J
justbeinfrank
Guest
I have a friend (we’re in college) who recently decided to convert to Catholicism. Before, he didn’t have any religion and was something like an agnostic/seeker type.
In any event, he has been making great progress, and he asks me questions all the time about the Church and theology. I try to answer these as best I can. He is very intellectually-oriented, and deliberate in his thinking. So this formula has led to some detailed discussions of moral theology, in particular. He’ll pose hypotheticals, and I’ll try to answer them based on my (limited) knowledge of Catholic moral theology.
But he has become somewhat anxious lately because it now seems to him that the Catholic Church has so many “rules” and that Catholics have *a harder time *of getting into Heaven than non-Catholics, simply because ignorance frees many non-Catholics from guilt for their sins. So that is problem #1.
There’s a somewhat related problem, which is that he doesn’t understand the concept of “grace”. I try to tell him that Catholics have an advantage because the sacraments give us Divine grace. But he can’t understand how grace changes things at all. I tell him that going to confession, or receiving communion, helps in the struggle against sin. But he asks why people go to communion as if “going through the motions”, and don’t seem to get *anything *out of it. So I tell him that people need to favorably dispose themselves toward receiving grace. But then he asks how that is not just a clever way of covering up the fact that we’re really just improving by ourselves. It seems to him that grace doesn’t play a role – it’s only us using our free will to live according to the moral law. That’s problem #2.
Furthermore, I think he is becoming scrupulous. Of course, I don’t know for sure, but I cautioned him against scrupulosity, and he was confused. He said that when you really contemplate Hell, in its sheer awfulness, that it is rational to be scrupulous, that you *should always be worried that your actions are wrong. *And that is problem #3.
It seems to me like he needs a holy, orthodox spiritual director. But we are in college, and the local parish is okay, but not known for its orthodoxy, and we’re graduating in a few months anyway.
Does anybody have recommendations for my friend? Good books? Resources? Tips? Insights?
Above all, please offer a quick prayer for us! And thanks in advance.
In any event, he has been making great progress, and he asks me questions all the time about the Church and theology. I try to answer these as best I can. He is very intellectually-oriented, and deliberate in his thinking. So this formula has led to some detailed discussions of moral theology, in particular. He’ll pose hypotheticals, and I’ll try to answer them based on my (limited) knowledge of Catholic moral theology.
But he has become somewhat anxious lately because it now seems to him that the Catholic Church has so many “rules” and that Catholics have *a harder time *of getting into Heaven than non-Catholics, simply because ignorance frees many non-Catholics from guilt for their sins. So that is problem #1.
There’s a somewhat related problem, which is that he doesn’t understand the concept of “grace”. I try to tell him that Catholics have an advantage because the sacraments give us Divine grace. But he can’t understand how grace changes things at all. I tell him that going to confession, or receiving communion, helps in the struggle against sin. But he asks why people go to communion as if “going through the motions”, and don’t seem to get *anything *out of it. So I tell him that people need to favorably dispose themselves toward receiving grace. But then he asks how that is not just a clever way of covering up the fact that we’re really just improving by ourselves. It seems to him that grace doesn’t play a role – it’s only us using our free will to live according to the moral law. That’s problem #2.
Furthermore, I think he is becoming scrupulous. Of course, I don’t know for sure, but I cautioned him against scrupulosity, and he was confused. He said that when you really contemplate Hell, in its sheer awfulness, that it is rational to be scrupulous, that you *should always be worried that your actions are wrong. *And that is problem #3.
It seems to me like he needs a holy, orthodox spiritual director. But we are in college, and the local parish is okay, but not known for its orthodoxy, and we’re graduating in a few months anyway.
Does anybody have recommendations for my friend? Good books? Resources? Tips? Insights?
Above all, please offer a quick prayer for us! And thanks in advance.
