The Catholic Guilt is a Thing. So is Divine Mercy.
The Dictionary of Oxford Languages defines catholic guilt as "
- "I definitely have a lot of Catholic guilt"
The rational guilt is real and its not just a catholic thing. It's about 3 000 years old, for we know, we are all sinners. We also recognize that there are different worldviews:
Hindu sees the human person as a soul trapped in a body.
The Buddhist sees the person as neither a body nor a soul.
The atheist views the person as a body without a soul. For the atheist it is impossible to sin, so she can engage in the most despicable acts, feel and feel proud about it. But because they can't sin, they can't partake of the joy that comes from a personal relationship with the Creator.
We’re each free to believe whatever we want to believe. Sacred Scriptures say life is short, death is real, Hell is hot, eternity is long, and Jesus saves!
The Christian view is that humans are bodies and souls, created in the image and likeness of God. Every human being has a unique and rational soul that animates his human body, whether in the womb or a jail cell
Divine Mercy is when God's love meets us and helps us in the midst of our suffering and sin. In fact, because this side of eternity we're all sinners and because suffering is our lot in life, God's love for us here always takes the form of mercy.
Lorelei Savaryn, a Protestant convert, in the piece titled What’s The Deal with Catholic Guilt?, discusses how she discovered the rational catholic guilt: Before becoming Catholic, I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about the ways I rejected or blocked God (Love) out of my life. Some of the churches I attended would have a moment for such reflections. But it was usually just that, a moment. And, to be honest, in those moments I most often thought “meh- I think I’m doing pretty good, comparatively speaking.” I shake my head at my past self now. And I’m still not exactly sure who I was comparing myself to… those convicted of crimes against humanity? The people in pews beside me, as some sort of holiness version of keeping up with the Joneses? Just the general sense that, in the grand scale of humanity, I was doing okay?
And then the service would move on and I would move on and I continue along my merry way. I knew I could ask God for forgiveness, but as someone who had come from a Once Saved, Always Saved tradition (for much of my life), I didn’t have an ingrained sense that my confession mattered. I had ‘invited Jesus into my heart’ as a child. And if you are Once Saved, Always Saved, then the moment you say that prayer, it’s a done deal.
And then the service would move on and I would move on and I continue along my merry way. I knew I could ask God for forgiveness, but as someone who had come from a Once Saved, Always Saved tradition (for much of my life), I didn’t have an ingrained sense that my confession mattered. I had ‘invited Jesus into my heart’ as a child. And if you are Once Saved, Always Saved, then the moment you say that prayer, it’s a done deal.
Father Mike Schmitz supports Lorelei's argument in his YouTube video: First, when it comes to “Catholic guilt,” it might be helpful to cut through this right away. I’m sure that all of us have heard of “Catholic guilt.” But is that really a thing? My mom used to say, “There is nothing ‘Catholic’ about guilt … it’s just guilt. If I’ve done something wrong, then I ought to feel guilty; there is nothing specifically ‘Catholic’ about it!” That always made sense to me.
So if the rational guilt is real, is not just catholic, and is 3 000 years old, for we know, we are all sinners, isn't that just slicing and dicing?
No! Because we also know that where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. Saint Philip Neri's Maxim for October 9 says: "In saying the Pater Noster, we ought to reflect that we have God for our Father in heaven, and so go on making a sort of meditation of it word by word." Why, you might ask. Because it is a big deal. In fact, it’s such a big deal that the Lord’s Prayer has often been called the “summary of the whole gospel.” Michael Rossmann, SJ in the Jesuit Post writes that " We don’t start the Lord’s Prayer by saying, “Almighty God” or “Lord God,” or even just “God.” Instead, we pray, “Our Father.” The creator of the universe is not far-off and impersonal. Instead, Jesus shows us that God is as close to us as our own family members." If God is our Father, then all people are our brothers and sisters.
Christ said as much at the crucifixion: "Mother, behold your son."
Each time we pray the Our Father, we ask for God to give us all that sustains us, to forgive us our sins, to guide us away from temptation, and to deliver us from evil.
The Truth About Dishonesty & The Catholic Confession
God’s kingdom is God’s kingdom; it’s first and foremost a gift and an initiative of the Lord. But our Father invites us to participate partially in that kingdom right now, and to pray that it might become fully present soon.
You might recall that even after Job had lost everything instead of cursing Good, he exclaimed: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” (Job 1:21). Perhaps Burt F. Bacharach was having a Job Moment when he wrote: Raindrops are falling on my head: … But there's one thing I know The blues they send to meet me Won't defeat me, it won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me.." Job answered the LORD and said: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know. I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes. Thus the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his earlier ones ( JB 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17 ).
Yes, the Catholic guilt is a thing, it is not just catholic, though. Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.
No wonder empirically, anecdotally and scientifically, we are a happy bunch!
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