Is it possible?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

clarityat3am

I Serve Larry's Stick
Joined
Feb 5, 2001
Messages
2,996
Location
Rocky Mountains
So in the eyes of Catholic religion and fairly conservative Catholics, is there any way I could be redeemed for all the massive screw ups I've made? I've recently begun to renew my faith and am taking baby steps towards becoming a better Catholic and a better person. I've made just about every screw up in the book and most of those are looked down upon. (like living with someone before being married, etc) I realize now how much I've done wrong and if I could I'd do it over again because I really do regret it, but would that even matter to someone who's never done these things and strongly believes that they're wrong? I'm starting to feel like no matter if I renew my faith or not that I'll always be 'damaged goods'. :(
 
clarityat3am said:
So in the eyes of Catholic religion and fairly conservative Catholics, is there any way I could be redeemed for all the massive screw ups I've made? I've recently begun to renew my faith and am taking baby steps towards becoming a better Catholic and a better person. I've made just about every screw up in the book and most of those are looked down upon. (like living with someone before being married, etc) I realize now how much I've done wrong and if I could I'd do it over again because I really do regret it, but would that even matter to someone who's never done these things and strongly believes that they're wrong? I'm starting to feel like no matter if I renew my faith or not that I'll always be 'damaged goods'. :(

Isn't that what confession is supposed to be for? You confess your sins, honestly repent, do your penance, and bim bam boom... you're good to go!

And anyone who's so judgemental that they would still look down on someone who has changed their life isn't worth giving a flying fuck about anyway.
 
Well, I, for one wouldn't think that about you. And I'm sure God doesn't see you for what you've done, but for who you are.

Nobody is 'good enough' to deserve God's love. That's where the idea of Grace comes in....you aren't treated as you ought. :hug:
 
Look, my thoughts on the matter are simple. I make my own rules with God. I no longer need a Priest to tell me what i should and shouldnt do.

If i fuck up I'll go to God myself and ask for forgiveness. It beats me if he accepts or not but I will never find out if he's listening or not, so i dont let it get to me.
 
clarityat3am said:
So in the eyes of Catholic religion and fairly conservative Catholics, is there any way I could be redeemed for all the massive screw ups I've made? I've recently begun to renew my faith and am taking baby steps towards becoming a better Catholic and a better person. I've made just about every screw up in the book and most of those are looked down upon. (like living with someone before being married, etc) I realize now how much I've done wrong and if I could I'd do it over again because I really do regret it, but would that even matter to someone who's never done these things and strongly believes that they're wrong? I'm starting to feel like no matter if I renew my faith or not that I'll always be 'damaged goods'. :(

You've got the guilt down pat, dear. If you aren't careful, it will eat you though. Someone said in another thread completely unrelated to this, that we set our bar/ideals and we live by that. You've set yours because you feel it is right and you are comfortable with it. So good luck. But Clarity, you do need to be able to live with what you've set. We all make mistakes, but only a good person can realise that. You need to find a way to be comfortable with it. Confess to your priest guy if you need to. Dont let it eat you though.
 
clarityat3am said:
So in the eyes of Catholic religion and fairly conservative Catholics, is there any way I could be redeemed for all the massive screw ups I've made? I've recently begun to renew my faith and am taking baby steps towards becoming a better Catholic and a better person. I've made just about every screw up in the book and most of those are looked down upon. (like living with someone before being married, etc) I realize now how much I've done wrong and if I could I'd do it over again because I really do regret it, but would that even matter to someone who's never done these things and strongly believes that they're wrong? I'm starting to feel like no matter if I renew my faith or not that I'll always be 'damaged goods'. :(
I'm not Catholic, but I can tell you that everyone is damaged goods. The truth is that neither you or I or anyone else for that matter, including Billy Graham and The Pope, can ever do "good enough works" to earn our way into Heaven and a relationship with God. God knows this; he knows that if left to our own will power and "good works" we will fail. But here comes the GREAT NEWS:

Salvation is a free gift, offered by God. It is not dependent on your good deeds at all. It is made possible by God's grace and mercy.

Christ died on the cross to pay the price for our sins, because we can never be good enough to pay our own price, no matter how many charities we give to, no matter how many old ladies we walk across the street. In the Bible, it says that the "wages of sin" is death. That means that sin receives the punishment of death. But Christ, sinless and perfect, took that punishment upon himself and paid the price that sin demands for us, even though he himself never sinned. That's because he loves us. On teh day he was crucified, he broke the power of sin over the lives of anyone who follow him, and on Easter Sunday, he rose from the dead, defeating the power of death (spiritual death) over the lives of anyone who would follow him.

