Help me to understand

[joshkt79]

I’ve been in and out the Catholic church for many years now. I’ll get in these “moods” where I start to criticize everything about our faith. I get really angry when I see people in church who commit adultery, steal, lie, cheat, but they’re at church every single Sunday. Just today, I saw a woman about my age (33) standing in line for confession. She honestly looked like she killed someone. Very distraught and mumbling to herself. As soon as she gets out of the confessional, she’s all smiles and now happy to everyone. I just don’t get it. For example, someone who commits adultery, even though they take it to confessional, still committed adultery. You can’t take it back. You can be forgiven, but it’s always going to be there.

I’m ranting and I apologize for that. I’m sure what I just said maybe didn’t make much sense, so I’ll tell it in a story.

Two men, both age 40, will die on the same day. First guy is Rob. Rob is married but cheats on his wife, abuses his wife and kids, is on drugs and alcohol and also steals from work. Rob hasn’t been to church in over 10 years. One Sunday morning, he feels guilty and sorry for what he’s been doing. He decided to go to church and confession. The Priest forgives him of all his sins. As he leaves the church, he is struck by a care and dies.

Second guy is Bill. Bill is also married and has kids. He has never cheated or abused his kids. Bill has been to church every Sunday in his life. He gives 10% of his salary to the church and is a model citizen. Bill also donates to other charitable organizations and is involved in the community. One Sunday morning, Bill decides he doesn’t want to go to church today. He isn’t sorry about it, just doesn’t really want to get out of bed and wants to relax. He goes out to get the newspaper and is struck by a car and dies.

So, because Rob confessed his sins. he is more likely to get to heaven than Bill is, even though Bill has been a better person than Rob is whole life.

Anyone?

 

[Groo]

The way I look at it is that the church is a hospital for sick people (i.e. Jesus came for sinners). Everyone in line for confession is a sinner, not just the distraught woman. The more respectable looking people could be the greater sinners. There’s no way for us to know.

As far as confession goes, my understanding is that absolution is only valid in the case of a firm purpose of amendment. If the first man intends to keep going with an adulterous relationship, for example, then he wouldn’t be forgiven. But yes, if he does intend to amend his ways and dies right after confession, then he would go to heaven. Such is the mercy of God. I think of the repentant thief of the cross. He repented at the very end and ‘stole’ heaven.

For the second person, no one knows what chances God may have given this person for reconciliation. While the sacrament is the ordinary means of receiving forgiveness in the church, God is greater than the sacrament. At the moment of death, God may give him a final chance to repent. If he is truly sorry for his sins, he will be forgiven even without the sacrament.

Still, the choice to blow off Sunday Mass is, objectively speaking, a mortal sin. If we choose not to be with God for just an hour on Sunday, why would we want to be with Him for an eternity? Ultimately, it’s a choice of whether we want to be with God or not.

 

[EasterJoy]

This is an old complaint:

*Only the one who sins shall die. The son shall not be charged with the guilt of his father, nor shall the father be charged with the guilt of his son. The virtuous man’s virtue shall be his own, as the wicked man’s wickedness shall be his own.

But if the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him; he shall live because of the virtue he has practiced. Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord GOD. Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?

And if the virtuous man turns from the path of virtue to do evil, the same kind of abominable things that the wicked man does, can he do this and still live? None of his virtuous deeds shall be remembered, because he has broken faith and committed sin; because of this, he shall die.

You say, “The LORD’S way is not fair!” Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? When a virtuous man turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. But if a wicked man, turning from the wickedness he has committed, does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins which he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

And yet the house of Israel says, “The LORD’S way is not fair!” Is it my way that is not fair, house of Israel, or rather, is it not that your ways are not fair? Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways, says the Lord GOD. Turn and be converted from all your crimes, that they may be no cause of guilt for you.

Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the Lord GOD. Return and live!*

Ezekiel 18:20-32

It is because of the inquity he has committed that he must die. What if Bill had been a model driver all his life, but on the one day he decided to go get the paper without a seatbelt on, that’s the day he gets in an accident, gets thrown through the windshield, and finds himself in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Is that fair? Is that not fair? He drove without a seatbelt, believing that disaster would not strike him, but he was wrong. The laws of nature took over, and he paid the price for his folly.

His neighbor, Rob, not only never used a seatbelt but has always been a terrible driver. Somehow, he never got into an accident, until that one day his wife nagged him into getting a seatbelt on, which of course is the day the seatbelt saved him from injury due to an accident. Was that unfair? Why would it be? He wore the seatbelt, and the seatbelt saved him.

Taking chances doesn’t mean you will regret it, not if you turn from your folly before disaster strikes, but taking chances once is all it takes. That’s not that hard to figure out, and it hardly implies that there is something wrong with our faith. The most die-hard atheist would have to admit that mere statistics would predict these odd occurrences taking place from time to time. That this is true says nothing about the “fairness” of seatbelts.

Having said that, realize that confession removes the guilt of sin and reconciles the person with God and the Church, but does not automatically remove all the temporal effects. Were I to confess adultery and have that sin absolved, the damage to my relationship would still be there to face. I would have the work of re-building my spouse’s trust or would have to live with the consequence of my spouse not taking me back.

If you broke my nose and came to me and apologized and I accepted your apology, we would be reconciled. My nose, however, is still broken, still has to heal. Likewise, the person who commits sin does do harm to themselves and others that is not automatically removed by confession. The relationship is repaired, but there is still work to do. How, though, would our relationship ever be repaired if you did not reconcile with me? My nose might heal up without your help, I could forgive you without ever seeing you again, but our relationship needs you to come forward and needs me to accept your overture. It is our relationship with God that keeps us alive. All the good works we do flow from the graces of that relationship. Our “good Bill” might just as well be proud that he took advantage of the opportunity to eat well and work out. As Our Lord said to his disciples, “Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’” Luke 18:7-10

As for the woman who “looked like she killed someone”, do not let your imagination lead you into rash judgment. She may have been all smiles because her confessor had told her the thing she was beating herself up about before she told him about it was not even a sin. Maybe someone had been running a guilt trip on her, and she had been freed from that manipulation. That might make a person very happy, indeed.

As for Bill and his neglect of Mass, be sure that God is capable of reading Bill’s heart and knowing the degree to which Bill was gravely culpable for his decision to avoid meeting even the minimum of the worship justly due to God. The objective gravity of the offense against God is only one element of what makes up a mortal sin, after all. The intent and mitigating circumstances are also important. Those are God’s to judge. Be sure, though, that just as a person can’t “buy their way out” of embezzling or wire fraud or any other “white collar” crime because of all their philanthropy and what a great CEO they’ve been, just so we servants cannot say to God, “You’ve gotten enough from me, I can presume on you to indulge this one transgression I choose to allow myself.” That, too, is reserved for the judgment of God.

 

[eightandsand]

I’ve been in and out the Catholic church for many years now. I’ll get in these “moods” where I start to criticize everything about our faith. I get really angry when I see people in church who commit adultery, steal, lie, cheat, but they’re at church every single Sunday. Just today, I saw a woman about my age (33) standing in line for confession. She honestly looked like she killed someone. Very distraught and mumbling to herself. As soon as she gets out of the confessional, she’s all smiles and now happy to everyone. I just don’t get it. For example, someone who commits adultery, even though they take it to confessional, still committed adultery. You can’t take it back. You can be forgiven, but it’s always going to be there.

I’m ranting and I apologize for that. I’m sure what I just said maybe didn’t make much sense, so I’ll tell it in a story.

