Letting go of dread

OSV.com ^ | 07-06-16 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[Salvation]

Letting go of dread

Question: I have serious scrupulosity and have worked closely with several priests. I have been told if I follow their advice, I will go straight to heaven when I die. How can they make this statement? I am in grave doubt. — Name withheld, Cleveland

Answer: Since you do not state what the advice is, I cannot comment on that aspect. It is true that no one here, even a priest, can state unequivocally that a person will “go straight to heaven” when they die. The only exceptions might be someone who was baptized moments before their death or a baptized infant or young child who dies.

Serious scrupulosity is generally rooted in an unreasonable need for certainty regarding the state of one’s soul before God. This causes the person to obsessively fret that he might be in mortal sin and will go to hell if he dies. In very serious cases, the obsessive thoughts can be so severe that the person experiences the return of dread and fear moments after confessing; wondering if his very act of confessing was flawed. It is sometimes difficult for the priest to reassure such penitents, who become increasingly inconsolable as their fears and need for certainty grow. In the most serious cases, psychological intervention is required.

While strong confidence of salvation is surely available to the practicing believer, absolute certainty is not available to us here. If it were, faith and trust in God would not be necessary. Thus, the severely scrupulous person must be led to reject the unreasonable demand for certainty and feeling safe on our terms. He must be led to trust God’s mercy for those who have sorrow for their sins.

Generally, this spiritual treatment for serious scrupulosity means that one must see a regular confessor who sets up strict norms for the penitent to follow such as how frequently he may approach the sacrament, and how elaborate his descriptions of his sins may be. The confessor will often have to remind the penitent that he should trust the confessor who has the power of the keys and the task to assess how serious his situation really is. The point is to break the cycle and replace the inordinate demand for certainty with a trusting confidence in God.

I suspect that the priest you quote may have been using a kind of hyperbole (exaggeration) to emphasize that you should follow strictly the discipline and protocol he sets up for you, due to your scrupulosity.

[Salvation]

Is my faith stronger than my scrupulous tendencies?

[Salvation]

Monsignor Pope Ping to OSV column.

[aynrandfreak]

Dread about the Pope?

[Smittie]

While strong confidence of salvation is surely available to the practicing believer, absolute certainty is not available to us here.

The Bible tells us we can be sure of our salvation.

1 John 5:13 King James Version (KJV)

13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

[GreyFriar]

“going straight to heaven” he wrote. What got me was his unsaid/implied question: “or will I have to go to purgatory first?”

[left that other site]

Wow...we are studying 1 John 5 this very day on the Jerusalem Thread. :-)

(Coincidence?)

[Smittie]

Wow...we are studying 1 John 5 this very day on the Jerusalem Thread. :-)

(Coincidence?)

Funny how God winks at us sometimes. A buddy & I go to a Bible study and it rarely fails that the subject of what we talked about on the drive to the study or a question we come up with on the way will be addressed by the teacher. We never know what the study is going to be about and he certainly doesn't know what we've been talking about but the topic will come up even if the study wasn't on the subject.

[left that other site]

Indeed! That happens to me all the time too! :-)

[cloudmountain]

Is my faith stronger than my scrupulous tendencies?

I could answer you if I knew what "scrupulous tendencies" were.
Is that a "worry wart"?

[cloudmountain]

Funny how God winks at us sometimes. A buddy & I go to a Bible study and it rarely fails that the subject of what we talked about on the drive to the study or a question we come up with on the way will be addressed by the teacher. We never know what the study is going to be about and he certainly doesn't know what we've been talking about but the topic will come up even if the study wasn't on the subject.

I learned long ago to say: "I haven't a CLUE as to what you're talking about."

I FIRST had that sensation in Statistics 10 in college. A classmate and I went to the prof and said those words...only we made it "WE."

The prof gave me a "pity pass" on the course. I am STILL grateful.

[Lee N. Field]

Dread about the Pope?

"The Dread Pope Francis"

[ealgeone]

The Greek behind this further reinforces the message. God is not one to give salvation and then take it away.

[mrobisr]

As simple and sure as this...

Acts 16:31 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

31 But they said: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Romans 10:9-10 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

9 For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For, with the heart, we believe unto justice; but, with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.

[Smittie]

The Greek behind this further reinforces the message. God is not one to give salvation and then take it away.

That is true because if we could lose it, everyone would find the way and lose it.

[Smittie]

That’s true.

[boatbums]

While strong confidence of salvation is surely available to the practicing believer, absolute certainty is not available to us here. If it were, faith and trust in God would not be necessary.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (I John 5:11-13)

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (John 6:47)

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:27-29)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8,9)

[Rich21IE]

What is the Jerusalem thread?

[left that other site]

It is a daily thread on FR, in the Religion Forum. It has been online for 6 years and explores the Scriptures every day. We pray together for Israel, For America, and for persecuted believers worldwide.

Here is a link to today’s thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3457561/posts?page=7