Would it be charitable to inform a fellow Catholic that Chain Prayers (in email) are a sin?

[iamhewhoisnot]

I constantly receive chain letters in email from various contacts, mostly my non-Catholic friends. I simply read and delete them, as I find them to be bad manners if nothing else.

However I just received the following chain prayer from a member of our Knights or Columbus council, who sent it out to the entire council mailing list.

Concentrate on this sentence

“To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did” When God takes something from your grasp. He’s not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

Concentrate on this sentence.

"The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you. Something good will happen to you today, something that you have been waiting for to hear. Please do not break. Just 27 Words, God our Father, walk through my house and take away all my worries and illnesses and please watch over and heal my family in Jesus name, Amen.

His prayer is so powerful.

Pass this to 12 people including me. A blessing is coming to you in form of a new job, a house, marriage or financially. Do not break or ask questions. Does God come first in your life? If so, stop what you’re doing & send it to 12 people now. Watch what he does.

The Modern Catholic Dictionary by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. says this about chain prayers: (paraphrased)

“Chain prayers are a superstitious practice to receive favor, not so much from God’s goodness as from the magic effect of this unbroken series of prayers…All forms of chain prayers are superstition and correspondingly sinful.”

So my question is would it be better for me to just delete the email like I do with non-Catholic friends, or should I out of Charity inform this Brother Knight and fellow Catholic that what he did is consider a sin and may be causing many of the people who received it to commit a sin out of ignorance.

 

[the_phoenix]

I once had the honor and privilege of attending a Mass celebrated by the late Father John Hardon, and have read some of his wisdom online at:

therealpresence.org/archives/archives.htm

What is the actual quote rather than the paraphrase? In my view you would be performing a spiritual work of mercy to charitably inform your brother Knight about why he ought not to send superstitious chain e-mails. Including the quote would be very valuable.

 

[sojo]

Just a slight tweak, would be my take on it. I would not inform the friend that what he was sinning (at least not directly). Instead, I would let him know that I was not going to forward the chain letter because it was my belief that do to so would be a sin FOR ME and then I would cut and paste Fr. H’s quote exactly.

Thank the friend for the post, but say you regret you cannot comply with his request because YOU believe it would be a sin for YOU to do so. Put the onus on yourself instead of pointing the finger back at the friend.

Just feel it would get the same idea across, but in a more charitable way.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[iamhewhoisnot]

**Chain Prayer. **A superstitious practice that consists in the saying of certain prayers successively by many individuals who hope for the favors received, not so much from God’s goodness as from the magic effect of this unbroken series of prayers. In its most common form a written or printed prayer is sent to the person who is to form one link in the chain and is asked to say this prayer and to continue the chain by persuading others to take up the praying where he or she leaves off. These in turn are to pass the prayer on to still others. The efficacy of the practice, therefore, is mainly in the chain and not in the prayer. All forms of chain prayer are superstition and correspondingly sinful.

  --Modern Catholic Dictionary  by John A. Hardon, S.J. (Copyright 1980)
    Copyright 1999 Inter Mirifica
     Reprinted & Published By:
            ETERNAL LIFE
         Bardstown, Kentucky

 

[iamhewhoisnot]

Put the onus on yourself instead of pointing the finger back at the friend.

Just feel it would get the same idea across, but in a more charitable way.

Just my 2 cents.

Very good point. That’s why I came here first to make sure I did the most charitable thing.

Now to add a further dimension to the question. Should I send it just to him, or do a reply to all, so that it is sent to every member on our mailing list, thus informing our whole council of what Fr. Hardon says about the subject, so that our council mailing list isn’t being used to cause others to sin.

 

[sojo]

hmmmm… interesting dilema. More charitable to only respond to the one who initiated the chain letter? Or more charitable to carefully respond to all.

If you do respond to all, you could word it as an apology, "I’m so sorry that I cannot participate in this chain prayer, but I believe it would be sinful for me to do so (insert cut and paste from Fr. H.). I assure you that I will nonetheless being praying for all of you and your intentions.

 

[WetCatechumen]

Chain e-mails and letters, in addition to being a sin, are just plain annoying. You could always tell them that.

