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antiaphrodite
Guest
hermione and alterum–
we’re praying for you.
we’re praying for you.
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Hildebrand
Guest
QUOTE=Hermione]Thinking about God, and sin, and Hell is making me feel nauseous, overwhelmed, and like the only way out is nonexistence (which is not an alternative in Catholicism).
All sin Christ has conquered. So when we sin, we have assurance that if we seek forgiveness, we will be forgiven. The only sin that can lead to a baptized person’s damnation is the sin against the Holy Spirit and you would have to die in that state.
http://www.catholicdoors.com/faq/qu42.htm
God knows nobody is perfect and it takes time to overcome a sin. He is always there for us, waiting and ready to forgive. The Lord is faithful to his promises - and to His mercy.
“Jesus I trust in you.”
God’s infinite Mercy: catholic-forum.com/churches/cathteach/divinemercy_Mercy.htm
Index: catholic-forum.com/churches/cathteach/divinemercy1.htm
All sin Christ has conquered. So when we sin, we have assurance that if we seek forgiveness, we will be forgiven. The only sin that can lead to a baptized person’s damnation is the sin against the Holy Spirit and you would have to die in that state.
http://www.catholicdoors.com/faq/qu42.htm
God knows nobody is perfect and it takes time to overcome a sin. He is always there for us, waiting and ready to forgive. The Lord is faithful to his promises - and to His mercy.
“Jesus I trust in you.”
God’s infinite Mercy: catholic-forum.com/churches/cathteach/divinemercy_Mercy.htm
Index: catholic-forum.com/churches/cathteach/divinemercy1.htm
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NightRider
Guest
Chaos can be very addictive.
Denial creates more chaos.
Chaos demands constant attention.
Constant attention is never enough.
Denial creates more chaos.
Chaos demands constant attention.
Constant attention is never enough.
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Hildebrand
Guest
I agree, but sometimes medication is needed for hormonal stabilization.
From my own poor reading of things… Hermione is a very sensitive soul. She can be wounded easily. If she is able to accept God’s love, mercy, and peace, great things are in store for her. She has to completely abandon herself to God. Alone we are miserable creatures, but because of God and His love, we have infinite value and importance.
for Hermione
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chevalier
Guest
The good priest was right. God is a loving father. He isn’t out to catch us sinning and put us in hell. He is above all merciful. Pray. Love God. If you don’t understand, just love. And pray. There is no way to sort it all out in one’s head without loving God, trusting Him and praying. The very reason why God gave us confession is that He realises that we need it. We need it because we commit sins. God hates sin but loves us. He wants us rid of sin - which is because He loves us. His uncompromising attitude is towards sin. But just look on Lord Jesus’s last minutes on the cross and the words He exchanged with the Good Murderer. So much for uncompromising attitude. Sin is to be left behind. If we regret our sins and confess them in good faith, they are forgiven. If we forget or fail to realise them, we are still forgiven for taking the effort to respond to God’s grace, admit to what we know we have done wrong and beg forgiveness. In fact, confession resembles being convinced by the judge to sign our own pardon rather than actually begging for forgiveness. God has His hands full of such pardons. I don’t even know if pardon is the right word. In fact, what the priest does in the confessional is more like actually pronouncing an acquitting sentence, not even giving a pardon.
In short, God wants our sins out of His eyes. He does everything to take them away from us. What is left for us to do is to accept.
God doesn’t want us in hell. If a soul goes to hell, I believe it hurts God even more than it does the sinner.
God wants us to be happy. As Lord Jesus’s kingdom is not of this world, so much our homeland is in heaven more than here. Sometimes we don’t achieve temporal happiness any more than the firm conviction that God us with us and we are with Him - but what else do we actually need? In the eight blessings, this is said. God loves you, God remembers you, God cares. For whatever hardship and injustice you suffer here, He will reward you in His kingdom when you join Him.
Christianity is not about avoiding damnation. It’s about salvation. There is difference. No one is lost until he rejects God’s mercy. I find it impossible to be condemned without showing contempt of God’s mercy by rejecting it or deeming it lesser than one’s sins. Human love and mercy has limits, God’s doesn’t. No matter what you have done, if you turn your heart towards God and come to Him and His mercy, you will be forgiven.
