Temptations Abound
Why is it that when you make the decision that you are going to clean up your life after you fail the same temptations come back stronger than ever? Why is it that there is so much temptation in this world? It is so hard to live a pure life now, not to say it wasn't hard 50 years from now, but so much harder now. Sex is everywhere, and you have 12, 13, 14 year old girls wearing things that in the past you couldn't show on television. Something has changed, and I am not sure what it is, but I don't like the way we are going. That is a different blog, however, this is about me. I am trying to fight through these temptations, though I fail quite often and I have to return to Jesus to ask for forgiveness. I think I had a bit of a breakthrough at Mass tonight, however. I realized that even though I pray for strength, I always take my burden upon myself. I am always the one trying to manage my temptations and trying to prevent my sins, and I am not strong enough... no one is. I need to hand all of my problems and temptations over to Jesus and let him take care of them, because he is strong enough. I am not quite sure how to do this, I am so used to going on my own and in a way apprehensive to give up my sins (strange how that is isn't it) but I know that I must move on and let him handle them if I am ever to become the person that God wants me to be.
My personal struggles again bring up the issue of me not feeling worthy. I know no one is worthy of this call, but still, how can you preach about something that you strugle with too? I know I have time to figure that out and maybe the preaching will just be an added reason for me to live a cleaner life, I don't know, but what I do know is that I have a lot of work to do before I can lead my fellow Catholics.
Speaking of leading my fellow Catholics (and Christians as well), I think that is a harder job than ever, I really do. We have a ton of moral relativists who don't or won't follow the teachings of the church. They take what they want and not what they don't and yet still call themselves Catholics or Christians when really they are just giving Catholics and Christians a bad name. I came across a group the other day called "Fornificators for Christ" and it really made me wonder if these people got it at all? Do they understand what Jesus was saying at all? It is hard being a Christian; there is pain and struggle, and I don't know that they understand that. It is a package deal, and while I do not believe God expects us to be perfect, I do believe he expects us to try. Fornificators for Christ; they are like those who told Jesus they wanted to follow him but yet couldn't give up something, and Jesus sent them home. I would love to hear what he would say to them (assuming I am right, but he may be far more merciful than I).
As you probably can tell, I am a pretty strict, conservative Catholic and I do believe there are few exceptions to the rule. I do not believe that everything is a mortal sin, I believe very few are, and I believe that intentions make all the difference in the world. I believe God looks more fondly on the person who keeps failing but repents every time and honestly tries not to repeat the sin than he does on someone who may only rarely repeat a sin but doesn't care that he is sinning. Maybe it is just because I go through cycles where I sin and repent, but that is how I view it.
Alright, enough for my homily tonight (maybe this won't be as hard as I thought).
My personal struggles again bring up the issue of me not feeling worthy. I know no one is worthy of this call, but still, how can you preach about something that you strugle with too? I know I have time to figure that out and maybe the preaching will just be an added reason for me to live a cleaner life, I don't know, but what I do know is that I have a lot of work to do before I can lead my fellow Catholics.
Speaking of leading my fellow Catholics (and Christians as well), I think that is a harder job than ever, I really do. We have a ton of moral relativists who don't or won't follow the teachings of the church. They take what they want and not what they don't and yet still call themselves Catholics or Christians when really they are just giving Catholics and Christians a bad name. I came across a group the other day called "Fornificators for Christ" and it really made me wonder if these people got it at all? Do they understand what Jesus was saying at all? It is hard being a Christian; there is pain and struggle, and I don't know that they understand that. It is a package deal, and while I do not believe God expects us to be perfect, I do believe he expects us to try. Fornificators for Christ; they are like those who told Jesus they wanted to follow him but yet couldn't give up something, and Jesus sent them home. I would love to hear what he would say to them (assuming I am right, but he may be far more merciful than I).
As you probably can tell, I am a pretty strict, conservative Catholic and I do believe there are few exceptions to the rule. I do not believe that everything is a mortal sin, I believe very few are, and I believe that intentions make all the difference in the world. I believe God looks more fondly on the person who keeps failing but repents every time and honestly tries not to repeat the sin than he does on someone who may only rarely repeat a sin but doesn't care that he is sinning. Maybe it is just because I go through cycles where I sin and repent, but that is how I view it.
Alright, enough for my homily tonight (maybe this won't be as hard as I thought).
posted by Mike | 9:59 PM
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