It’s been a while since I first posted this, but it’s still really worrying me.
Is it a sin if I don’t ask them to take me every week? I ask them on occasion but am usually met with ‘you don’t need to go to church to be a good christian.’
Do I really need to ask them to take me every week when I already know that they will just think I’m being silly?
Dear Gallifreyan,
You sound like me when I first decided to become Catholic! Here is what a Priest told me that I think might help you… Do not ever forget that Our Lord wants you to be saved. 1 Timothy 2:4. Your parents gave you an incredible gift when they had you Baptized. You became a beloved son of God. God doesn’t want to zap you and send you to Hell. He wants to sanctify you, his beloved son, and unite you to His sacrifice on the cross. (“God made us to show forth His goodness and to share with us His everlasting happiness in heaven.” (Baltimore Catechism, Lesion 1:3))
We have free well and thus a choice to love and serve God or not. Sin is always a choice we make. When we commit a mortal sin, we “turn … away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him.” CCC 1855. By our free will, we forfeit the Amazing gift of salvation that God gave us in our Baptism and require reconversion to make it to heaven. As the Catechism says, Mortal Sin “destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law.” CCC 1855. Remember mortal sin has 3 elements: 1) grave matter committed with 2) full knowledge and 3) deliberate consent; a true choice to turn away from God. All that to say, if we realize our destructive ways, God will always take us back through a good confession. Think of St. Peter, the first Pope, denying our Lord three times!
Remember, God is all powerful and all knowing. Our Lord knows everything about you and knows your heart. He knows exactly your situation. Do not forget this. You cannot sin except by your own free will. So, I would seriously doubt God would expect you to ask again and again every week as long as your desire is known.
Also remember, nothing happens by chance. God has a great plan for you. I love the reading from yesterday’s Mass, “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,* crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” GAL 4:4. There is a reason you are the only religious one in your family, here on CAF and looking to grow closer to God in Faith, and why this issue is continuing to bug you. Pray and discern the will of God with your life and He will lead you. He will show you your path.
While you are not bound under the pain of sin to do so, why not start taking an hour each Sunday and watching Mass on EWTN? These Masses are absolutely beautiful and you will learn so much about your faith and grow closer to God. Study your faith more during these times you are without means to get to Mass. I recommend a book called the
Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin.
When you get your license, do not lose your desire to serve God or you may fall into mortal sin. Be faithful in your Mass attendance and receive the sacrament of confession often. Do all of this with great humility towards your family. You would be surprised at the results of what can happen when God leads one family member to take their faith seriously. It can produce shock waive effects.
JMR
Use this time to learn as much as you can about the Faith. There is nothing like reading about the lives of the Saints when discouraged. I will pray for you.
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