Do you know that every single priest in this Church would have had the power to absolve Hitler or Stalin if they turned to him for confession in the last hour of their life?
In short, God wants our sins out of His eyes. He does everything to take them away from us. What is left for us to do is to accept.
God doesn’t want us in hell. If a soul goes to hell, I believe it hurts God even more than it does the sinner.
God wants us to be happy. As Lord Jesus’s kingdom is not of this world, so much our homeland is in heaven more than here. Sometimes we don’t achieve temporal happiness any more than the firm conviction that God us with us and we are with Him - but what else do we actually need? In the eight blessings, this is said. God loves you, God remembers you, God cares. For whatever hardship and injustice you suffer here, He will reward you in His kingdom when you join Him.
Christianity is not about avoiding damnation. It’s about salvation. There is difference. No one is lost until he rejects God’s mercy. I find it impossible to be condemned without showing contempt of God’s mercy by rejecting it or deeming it lesser than one’s sins. Human love and mercy has limits, God’s doesn’t. No matter what you have done, if you turn your heart towards God and come to Him and His mercy, you will be forgiven.
Do you know that every single priest in this Church would have had the power to absolve Hitler or Stalin if they turned to him for confession in the last hour of their life?
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Pentecost2005
Guest
Alan,
Where could we find information about this sort of contemplative prayer? Which books and/or websites could you recommend?
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Alterum
Guest
Everyone, thank you so much for your prayers.
Everything is up-in-the-air, but Hermione has agreed to psychiatric help. I just hope we can find someone who will help her. Things are still very difficult and she still has to reject Catholicism, so… please keep praying!
Thank you again
Everything is up-in-the-air, but Hermione has agreed to psychiatric help. I just hope we can find someone who will help her. Things are still very difficult and she still has to reject Catholicism, so… please keep praying!
Thank you again
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antiaphrodite
Guest
you’re welcome. we’re still praying.
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wcknight
Guest
Both of you are in our prayers, she mentioned that she was fearful of having children. My 3 kids were and are the joy in our life. When they were young, they brought so much laughther into our house that it was like tuning into comedy center every day.Everyone, thank you so much for your prayers.
Everything is up-in-the-air, but Hermione has agreed to psychiatric help. I just hope we can find someone who will help her. Things are still very difficult and she still has to reject Catholicism, so… please keep praying!
Thank you again
They made it feel like it’s Christmas everyday. And now that they are older, we have 3 friends that we can discuss and debate various issues, they are like having 3 best friends. We miss them dearly when they are away from home and we cherish the time we have together as a family. We are so proud of their accomplishments. Family is a great thing, and they can be a huge support to keep the craziness of the world from getting you too down.
Yes they take work and some nurturing, but the last thing we think of them as, is a burden. Life is all about attitude and what you think of it. IF you can be positive, the world is bright and wonderful place. BUT if you are depressed, eveything can be viewed as burdensome and depressing.
Yes Hell is very depressing, no one wants to end up there. No one should dwell on it or believe that they are going there no matter what they do.
Heaven is our eternal destiny and that is what we must focus on.
IF Hermone is determined to leave the Church, get her a Miraculous Medal of Our Lady and have it blessed by a priest. Have her wear it or keep it with her always, and say the prayer whenever she gets a little down, needs help, or just as an insurance policy (as she says, just in case the Catholic Church is all that we make it out to be) , “O Mary Conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”.
Give her a piece of Heaven on earth, Mary has done some tremendous miracles, she can perform one for Hermone as well.
