Why the same sins over and over?

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I found myself committing the same specific mortal sin over and over again over many many years…I finally got so tired of it…I sat down with God and said, “Dad your word says that if I love you, I’ll keep your commandments…I don’t keep them…I don’t love you”, and let me tell you…being brutally honest with that confession woke me up real fast. I still fall, but it is far far less and when I do…I am absolutely living in turmoil…I guess it’s not cool of Christians to say, “I don’t love God”…but hey if your actions say you don’t, then be honest…we can be real fond of Him, but it’s through this honesty with Him (He knows anyway, He was just waiting for us to be honest with ourselves) that He can deal with this issue…and He is faithful to deal with it…He is so awesome! 👍
 
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Suzi:
I found myself committing the same specific mortal sin over and over again over many many years…I finally got so tired of it…I sat down with God and said, “Dad your word says that if I love you, I’ll keep your commandments…I don’t keep them…I don’t love you”, and let me tell you…being brutally honest with that confession woke me up real fast. I still fall, but it is far far less and when I do…I am absolutely living in turmoil…I guess it’s not cool of Christians to say, “I don’t love God”…but hey if your actions say you don’t, then be honest…we can be real fond of Him, but it’s through this honesty with Him (He knows anyway, He was just waiting for us to be honest with ourselves) that He can deal with this issue…and He is faithful to deal with it…He is so awesome! 👍
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Yes it’s true that we have to be honest with Him, cause He knows everything anyway… 🙂 We have to worship him in Spirit and in Truth… in Him we find all answers to our questions.

God bless
 
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Fergal:
Well never forget that satan knows where we are weakest and also knows when to strike.

Dizzy,
Here are two powerful prayers to St. Michael and St. Joseph. St. Michael the Archangel and St. Joseph are both PROTECTORS:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in the day of Battle; Be our safeguard against the widkedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke Him, we humbly pray, and do Thou, O Prince of Heavenly Host, by the power of God, case into Hell, Satan and all the other evil spirts, who prowl through the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen

O blessed Joseph, faithful guardian of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, protector of thy chaste spouse, the virgin Mother of God, I choose thee this day to be my special patron and advocate and I firmly resolve to honor thee all the days of my life. Therefore, I humbly beseech thee to receive me as thy client, to instruct me in every doubt, to comfort me in every affliction, to obtain for me and for all the knowledge and love of the Heart of Jesus, and finlly defend and protect me at the hour of my death. Amen

👍
Shannin
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I thought I was alone! Every time I went to confession I was given such good advice. I would then think of a game plan. But, easier said than done. I still fall, and continue to fall victim to the same sin. I guess my deals with other parties. One of them asked me why I go to confession so often. I said I wanted to be pure for Communion and plus be true to myself & God. The response I got was that we are all sinners. Anyway, it is good to know that I am not alone. Thing is, how do you approach and teach others who may not feel the same?
 
Thank you again dizzy_dave for your post. I am only signed up and starting RCIA soon.

I was wondering how I could learn to love Jesus more than my sin. And I was not as willing as now to leave a certain sin behind. Even now I am really struggling.

August 2, 2004 at about 11 PM. Just before going to sleep, I prayed some “Our Fathers” and “Hail Marys”. I couldn’t remember St. Augustine’s name (he had prayed “Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.”) So instead I prayed and reminded Archbishop Sheen that he said “and who in the name of God has not [sin]?” – his “Suffering” telecast. And I asked Archbishop Sheen how he was able to get over sin in his life. With my eyes still closed, a very quick instant reply to my prayer was a very dim and very brief red flash of light (which looked like the red light near the tabernacle of my parish church). My mind knew the answer right away. Archbishop Sheen made a Holy Hour before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament each day (Eucharistic Adoration). I didn’t even know as much about Archbishop Sheen as I do now.

