Is it a mortal sin to have fun?

[TemplarKnight1]

 

[Fragile]

“You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” --Ecclesiastes 11:9

I used to think that meant; “Go ahead, have your fun, but I’ll get you in the end!”

It means nothing of the sort! Rather; “Have fun, enjoy life, just keep in mind the boundaries.”

We are all given to error and excess, God would have us avoid that, so that our joy may be complete. This idea that God is against fun is Pagan, “the killjoy and big ogre in the sky!”

 

[Kathrin]

It means nothing of the sort! Rather; “Have fun, enjoy life, just keep in mind the boundaries.”

I like that

One of the boundaries might be: Having fun in a way that makes us forget God. Or think we don’t need Him.

And by that I do not mean constant conscious awareness of God. I mean forgetting to pray at all, maybe not even going to Sunday mass, never say thank you, take it all for granted, live only for our own fun and never see somebody else’s need, etc

 

[fred_conty]

Maybe the view on fun depends on where a person is in their spiritual life.

This would also include what vocation a person has chosen.
A lay person does not have as much obligation as a religious person.
And then there is always the consideration of what may be acceptable but not ideal.

This article is from Beingcatholic.com
beginningcatholic.com/precepts-of-the-catholic-church.html

Always remember: the precepts of the Catholic Church are minimum levels of participation in the life of the Church. Out of love for Christ and a desire to advance in the spiritual life, you will normally try to do far more than they require.

Many people recommend that Catholics:

Attend Mass at least one more time a week. (Most Church parishes celebrate Mass every day of the year!)
Go to confession at least once a month, and find a regular confessor so he can give you better guidance.
Find a good spiritual director to give you sound guidance for growing in the spiritual life.
Receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at every Mass, if you meet the guidelines for reception (are free from mortal sin, etc.).
Make a habit of practicing penitential and charitable acts beyond those required by the precepts of the Catholic Church.
Contribute as much as possible to the material needs of the Church and the needy.

(end of article)

Yet this does not deny to us what we need. And most need to relax in order to build themselves up for doing what is not easy. But again this depends on where a person is at in the spiritual life.

Some who are heavy weights in their love of God don’t seem to need this, for to do the will of God is fun for them, they thrive on it. They seem to never slow down and never break down, but just get better and faster. Yet inside, they are a glow of contentment and joy to be around. However these are advanced and all who know them know this.

However as the Little Flower says, there are all sorts of different flowers in the meadow that give glory to God. Some are small and some large, some bright and some pale, but they all show the brillance of God and his goodness.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Kathrin]

It is always good to discuss these things with a confessor or spiritual director/priest who knows you well. This is especially true for people who tend toward scrupulosity (like me:blush and are in danger of feeling guilty for not doing everything they can possibly do… denying themselves things that would not be bad at all or even be good… people who don’t have that tendency might not understand the agony this can cause. I think when somebody starts battling with feelings of guilt or “do I have to do this? is this an obligation? Have I done enough?” and these thoughts cause fear, then spiritual advice is highly recommendable. Fear and undue feelings of obligation can become a hindrance to ones spirituality.

 

[Robert_Sock]

Always place LOVE and the cross above having fun.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

Dearly beloved friends,

Cordial greetings and a very good day.

It is still very fashionable within contemporary Catholicism to pillory the Puritans and their vision of the Christian life. Nevertheless, whatever their failings, their thought and teaching does call us to renewal in an age of failing vision and rampant moral permissiveness. True, they were separated from the Church theologically but that does not necessarily mean that we can learn nothing from them or that they cannot serve as examples of to us of holy living. Would any Catholic ever claim that his spiritual life could never be enriched from anything emanating from a Protestant tradition, even if it happened to be true?

Unfortunately, dear friends, much of the pre-conceived opinion regarding the Puritan Saints is based on ignorant caricatures such as that of H.L. Mencken who wrongly defined Puritanism as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy”. Contrary to popular belief they were quite capable of enjoying life and did not believe that to do so was a mortal sin. The dour stereotype results from all the caricatures of them by their contemporary adversaries and also from Victorian Evangelicalism and the negative reactions to it. No one would stop to deny that they were morally austere, but that was because they were aware of the transitoriness of this life, which was thought of as a sort of gymnasium where men were ‘working out’ in preparation for Heaven (cf. Phillip. 2: 12, 13). Nothing heretical about that. Indeed, this surely was only an historic Catholic emphasis - patristic and medieval as well as Puritan, an emphasis that modern Christendom has largely lost touch. Dr. Johnson is credited with the remark that when a man knows he is going to be hanged in a fortninght it concentrates his mind wonderfully. Similarly, the Puritans’ awareness that in the midst of life we are in death, merely a step from eternity, gave them a deep gravity, calm yet passionate, with respect to their religious life that today’s opulent, mollycoddled, earthbound Christians seldom manage to match. Again, nothing contrary to Catholic teaching here. Can we not learn from the Puritan Saints to live each day as if it were our last, striving to set our affections on things above and not on things on the earth (cf. Col. 3: 1-3)? Notwithstanding, the Puritans would have certainly agreed that there was a place for innocent merriment and wholesome leisure pursuits, with the proviso that men did not run to excess and become worldly minded.

