Hey, faithful Catholics, why are YOU here?

This plea goes for sinners whose souls are heavy with old-fashioned sins of the flesh, and also for sinners whose souls are heavy with the even older sins of pride and presumption.

Read the rest of my latest for The Catholic Weekly here.

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5 thoughts on “Hey, faithful Catholics, why are YOU here?”

  1. Ah, the proud. The new unforgivables. Thank you for withholding judgment on them. My parents both grew up in abusive homes and responded in their brokenness not with a life of drugs and sex but with an extremely black and white rigid view of the world, in which they staunchly condemn all the things that led to their pain. They have to adhere to the rules to believe God loves them and I have to adhere to believe God loves me or they love me. It is hard for me to move past this brokenness, especially when the Church has recently been soo disparaging towards people who struggle with the temptation to find security through the sins of the spirit rather than the flesh. More than once, in an anxiety-ridden moment, I have wished I were an alcoholic instead of a control freak, so that maybe the Pope could have a kind word for me. Thank you for declining to judge the first girl more fit for heaven than the second. It has been a long time since I have seen anyone put down the stone they had picked up against the proud. Please pray for the repentant proud and legalistic and angry. If it is indeed the worst sin, it needs the most mercy.

    1. My God! Beauty, clarity and heartfelt charity right there. Thank you for expressing such a poetic comment. I guess I’ll have to read the piece now. 😉

    2. Yay! Thank you so much for saying this. It has not been said nearly enough, and hardly ever nearly as well. And God bless you in your ongoing journey to the All-Merciful One.

  2. I agree 100% with this post. 100%. For the record, if I was sitting next to a person who I knew hadn’t set foot in church for years, I wouldn’t presume to intervene if (s)he got in the Communion line. I agree that it isn’t my place to judge the condition of his/her soul. However, if (s)he turned to me before and said “Hey Jim should I receive?” I would say yes, but not right now. I felt that your last line of ” come and eat” could be perceived as giving permission.

    For what it’s worth, I really appreciate you continuing the conversation in another post. Thank you!

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