Two men, both age 40, will die on the same day. First guy is Rob. Rob is married but cheats on his wife, abuses his wife and kids, is on drugs and alcohol and also steals from work. Rob hasn’t been to church in over 10 years. One Sunday morning, he feels guilty and sorry for what he’s been doing. He decided to go to church and confession. The Priest forgives him of all his sins. As he leaves the church, he is struck by a care and dies.

Second guy is Bill. Bill is also married and has kids. He has never cheated or abused his kids. Bill has been to church every Sunday in his life. He gives 10% of his salary to the church and is a model citizen. Bill also donates to other charitable organizations and is involved in the community. One Sunday morning, Bill decides he doesn’t want to go to church today. He isn’t sorry about it, just doesn’t really want to get out of bed and wants to relax. He goes out to get the newspaper and is struck by a car and dies.

So, because Rob confessed his sins. he is more likely to get to heaven than Bill is, even though Bill has been a better person than Rob is whole life.

Anyone?

You seem to be forgeting that even after mortal sin has been forgiven and, as a necessary consequence, the eternal punishment it deserves has been remitted, and even if slight or venial sin has been remitted, the forgiven sinner can need further purification, that is, be deserving of temporal punishment to be expiated in this life or in the life to come, namely, in Purgatory.

 

[Irishgal49]

Still, the choice to blow off Sunday Mass is, objectively speaking, a mortal sin. If we choose not to be with God for just an hour on Sunday, why would we want to be with Him for an eternity? Ultimately, it’s a choice of whether we want to be with God or not.

I seriously don’t see the correlation in that statement. Just because I don’t want to see a family member one morning does not mean I don’t want to see them for the rest of my life (or for eternity). I look at it this way. God is the ONLY one who can say where a person spends eternity. Don’t assume anything about where anyone is going (or not going). God has FAR more love and mercy than we do. We have no idea what God will say about either one of these in the example.

I also argue about everything. I guess some of us just have a tougher time with things. Keep praying and try hard not to focus on others but to focus on your relationship with God. It’s hard enough with us God wrestlers without comparing other people’s walk with God as well.

I know eventually we will be rewarded for our wrestling. Just keep praying and asking God to help you. He has helped me and I’m confident I will get there one day.

Blessings,

Lorrie

 

[Nimzovik]

Getting to heaven is one thing. Getting to heaven quicker is another…

 

[Catholic80]

I’ve been in and out the Catholic church for many years now. I’ll get in these “moods” where I start to criticize everything about our faith. I get really angry when I see people in church who commit adultery, steal, lie, cheat, but they’re at church every single Sunday. Just today, I saw a woman about my age (33) standing in line for confession. She honestly looked like she killed someone. Very distraught and mumbling to herself. As soon as she gets out of the confessional, she’s all smiles and now happy to everyone. I just don’t get it. For example, someone who commits adultery, even though they take it to confessional, still committed adultery. You can’t take it back. You can be forgiven, but it’s always going to be there.

I’m ranting and I apologize for that. I’m sure what I just said maybe didn’t make much sense, so I’ll tell it in a story.

Two men, both age 40, will die on the same day. First guy is Rob. Rob is married but cheats on his wife, abuses his wife and kids, is on drugs and alcohol and also steals from work. Rob hasn’t been to church in over 10 years. One Sunday morning, he feels guilty and sorry for what he’s been doing. He decided to go to church and confession. The Priest forgives him of all his sins. As he leaves the church, he is struck by a care and dies.

Second guy is Bill. Bill is also married and has kids. He has never cheated or abused his kids. Bill has been to church every Sunday in his life. He gives 10% of his salary to the church and is a model citizen. Bill also donates to other charitable organizations and is involved in the community. One Sunday morning, Bill decides he doesn’t want to go to church today. He isn’t sorry about it, just doesn’t really want to get out of bed and wants to relax. He goes out to get the newspaper and is struck by a car and dies.

So, because Rob confessed his sins. he is more likely to get to heaven than Bill is, even though Bill has been a better person than Rob is whole life.

Anyone?