As long as she has this, she should never fear that God has abandoned her. Our Lady always takes care of her own and she will always watch over her. When she is feeling a lot better she can return the Church when she is ready. Take care, and Christ’s Peace be with you both.
wc
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maryj
Guest
Alterum, Please know that I know exactly what she is feeling, and I mean exactly. Let go, and let God means absolutely nilch, nadda, to her right now. I am in this exact struggle. I love my Lord, I follow as closely as I can, I am afraid of making a mistake. I went to confession for the first time in 25 years right before Easter, I feel as though my guilt has been removed, no, I know I have been forgiven. Also this though, my priest told me in that confessional how terribly hard it was going to be for me now, trying to live as a Christian woman, it would be a trial, Oh Boy he couldn’t have been more right on that one. I can’t explain it, I only know there have been times of great joy over the last few weeks and of profound sadness and fright. I know that going to mass and receiving the Holy Eucharist always seems to set me right again, even if for only a day I have my wits about me. This I do know for sure, the Catholic church is the true church, Jesus Christ IS THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. I have a dear friend that I can talk to at anytime about this, she needs a friend like that. One who will not judge her but understand her questions and misgivings. I shall hold her in my prayers and hope that she will find peace, I shall also pray for your strenght and courage. God Bless you both. He is always there, even if we can’t feel His presence. He will never leave us. Thank God for that.
I shall be a defender of Mary.
I shall be a defender of Mary.
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cazayoux
Guest
I’m glad my wife didn’t leave me just because I was not active in the Catholic faith. BECAUSE of her, my faith has come around and increased more than I (or she) would ever have imagined. All this and she didn’t nag me once. She prayed for me every night.
You may not know the graces your husband gains because of YOUR faith.
1 Cor 7:14 “For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife…”
Love and prayers
michel
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cazayoux
Guest
a larger section of that scripture:
1 Cor 7:10-16
10
To the married, however, I give this instruction (not I, but the Lord): a wife should not separate from her husband
11
–and if she does separate she must either remain single or become reconciled to her husband–and a husband should not divorce his wife.
12
To the rest I say (not the Lord): if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she is willing to go on living with him, he should not divorce her;
13
and if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he is willing to go on living with her, she should not divorce her husband.
14
For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through the brother. Otherwise your children would be unclean, whereas in fact they are holy.
15
If the unbeliever separates, however, let him separate. The brother or sister is not bound in such cases; God has called you to peace.
16
For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband; or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
J
jman507
Guest
Well I’d say she isn’t exactly leaving the Catholic Church. It sounds more like she’s leaving because she is rejecting an unbalanced view of what the Catholic Church is due to a mental condition. I could not see a just and merciful parent rejecting a child, because that child rejected him while she wasn’t herself. Although I would say that parent would gladly bless anyone who provided care and help for his child while she was in that state. So please know Alterum and Hermione that I (and I’m sure everyone else here) am praying for you. Also, I’m sure that God is giving you many blessings.
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Ahimsa
Guest
Hmmm…interesting perspective: to not believe that we are going to hell, no matter what we do.
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Affirmed
Guest
Ahmisa- I think the poster meant that “thinking we are going to hell no matter what we do” in terms of no matter how hard we try, how devout we are, how often we pray, how we try to live our lives… etc. Rather than no matter what we do in terms of bad beahvior, so to speak.
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Alterum
Guest
Thank you everyone so, so much. Please keep praying for us. It means so much to me that you are sharing your experiences and giving me advice that I desperately need right now.
Depending on Hermione’s decisions, I think help might be on the way. I know I keep saying it, but please just don’t stop praying for her, even if you only have a few seconds to ask God to help her. I know that God hears our prayers.
Again, thank you all so much.
Depending on Hermione’s decisions, I think help might be on the way. I know I keep saying it, but please just don’t stop praying for her, even if you only have a few seconds to ask God to help her. I know that God hears our prayers.
Again, thank you all so much.
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Ani_Ibi
Guest
Hermione: Why not just stay with the man you have chosen and talk yourself into thinking it is the healthy thing for you to do? I see from your post that you already have quite a store of excuses for doing so. As for taking us with you. Nope. It ain’t gonna happen.
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Ghosty
Guest
Alterum: I admire your dedication, and I will pray for both of you, but I want to say something as a brother and someone who has found himself in the same boat a number of times. You do not help Hermione by losing yourself. By this I mean that if your own faith starts to suffer, you have not helped her at all. Furthermore, you are likely to find yourself destroyed emotionally and mentally by her rollercoaster behavior. It’s very, very tempting, espescially as men, to try and rescue those we love, but sometimes it’s simply impossible and ends up hurting both of people.
