Examination of Conscience

[js_cat3391]

Hi,
I have been reading the book, Looking For Peace? Try Confession! by Mary Ann Budnik. A book on the Sacrament of Penance. It is a really good book. In chapter 6, she says, “examining our consciences by mentally going through the Ten Commandment, the Precepts of the Church, and the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. It is also helpful to read Scripture passages such as Matthew 5-7, Romans 12-13, I Corinthians 12-13, Galatians 5, Ephesians 4-6 that speak of our duties toward God and neighbor.”

I really like these scripture passages; however, many are general statements about not hating for example. Am I supposed to do the corporal and spiritual works such as feeding the poor, giving them cloths, visiting the sick, and visiting prisoners? Also being apostolic? How do I know if not doing these things is a mortal sin. Romans 12 says to feed my enemies. I do not have a job right now and do not have a lot of money.

Am I supposed to do all of that? How do i know if some of these things are mortal sins?
Does a good examination of conscience on the ten commandments contain the grave matters I need to really be worried about, and these are “mostly” “higher level” or “heroic” efforts?

Thanks
J

 

[MichaelHowling]

Mortal sins require : grave matter, full knowledge and full consent of the will.
None of these really would call you not giving food to the poor or visiting a prisoner mortal…however if you have the full knowlege of what’s called upon you to do in such an instance if it ever presented to you and you had the full means to do it… I suppose you could be traveling into mortal sin…but all three must exhist.

Now, that being said: feeding the hungry, visiting the prisioner etc etc…you can find these instances in your daily life. We all know someone who is “imprisioned” or “hungry” …as a matter of fact, the great heroic saint mother teresa use to say that you can find your own calcutta right where you are! And that it was very easy to her to give some bread to someone starving in her country…but when she came to america…she mentioned how it would be much harder to minister to those “hungry” in the united states.

We’re all called to be heroic and great saints. Our faith can not stop in just believing…being the body of Christ…we’re called to be “doing” as well! If the body of Christ isin’t doing, it is dead and good for nothing.

God bless

 

[Spider42]

I do not have a job right now and do not have a lot of money.

I’ve read the book you mentioned and I’m glad that you are enjoying it. The concept you are discussing is very close to a Jesuit practice, the Examen, or daily prayer of self examination.

The idea is that growing in faith is a lifelong endeavor. So we examine ourselves and our relationship with God each day so that we will be inspired to continue to strive to improve.

Looking at your message, I see that self examination is having spiritual results, you are feeling a call to act, but are now concerned about how. Your concern about money is a common one, and unemployment might be a large stress factor in your own life, but you do still have gifts you can share, including the most precious one, part of your time on this earth!

My advice would be take small steps each day, take a few moments to help an elderly neighbor with her groceries, give just one morning a week to volunteer, etc. Don’t think of it as trying to tick off a check list from God, think of it as an exercise in expanding the capacity of your heart.

[T]he great heroic saint mother teresa use to say that you can find your own calcutta right where you are! And that it was very easy to her to give some bread to someone starving in her country…but when she came to america…she mentioned how it would be much harder to minister to those “hungry” in the united states.

For what it is worth, that quote had a significant impact on my own life. I was in a different situation financially than the original poster, but at a pretty empty place. I had lost my family in a tragedy, was living very simply, largely focussed on work, and just going through the trappings of the Church by rote.

The quote from Blessed Teresa nudged me out of my comfort zone. I started giving to everyone begging that I encountered. Just small amounts, but if I had it and someone asked, I gave it. I know this will set some tongues clucking, but it is a literal interpretation of a paragraph in the Universal Catechism and, financially, it had zero impact on my life, it just sort of became my thing, and I fell into a new comfort zone.

Then something made me angry. Someone asked me for money to take the train. I didn’t have any cash on me, but I had tokens, so I gave the guy the tokens in my pocket. When I got to my office I went to my office manager to give her a check and take some petty cash. It wasn’t something I usually did, so she asked me if something was wrong and I explained, no, I had just given my tokens away and wanted to make sure I had cash for a train ticket home before I forgot and she went home for the day. As it happened, one of my employees was just walking in and commented, in good humor, “So that explains the guy trying to sell me tokens at the train station!”

I got angry. In my head, I knew it made no sense. So a guy in rags really wanted cash, not travel. But the anger was real, and I felt guilty about it. In confession, my pastor said something I had to ponder a long time. “Compassion” means, literally, “suffer with”. So I tried something new. Instead of just giving freely to anyone who asked, I also started talking to the people I was giving to. Just a few moments at first, but it grew. If the fellow outside the convenience store was cold and hungry, I not only got him something to eat, I’d get myself a cup of coffee and sit and keep him company while he ate.

To cut a long story short, I began volunteering at and supporting a local shelter and started getting involved in food and medical care drives at my parish. And my call to the poor continued to grow from there. But it all started with just handing out quarters and a willingness to examine my own emotions.

Peace be with you both.

 

[MichaelHowling]

Beautiful

I try to practice the same thing as well. It’s much more important to give them their dignity back by being with them than just giving them something physical…the physical stuff: money/clothes/food etc…that’s the easy part. If they don’t know their respected/loved…they won’t do well anyways. I work in detroit. If anyone asks for money for food… I walk with them into the mcdonalds and buy them whatever they want, get something for myself and sit with them and get to know them. You find Christ here! I’ve had some say never mind to my invite…and i politley give them a couple bucks anyways. What they use the money for is their business…we’ve been asked by God to give “I was hungry and you fed me”…not ask questions. Also…in those instances, you know you’re doing something for God and not yourself or another person.

 

[Spider42]

I work in detroit. If anyone asks for money for food… I walk with them into the mcdonalds and buy them whatever they want, get something for myself and sit with them and get to know them.

Beautiful is the word that comes to my mind as well. But I would make a point to the original poster that we aren’t God.

What I mean by that is God’s capacity for love is limitless, ours is not. Take the the Church teaching on the inalienable rights of the human person, the right to life exists at every stage and every condition (Christifidelis Laici, #38). That is not a narrow teaching, that is an incredibly broad teaching.

Part of that teaching, poverty and food insecurity, resonates loudly in my heart, so many of my efforts are there. I try to support other efforts and grow in all Church teachings, but I know what pulls at my own moral conscience insistently.

But each heart is different. If a different heart resonates elsewhere, comforting prisoners, helping the disabled, working towards peace, etc., then I do not see that as anyone’s failing, but something to celebrate. That means that, collectively, we are fulfilling more of God’s plan for us.

I guess I am revising my original advice. Small steps, grow wherever you can, but when you find a spiritual passion, do not be embarrassed to nurture and follow it just because your passion isn’t the same as another Catholic’s.

 

[js_cat3391]

Thanks for your thoughts on the matter.