Do i need to see a priest before starting small acts of self mortification?

[jcrichton]

To everyone who advised me to see a spiritual director ~ thank you. I did go see a spiritual director and he told me there was no need to do penance or fasting, but he told me i could consult with other priests on this if i liked, since he knew it was a Catholic tradition, though he doesn’t see a need for it in this day and age. As a good catholic should be, i will be completely obedient to his decision… though i dont agree with him that it is unnecessary so i will be talking to other priests about it as well.

To make things clearer to you all, i actually have a goal, there are certain people in my life who are leading lives that will ultimately lead them away from God and lead others away as well.
Ive tried to live my life as a good Catholic as an example to them, and pray for them but what they’re doing is actually really scary and I’m worried about them. If they converted they would be the most amazing Catholics and i could see them bringing more people back to the church rather than away from it. A few of my role models are those three children at fatima~ St Jacinta, St Francisco and Sr Lucia, thus why i chose to try to do penance as they did with a rope around my waist (but i used twine instead), and it’s also the reason why i firmly believe in penance, which is what the angel at fatima instructed us to do for the conversion of sinners.

Another thing, i have no inclination towards scrupulousness, but i realised after reading many accounts on saints who performed acts of penance that they all had spiritual directors - thats why i thought i should ask, since i was so unsure and this is all new to me. But I’m desperate. So….

btw @ ItTakesAllKinds
Im not in need of mental help but thanks for the concern. Christ instructed us to take up our crosses and follow him, but at the same time he ordered us to love others as we love ourselves. Thus using ourselves as a measure to love others we must look after our bodies as they are temples of the Holy Spirit. I would never do anything to jeopardise my health. But at the same time practicing self denial and performing acts of penance can help us grow closer to God - as we start to gain control over our own desires and natural inclinations (whether they be things like sleep or other desires like cute clothes).
A person who has complete control over himself is more useful to God than a person who gives in to every whim or trail.
If your not Catholic and you dont believe in this, then I can see why you would think i need help, but I believe in God and i believe He is a Just God. And all sin is offensive to Him and requires justice. Thus why suffering on behalf of others can be redemptive. Soooo yeah~~

So thanks guys for your (name removed by moderator)ut and God Bless~~<3

Hi!

I don’t mean to dump on anyone or cause you any confusion… but your “spiritual” advisor sounds like a “modernistic minimalist.” (It’s my own creation); this means that he is a person that wants to serve God through no self-sacrifice ‘cause Jesus already paid the price.’ It is this yearning to be “Saved” without a need or concern… the other side of the “sin happy” coin… where all a person needs is to “believe.” (Hollowood has fined tuned that into “just believe,” as in ‘just believe in yourself’).

What I truly find perplexing is that those people (the “Christian” ones) usually claim their “spiritual enlightenment” as a “revelation” of the Holy Spirit… yeah, the same Holy Spirit that Inspired St. Paul to put into Writing the following:

24 It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church

. 25 I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you, 26 the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. 27 It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: 28 this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ. 29 It is for this I struggle wearily on, helped only by his power driving me irresistibly. (Colossians 1:24-29)
…so these new agers must have it right and St. Paul just simply got carried away… NOT! :doh2::doh2::doh2:

Maran atha!

Angel