In the story of the prodigal son, the older brother is upset because the father forgives the younger (prodigal) son and throws a banquet for him. It sounds to me like you are being a bit like the older brother.

When St. Therese of Lisieux made her general confession upon entering the convent, her confessor assured her that she had never committed a mortal sin, but he then warns her, that God has shown her great mercy, and that if it weren’t for God’s mercy, she would be a little devil.
Therese goes on in the diary to speak of her love of God’s mercy towards her. His mercy prevented her from falling into a pit and she is grateful to Him for this. She also speaks of how she would love to experience God’s mercy towards those who “fall in the pit” whom God saves and rescues from the pit.
Is God’s mercy, really, any different than those whom He prevents from falling and those whom He pulls out of the pit after falling?
It’s all God’s mercy. We do not prevent ourselves from sinning. Without God’s mercy, we would all be devils.

When God rescues souls from the pit of sin, why shouldn’t they rejoice and be happy? Why shouldn’t we rejoice along with them? The gratitude of the forgiven sinner is much greater than of one never having sinned. (Story of the woman in Bethany) … the woman was a former prostitute and she pours expensive oil over Jesus’ feet. Judas makes a comment that the oil should have been sold and money given to the poor, but then Jesus asks the others, “Who would show the greater love… the one who had a small debt forgiven, or a large debt forgiven.” They, of course answer, “the one who had the larger debt.”

We all have a debt and we are all in need of forgiveness. Why shouldn’t we be happy when we leave the confessional?

Remember, God’s greatest attribute is His Mercy. Your scenario “Bill” who takes off one Sunday is simply a made up story that really justifies no response since it is hypothetical and there are too many factors that we do not know about. God sees mans heart. He is in control - and in control of our death. We do not go to hell by accident. We choose to love Him or turn away from Him.

We know that it is a mortal sin to deliberately not go to Mass on Sunday. Your story doesn’t justify “Bill” taking off a Sunday to “relax.”

“Prostitutes and sinners are entering the kingdom ahead of you.”

Not to be blunt, but those “sinners” you speak of are confessing their sins, and you are judging them. When we sin against someone, and confess, it not only repairs the relationship, but brings us closer than before. God can take whatever was broken and make it even better.

We are not divided into two categories… saints and sinners. We will all dine at the same banquet in heaven. I recommend watching this link of Theology of the Body by Christopher West. youtube.com/watch?v=eGDtzPOX6Zc&feature=relmfu It helped me to see better God’s mercy and our inclination towards sin… how our sins are really a symptom of how we are hungry for God.

I also recommend reading about some of the saints that were big time sinners…

St. Mary of Egypt and St. Margaret of Cortona are good starters.

 

[Julian0404]

Joshkt79,

Your making a serious error and I would suggest you begin attending an RCIA class to refresh the truth of the church against your observations.

The error your advocating is that GOD is not fair, as you define what fair should be. So, therefore, GOD is not a fair GOD, which by your standards makes HIM a bad GOD, an “unfair” GOD.

You have not grasped the mercy, forgiveness, cross, suffering, passion, death of JESUS and what it means to you and your soul - the only basis of value you have in understanding GOD is the worlds view of “fairness”.

This is truly a position held by satan and exactly the arguement he used to convince Eve and Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit because “it was not fair that GOD should keep them from knowing right and wrong” - paraphrase

Joshkt79, the anger you feel toward the church and your quick judgement observations are not by accident, and you are in desparate need of finding the truth and love of JESUS. Start by attending an RCIA course to learn your faith.

 

[Groo]

I seriously don’t see the correlation in that statement. Just because I don’t want to see a family member one morning does not mean I don’t want to see them for the rest of my life (or for eternity). I look at it this way. God is the ONLY one who can say where a person spends eternity. Don’t assume anything about where anyone is going (or not going). God has FAR more love and mercy than we do. We have no idea what God will say about either one of these in the example.

