What exactly is meant by honoring your mother and father?

[BlueRain]

I ask because I try to be nice to my dad, but he is a tough person to get along with. I don’t want to disrespect my dad, but it’s hard sometimes.

I just went to confession today and I already feel like I have broken a commandment.

The more I think about it, the more I think I’m being scrupulous when it comes to this matter.

What happened was that we got a dine-in order and they wanted the special. So, I wrote all of the special down instead of just “Special” since he sometimes forgets what it is, lol.

So then he makes a big fuss about it saying should just have wrote down “special” on the ticket and not the whole thing. So, got angry and I said in a mean voice “Fine, you know what the special is then don’t look at the ticket, since you don’t need it” and took theticket away from him and flipped the ticket over.

No swearing or shouting and maybe it’s not a big deal, but very childish. But I felt bad and like said, I’m sorta scrupolus when it comes to this matter. I try to have some sort of cordial relationship with my dad. It bothers me, I wanted to go to Communion tommorrow, but now I don’t know what to do.

 

[Pax]

You have not sinned beyond that which is venial. Feel free to go to communion tomorrow. Don’t feel scrupulous. Some people are hard to get along with. Sometimes those people are our parents. Simply be as kind and understanding as you can. Avoid criticizing when you are angry. Wait until you cool off and then see if you can talk about issues between the two of you. If your dad responds unfavorably then just leave it alone.

Most of all pray for your father and pray for patience. Carefully look for the hot buttons that each of you have and avoid pushing his. You can also learn to avoid getting upset when he pushes your buttons. We can get into cycles of pushing one anothers buttons and it takes a lot of effort to break the cycle.

If you are constantly working for the good in the situation with love and peace in your heart, the Lord will help you see it through.

 

[dulcissima]

You are not intentionally being disrespectful to your dad and are continuing to work on your attitude. Your unintentional sins will be washed away by taking communion, so don’t let your scrupulosity keep you away from communion with our Lord.