Since then, I finished reading Fulton Sheen’s “Life is Worth Living” and I am now 2/3 the way through “Treasure in Clay”. In his autobiography, Fulton Sheen devotes a whole chapter to Eucharistic Adoration – Chapter 12 “The Hour that Makes My Day”. It isn’t too feasible for me to do it. I did a Holy Hour last Thursday, but it probably is not feasible for me to do it daily – not really because of time, but because a tabernacle may not be available nearby for me to semi-privately do a Holy Hour. On page 196 Sheen writes “…another presence…is the Scripture. … You could make the Hour before the Scriptures.” I just did a Google search and that whole chapter is at this web site: catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Dossier/0910-96/classic.html

I am still struggling. But I haven’t started the “ONE HOUR WATCHERS” plan that Archbishop Sheen and Jack McAllister (a Protestant) developed together.

Part of why I’m replying to this thread is to make sure I will be able to find it again. Because so many of the ideas in this thread seem so very good to me.

Maybe this helps somebody. If you are not willing to let go, are you at least willing to be made willing? Pray and ask God that you become willing to let go and to want Him first. I still need help to be more willing. But I am willing to be made more willing.

Another idea. Make detailed notes of what is happening. When God does something special in your life – even if it is the smallest miracle – write it down and document it. Then later you know the details. You won’t forget. And as time goes on, you can see how you have grown and see how God has worked.

And if it is the force of habit that causes you to sin over and over, then it might not be a mortal sin. Because you may not have the full capability of your will in the matter. So ask your Priest about it in confession next time you go. You are fortunate to be able to go. I cannot go yet.

I guess the red light is called a sanctuary lamp. I didn’t realize the red light near my Church’s tabernacle was a candle in a red glass until about three weeks ago. I guess they are all that way. Where I spent last Thursday’s Holy Hour I got a good look at the candle and I think it looked the same as at my parish Church.
 
Oshiego Rod:
I thought I was alone! Every time I went to confession I was given such good advice. I would then think of a game plan. But, easier said than done. I still fall, and continue to fall victim to the same sin. I guess my deals with other parties. One of them asked me why I go to confession so often. I said I wanted to be pure for Communion and plus be true to myself & God. The response I got was that we are all sinners. Anyway, it is good to know that I am not alone. Thing is, how do you approach and teach others who may not feel the same?
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One way to avoid sinning over and over again is to get with a Catholic group/ministry that has an accountability program. Sort of like a SA (Sinners Anonymous) program. Rod, you are in one now. You just have to use your resources at hand. I have the same problem with sinning. It’s when we stop letting it bother us is when it becomes a problem.

God Bless,
Davis
 
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dhgray:
Rod, you are in one now. You just have to use your resources at hand.
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Oh my, how true! I am blessed to be a part of Singles For Christ and more blessed to be a part if the bigger picture, the Catholic Church. I just went to the National Conference, and it was a very rewarding experience. It was worth the 16 hour drive to New Jersey. I also liked how we had Mass before and after the conference.

It is also a strange coincidence how one of the topics discussed was in relation to this.

:clapping:
 
Welcome to the human race. This is our condition as fallen humans. Sin of course is another issue and despair is another thing. Always trust in the mercy and love of God. Remember that we cannot out-sin His love for us.
 
I’m currently reading Archbishop Sheen’s autobiography “Treasure in Clay”. I started reading Sheen last June. His life, his teaching and his writing are primarily why I am going to go to RCIA this year. He gives such good instructions in the Christian faith.

Chapter 21 “The Three Stages of My Life” is so revealing. I hope I do not sound pious or Holy because of what I say – much of chapter 21 seems to also be a story of my own life as well. The way I read that chapter in view of my own life may not at all be the life that Fulton Sheen lived – so don’t infer something bad about him because of what I see in my own life.

1st Stage – God prepared and called me to a purpose according to His plan. I responded. At first I was glad. I never completely yielded to His will. Perhaps because of fear or ignorance.

Fulton Sheen writes some in the 1st stage that I think pertains very much to the topic of this thread.

When we have labored “all the night and have taken nothing” we are summoned to recommence our response to vocation. There is not a priest in the world who has not had in his life a long chain of generous beginnings, the rowing out again into the very sea we thought was barren.

