Gatherings hosted by engaged couple

[whatevergirl]

I don’t mean to derail you thread…truly I don’t. I just have a question that is sort of on this beaten path…why did Jesus eat with sinners? Did He only eat one dinner with them, and after that…He didn’t? I just would like to know if we are to still attend such functions, despite the fact that we don’t agree? I am just asking…not really sure of the advice to give.

My sister is going to be living with her boyfriend/fiance soon…and the same thoughts roll through my mind…but again…if Jesus broke bread with sinners…why shouldn’t I?

Can someone explain if that would pertain in this situation? I alwasy get confused on these things, because Jesus did not shun people nor did He avoid them, because they were sinning. I mean, He was obviously very busy, and had a short window of time to preach His message. But, He still made time for sinners. So…thoughts?

 

[otjm]

I don’t mean to derail you thread…truly I don’t. I just have a question that is sort of on this beaten path…why did Jesus eat with sinners? Did He only eat one dinner with them, and after that…He didn’t? I just would like to know if we are to still attend such functions, despite the fact that we don’t agree? I am just asking…not really sure of the advice to give.

My sister is going to be living with her boyfriend/fiance soon…and the same thoughts roll through my mind…but again…if Jesus broke bread with sinners…why shouldn’t I?

Can someone explain if that would pertain in this situation? I alwasy get confused on these things, because Jesus did not shun people nor did He avoid them, because they were sinning. I mean, He was obviously very busy, and had a short window of time to preach His message. But, He still made time for sinners. So…thoughts?

No matter where you are or what you do, you are going to be in contact with sinners. There is an old phrase: "“There are more flies drawn to honey than to vinegar”. What Jmcrae can’t seem to distinguish is the difference between not approving of whatever sin they may commit but withholding comment, and approval of behavior. It is not an entirely sophisticated distinction. I have a number of cousins who have left the faith, largely due to either marrying a non-Catholic, or divorce, or both. They know I am a practicing Catholic; I don’t need to remind them. I don’t need to tell them they have made a choice I don’t agree with in any way, shape or form. But neither do I reject them, or refuse to speak about God or religious issues.

One cousin has been my hunting partner. He was suffering from a guilty conscience, I think, and started to get on my case, giving me some of the Evangelical b.s. He found out very quickly I could defend my faith better than he could defend his. We are still hunting partners. I pray for him and he knows it. But I don’t call him out; if he wants to discuss something (as opposed to trying to take me on in a defense of his position), I am here and he knows that.

The fact that we we are hunting partners doesn’t mean that I approve of his choice, and he knows that. The fact that he left the Church doesn’t mean that we can’t be hunting partners, either.

Christ didn’t pull any punches; but neither did he operate with some sort of “I’m better than you beacuse I don’t…” attitude. He could distinguish between the sinner and the sin. He broke bread with people who tried. Tried and failed, and he called them to metanoia, to a turning around. That is a life long process; the ones he had the hardest time with were those who thought they were justified because they followed the letter of the Law, and failed completely to understand the intent of the law, who saw nothing to turn around from or to.

 

[gmarie21]

Otjm has some real sound, PRACTICAL advise. I have a family of sinners (and for a few months I lived with my dd’s dad until we took the advice of our priest to live apart, even though we have a dd together). Well, my whole family obviously knew that we had lived together and then out of nowhere decided to live apart (my mom still blames the priest for the situation, and forget about my saying that maybe one day we may live as brother and sister, oh she blows a fuse with that one). I now have a cousin who has had a pretty self destructive life and she has been aware of all that has happened. Once she asked me why we decided to live apart (as have a lot of family members) and I told her (as I have told anyone who’s asked) “Even though we didn’t do things right, we now want to do things right and we want to recieve the Eucharist. God is most important to us” Well, it’s been over two years since she asked me that question and guess what??? She has been going to mass with me every Sunday since the beginning of Lent. She has been to confession twice since the beginning of Lent. And I have a feeling she’ll be breaking up with her boyfriend (who is totally against her “turning over a new leaf”) because she realizes that she wants and deserves more out of life than empty pleasure. :extrahappy:

To the OP, I hope that you see this HUGE red flag in your relationship and realize that it WON’T go away. You both may be Catholic, but you must also be concerned about being EQUALLY yoked.

It may take months or years before someone will repent, but if you lead a life of a good example, when the “major” sinner starts feeling uncomfortable about his/her situation, if you haven’t pointed fingers in the past, you’ll be the first one they’ll turn to b/c they will have witnessed that you will ACTUALLY understand the Holy Spirit tugging at their soul (even if they don’t realize that the tug is from the Holy Spirit).

 

[whatevergirl]

I read this today in the daily reflection on www.wau.org (it accompanies the Bible reading for today)

The truth is that even if our sins arent the same, we are all still sinners, made of the same frail humanity as those who seem to have fallen so far from God.

 

[whatevergirl]

No matter where you are or what you do, you are going to be in contact with sinners. There is an old phrase: "“There are more flies drawn to honey than to vinegar”. What Jmcrae can’t seem to distinguish is the difference between not approving of whatever sin they may commit but withholding comment, and approval of behavior. It is not an entirely sophisticated distinction. I have a number of cousins who have left the faith, largely due to either marrying a non-Catholic, or divorce, or both. They know I am a practicing Catholic; I don’t need to remind them. I don’t need to tell them they have made a choice I don’t agree with in any way, shape or form. But neither do I reject them, or refuse to speak about God or religious issues.

One cousin has been my hunting partner. He was suffering from a guilty conscience, I think, and started to get on my case, giving me some of the Evangelical b.s. He found out very quickly I could defend my faith better than he could defend his. We are still hunting partners. I pray for him and he knows it. But I don’t call him out; if he wants to discuss something (as opposed to trying to take me on in a defense of his position), I am here and he knows that.

The fact that we we are hunting partners doesn’t mean that I approve of his choice, and he knows that. The fact that he left the Church doesn’t mean that we can’t be hunting partners, either.

Christ didn’t pull any punches; but neither did he operate with some sort of “I’m better than you beacuse I don’t…” attitude. He could distinguish between the sinner and the sin. He broke bread with people who tried. Tried and failed, and he called them to metanoia, to a turning around. That is a life long process; the ones he had the hardest time with were those who thought they were justified because they followed the letter of the Law, and failed completely to understand the intent of the law, who saw nothing to turn around from or to.

I agree…I think the same about my sister’s situation…she’s involved in a bad (morally speaking) situation, and she knows my take on it, and that’s it. I pray for her, and plan on having dinner with her and her boyfriend next weekend when I fly down to Florida. It’s not necessarily easy…but I have been where she is…I have done immoral things in my life, and have repented. I think that is why I can sympathize with her…I love her, and hopefully, through prayer and my ‘new’ life as an example…she will come around.

Thanks for your reply!

 

[jmcrae]

I feel like I’m being falsely accused.

I’ve never told anybody that they should get up on a soap box and harangue people in an offensive manner.

Quite the opposite, in fact.