Keeping the sabbath day holy is God’s commandment, not mine. When we say ‘no’ to God, that is sin. And the Church tells us that skipping Mass on Sunday without a good reason is a grave sin. It’s one of the Church’s roles to tell us which sins are objectively grave.

“There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.”
–1 John 5:16-17

By sinning, we are not just breaking some arbitrary law. We’re harming our relationship with God; putting something other than God first. In the end, God will give us what we love the most. Will it be Him? You are right that only God will judge, but we make our choices here on earth.

 

[EasterJoy]

I seriously don’t see the correlation in that statement. Just because I don’t want to see a family member one morning does not mean I don’t want to see them for the rest of my life (or for eternity). I look at it this way. God is the ONLY one who can say where a person spends eternity. Don’t assume anything about where anyone is going (or not going). God has FAR more love and mercy than we do. We have no idea what God will say about either one of these in the example.

I also argue about everything. I guess some of us just have a tougher time with things. Keep praying and try hard not to focus on others but to focus on your relationship with God. It’s hard enough with us God wrestlers without comparing other people’s walk with God as well.

I know eventually we will be rewarded for our wrestling. Just keep praying and asking God to help you. He has helped me and I’m confident I will get there one day.

Blessings,

Lorrie

Don’t want to see a family member for one morning? The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life, not a weekly social check-in with God. After all, one would hope that the one whom you love above all other things, with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength gets more weekly engagement than mere physical presence at Sunday Mass. To forsake the assembly of the faithful is more like refusing to eat for a whole week, or refusing to breathe, or holding your head under water–something you’d only do when a good reason forces you to do it–but let’s hope that it isn’t also forsaking the only time that week that we make any serious attempt to get the Lord on our internal radar.

We do have “some idea” about the obligation to worship God, who is, after all, the only reason the universe exists at all and continues to exist at all, let alone the reason we have life or grace from one breath to the next. The Ten Commandments are pretty clear about keeping the Lord’s Day. The Big Ten, and there it is.

I’m not counselling in favor of despair or legalism or clucking about what somebody else does or doesn’t do–the commandments concerning those errors are also clear–but I am warning against presumption. If we take it for granted that “God won’t mind” and decide willy-nilly that we can neglect whatever religious obligations we have because God is God and we are creatures quite conscious of who God is, then we aren’t wrestling any more. We’re wandering off into a directionless fog. There is a big difference.

 

[StLudmilla]

The supreme experience of relaxation while we are on this earth is in receiving Holy Communion.

Two options on Bill : he either doesn’t know his faith very well, or he is purposefully willfully committing mortal sin and deserves what he gets. God is not to be taken lightly. He resists the proud. Supreme virtue is obedience when no one is looking and true humility when they are. Model citizenship in this world is not the same as adoption into the kingdom of heaven. Be concerned for what God sees not about what the world sees. God cares for a broken and contrite heart. Don’t you know that there is more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than a 99 who are “righteous”?

We are lucky if we can go 5 minutes from the confessional without committing some sin, venial or mortal. Be thankful and humble yourself before God. He kept you from committing adultery, he kept you from stealing, he kept you from lying. You didn’t keep from sin by your own power, as if you can brag under the guise of complaining about poor sinners such that you exalt yourself above them. It is only only only by the mercy of God. Think on this, maybe your faith is too weak to stand serious temptation and God has had mercy on you. Only seasoned soldiers who have been tried on the battlefield can show their hard won scars. If you are not struggling against sin, you are not in the battle.

Know your enemy and that he is powerful especially when given an easy opening. Pride comes before the fall, and Satan loves the sin of pride. Remove the log from your own eye, before you point out the speck in your neighbor’s.

Hard lessons, but better truth than falling into the trap of the evil one.

Pax

 

[midori]

Anecdote:

Once there was a priest in a small town. In small towns, everyone knows everybody else, so it was easy for the priest to recognize his penitents by their voices, even when they were on the other side of the screen.

