms ache for the children I never held.

This is a suffering that I can join to the sufferings of Christ and offer to the Father, that my daughter will not make the same mistakes. She doesn’t go to Mass regularly now.

May God have mercy on us all.
 
Saint Augustine was a non-Catholic who fathered a child out of wedlock. He became a Catholic through the prayers of his mother, Saint Monica. He eventually became a Priest and Bishop of Hippo. So remember, anything is possible through the grace of God!
St. Louis:
I was away from confession for approximately 25 years. I had not been since 8th grade. Needless to say I was very lax in my faith. I have gotten very serious in my faith over the past three years and have tried to re-learn and live my catholic faith.

My wife and I used birth control our entire married life. That was one of the sins I feel the most guilt about. I went to confession last June however I feel like a hypocrite whenever I speak to others about my catholic faith. I know I have to accept Gods forgiveness however I struggle with guilt over past sins.

Any suggestions on how to move forward.
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St. Paul persecuted Christians. He watched as St. Stephen was stoned to death!
St. Peter denied our Lord - 3 times!! Yet he became the leader of the church after Pentecost.
The only true hypocrit is the one who sees not his faults and refuses to repent. Sounds to me like you are open to repentance. God bless you, my friend.
 
You have come back to the Church and have made a good confession, confessed all grave sins and with a firm purpose of amendment. If you received absolution , then rejoice!

Regarding subsequent sorrow, realize and be thanful for the mercy of our Lord made present in the sacrament of reconcilation.

Continue to practice the spiritual and corpreal acts of mercy.
 
When I have difficulty accepting absolution for something, I remind myself that if my absolution were in doubt, it’s Jesus’ love and power that I am really doubting. Then I pray for additional faith and love.

I remind myself that God’s love is infinite, greater by far than the most loathsome sin a human can commit–so long as we truly repent!
 
I have walked in your shoes, my friend. I was guilty of the same sin for many years. I now know it was out of ignorance of the Truth. When I finally had a conversion, and confessed this, the load physically left me. I, too, regret not having more children, but i cite my experience to anyone considering birth control or sterilization. By the grace of God, perhaps my bad choice will show someone else the right way.

God bless you.
Sue
 
You need not feel hipocritical!

The dictionary defines hipocrisy as:
The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
An act or instance of such falseness.
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Even if a person has done every bad thing imaginable, but has repented, and chosen not to live this life again- you are by definition, NOT hipocritical.

Many people have an alternate interpretation of this word to mean ‘if I did it in my past, I cannot make a statement against it now- that would make me a hipocrit.’

Well, only if you continue to live that way now!
 
St. Louis:
I feel like a hypocrite whenever I speak to others about my catholic faith. I know I have to accept Gods forgiveness however I struggle with guilt over past sins.

Any suggestions on how to move forward.
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It’s a lifelong journey - we won’t be made perfect (even though we need to strive for it) until the purifying fire!
Someone else will know but I’m thinking of the passage that says (paraphrasing) looking towards the past is useless. Also there’s the one about being a new creation in Christ!
We all have things we are sorry for, but I think that without those trials that we know now were sinful we wouldn’t be the Christians we are today.
 
Welcome Home! Both of you! Praise the Lord for His great Mercy.

Remember that Jesus is the Gentle Healer.

Residual guilt feeling over past sins happens to be one of the consequences of sin. Some suggestions that have helped me get over mine:
  1. Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet not only for the intention to come to terms with this particular sin, but also for those who are still using contraception.
  2. Pray the 7 Penitential Psalms. There is a wealth of spiritual insights in them that help us heal.
  3. Educate yourself about NFP and read some solid Catholic teaching on these matters. i.e. Humane Vitea et al…(there is a wonderful teaching on the Sacrament of Marriage written by Leo XIII but the name escapes me at the moment. I’ll look it up and get back to you on it)
  4. Take it to God in Communion - next time you are on your knees after receiving Communion, ask God directly to help you with this. He’s there and listening.
Hope this all helps. 👍

Peace and all good,

Thomas2
 
Hello St. Louis!

Here is the name of the document by Pope Leo XIII that I was talking about. It can be found at the EWTN webiste. It is called Arcanum (On Christian Marriage). It is awesome. 👍 (I’m particular to paragraph # 9)
ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/L13CMR.HTM

Peace and all good,

Thomas2

P.S. He’s got a few other letters that are available thru EWTN on marriage laws and you might also check this one out - EXEUNTE IAM ANNO (ON THE RIGHT ORDERING OF CHRISTIAN LIFE)ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/L13RGT.HTM 👍
 
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