How would you currently rate yourself as a Catholic?

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If you’re working at the Purgatory hotel at least ya know ya made it…hahaha
 
I had a weird dream once about dying.

As I was dying in this dream I was terrified of being sent to hell so I asked God for mercy. I then died and found out I was going to purgatory. So I go to purgatory and find out it looked like a hospital with doctors and nurses. After a brief stay, much briefer than I thought, I was told I could move on.

The final part was me leaving and looking forward to seeing God. I felt so happy.
 
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Here are the choices you gave:

Just avoiding Hell
half way to Heaven
definitely one of the chosen few
top notch. member of special elite commando force
humble sinner quite proud of their humility
proud sinner ashamed of their pride
a Catholic pariah akin to leper
borderline heretic
one more Rosary and I’m outta here
a good catholic

I don’t know if I’m comfortable using your proposed categories. I’m average, but don’t know what God thinks of me. Am very glad God is infinitely merciful and forgives me when I go to confession and loves me more than I’ll ever know or understand. I don’t pray nearly enough and I only go to weekly Mass, not daily. I wish I would and would appreciate prayers to these ends, among others.

Out of curiosity, why are you asking these things?
 
Not crazy about any of the choices.

I’m human, I’m trying my best, but like all humans, sometimes I fail.
 
Again, Paul doesn’t speak of being justified by works; he explicitly argues that we are not justified by works. You are trying to conflate two separate things, one being the means of justification, and the second being our response to justification and the ongoing process of sanctification.
 
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Hodos said:
he explicitly argues that we are not justified by works
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Works of the law, i.e. circumcision, and works performed by our own merit; those are the works St. Paul argues against.

However, once freely justified by grace, we are empowered with supernatural charity to perform works that we are justified by. Again, read the following:

“For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.”
Romans 2:13

Without grace, there are no “doers of the law” to be justified. With the life of God within us, then we can be justified by works of love.
 
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You should not rate yourself as a Catholic or where you are spiritually.

I recall my OCD Spiritual Director advising against it, when we were studying the Interior Castle, because the evil one will convince you that you’re not a good Catholic and never will be. Tempting you to give into despair is the evil one’s goal.

Of course this isn’t the case and everyone advances through the transforming grace given by God.

How good of a Christian we are are, is how God see’s us, not how we see ourselves.

Jim
 
SeriousQuestion said:
Works make our faith alive like James said.
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I completely agree. Works are an outward demonstration of our faith. Just don’t agree with the faith and works formula for justification given it is explicitly stated this isn’t the case in multiple places.
 
It is a necessary demonstration otherwise it is a dead faith and you can’t be justified.
 
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SeriousQuestion said:
It is a necessary demonstration otherwise it is a dead faith and you can’t be justified.
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I would say no, not necessarily. Again, we are saved by faith apart from works. So I do not think one could make a dogmatic statement that there must be a necessary demonstration of faith to be justified. And even when we come to faith, one does continue to struggle with and succumb to the sinful nature just as Paul describes in Chapter 7 of Romans, if my memory serves me well. However, who is he that accuses? It is God who justifies. This transitions to the wonderful statement we have in Romans 8 that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. What a wonderful gospel we have.
 
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