Hypocrisy

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When I go to Mass, it is only on special occasions that I see certain people. For example, (these are not real people): John comes to mass only at Christmas, Easter, and when it is for his deceased Grandpa Jack. He recieves communion.
The same with people who bless themselves when passing a church, though they barely go to Mass themselves. Now, I am not judging them, but isn’t this hypocrisy?
 
Yes! That’s it! And, Sloth is a mortal sin! Should I say anything to them?
 
LoyalViews said:
Yes! That’s it! And, Sloth is a mortal sin! Should I say anything to them?
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Unless you are free from sin, I suggest you not throw the first stone. How badly would you feel if your “saying something to them” kept them from coming to church and perhaps that is the plan God has to bring them back to Him?
 
I get annoyed at hypocrisy in the church as well. People who never miss mass yet say ‘Of course Catholics use contraceptives nowadays’. I know one usher who was divorced, remarry in city hall and say right after he walks out of church there is nothing wrong with it.

But, I learn to live with it. The only thing I can do is adk them not to talk like that around me

CM
 
When I attend Mass, I am so overwhelmed by the presence of Christ --His Body and His Blood–that I am aware of the sins of only one person: my own! 😊 Because I see so clearly my own sins, I would not dare look around me to notice the sins of others who have come to worship or to judge their motives for coming.
 
LoyalViews said:
When I go to Mass, it is only on special occasions that I see certain people. For example, (these are not real people): John comes to mass only at Christmas, Easter, and when it is for his deceased Grandpa Jack. He recieves communion.
The same with people who bless themselves when passing a church, though they barely go to Mass themselves. Now, I am not judging them, but isn’t this hypocrisy?
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Unless you are in a position to monitor John’s actions 24 hours every Sunday you don’t know whether or not he attends Mass so much better not to judge.
 
Since the conversation seems to be going in this direction:
If “saying something” to them is a bad idea, then where does Luke 17:3 come in?

“Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.”

I’ve always been kind of confused about that one, for mainly the same reasons.
 
That passage seems to me to be suggesting someone who directly wrongs you as opposed to someone whose “wrongs” may only be indirectly and imperfectly perceived.

I think here the better action is one of charitability and love. Behave in such a way that perhaps they will want to embrace the faith more deeply.
 
IMHO, it’s better to be going to Church and being abit hypocritical, than not going to Church at all.

Our spiritual life is a journey. Very few of us go from infancy to old age in the full grace of the Church. Most of us, I believe have a time away from God and our faith. Most of us do not understand the mysteries of the Church and God from the outset, it can take sometime to come to grips with it all. And the way to understand and come to grips with it all is to be at Church, it’s where we can mature in our faith and the mysteries.

To not attend Church, no matter how imperfectly, means to never mature in the faith…
 
This is tough.

One tact is to simply give everything you have in/to Mass. Upon entering, acquire the Tabernacle with your eyes and heart. Start your prayer as you approach your pew, greeting Our Lord, thanking Him, adoring Him. Genuflect to our Lord. Gather your strength to pray the Mass. Do it all, only for God.

But over the long haul your ever deepening and ever more sincere conversation with God, through the action of the Holy Spirit, will have an overflowing effect on to the C&E (Christmas and Easter) Catholics. But focus on the Lord.

Just a suggestion.

I think the vigor and boldness and courage and energy of the early Church had the same “what’s going on with those Christians” effect on the pagans and the Jews. Read Acts.
 
I went to Mass on Sunday and someone made a comment “Oh, I haven’t seen you in a while, you just decided to come back today?”

Firstly, I’ve been goign to that church for about 6 months, and it was the first time anyone said anythign to me.

Secondly, for the last few weeks I’ve been attending Church somewhere else due to me being out of the region.

So, if I notice someone is not at Church I don’t think “what a slothful hypocrit” because how do I know this church is there main one? There’s about three Catholic churches within about a 20 minute drive of each other. So, its not hard to go to one church as opposed to another. Plus, they all have different Mass times.

We can’t really know what’s in a person’s soul or what’s on their calandar.

I mean, according to Guttmacher, and other studies depending wher eyou read, approximately 28% of women getting abortions are Catholic. So that means for every 100 women in your church, 28 have had abortions. Just as we can’t tell who’s had abortions, we can’t tell the reasons as to why someone is missing Church.
 
vera,

I agree with your post.

We should welcome them, without little snide additions.

Example: Depending on the circumstances it’s often OK to say, “I haven’t seen you for a while” but not “you just decided to come back” which is a judgmental put-down and is presumptuous.

Welcome them not so that they may feel convicted of their sin. Welcome them because we are truly happy to see them at Church THAT DAY as opposed to NOT being at Church.

Whether others are hypocrites is not my business, unless to my knowledge they are directly hurting me or my loved ones. Then it is their actions that concern me, not their sins.

Alan
 
But I understand your concern. I have two similiar concerns involving people close to me.