 

[Catholic1954]

Good luck with that. I was spammed with these silly emails from several different Catholic friends and finally gave up complaining to them. They really think they are offering you something nice in the name of the Lord. :doh2:

 

[iamhewhoisnot]

I finally got around to replying to the Chain Prayer email, and decided to reply to all so that every member in our council will at least be aware of what the church has to say about such things. I want to thank every one for their advice and prayers. Below is the email I sent:

After much prayer and spiritual advice on the subject, I am writing to respond that what is written in this email is a beautiful and holy thing, however I will be nonparticipating in the continuation of a Chain Prayer. Instead of explaining my reasons I simple include below what Father John Hardon, S.J. wrote about Chain Prayers and simple ask that you please pray about it yourself.

May the Grace and Mercy of Christ Our Saviour Bless You All!

Pray for me a sinner!

In Charity,

Justin
**
Chain Prayer. **A superstitious practice that consists in the saying of certain prayers successively by many individuals who hope for the favors received, not so much from God’s goodness as from the magic effect of this unbroken series of prayers. In its most common form a written or printed prayer is sent to the person who is to form one link in the chain and is asked to say this prayer and to continue the chain by persuading others to take up the praying where he or she leaves off. These in turn are to pass the prayer on to still others. The efficacy of the practice, therefore, is mainly in the chain and not in the prayer. All forms of chain prayer are superstition and correspondingly sinful.

–Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. (Copyright 1980)
Copyright 1999 Inter Mirifica
Reprinted & Published By:
ETERNAL LIFE
Bardstown, Kentucky

Pray that it will be well recieved as I have now placed it into the Hands of the Holy Spirit! :angel1:

 

[Lost_one]

Just a slight tweak, would be my take on it. I would not inform the friend that what he was sinning (at least not directly). Instead, I would let him know that I was not going to forward the chain letter because it was my belief that do to so would be a sin FOR ME and then I would cut and paste Fr. H’s quote exactly.

Thank the friend for the post, but say you regret you cannot comply with his request because YOU believe it would be a sin for YOU to do so. Put the onus on yourself instead of pointing the finger back at the friend.

Just feel it would get the same idea across, but in a more charitable way.

Just my 2 cents.

Hi,

one of the 7 spiritual works of mercy is to admonish the sinner. This does not equal to be spiteful or unpleasant. One can admonish charitably. There is no thing as “as sin for me” either something is a sin (and it should be pointed out to everyone) or it is not.
Accompanying the response with the quote of the passage pointing out the sin was a good idea. However I fail to see the extra charity if the passage clearly says it is a sin for everyone to engage in chain emails, as the passage clearly points out the error of the original sender(s), which is good as it is the whole point of the response.

In fact in some cases a too bland (or no) response could be sinful in itself if it fails to provide the necessary warning to the sinner. Sin is a big deal, your pointing it out, out of love for your peers, is commendable, not something to be ashamed of.

Fred

 

[iamhewhoisnot]

Just an update, I got one response within an hour or so of sending out the email, and it was very positive. It’s posted below:

Justin, Thank you for this message. I have, for a long time, felt guilty about breaking those emails. Something inside told me it wasn’t right to ask God for favors or rewards in such a way. It is of course, okay to ask people to pray for others or causes, but not “conditioned” on forwarding the email to x number of people. Your message is well taken.
Peace,

And Lost One while you are correct we are to admonish the sinner…period. One of the 3 Theological Virtue is Faith, Hope, and Charity (caritas aka LOVE) so that’s why it was so important on how to practice this work of mercy with the greatest Virtue being **Love **

Just my thoughts, nothing more. We are all on this journey together, and we all (I hope) want to find each other at the same destination.

:harp:

 

[iamhewhoisnot]

I also wanted to point out that a condition for a sin to be a sin is “that the act be a deliberate transgression of the law of God.” I seriously doubt that this person meant anything but the best when sending out the email, and was not deliberately committing an act which he knew to be contrary to the law of God.

 

[Lost_one]

I also wanted to point out that a condition for a sin to be a sin is “that the act be a deliberate transgression of the law of God.” I seriously doubt that this person meant anything but the best when sending out the email, and was not deliberately committing an act which he knew to be contrary to the law of God.