The Puritan Saints, dear friends, were the moral disinfectant of their times and on many points they created a national conscience, which has only recently begun to be eroded. Denouncing demoralizing amusements (bawdy plays, promiscuous dancing, gluttony and drunkeness, salacious fiction); abhorence of profanity - these emphases are still remembered (sometimes applauded, sometimes ridiculed). However, what is there here for a thoroughgoing Catholic to really disaprove of? Would not any Catholic worth his salt denounce such things with a parallel zeal?

Of the conscientiousness and holy zeal of the Puritan’s, dear friends, there can be no serious doubt whatsoever. What Catholics cannot accept is their defection from Catholic antiquity in favour of novel systems of worship and doctrine. Moreover, their persecution of the Quakers and the judicial horrors of the Salem witch trials are rightly adduced as cautionary tales about what can happen when governance and godliness comport too intimately with one another. However, none of this means that Puritanism cannot teach us anything about pious living, it just means that the Puritan’s were fallen men like the rest of us. At any rate, we should never loose sight of the fact that Puritanism was, at heart, a spiritual movement, passionately concerned with God and godliness; it was a world view, a total Christian philosophy and in terms of spirituality a Protestant version of monastacism. They would have been a great asset to Holy Mother Church, for sure.

Of course we can unwind with our hobbies and enjoy life, dear friends, but we must keep constantly before us the truth that we are “pilgrims and strangers” on the earth and that here have we have “no continuing city, but seek one to come”. If our having ‘fun’ causes us to be conformed to the world and to set our sights on earthly joys and comforts, then we are in deep trouble and need the healthful medicine of Puritanism to give us a sense of perspective.

God bless and this will be my final post in this thread. It is hoped that my contributions have helped dispel some of the untruths and caricatures of the poor Puritan Saints.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax

What do you mean by “Puritan Saints”? You keep calling them Puritan Saints? That strikes me as a little odd, unless that was how they called themselves?

 

[Brendan_64]

It is always good to discuss these things with a confessor or spiritual director/priest who knows you well.

Yes. Our Parish priest is our pastor, before running away with our own personal interpretation of what and what isn’t a sin, what is and what isn’t undesirable behaviour, speak to a priest. As lay-people we are not the experts on such matters, so its best to be guided by our priests.

 

[jimmy]

This tread has gotten really interesting. It is what I expected though. Some people are so serious about themselves and life, that the concept of fun and play become blasphemous. So the seat hopper at the baseball game was a sinner before he even considered hopping seats, because he is at the game in the first place, when he should probably be praying. According to them every moment in which we enjoy life on this planet is wasted and sinful because we should be approaching life as pilgrims in a foreign land, or a ship lost at sea. We are just trying to get to our destination and anything that might divert our attention is sin.

I am convinced these people are Gnostics in sheeps clothing. They might tell you that matter is good, after all God created it, and then assumed it as his own in the incarnation. But they are essentially Gnostics in that they perceive this life, and any enjoyment of it as sinful. This life only exists for the next one, and so it should be lived in such a way that the next life recieves all your attention. Otherwise you are a sinner. If you work a little extra for extra money to spend going out with your girlfriend, you are sinning. If you go to disneyworld, a baseball game, a movie, smoke a cigarette, drink a beer, or etc. you are a profligate man, who has gotten lost in the things of this world. Fun is debauchery, unless your fun is found in prayer.

 

[Debora123]

This tread has gotten really interesting. It is what I expected though. Some people are so serious about themselves and life, that the concept of fun and play become blasphemous. So the seat hopper at the baseball game was a sinner before he even considered hopping seats, because he is at the game in the first place, when he should probably be praying. According to them every moment in which we enjoy life on this planet is wasted and sinful because we should be approaching life as pilgrims in a foreign land, or a ship lost at sea. We are just trying to get to our destination and anything that might divert our attention is sin.

I am convinced these people are Gnostics in sheeps clothing. They might tell you that matter is good, after all God created it, and then assumed it as his own in the incarnation. But they are essentially Gnostics in that they perceive this life, and any enjoyment of it as sinful. This life only exists for the next one, and so it should be lived in such a way that the next life recieves all your attention. Otherwise you are a sinner. If you work a little extra for extra money to spend going out with your girlfriend, you are sinning. If you go to disneyworld, a baseball game, a movie, smoke a cigarette, drink a beer, or etc. you are a profligate man, who has gotten lost in the things of this world. Fun is debauchery, unless your fun is found in prayer.

