God's Curses?

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HabemusFrancis

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Hi everyone.

Does the Catholic Church have a teaching on God’s Curses? Does he curse people or nations for not following his will?

There were the plagues of Egypt in Exodus, where he turned rivers to blood and killed the first born, basically because they held his Chosen People, the Hebrews, captive.

God also killed the entire Egyptian army by crushing waves of water, perhaps to “get his glory” on Pharaoh and the Egyptians. I heard Shirely Phelps of WBC say that the only reason Pharaoh even existed was so that God could kill him, and thus, “get his glory” on Pharaoh.

But does God curse people/nations today? Like is AIDS a divine punishment for homosexual promiscuity and drug use?

Is God raining his judgement on the Iraqis/ Afghans for their impious ways?

Some help please…
 
Although I might not be able to give a comprehensive answer to this question, when one is so ready to attribute something to the “wrath of God” keep in mind Christ’s anecdote of the Tower of Siloam (found in Luke 13). The greatest curse is that of our own mortality which we’ll all die from unless we repent (Luke 13:3); given that I would say more often than not a misfortune coincides more with the Tower of Siloam then the plagues of Egypt.
 
Check out what Fr. Yozefu - B. Ssemakula says about it in The Healing of Families. He quotes various Bible passages that would point to the fact that God wants us to be joyful. It is our sins and those of our ancestors that create an opening for the evil one to get into our souls and stake a claim that wreaks havoc. But God is a merciful God,willing to forgive us–as evidenced by John 3:16. This is a very laicized summary of what Fr. Ssemakula is saying, so you need to read what he says rather than taking my word for it.
 
God has and always could apply divine intervention to punish/to cause His will to manifest.

The greatest punishment found in the old testament is when God permits Israel’s enemies to overtake them.

1.God has the right and the power to personally intervene in our lives (that’s evident in the bible).
2. Gods law is a loving law that keeps us from going “against the grain” in the realms of nature he created. So by going against Gods law…we apply “punishment” on ourselves…for instance…jumping off the roof in rebellion of gravity is it’s own “punishment”. God wants the best for us and leads us to happiness and freedom with His laws…to go against how He made the world can be painful.
 
dailey said:
I would not say that Aids is not a punishment from God.
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… and so we disagree… I do not believe AIDS was designed by God to punish or curse anyone.

May all people affected by AIDS and other illness find peace.
 
To use your pharaoh example - God did not curse Egypt regardless of their actions - the plagues were a result of pharaoh’s disobedience. What is Sin but disobedience? Sin has consequence. “The wages of Sin are Death”.

To quote another passage, God says “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your ways” - so who are we to say what is and is not a consequence of sin set by God? Do I personally think God sent AIDS as a curse for a certain set of sexual sins - no - however, if those sinful sexual acts result in an STD - those are the consequence of that sin.

I truly doubt that God is in Heaven thinking of ways to take out his wrath on us - -but He is a just God, and with out consequences we would never learn from our mistakes (even as children we tend to be sorry we got caught more often than we are sorry we did it)
 
John 10:10–
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.

God is not punishing anyone with AIDS–by separating ourselves from God through sin, we open ourselves to the evil one who steals, slaughters and destroys.
 
Every time in the OT, and with the fall of Jerusalem in the NT where there was an outpouring of God’s “wrath and judgement” it was always preceded by a call to repentance and specific warning by a prophet of God. The Church has the spirit of prophecy today and has not issued any such warnings of wrath, therefore the disasters that fall upon nations today are not specific outpourings of judgement.
 
RoseMary131 said:
… and so we disagree… I do not believe AIDS was designed by God to punish or curse anyone.

May all people affected by AIDS and other illness find peace.
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I agree. May they all be comforted by God and find peace in this life and the next!
 
TRH1292 said:
Every time in the OT, and with the fall of Jerusalem in the NT where there was an outpouring of God’s “wrath and judgement” it was always preceded by a call to repentance and specific warning by a prophet of God. The Church has the spirit of prophecy today and has not issued any such warnings of wrath, therefore the disasters that fall upon nations today are not specific outpourings of judgement.
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I like this answer- context is key.
 
TRH1292 said:
Every time in the OT, and with the fall of Jerusalem in the NT where there was an outpouring of God’s “wrath and judgement” it was always preceded by a call to repentance and specific warning by a prophet of God. The Church has the spirit of prophecy today and has not issued any such warnings of wrath, therefore the disasters that fall upon nations today are not specific outpourings of judgement.
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Good Answer. Thanks 🙂
 
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