Need answer fast about sin covering

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Help! My daughter and I are leading a summer class on authentic feminine beauty. One tool we are using is a Protestant video. Most of the video is great, but one thing mentioned conflicts with Catholic theology, I believe, but I’m not well versed enough in this subject to explain why. The video mentions how “Clothes are a covering for our body as God’s righteousness is a covering for our sin.” I could just skip that part of the video but I’d like to be able to explain Catholic teaching if possible. Thank you in advance for your help. The video will be part of class tonight. Yours in Christ, Sally
 
God’s righteousness is not a covering for our sin. That’s why we have repentance and penance.

Bishop Fulton Sheen put it like this. If you have a beautiful piece of woodwork representing yourself, but you damage it by banging nails into it (the nails represent our sins), then when you confess, the nails are removed, or pulled out.

But what’s left? The holes in the plank of wood. The sins leave a stain on our character, or soul, even after confession and forgiveness. The original item still needs to be restored, hence the need for penance. The holes or marks need to be filled in and sanded over.

I’m assuming your target audience is Catholic, or you’re going to need to either edit the video, stop it at that point, or have a Catholic explanation to cover that particular point.

You could use it to point to the need for reconciliation and penance as part and parcel of authentic feminine beauty.
 
It’s my understanding that God’s righteousness came through Jesus, and by His death on the cross He paid the price for our sin?

Romans 3:21-23 (RSV)

Righteousness through Faith

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
 
Tiber2001 said:
Help! My daughter and I are leading a summer class on authentic feminine beauty. One tool we are using is a Protestant video. Most of the video is great, but one thing mentioned conflicts with Catholic theology, I believe, but I’m not well versed enough in this subject to explain why. The video mentions how “Clothes are a covering for our body as God’s righteousness is a covering for our sin.” I could just skip that part of the video but I’d like to be able to explain Catholic teaching if possible. Thank you in advance for your help. The video will be part of class tonight. Yours in Christ, Sally
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What is authentic female beauty, if we conclude cloths are cultural and beauty is in the eye of the beholder regardless of clothing, than where does that leave us?
 
What is the age group of your audience? That would make a difference in how I would handle it. If it is youth, I would recommend skipping that part rather than getting side-tracked.

If it is adults, you may also choose not to get side-tracked with it as it seems somewhat tangential to the topic of discussion.

But if you want to play that portion of the video and address it, you might simply mention that Catholics do not view salvation in terms of us being “snow-covered dung heaps” as certain Protestants do. Rather, grace actually transforms us. God doesn’t just cover over our wrinkles. With grace – His very divine life in our souls – He straightens them out.

Obviously, this process can be slow-moving for some of us. :o But that is the trajectory we strive to follow when we follow the Lord. We don’t just “pretend” we are a new creation. We actually become a new creation. God’s grace is much more powerful than mere window dressing for the soul.
 
Tiber2001 said:
Help! My daughter and I are leading a summer class on authentic feminine beauty. One tool we are using is a Protestant video. Most of the video is great, but one thing mentioned conflicts with Catholic theology, I believe, but I’m not well versed enough in this subject to explain why. The video mentions how “Clothes are a covering for our body as God’s righteousness is a covering for our sin.” I could just skip that part of the video but I’d like to be able to explain Catholic teaching if possible. Thank you in advance for your help. The video will be part of class tonight. Yours in Christ, Sally
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I might not phrase it exactly that way, but I don’t see anything inherently non-Catholic in the statement, and it might even be an opportunity to discuss modesty—something most young ladies could really benefit from discussing these days!
 
Starrsmother said:
something most young ladies could really benefit from discussing these days!
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Males too, the weeds grow along with the flowers and insist on attention. No secret in any conflict good and evil exist side by side and on both sides. Ha, after this conversation he won’t need a video he could make his own. 😛
 
Thank you all for your help!! I’m going to take Joe and Bob’s advice for the video tonight. I’ll show the whole thing and pause it to mention the difference in understanding (how Catholics believe we are transformed rather than our sins being covered) - but I’ll also offer an alternate phrase that will stick in their minds instead (not quite sure of the wording yet, but something like “God gave us water for washing as he gave us Christ’s sacrifice to wash away our sins” and also “God gave Adam and Eve [and therefore all of us] clothing to help them resist sin, because their original sin separated them from God and caused them to have inappropriate physical desires that could be visually provoked” ← DO THOSE SOUND OKAY?). I’m also going to try to work in the need for reconciliation and penance for authentic beauty somewhere into this class series (we’ll have seven two hour classes and I think that might work best in class two).

