Posted on 04/29/2013 4:18:02 AM PDT by markomalley
I couldnt agree more. The absence of shame is why we are where we are as a country and a church.
The Pope is right on this one, but it is that shame that is stopping so many people from going to penance.
Its a bit of a catch 22 for the Church.
That interpretation is a bit of a surprise, but it does fit in the context of the rest of the letter.
As further proof, consider that while Dem’s have no shame, they are quite happy to shine the light on conservatives who fall short of conservative values.
I think it is more fear than shame. I certainly see that in the teens I work with if they rarely go to confession. The teens that regularly go seem to look forward to it. In both cases though, they all have a real joy when they exit the confessional.
Shame has largely left the country.
So has outrage over moral wrongs.
The red face of shame is proof that the conscience is still operational.
Without shame most are utterly unaware that they need Penance. Truly a vicious circle.
Hear, hear!
oh no try to convince any of today’s psychologists of this TRUTH
True Reconciliation story.... When I was in college, a friend went to Reconciliation and got yelled at by the priest because she, like me, hadn’t been in years. (Both of us are recovering Catholics). She walked away from the confessional without finishing it. She nor I ever thought twice about doing that again.
I have no problem about asking God for forgiveness. He already knows how screwed up I am. I do have an issue with the being judged by a priest part. Most priests fall far short of the high standards set by Papa Bergoglio.
It takes a lot of humility AND courage to admit one’s faults in front of someone else.
But what a blessing it is!
And the graces received — sometimes I am speechless or in tears.
That would be a great tagline!~
**I have no problem about asking God for forgiveness.**
Do go back — you never know if God really answers you and forgives your sins. In Confession you do. Just make an appointment with a priest to talk with him in his office.
Let me tell you a story.
There were two guys working in an office; both were Catholic. The first guy went to church regularly and kept asking his friend in the next cubicle to go with him.
He asked and asked and asked.
Finally the second guy said he would att Mass with his friend.
When they got to the Church the first guy noticed that the priest was hearing confessions, and he urged his friend to go to Confession — but he refused.
The first guy went to Confession anyway. After Mass they were in an auto accident and both were killed.
God met the second guy and flased his life in front of him showing him all the Sundays he hadn’t attended Mass and all his other mortal sins — then he sent him away.
The first guy came up to God and asked him if his life was going to flash in front of him too. God’s words to him: “I don’t remember any sins. Come into heaven with me, son.”
Perhaps there is a program for Catholics returning to the Church in your area. That’s another route to take.
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1449 The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: the Father of mercies is the source of all forgiveness. He effects the reconciliation of sinners through the Passover of his Son and the gift of his Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church:
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The idea of reconciliation and confession came up in Mad Men during the second season. Peggy, who is the young secretary turns ad exec., has a child out of wedlock at trend of the first season. She doesn’t even know she is pregnant during the season. (Or she suspects it and tries to ignore it.). Lots of the story during the season is a young priest basically trying to shame her into going to Confession. (He finds out about it during her older sister’s Confession and basically breaks the seal.). Since this is the early 1960s, there is obviously great shame and ostracization associated with what happened to Peggy. She doesn’t end up going to confession, but she does end up telling the baby’s father, a young married exec. in the firm, about the baby and the fact that she had given it up for adoption. This gives her more peace than a Church confession ever would ad the season closes with her absolving herself ala Reconciliation.
I have a hard time believing that righteous people of other religions aren’t forgiven their sins because they don’t celebrate what is solely a Catholic sacrament and is centered on Catholicism weird desire for public shame. It would be sad to me if God told a victim of the Shoah that they weren’t completely absolved of their sins. Not really the merciful God that I am looking for.
I do have an issue with the being judged by a priest part.
But you do have a problem with the Sacrament instituted by God Himself, confession.
Better start working on the defense you'll attempt to mount during your particular judgment.
And then you will understand why people have left the Catholic Church in the first place. A friend and I were talking over the weekend about whether we know any practicing Catholics who are also really holy people. We couldn’t think of any off the top of our head. We could think of devout Jewish friends and Christian Evangelical friends who were good ambassadors to their faiths. But the devout Catholics we know tend to come off preachy and judgmental.
The priests are even worse. I never met one who I would feel comfortable going to if I was having a crisis. When I was growing up, the priests were not warm and cuddly figures. And you always felt judged and condemend around them. (And I am only 31 years old so this was the 1990s.). Even more recently, the local pastor at my Church couldn’t even bother to talk with my father when my grandmother died. He was too busy. My dad still goes to Mass regularly but my grandpa is currently on hospice and I doubt he would go to his local priest again. The same crabby priests are still there; the joke with my parents is that they haven’t gotten the memo from upper management yet.
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