Worried about a post I read

  • Thread starter Thread starter Stargirl
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
@Stargirl

Matthew 6:25-34 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,[a] or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Psalms 119:9-12 9 How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word.10 With my whole heart I seek you;do not let me stray from your commandments.11 I treasure your word in my heart,so that I may not sin against you.12 Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes.

Wisdom 11:23 But you are merciful to all, for you can do all things,
and you overlook people’s sins, so that they may repent.

Sirach 7:36 In all you do, remember the end of your life, and then you will never sin.

James 4: 5 Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,

“God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.”

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Wisdom 6:10 For they will be made holy who observe holy things in holiness,
and those who have been taught them will find a defense.

1 Peter 5:5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders.[c] And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for

“God opposes the proud,
** but gives grace to the humble.”**

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8 Discipline yourselves, keep alert.[d] Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters[e] in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.
 
Last edited:
It also means we should avoide sins by the grace of God, and resist it.

Sirach 21:2 Flee from sin as from a snake; for if you approach sin, it will bite you.
Its teeth are lion’s teeth, and can destroy human lives.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.
 
Last edited:
I’ve been interested in Catholicism because I’m delving deeper into church history. I saw a quote on here… something like “you can’t study church history and remain a Protestant?”
 
“To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant”
-Cardinal Newman
 
Stargirl said:
I’ve been interested in Catholicism because I’m delving deeper into church history. I saw a quote on here… something like “you can’t study church history and remain a Protestant?”
Click to expand...
This is great Stargirl! This is what happened to me. I was baptized as an infant, what we call a “cradle Catholic”, then when I was your age I wandered away from my faith for many years. I sojourned with my Protestant brethren for a couple decades before I got into the history of the Church. I studied my way back into the faith of my baptism when I realized that the Church founded by Christ is Catholic. The Church is not without problems and issues, but I believe that Jesus has kept his promise that the gates of hell have not prevailed.
 
Welcome Stargirl 😃
One thing that struck me about the verse is that it deals with lust and greed.

Lust is a sin that many holy people tell us should be run away from. Some sins, such as anger or impatience, we learn to deal with by thinking of a situation and the correct way to respond. Lust, however, is a sin which we are specifically warned not to do this with, as this will not lead to overcoming it but to its opposite.

I imagine that greed could be similar. Imagine becoming a Christian and sitting around thinking of all the great food you used to eat, all the great stuff you had, back when you were a pagan cheating all your customers.
 
Lust and greed are I think the most dangerous of the seven deadly sins. Because they lead to many sinful actions, like cheating on your wife or frauding someone out of their money.
 
Does the church have any official teaching on this verse? I’d be really interested in reading a Catholic Bible commentary.
 
Stargirl said:
Ephesians 5:3
Click to expand...
This section of the Catechism would be of help:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p2.htm

Begin reading the verse in context with the footnotes and cross references. St Paul was writing to what we would now call the “Diocese of Ephesus”. A Pastoral Letter, so, I’d begin with at minimum the prior chapter:


Here is a very good study of Ephesians:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1586174657/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc_mma?ie=UTF8&condition=all


http://www.stmargaretmary.com/rcia/SHahnAdultEd03.html
 
Last edited:
Stargirl said:
Does the church have any official teaching on this verse? I’d be really interested in reading a Catholic Bible commentary.
Click to expand...
There’s no real “official teaching”, but there are commentaries that can give a general idea of what the Church has taught in the past regarding it’s perceived meaning.

Douay-Rheims Version: “Ephesians 5: [3] But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints: [4] Or obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to no purpose; but rather giving of thanks. [5] For know you this and understand, that no fornicator, or unclean, or covetous person (which is a serving of idols), hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”

This is from the Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary:
Ver. 3. Covetousness.[1] The Latin word is generally taken for a coveting or immoderate desire of money and riches. S. Jerom and others observe, that the Greek word in this and divers other places in the New Testament may signify any unsatiable desire, or the lusts of sensual pleasures; and on this account, S. Jerom thinks that it is here joined with fornication and uncleanness. But S. Chrys. in the last chapter, (v. 19. hom. xiii. and on this chap. v. 3.) shews that by the Greek word is understood avarice, or an immoderate desire of riches, when he tells (hom. xviii) that this sin is condemned by those words of Christ, Luke xvi. 13. You cannot serve God and mammon. Wi.

Ver. 4. Nor obscenity.[2] What is here meant by this word, S. Chrys. tells us at large in the moral exhortation after his 17th homily; to wit, jests with immodest suggestions or a double meaning, and raillery or buffoonery against the rules of good conversation, scarce made use of by any but by men of low condition and of a mean genius, which is not to the purpose of a Christian, who must give an account to God of all his words. Wi.

Ver. 5. Nor covetous person, which is a serving of idols. It is clear enough by the Greek that the covetous man is called an idolater, whose idol in mammon; though it may be also said of other sinners, that the vices they are addicted to are their idols. Wi.

In a nutshell, this is an admonition by St. Paul to not even think or speak about such debase subjects, let alone to make light or joke about them, because just talking about them might be a near occasion of sin that could eventually lead someone to think even more about them, which could also be sinful (like Jesus says in Matthew 5: [28] But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.).
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top