I read once that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” I am sure the person wasn’t deliberately misguiding others but this does not diminish the necessity of educating those in error, otherwise it would be best to be ignorant and therefore be unable to “deliberately” transgress a law of God.

I gave for granted the charity in your pointing out the sin, because you stated your intention was to avoid an offense against God not the pleasure of rebuking someone. The act in of itself was charitable.

God bless you,
Fred

 

[iamhewhoisnot]

[sign]Point Well Taken![/sign]

 

[po18guy]

I read once that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” I am sure the person wasn’t deliberately misguiding others but this does not diminish the necessity of educating those in error, otherwise it would be best to be ignorant and therefore be unable to “deliberately” transgress a law of God.

The military definition of good intentions: “Friendly fire”

 

[po18guy]

However I just received the following chain prayer from a member of our Knights or Columbus council, who sent it out to the entire council mailing list.

The Modern Catholic Dictionary by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. says this about chain prayers: (paraphrased)

So my question is would it be better for me to just delete the email like I do with non-Catholic friends, or should I out of Charity inform this Brother Knight and fellow Catholic that what he did is consider a sin and may be causing many of the people who received it to commit a sin out of ignorance.

I would fire it right back with the following sections of the catechism attached:

(Note: This is the FIRST commandment!)

III. "YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME"

CCC2110 The first commandment forbids honoring gods other than the one Lord who has revealed himself to his people. It proscribes superstition and irreligion. Superstition in some sense represents a perverse excess of religion; irreligion is the vice contrary by defect to the virtue of religion.

Superstition

CCC2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.41

CCC2138 Superstition is a departure from the worship that we give to the true God. It is manifested in idolatry, as well as in various forms of divination and magic.

You will receive a reward in heaven for correcting a brother who has strayed. Notice how the chain-email asserts authority over you? “Do not break or question”. This is of the evil one!

 

[iamhewhoisnot]

Notice how the chain-email asserts authority over you? “Do not break or question”. This is of the evil one!

Your last comment there is very powerful indeed. The only person who responded from the list said he always felt confused on how he should respond, and I admit even I sometime feel like I should just in case, but by the Grace of The LORD my rational self and/or my Guardian Angel takes care of that very quickly.

Thank you for giving me something to mediate on…the issue of Authority. Not in the usually sense of the Authority of the Catholic Church, but in the authority that the evil one has over all of us, and how he uses it so skillfully and sly.



I’m lost for words, and lost in thought…

Time to pray and meditate!

Pray for me, a sinner.

[sign]God Bless You![/sign]

 

[po18guy]

Your last comment there is very powerful indeed. The only person who responded from the list said he always felt confused on how he should respond, and I admit even I sometime feel like I should just in case, but by the Grace of The LORD my rational self and/or my Guardian Angel takes care of that very quickly.

Thank you for giving me something to mediate on…the issue of Authority. Not in the usually sense of the Authority of the Catholic Church, but in the authority that the evil one has over all of us, and how he uses it so skillfully and sly.



I’m lost for words, and lost in thought…

Time to pray and meditate!

Pray for me, a sinner.

[sign]God Bless You![/sign]

Father Corapi teaches us to know the enemy. Once you begin looking, it is shocking to see where he has influence. He is most certainly within the Church, attacking it from both within and without. I don’t obsess over him, but I am very aware of his presence in our world.

A small note of caution: Each and every time you foil one of his plans, he may come against you from an unlikely direction. A copy of a good Catholic spiritual warfare prayer is a handy item to keep around - as eternal life insurance!

Christ’s peace be with you.

 

[santobauro]

Hi brothers and sisters in Christ and faith. I used to recieve this kind of letter. Some friends of mine always ask me this. I just told them to delete for they are waste of time. I have the believe that God does not have reward, regarding to this letter.

What do I understand of passing on this letter from others, not because of the sake of the prayer rather because of the curse and because of the reward. The sender wants not to be cursed, even to be killed, or he wants to get a reward. This is really contridict to what God offers us.

Thanks in anyway because the first time to come across with the word of Fr. J Hardon. This will help me to add on when I respond.