I’m really looking forward to doing this class series. We will be looking at God’s view of beauty. It will be mainly using the Bible since we have two Protestant families; however we will also use teachings from the Church and Catholic Saints, and other sources that don’t conflict with Catholic teachings. The class is primarily for girls age 11 to 16 (the age when they start thinking about their appearance and want to start doing things like wearing earrings, nail polish, make-up, etc.), but their mothers will be attending and they will be encouraged to always discuss the material and their ideas for beautification with their mom and dad. The first three classes help them to understand that beauty is more than skin deep - that God created beauty and that it is a good thing, that he equates beauty in women with strength (physical, spiritual, emotional) and virtue, and that God does indeed approve of adornments such as jewelry, make-up and accessories just as he chose to adorn temples with precious gems and gold - although as with everything we must be prudent when using them. We will look at the history (since about 200AD) of how civilization defined beauty and the ways that it agreed and disagreed with God’s ideas for beauty. The girls and their moms will study the Bible and Church documents and determine what they want to avoid and pursue in bringing out the beauty God intended for them. Later classes will cover topics such as voice and language, posture, fitness and diet, selecting clothing and accessories that are affordable and stylish, yet modest, beautiful and expressive of their personal style.

Thank you again and maybe say a prayer for us that this goes well and is a positive experience, especially for the young ladies!

Yours in Christ,
Sally
 
Tiber2001 said:
Thank you all for your help!! I’m going to take Joe and Bob’s advice for the video tonight. I’ll show the whole thing and pause it to mention the difference in understanding (how Catholics believe we are transformed rather than our sins being covered) - but I’ll also offer an alternate phrase that will stick in their minds instead (not quite sure of the wording yet, but something like “God gave us water for washing as he gave us Christ’s sacrifice to wash away our sins” and also “God gave Adam and Eve [and therefore all of us] clothing to help them resist sin, because their original sin separated them from God and caused them to have inappropriate physical desires that could be visually provoked” ← DO THOSE SOUND OKAY?). I’m also going to try to work in the need for reconciliation and penance for authentic beauty somewhere into this class series (we’ll have seven two hour classes and I think that might work best in class two).

I’m really looking forward to doing this class series. We will be looking at God’s view of beauty. It will be mainly using the Bible since we have two Protestant families; however we will also use teachings from the Church and Catholic Saints, and other sources that don’t conflict with Catholic teachings. The class is primarily for girls age 11 to 16 (the age when they start thinking about their appearance and want to start doing things like wearing earrings, nail polish, make-up, etc.), but their mothers will be attending and they will be encouraged to always discuss the material and their ideas for beautification with their mom and dad. The first three classes help them to understand that beauty is more than skin deep - that God created beauty and that it is a good thing, that he equates beauty in women with strength (physical, spiritual, emotional) and virtue, and that God does indeed approve of adornments such as jewelry, make-up and accessories just as he chose to adorn temples with precious gems and gold - although as with everything we must be prudent when using them. We will look at the history (since about 200AD) of how civilization defined beauty and the ways that it agreed and disagreed with God’s ideas for beauty. The girls and their moms will study the Bible and Church documents and determine what they want to avoid and pursue in bringing out the beauty God intended for them. Later classes will cover topics such as voice and language, posture, fitness and diet, selecting clothing and accessories that are affordable and stylish, yet modest, beautiful and expressive of their personal style.

Thank you again and maybe say a prayer for us that this goes well and is a positive experience, especially for the young ladies!

Yours in Christ,
Sally
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Wow, that sounds like a really great class series to do! I will pray that it goes well!

I think it sounds good. 👍
 
Tiber2001 said:
.

Thank you again and maybe say a prayer for us that this goes well and is a positive experience, especially for the young ladies!

Yours in Christ,
Sally
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We wish you all the best with the class. I think it’s going to be a steep learning curve for you, and while you may not get it all right the first time, any mistakes you make will be helpful for any future classes you may plan on having.

The Lord be with you.
 
Thanks again for your help and prayers! The class last night went great. The young ladies were much more into it and much more insightful than we moms thought they’d be. It’s clear that the subject is close to their hearts and they are looking for wholesome guidance.
Bob, I’m not worried about the learning curve so much as the prep time, since my oldest child is 13 and we are expecting our 8th, and so I have have many other obligations. I appreciate the reminder though about the inevitable mistakes and how they can be helpful!
Yours in Christ,
Sally
 
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