#1 When I was leaving the Church and was getting married, non of my family lovingly or in any other way let me know what was required of me through the Church. These same people knew that I had not been confirmed. Some of them were responsible for bringing me up in the faith…and yet not a peep. So–some people close to us may not know…

#2 My own dad and stepmom were married civilly. My dad has received an annulment (my mom had initiated it) but my stepmom does not have an annullment. My stepmom says that their marriage was blessed by the church shortly after (but how?🤷) They go up ever Sunday and receive communion. This seems a little bit wrong to me…but what should/can I say?
 
One Easter, it was time to move the clocks forward. I had moved all the clocks but missed one. As it turned out that was the one I was watching. I missed the last mass of the day at my own parish. So I went to a neighboring parish.

The people there treated me with disdain. During the kiss of peace they made comments about people who ONLY go to mass once or twice a year. I knew they were directed at me. At the time, I was a daily communicant. But of course they didn’t know that.

I felt so hunmiliated that I thought “If I were someone who only went to mass once or twice a year, I’d NEVER come back.”

It was a good lesson for me to learn to treat others with charity. And remember it’s always easier to catch flies with honey than it is with vinegar.

Peace!
Jane
 
I am not throwing stones, I don’t think. What I am trying to say, is that there are people I see every day, who I know do not go to mass. I am not talking about people who I only casually know. Like, I am talking about someone I know who almost rejects everything the church teaches… on contraception, the True Presence, Priests, and the role of women in the church. Also does not go to mass because says there is no time. Or it is too early. Yet, when passing a church, blesses themselves, and whenever she attends mass goes to recieve Our Lord, and she thinks it is a piece of `“blessed bread”. This kind of person. This is offensive, and isn’t ot hypocritical on their part?
 
The homily you miss might be the one that changes your life, so at least being in Church, no matter how imperfectly, matters…

Everyones spiritual journey is different. It is the blessed person that has understood and followed all the precepts of the Church and followed and understood every teaching in the catechism and attended Church all of their lives. Most of us havn’t, but by hanging in there and going to Church, many of us have come to understand. To completely give up on Church attendance means one will likely never understand.

We are all imperfect…
 
vera_dicere said:
I mean, according to Guttmacher, and other studies depending wher eyou read, approximately 28% of women getting abortions are Catholic. So that means for every 100 women in your church, 28 have had abortions. Just as we can’t tell who’s had abortions, we can’t tell the reasons as to why someone is missing Church.
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This is incorrect. The study does not indicate that 28% of Catholic women have had abortions, it indicates that 28% of the women WHO HAVE had abortion are Catholic. The correct interpretation of this statistic is out of 100 women who have aborted, 28 would be Catholic. Very different.
 
jimcav said:
The homily you miss might be the one that changes your life, so at least being in Church, no matter how imperfectly, matters…

Everyones spiritual journey is different. It is the blessed person that has understood and followed all the precepts of the Church and followed and understood every teaching in the catechism and attended Church all of their lives. Most of us havn’t, but by hanging in there and going to Church, many of us have come to understand. To completely give up on Church attendance means one will likely never understand.

We are all imperfect…
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Forgive me–I’m new…but isn’t missing Mass turning away from God? Especially when we keep doing it without a valid reason? Isn’t that the first step in turning away? Just curious…
 
mini_me640 said:
This is incorrect. The study does not indicate that 28% of Catholic women have had abortions, it indicates that 28% of the women WHO HAVE had abortion are Catholic. The correct interpretation of this statistic is out of 100 women who have aborted, 28 would be Catholic. Very different.
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PMFJIH, but I love statistics, and this is troubling. I’m not sure which is worse.

Here’s what I mean.

Let’s say the chance of an woman with abortion being Catholic is .28
That is, probability of Catholic, given they had an abortion, is .28

Symbolically, I’ll write: p(C g A) = 0.28

Now, what is interesting is how many Catholic women have had an abortion.

That is: p(A g C) = ???

So which is worse, and under what conditions? So to symbolize the question “are there more of the Catholics who had abortions, than the number of abortions that are Catholic?” we ask:
Code: 
is:   p(A g C) > p(C g A)  ??
Dividing both sides by p(C g A) I get:
Code: 
 p(A g C)
 --------   >  1  ???
 p(C g A)
Now, using a probability formula we can write:

p(A g C) = p(A AND C) / p(C)

and

p(C g A) = p(A AND C)/p(A)

With a little algebra magic, that gives me:
Code: 
 p(A g C) / p(C g A)  =  p(A) / P(C)
Where p(A) is the percentage of all women who have had abortion, and p(C) is the percentage of all women who are Catholic.

CONCLUSION:

If there are more women who have had abortions than there are women who are Catholic, then p(A g C) > p(C g A) which means that P(A g C) > 28%.

If there are more women who are Catholic than have had abortions, then p(A g C) < p(C g A) which means that P(A g C) < 28%.

TRANSLATION:

So to know which is worse, we have to know whether there are more: a) women who are Catholic, or b) women who have had abortions.

If there are more women who have had abortions than there are Catholic women, then the percentage of Catholic women who have abortion is greater than 28%.

If there are more women who are Catholic than women who have had abortions, then the percentage of Catholic women who have abortion is less than 28%.

Alan
 
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