Focus on Sin versus Solution oriented

[benren06]

I have been struggling with the concept of sin lately. I know that their are acts and omissions that are evil and seperate us from God, however it seems that sin in general is is overcomplicated or often taken to the abstract. For instance lets say a person is seen as being lazy, contanctly negative, and unfriednly. Many would see this as the sin of sloth however the person could actually be suffering from depression. Some may argue that depression itself is a the result of self occupation, etc.
However wouldn’t it be better to simply look for a solution to the problem. Generally poeple would recomend for the sin of laziness or self obsorption to just get up and take responsibility for your life and pray to God. However this doesn’t seem to be a very well thought out solution. Instead i’ve heard that excercise and other remedies can help. Isn’t this a better and more practical approach? I guess what I am trying to say is the occupation with the fact that a person has commited a sin confuses things and tends to block out practical solutions that would be far more benificial to the person. I am sorry for the confusion in this post I’m not sure if I got across what I’m trying to say but I would appreaciate others feedback. Thanks

 

[Loboto-Me]

I have always been a sin focused person for my own sins. I also suffer from bouts of anxiety, mostly in reference to my unworthiness. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is exactly the remedy to find solutions to our problems. First you reflect on the sins, you then confess the sins, you are then absolved. The problem doesn’t seem to come from the Church but from the penitant him/herself, because once absolved, we as the penitant are to “sin no more”. We are to find ways to avoid those sins and become a better person.

Now, let’s take the sin of “sloth” which can well be a problem of depression. The Church acknowledges that depression is a psychological problem and knows the symptoms that go along with that problem. God helps those who helps themselves, so once again we need to look inside ourselves to find out if our sin is actually sloth or depression. We can still confess sloth, be absolved which in itself lifts a tremendous weight, and find a solution to the depression that may include medication, volunteering charitable time (which would get someone moving and out of their own problems), prayer etc.

What I’m saying is that the Sacraments are extremely helpful with these problems and are extremely solution oriented rather than just judging the act.

 

[Ferds_Guiang]

Instead i’ve heard that excercise and other remedies can help. Isn’t this a better and more practical approach? I guess what I am trying to say is the occupation with the fact that a person has commited a sin confuses things and tends to block out practical solutions that would be far more benificial to the person. I

I guess what you wish to be more enlightened about is how to have a simple approach in understanding Sin and what practical steps are there to deal with Sin. My take is that if you read the Catechism of the Catholic Church you will more or less get the idea of what the definitions are of the different kinds of sin. It truly helps to know distinctions and definitions since “Vincible” ignorance doesn’t take away culpability.
I concur with the previous post that the Sacrament of Penance is a very effective guard against sin. Only by God’s grace can we do battle with sin. But of course there are also many practical guides to deal with sin. One very effective advice most confessors give is that we have to avoid occasions of sin. Another sound advice is to know more about ourselves-to be aware about our weaknesses and limitations because each one of us have a different moral fibre (just as each one of us are different physically). And of course one best practical advice is to build our relationship with God through prayer and meditation. God bless!

 

[LilyM]

Most people in my experience ARE solution oriented in exactly the way you describe.

I’ve seen many many threads on these fora where LOTS of posters will say ‘maybe the problem is depression/OCD/whatever, get a referral to a counsellor or specialist’ rather than just dismissing such possibilities. I think they’re fairly representative of the world outside in that regard.

And priests, in my experience, are as likely to make such comments as anyone else, so they certainly aren’t unaware of these issues or unwilling to mention them, far from it.

 

[benren06]

Thanks guys,
Both of you were very clear and helpful. Now that reflect, the Church is very striaghtforward in regards to sin and overcoming sin. I guess I got confused in regards to indivuals within the Church and their approach to sin and overcoming it. But agian the Church is solid even though us humans are prone to mistakes. Thanks for your thoughts and clarification.