One day, a man came into confession and confessed his sins, and the priest gave him absolution. It was a serious sin. A couple of weeks later, the man came back and confessed the same sin. This repeated several times.

Finally, the priest said, “You keep confessing this same mortal sin. I don’t think you’re really sorry for it. If you come in and confess this again, I’m not going to give you absolution.”

Sure enough, a couple of weeks later the same guy is in the confessional, confesses his sin, and the priest says, “I warned you last time. I’m not going to give you absolution.”

The man says, “Father, I truly am sorry. I hate this sin. I don’t want to do it again. I’m weak and I fell. I’m sorry.”

The priest gave him absolution but said, “Now I’m warning you: this is the last time. If you ever come back with this, I am not going to give you absolution. Period.”

A couple of weeks later, the same guy is back in the confessional with the same sin. So the priest says, “I’m not giving you absolution.”

“But, Father, please. I really am sorry.”

The priest says, “No. I’ve warned you, and I’m not doing it. I’m not giving you absolution.”

The priest sat back and he heard the sound of weeping. He assumed it was the man on the other side, so he moved his ear closer to the screen and realized that the sound was not coming from the other side. As he tried to find the source of the sound, he realized it was coming from the door on his confessional where a crucifix was hanging. He looked at the crucifix, and the arm on the crucifix, rather than being up, was down by the Lord’s side, and the sound of weeping was coming from the crucifix.

Then the priest heard the words: “When you die for this man’s sins, then you can decide whether or not he can be forgiven. Give him absolution.”

When someone errs against God, why are you preoccupying yourself with whether or not they are worthy of his forgiveness and mercy or his gifts of grace and final penitence? Are any of us worthy? Why are you judging whether someone’s sin of X is worthy of being forgiven in the confessional, but someone else’s sin of Y is going too far? You’re even making up scenarios and then making assumptions about how they’ll turn out.

Perhaps it might be profitable for you to read up on some Purgatorial writings, writings on the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist, or meditations on the Passion. All of those would be more profitable than where your mental energy seems to be focusing. Good luck!

 

[faithfully]

My FIL has this arguement all the time. He’s horrified that someone forgave Ted Bundy just before he was executed. How could he go to heaven? And in his words, that’s not a heaven or a God he wants anything to do with.

Now, me on the other hand, I’m thinking. WHAT?

1. we don’t know what Bundy’s heart truly was. Only God knows that.
2. Haven’t you ever done something that you felt really bad for. that you were truly sorry for? Wouldn’t you want forgiveness if it were extended. Whether you “deserved” it or not?

I think this is one of the big things that seperates us from God and makes us so human. There are many things I could not easily forgive. If my husband cheated, regardless of how sorry he may be, he’d probably only find forgiveness from God. I’d likely be very slow to extend it.

That said, Any Heaven Ted Bundy is welcome in, is the one I want into too. My odds, in theory are quite a bit higher.

All by the Grace of God…

 

[raising7saints]

I guess what I am hearing is that you feel both men may go to heaven but one is more deserving. We all should be glad God is so merciful and lets us start over when we go to confession and ask for a “do-over.”

Rob would have caused much pain to himself and to others in his life with all of his vices. Bill, who in following most of God’s commandments was protected from so much hurt to himself and others, lead a more peaceful existence here on earth and got to go to heaven. Rob suffered and caused pain, but repented and got to go to heaven. Even though both men may have gone to heaven, Bill lead a happier existence here on earth. Rob may have embraced vice while here but anyone who has been a drug addict etc. will tell you those vices are chains not freedoms and happiness. Thankfully Jesus takes those chains and breaks then whenever we truly turn to Him and ask him too.

