Judging Others, the Sacraments. Common Questions that Can be Confusing

[JohnR77]

… If the sacraments are real

You just stepped into a land mine with that comment. So, let’s come back to that later.

I interested in what you said about holiness. If the sacraments are real, shouldn’t Catholics be the best people around? Is this really true?

Your question contains several points which must be separated so they may be intelligently addressed. You speak of one group of people, “Catholics,” being better than another. Yet, the Bible clearly tells us that it is a sin for us to judge others.

defendingthebride.com/mc/love.html#judging

We judge doctrines as true or false, and moral actions as being good or evil based on what God has revealed in Jesus Christ. However, we are also told that to judge others is a sin. You ask me are Catholics holier? It would be a sin for me to even try to answer that.

If all other things being equal would a particular person be holier if he received the Sacraments in the humble devout sincere manner in which they are supposed to be received, than if he did not receive the Sacraments ? Yes, that one person would be holier than that one person would be without the Sacraments. Go to the Sacrament of Confession on a regular basis with sincere repentance and see if you do not grow in the virtue of humility.

“All other things being equal”
Man is bound to obeying God and therefore partaking in the Sacraments. However, God is not bound by them. IF, that is a very big if that we should not presume upon, God wants to give abundant grace outside of the Sacraments, then according to Catholic theology, God is free to do so.

There is a temptation for some I believe to judge others. They see one particular virtue that is important to them or their community and they judge others if they exhibit that one virtue or short list of virtues.
Do I see holiness in the lives of the Saints?
Just read the lives of Saints

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
St. Maria Goretti
St. Padre Pio
And the list goes on and on. How can anyone say their lives were not holy ?

Do I see holiness in the lives of the priests and nuns who surrender everything in order to follow Jesus Christ 24/7 ? Yes.

Do I see holiness in those who want to go to Mass and praise God on a daily basis and then go to Adoration at 2 Am just to have the honor of thanking and praising Him ? Yes.

Do I see holiness as a natural outcome of Catholic Teaching rather than Faith Alone, Once Saved Always Saved ? Most definitely.

… If the sacraments are real

I am not sure what you meant to imply here.

I don’t want to make your decisions for you, but for those who might be tempted to doubt the efficaciousness of the Sacraments, please consider when the Angel Gabriel came to Zechariah. He was punished for not believing in a promise that sounded too impossible to be true and so good that it would be scary to place one’s hopes in such a seemingly impossible dream that it would come true, Luke 1:20. I suppose there must have been some way for him to know that this was a good angel and not a bad one, but I don’t know how. He was punished for not believing in the angel. Yet, it is clear that there are solid reasons for believing that the promises of Jesus Christ will come true and that He does work through His Vicar. If I doubt the Sacraments should I not expect a more severe punishment ?

Read more about His Promises at

defendingthebride.com/sc/seven.html

defendingthebride.com/ch/hand.html#peter

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[thinkandmull]

It seems that judging saints to be holy is judging none the less. Strange. It also appears that holiness from sacraments isn’t as widespread as it seems it should. Perhaps the devil attacks them more

 

[glendab]

No, Thinkandmull, the judgment that Jesus speaks of doesn’t mean do not see the difference between right actions and wrong actions or speak up when something is wrong. He isn’t telling folks to ignore bad behaviors or to turn a blind eye to evil. But that is how people who throw that word into a conversation play it. That is what they mean - ignore the evil in your midst or be accused of being judgmental. Over the years, I’ve found that those who say such things are actually very judgmental themselves and pronounce judgments all the time over the heads of those who dare to call spades spades.

**The Sacraments are very real **and yes, we Catholics are as good as it gets. I don’t know about you, but my plans include Heaven and I’ll apologize for the rest of us sinners. We are all works in progress and sorry if our struggles aren’t good enough for you and our mess seems a bit messy at times. We are all doing the best we can. Oh well. I’ve said enough. God bless you Thinkandmull. Get real, get humble and get honest. You are just a sinner like the rest of us. Please don’t say bad things about the Sacraments. Jesus died for you so you could have them. Try to appreciated that.

Glenda