Confessing what you are unable to feel sorry for

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Tamsulosin

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What if my mind tells me I do not agree with a particular Church positon.
I do not want to be a cafeteria catholic.On the other hand should I deny my mind?
I do not even know if holding a different position is a sin in itself either.
 
Scripture tells us “be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.

If your mind conflicts with the Church, time to renew your thinking.
 
I was in that position once. I finally admitted that there was a possibility that I was possibly wrong and that those Jesus had left in charge of his church were possibly right. And in case they were right, I confessed it.

I have since realized that it doesn’t really matter what I think or whether or not I agree. It’s God’s will, not mine that matters. For a long time, when I prayed the Our Father, I put a particular emphasis on “THY will be done”. God’s will, His heart, is revealed to us through scripture and through the teachings of the church.
 
Tamsulosin said:
What if my mind tells me I do not agree with a particular Church positon.
I do not want to be a cafeteria catholic.On the other hand should I deny my mind?
I do not even know if holding a different position is a sin in itself either.
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Sorrow for sin is not all about feeling. You can be sorry for disobeying the Church.

The best thing to do is to bring this up in Confession. While it is a sin to “obstinanly” hold a position contrary to Church teaching, your confessor is the best person to explore that with you.
 
The church teaches that you must follow your conscience, but that you have an obligation to form your conscience correctly, with truth.
If you disagree with a precept or teaching of the church, you need to research your belief against the churches teaching. If you just say, “my way or the highway”, that is not forming your conscience correctly, and the highway may lead to hell.
Go to the Cahtechism, go to outside reading sources, go to web sites, get CD’s on the topic, especially from Father Corapi, Father Larry Richards (www.thereasonforourhope.com), Scott Hahn (www.salvationhistory.com) Tim Staples etc. And speak to your priest.
 
I can relater. There are one or two issues that I, personally, have never had a problem with and would even be inclined to support, but I learned that following the Church is more important. I still don’t agree with a few things, but I refrain from doing them or voaclizing support for them all the same.

We can’t help how our emotions make us feel, but we can control how we act on those feelings
 
Tamsulosin said:
What if my mind tells me I do not agree with a particular Church positon.
I do not want to be a cafeteria catholic.On the other hand should I deny my mind?
I do not even know if holding a different position is a sin in itself either.
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This sounds like a job for education…as in the verb “educe”, which means “to draw forth”. Learn about the position, inform your conscience, consult with others, and then follow what you have learned is God’s will. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat…as often as needed.

I think in high school moral theology, the principle was taught as STOP:
Stop what you’re doing if you don’t know if it is moral
Learn the Teaching of the Church about the topic
Consult wise Others about how your situation applies
Pray about it

Then you will have informed your will about what God’s will is, not to mention looked for where the grace is going to come from to do it.
 
Thank you Bookcat.That homily helpled me see that the Church knows better, and I should strive to adhere to the concepts and teachings by obedience. At the very least, I should not vocalize my personal opinion since it may appear correct to me now, but I will probably realize it was wrong later.
I will tell the priest in confession about the vanity of thinking I knew better.:o
 
Tamsulosin said:
Thank you Bookcat.That homily helpled me see that the Church knows better, and I should strive to adhere to the concepts and teachings by obedience. At the very least, I should not vocalize my personal opinion since it may appear correct to me now, but I will probably realize it was wrong later.
I will tell the priest in confession about the vanity of thinking I knew better.:o
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Your welcome.

(we must ‘think with the Church’…even though one cannot always get ones mind around something…)

and accept and believe what the Church teaches…

if we do not understand …well it is Faith…

tis:

“Faith seeking understanding”

We can profess something even if we do not understand everything…

The Apostles follow Christ…even when they did not understand everything he said…they believed HIM.

This too is what we do 🙂

and yes…as Pope Benedict XVI homily is a great meditation…to often return to.
 
Tamsulosin said:
Thank you Bookcat.That homily helpled me see that the Church knows better, and I should strive to adhere to the concepts and teachings by obedience. At the very least, I should not vocalize my personal opinion since it may appear correct to me now, but I will probably realize it was wrong later.
I will tell the priest in confession about the vanity of thinking I knew better.:o
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PS :

Great line from St. Augustine, “I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe.”
 
First and foremost my advice to you is to pray about it. Prayer is so important and often we just don’t do enough of it, especially when we can’t reconcile our internal feelings with that of our faith. I had a similiar struggle awhile back when I had a very difficult time praying for the salvation of people who either hated or felt indifference toward God. I figured that they got what they deserved. It wasn’t until I confessed this and afterwards prayed for a change in my heart that I realized that I was looking at it all wrong. Jesus endured so much torture and pain and sacrificed his life for our love and I realized that he deserves much better than what we give him in return. It was then that I started to pray that these same people who hate or felt indifference toward God would repent so that THEY could pay Jesus the respect he deserves. It was a change at the way I was looking at the whole situation.

The Catholic faith is a struggle at times, but remember we MUST be obedient. Jesus himself calls for our obedience. Keep praying and He WILL pierce you heart with all the graces you need to follow in His footsteps.
 
mbn576 said:
The Catholic faith is a struggle at times, but remember we MUST be obedient. Jesus himself calls for our obedience.
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Quibble: we must strive to be obedient. As none of us are perfect, and as we are a fallen race, none of us will ever be 100% successful.

But we need to die trying.
 
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