Good post.

 

[gardenswithkids]

I didn’t read the whole thread but want to respond to something the op wrote:

… Some people are so serious about themselves and life, that the concept of fun and play become blasphemous. So the seat hopper at the baseball game was a sinner before he even considered hopping seats, because he is at the game in the first place,…

It really depends on which teams are playing and who the potential sinner is cheering for. It’s fine to go and have fun at an Angels or a Cardinals or even a Padres game, but cheering against them might get you into trouble.

 

[Bruised_Reed]

Many (many) years ago I was peripherally involved with a youth prayer group. At one of the Praise nights they did skit which suggested that sports (as a fan, not as an athlete…I don’t think), entertainment (movies, etc.) were “distractions”. From what? God. I let it go one ear and out the other and hadn’t really thought of it since. And these were high school age and slightly older. I’m not really sure what they thought they should be doing when they weren’t doing homework or praying. I guess only pagans/atheists get to have fun and/or excel at athletics and the arts.

 

[Julianna]

This tread has gotten really interesting. It is what I expected though. Some people are so serious about themselves and life, that the concept of fun and play become blasphemous. So the seat hopper at the baseball game was a sinner before he even considered hopping seats, because he is at the game in the first place, when he should probably be praying. According to them every moment in which we enjoy life on this planet is wasted and sinful because we should be approaching life as pilgrims in a foreign land, or a ship lost at sea. We are just trying to get to our destination and anything that might divert our attention is sin.

I am convinced these people are Gnostics in sheeps clothing. They might tell you that matter is good, after all God created it, and then assumed it as his own in the incarnation. But they are essentially Gnostics in that they perceive this life, and any enjoyment of it as sinful. This life only exists for the next one, and so it should be lived in such a way that the next life recieves all your attention. Otherwise you are a sinner. If you work a little extra for extra money to spend going out with your girlfriend, you are sinning. If you go to disneyworld, a baseball game, a movie, smoke a cigarette, drink a beer, or etc. you are a profligate man, who has gotten lost in the things of this world. Fun is debauchery, unless your fun is found in prayer.

Not sure about the Gnostics part…but overly conservative, sack cloth and ashes…yeah, perhaps. I have been a Catholic all my life. I have fun, lots of it. My family has fun, lots of it. Being of Italian and Irish ethnicity…yeah, we have fun! As I said before, maybe some of these folks haven’t attended a Catholic wedding reception, christening, First Communion or Confirmation celebration. Some of the Baptists in my family would “embrace” the hard liners on CAF.

 

[jimmy]

I am Lebanese, and we are like the Italians. We enjoy food, smoking (hookah, cigars, etc), a little bit of alcohol, good compnay, and life in general (we sound like hobbits from the shire when you say it like that).

 

[Fragile]

I am Lebanese, and we are like the Italians. We enjoy food, smoking (hookah, cigars, etc), a little bit of alcohol, good compnay, and life in general (we sound like hobbits from the shire when you say it like that).

 

[LilyM]

What I want to know is how the neo-Puritans reconcile their attitude with that of Our Lord, who so enjoyed His food and drink that He was accused of being a glutton and a drunk - and who I am sure would have greatly enjoyed wholesome diversions like basketball, pop
music and movies in moderation.

 

[Bruised_Reed]

What I want to know is how the neo-Puritans reconcile their attitude with that of Our Lord, who so enjoyed His food and drink that He was accused of being a glutton and a drunk - and who I am sure would have greatly enjoyed wholesome diversions like basketball, pop
music and movies in moderation.

Near occasion of sin, maybe? Jesus didn’t didn’t have original sin so he would know what kind of fun to have, how much fun to have, who to have fun with…for everybody else, it’s best not to take any chances. :dts:

 

[Debora123]

Near occasion of sin, maybe? Jesus didn’t didn’t have original sin so he would know what kind of fun to have, how much fun to have, who to have fun with…for everybody else, it’s best not to take any chances. :dts:

What?

 

[jimmy]

Near occasion of sin, maybe? Jesus didn’t didn’t have original sin so he would know what kind of fun to have, how much fun to have, who to have fun with…for everybody else, it’s best not to take any chances. :dts:

Or maybe that Jesus is the law giver, so he can dispense with the law if he desires?

Hahaha, I love how even your signature is is a Harry potter reference.

 

[LilyM]

Near occasion of sin, maybe? Jesus didn’t didn’t have original sin so he would know what kind of fun to have, how much fun to have, who to have fun with…for everybody else, it’s best not to take any chances. :dts:

But almost anything is a near occasion of sin for some. Should Jesus not have provided 120 gallons of wine for a bunch of wedding guests who had already drunk the place dry, for fear that some would abuse it? Or plenty of food and to spare for the 5,000 for fear that some would sinfully gorge themselves?