I apologize for making a blanket statement, but it’s impossible not to in order to ask my question.
Reading the Apologetics section and Ask an Apologist on this forum it seems that Catholics are obsessed with sin. Is X a sin? Is Y a sin? I did X by accident, am I going to hell? It’s so prevalent that there are other threads devoted to scrupulosity.
One often hears about “Catholic guilt,” but I always dismissed it. Now, I’m starting to take it a bit more seriously.
The questions run the gamut from accidental nocturnal emissions to missing Mass due to a headache to smoking a cigarette before communion. These are things I never worry about, yet you go to confession for discretely spitting piece of chicken in your napkin at a dinner party.
What gives? Why so guilty?
I have to ask this question? What is Religion: Popery? Can you tell me?
Also, and just a comment toward sin. Let’s say you go to your doctor’s office for a check up but you know that you’re perfectly healthy, yet, you still go because seeing the doctor means you care for yourself in a physical way. As you know, we watch what we eat, get plenty of exercise, have a social life, have close ties with family and also we take care of our immediate family by spending time. There are many things in our lives that make us function as human being to make us grow and become healthy. As we should never take our health for granted - we have a balance in our lives. Take anything away - and in some way it becomes unbalanced - . In other words, we have to work at that balance. I have to refer to Genesis 1 (all) because it gives an account of the order in creation - take anything away from that order and perhaps that balance would be out of order. How about creating man on the first day instead of the sixth day or let say the separation between day and night take on another day - everything should have its proper order, a balance in man’s life and in creation.
Title: “Sin”
worldviewpublications.org/outlook/archive/main.php?EDITION=044
"According to I Samuel 2:25, failure in carrying out one’s duty can concern the relations between men or between God and man: ‘If a man offends against (h’) a man, God will mediate, but if a man offends against (h’) God, who shall act as mediator?’ This passage indicates that the ‘sin’ against God was conceived as an ‘offense,’ as a failure to fulfill one’s obligation toward God. Since the root h’ denotes an action, that failure is neither an abstraction nor a permanent disqualification but a concrete act with its consequences. This act is defined as a ‘failure,’ an ‘offense,’ when it is contrary to a norm regulating the relations between God and man. . . "
So what’s sin? Sin, as they say, and I’m going to quote, is the direct effect of what happens when we don’t do or don’t listen – Sin can be called a symptom and also has a (what they say) a polluting quality – from out of anger, pain, loss, grief, neglect, failings – it’s recognizing the symptoms and then making a menz. As we try to make a new path out of the dark woods of these old hurt, we’ll make mistakes. We learn to forgive not only ourselves but those who don’t understand, we were given the ability to recognize our own shortcomings when we’ve lost that communication with God – and our neighbor. Our relationship with God, from both sides, is missed. The question is this “Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ – Where does the “wanting” to return back to God start? It starts by asking God to forgive us - and for us to recognize (for us “not” to be blinded by our own ambitions and failings)
Yes, like any person, who maybe thumbing through health journal or magazines or books - may over doing it but at least it will lead to a positive direction and not a negative one. Some Catholics as with any other denomination (and it doesn’t necessary have to be Catholics) will eventually “not” focus so much on the symptom but will fine consolation through Christ love for them and have that security. When you feel secure, you won’t have to continually ask - isn’t that how we feel when we’re around those we love and love us back?
Mary