God loves both men and that’s okay. Some of my own children walk a starighter path than others and I rejoice that they give me less heartache, but I also pray constantly for the more difficult ones to straighten out their paths and I’d grieve to be estranged from any of them…

Both men may have spent time in Purgatory before going on to Heaven. Being purged is not pain-free. We don’t know the last thoughts or words of either man. Only God knows all that is in our hearts and how much knowledge we hold and are responsible for. God knows how many chances for change each man was given. God knows the faith formation of both men. God knows how many family members prayed for each man. God knows how many blessings each received. He uses all His knowledge when we stand before Him.

 

[Nimzovik]

Anecdote:

When someone errs against God, why are you preoccupying yourself with whether or not they are worthy of his forgiveness and mercy or his gifts of grace and final penitence? Are any of us worthy? Why are you judging whether someone’s sin of X is worthy of being forgiven in the confessional, but someone else’s sin of Y is going too far? You’re even making up scenarios and then making assumptions about how they’ll turn out.

Perhaps it might be profitable for you to read up on some Purgatorial writings, writings on the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist, or meditations on the Passion. All of those would be more profitable than where your mental energy seems to be focusing. Good luck!

GReat story. Thanks!

 

[Winter_Warlock_1]

Joshkt,

This is my view on this subject:

Jesus gave us the story of a land owner who hired several people in the morning to work in his field, later in the day he hired more, and yet still in the evening he hired even more. When the work was done he paid them all equal amounts of money, those that worked all day complained that those that worked less time made as much as they did. The land owner replied “why should you concern yourselves with what I do with my money – you were paid the agreed price.”

I take that story as an example that it matters not in life when we accept God and repent for our sins, regardless if you accepted God your whole life, the middle of your life, or near the end. The point is that you accept God, and REPENT not just pretend or say that your have repented. The thing is we should not judge another that is not for us but for God. The only thing we can do is try to live as Jesus teaches us and try to help guide others to Him.

I pray that God Blesses you grant you strength.

Winter

 

[LSK]

I’ve been in and out the Catholic church for many years now. I’ll get in these “moods” where I start to criticize everything about our faith. I get really angry when I see people in church who commit adultery, steal, lie, cheat, but they’re at church every single Sunday. Just today, I saw a woman about my age (33) standing in line for confession. She honestly looked like she killed someone. Very distraught and mumbling to herself. As soon as she gets out of the confessional, she’s all smiles and now happy to everyone. I just don’t get it. For example, someone who commits adultery, even though they take it to confessional, still committed adultery. You can’t take it back. You can be forgiven, but it’s always going to be there.

I’m ranting and I apologize for that. I’m sure what I just said maybe didn’t make much sense, so I’ll tell it in a story.

Two men, both age 40, will die on the same day. First guy is Rob. Rob is married but cheats on his wife, abuses his wife and kids, is on drugs and alcohol and also steals from work. Rob hasn’t been to church in over 10 years. One Sunday morning, he feels guilty and sorry for what he’s been doing. He decided to go to church and confession. The Priest forgives him of all his sins. As he leaves the church, he is struck by a care and dies.

Second guy is Bill. Bill is also married and has kids. He has never cheated or abused his kids. Bill has been to church every Sunday in his life. He gives 10% of his salary to the church and is a model citizen. Bill also donates to other charitable organizations and is involved in the community. One Sunday morning, Bill decides he doesn’t want to go to church today. He isn’t sorry about it, just doesn’t really want to get out of bed and wants to relax. He goes out to get the newspaper and is struck by a car and dies.

So, because Rob confessed his sins. he is more likely to get to heaven than Bill is, even though Bill has been a better person than Rob is whole life.

Anyone?

Here is what I have been taught:

God is not bound by the Sacraments - WE ARE. I don’t know who will go to heaven and who will not, how long someone will be in Purgatory and who will go straight to Hell.

I am never EVER going to let my crazy brain keep me from the Eucharist. That is who I am concerned with - whether or not I am worthy to stand before Christ. I hope you are too…I hope Bill and Bob are as well.

I am very concerned, however, with you - you seem to be so unsettled and unhappy. How can we help YOU?