Hi guys,
Thanks for all the helpful replies – a lot of very interesting comments.
LSK – thanks for your ideas, I haven’t yet either prayed specifically about it or discussed the situation with my confessor. While I don’t believe that what I did was a sin, I do still feel somewhat guilty about it.
A little more background – Cheddar, yes you’re right that I did live for a good while at home. While I lived at home, I paid good rent to my parents (more than average) and also helped around the house, my specific job was ironing for the whole family, which let me off the dusting and hovering! I wanted to move out earlier but my parents were very against the idea of me renting and “pouring money down the drain” as they saw it, they wanted me to save up to buy a place of my own and as soon as I got the funds together and it was practically possible I did just that. My parents really like to have their chicks around them, especially my Dad funnily enough (I think in most families it is the Mum) and I think it was quite hard for them when I actually moved out.
Another point I omitted first time round was that Dad actually approached me a few weeks before the “Anna” incident, said that a priest friend of his was coming over for a few days and would it be ok if he spent those nights in my apartment, with me moving back home. Funnily enough, I said “No problem” because I knew this priest had been particularly good to Dad and I felt it was something I could do to honour him for that. It would have given him a bit of independence to have his own place as well etc. Maybe I was also in a good mood when Dad asked me but anyway I said yes. This never materialised in the end as the priest had already arranged his own accommodation.
Anyway, when the request came about Anna only a few weeks later and it seemed to be expected that I say yes I felt that in this case, there were no “special circumstances” as such, she is a regular friend of Dads and was being facilitated for an early flight out of the city in the morning. It seemed an awful upheaval for just one night. I also felt that knowing Anna, she would actually prefer to be in a family house with people that she knew well rather than in an apartment by herself – she is very gregarious and in her 60s.
I do genuinely love my Dad an awful lot and I feel bad whenever I say No to him – sometimes I have problems knowing when to stand up for myself and say No and when to say Yes out of love and charity. Anyway, I appreciate all the comments.
God bless
" to you.