2nd Stage – I ultimately refuse a call to a life-long self-sacrifice. I demand and seek after my own comfort. And on one specific day, the sharp differences between my chosen path and God’s path for my life make it impossible to go both ways. I chose my own way. God’s gift for ministry in my life stopped.

Bishop Sheen writes in the 2nd Stage:

Looking at both the ideal and the reality, I wonder if I would ever really be pleasing to the Lord if He had not intervened. …if the Divine Sculptor Himself had not come to complete the work He would never be able to see in me His image.

3rd Stage – I am at the very beginning of what could be the 3rd stage in my life. Inwardly, I was hiding from God and watching the time pass while I was stuck in a state of mortal sin and enslaved by it. But Jesus has sought me out. I am 49 years old. In the very middle of my 50th year (see what Leviticus says of the 50th year) God has reached out to me and wants to restore me from my bondage to sin. God wants to restore me to my homeland (which probably includes me to become a member of the Roman Catholic Church).

Fulton Sheen writes a key sentence in the 3rd stage that I think pertains very much to the topic of this thread.

The only difference between a sinner and a saint is found in their attitude toward their sins – the one persisting in them; the other weeping bitterly.

My understanding is that the weeping bitterly includes a desire to return to Jesus. And it includes loving Jesus and recalling our the first love for Him. His love towards us did not fail.

Archbishop Sheen’s writing is so much superior to my understanding of it, that I usually must read and re-read most of it just to get some understanding. If any of you all are still struggling, I very much recommend that you get his autobiography “Treasure in Clay” and read it.
 
I AM IN EXACTLY THE SAME BOAT. WILL BE GOING TO CONFESSION IN ABOUT TWO AND A HALF HOURS-FOR ALMOST THE EXACT SAME THING I CONFESSED TWO WEEKS AGO. I CLEARLY REMEMBER THE ADVICE THE PRIEST GAVE ME. BUT MY, ONE OF MY, BIGGEST PROBLEMS IS ANGER/IRRITIBILITY. SO EVEN THOUGH I KNOW ALL SORTS OF THINGS FOR HANDLING IT, IT IS USUALLY ALL OVER BEFORE I’VE STOPPED TO DO ANYTHING. ALSO, SOMETIMES I DO STOP TO THINK, BUT SIMPLY CAN’T CONTROL THE ANGER. I WILL PRAY FOR YOU, THOUGH.

SFX
 
I AGREE WITH FLICK427. AS I’VE SAID, I STRUGGLE WITH ANGER, AMONG OTHER THINGS, BUT HERE’S A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHEN I STOP AND ASK THE BLESSED VIRGIN FOR HELP. I WAS SITTING IN MASS YESTERDAY AND I WAS VERY AGITATED AND I KNEW I COULD BE SET OFF BY THE SLIGHTEST THING, BUT I IMMEDIATELY ASKED MARY NOT TO LET THIS OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE PASS ME BY ( I HAD JUST BEEN PRAYING ABOUT MY ANGER, STATING THAT I REALLY WANTED TO CHANGE ). AS I PRAYED FOR HER HELP I FELT ALL THE IRRITABILITY SLIP AWAY. IT RETURNED AGAIN A LITTLE LATER, AND I PRAYED AGAIN. I DID NOT PRAY FOR IT TO GO AWAY. I PRAYED FOR THE STRENGTH TO OVERCOME IT, THAT I MAY GIVE GLORY TO GOD IN DOING SO, AND THAT HE MAY USE IT FOR REPARATION/EXPIATION OF SIN, AS IT WAS SUFFERING. HOPE THIS HELPS.

SFX
 
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Benignus:
This quote from Dom Augustin Guillerand might be helpful.

“This is the secret of peace, after committing a fault. What is past is past. And if we accept the consquences, while bracing our will, we can be sure that God will know how to draw glory even from our faults. Not to be downcast after committing a fault is one of the marks of true sanctity, for the saint knows how to find God in everything, in spite of human appearances.”
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Benignus, this is an awesome quote, thank you for posting it for us. Can you tell me who was/is Dom Augustin Guillerand? His is a name I am unfamiliar with, but the quote has whetted my interest! I find this quote very helpful and comforting. Thank you so much!
 
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