I recently got out of a relationship with a woman I intended to marry, indeed I considered us married already, but she was emotionally unstable, didn’t know what she wanted, and had little faith. I’m still recovering from the damage that was done to me by the relationship, damage I didn’t even recognize at the time. I let myself slip into sinful behavior in order to “meet her halfway”, hoping that by staying with her I could bring her closer to the faith than if I left, and all that resulted in was me straying with her rather than me bringing her back. She is still the same person, still a whirlwind, and I am heavily damaged for my trouble.
My honest advice is to slow down the wedding plans for a bit, because marriage is not something to walk into with this much turmoil, and is definately not something to walk into with someone who is abandoning their faith. This doesn’t mean that you need to stop loving Hermione, only that you may not be able to give her what she needs right now, and she’s definately not able to give you what you need. Marriage is about mutual self-giving, not one person trying to save the other, and you might be making more trouble for both of you than is necessary.
Remember, I’m saying this as someone who is praying for you guys, and as someone who’s found myself in at least superficially similar places. If you’re not looking out for you, and your needs in marriage, you can not possibly look after her. A starving man does not have the strength to provide for his family, and a starving lover can not provide true love.
God bless both of you!
I recently got out of a relationship with a woman I intended to marry, indeed I considered us married already, but she was emotionally unstable, didn’t know what she wanted, and had little faith. I’m still recovering from the damage that was done to me by the relationship, damage I didn’t even recognize at the time. I let myself slip into sinful behavior in order to “meet her halfway”, hoping that by staying with her I could bring her closer to the faith than if I left, and all that resulted in was me straying with her rather than me bringing her back. She is still the same person, still a whirlwind, and I am heavily damaged for my trouble.
My honest advice is to slow down the wedding plans for a bit, because marriage is not something to walk into with this much turmoil, and is definately not something to walk into with someone who is abandoning their faith. This doesn’t mean that you need to stop loving Hermione, only that you may not be able to give her what she needs right now, and she’s definately not able to give you what you need. Marriage is about mutual self-giving, not one person trying to save the other, and you might be making more trouble for both of you than is necessary.
Remember, I’m saying this as someone who is praying for you guys, and as someone who’s found myself in at least superficially similar places. If you’re not looking out for you, and your needs in marriage, you can not possibly look after her. A starving man does not have the strength to provide for his family, and a starving lover can not provide true love.
God bless both of you!
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petra
Guest
Hermione has been in my prayers during these past few weeks, and I’m praying for wisdom for you, Alterum.
petra
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maddmaxx1200
Guest
I recently got out of a relationship with a woman I intended to marry, indeed I considered us married already, but she was emotionally unstable, didn’t know what she wanted, and had little faith. I’m still recovering from the damage that was done to me by the relationship, damage I didn’t even recognize at the time. I let myself slip into sinful behavior in order to “meet her halfway”, hoping that by staying with her I could bring her closer to the faith than if I left, and all that resulted in was me straying with her rather than me bringing her back. She is still the same person, still a whirlwind, and I am heavily damaged for my trouble.
**Ghosty thanks for the words–I’m a similar situation and honestly have no idea what to do…I love so much and want to marry a woman but it just ain’t workin and while literally praying for a miracle part of me says to simply walk away…on this I will meditate. **
**As far as the topic at hand goes I really can’t say anything that hasn’t been said already. I do agree leaving the Church is the absolute wrong thing to do and God is not the problem but the solution…I also understand those are hollow words when things are crashing down all around you, nothing makes sense and you don’t know what to do. What I will say is this…no matter what church I was attending at the time…even when I wasn’t attending any church (like now) God has yet to not be faithful to His word…
**
**Ghosty thanks for the words–I’m a similar situation and honestly have no idea what to do…I love so much and want to marry a woman but it just ain’t workin and while literally praying for a miracle part of me says to simply walk away…on this I will meditate. **
**As far as the topic at hand goes I really can’t say anything that hasn’t been said already. I do agree leaving the Church is the absolute wrong thing to do and God is not the problem but the solution…I also understand those are hollow words when things are crashing down all around you, nothing makes sense and you don’t know what to do. What I will say is this…no matter what church I was attending at the time…even when I wasn’t attending any church (like now) God has yet to not be faithful to His word…
**
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