You think you've messed up big time? So have I. I was not unredeemable, and neither are you.

Believe that Christ is the Son of God and God in the flesh and that he died and rose again for you. Ask Christ to forgive your sins and come into your life and be your Savior. If you believe that he will do this, he will. His Holy Spirit will move into you and if you trust him and allow him, he will work through you.

Jesus Christ loves you and does not want you to feel unworthy. You are worth everything to him, which is shown by the fact that he willingly died so that you might live.
 
Last edited:
Peace with God, not the church, is the goal.

God is not limited so that He cannot forgive any sin confessed. Only Satan will suggest otherwise.
 
Re: Re: Is it possible?

80sU2isBest said:
I'm not Catholic, but I can tell you that everyone is damaged goods. The truth is that neither you or I or anyone else for that matter, including Billy Graham and The Pope, can ever do "good enough works" to earn our way into Heaven and a relationship with God. God knows this; he knows that if left to our own will power and "good works" we will fail. But here comes the GREAT NEWS:

Salvation is a free gift, offered by God. It is not dependent on your good deeds at all. It is made possible by God's grace and mercy.

Christ died on the cross to pay the price for our sins, because we can never be good enough to pay our own price, no matter how many charities we give to, no matter how many old ladies we walk across the street. In the Bible, it says that the "wages of sin" is death. That means that sin receives the punishment of death. But Christ, sinless and perfect, took that punishment upon himself and paid the price that sin demands for us, even though he himself never sinned. That's because he loves us. On teh day he was crucified, he broke the power of sin over the lives of anyone who follow him, and on Easter Sunday, he rose from the dead, defeating the power of death (spiritual death) over the lives of anyone who would follow him.

You think you've messed up big time? So have I. I was not unredeemable, and neither are you.

Believe that Christ is the Son of God and God in the flesh and that he died and rose again for you. Ask Christ to forgive your sins and come into your life and be your Savior. If you believe that he will do this, he will. His Holy Spirit will move into you and if you trust him and allow him, he will work through you.

Jesus Christ loves you and does not want you to feel unworthy. You are worth everything to him, which is shown by the fact that he willingly died so that you might live.

I enjoyed reading that, 80s, thanks.
Still new to Faith and I've been pondering the "Jesus died for our sins". I've been given a few good explanations already, but yours certainly helped as well. :)
 
I'm a practicing Catholic. I doubt if you've done anything that a good confession can't fix, and I love confession because it gets rid of my guilt. People here will disagree with my theological views of confession, and that's cool. As I understand your post you want to start getting the sacraments again. I honestly don't see why confession won't fix everything, and don't get uptight about the confession, the priest is never terribly judgmental and the penance is usually pretty painless, you may have to say a prayer or read a book in the Bible. I'm always a bit nervous before I confess myself, but after I've done it I always feel great.
 
nbcrusader said:
Peace with God, not the church, is the goal.
God is not limited so that He cannot forgive any sin confessed. Only Satan will suggest otherwise.

Yes indeed. There's no such thing as "damaged goods" in God's eyes.

I find that if you just learn to trust God and to show him what's in your heart and soul, everything else tends to fall into place. He already knows what's in your heart and soul anyway in my opinion, so you start out w/ that advantage.

Don't beat yourself up over what's in the past, that's done and gone. Just do your best in the future :)
 
What you've done in turning your life around matters to God. I think God can see that, and, as nbc and 80s pointed out, God's infinity in all things includes infinite love and infinite forgiveness. You will continue to make mistakes, as will all of us, but God loves you right now--God even loved you when you were living maybe not as well as you are now.

As far as the Church goes, I'm not an expert on all things Catholic, but as far as I knows, their stance is that you come forth and confess your sins, and you'll receive forgiveness. Think of Sr. Helen Prejean, who counseled and offered forgiveness to death row inmates. If they can be forgiven, why not you? :hug:
 
clarityat3am, the first thing I would tell you is that God doesn't want you to be filled with guilt. That's not in his will for us. Also, the Catholics in here may get mad about this, but I'm saying it anyway: You don't have to go to a priest to be forgiven. There's nothing in the Bible that says this has to happen. You can pray right now, where you're at, and ask God for forgiveness. As long as your heart is true, you'll be forgiven. It's that simple. We all fall short of the glory of God; we all sin. Even priests. (As we've all been made aware of in recent years.) That's why Christ came. Do die in our place for the sins we've committed. He did that for you too. (and for U2 :wink: ) You're not damaged goods, you're human. God loves you immensly. That's why Christ died for us — he wants to make sure we can spend eternity with him. However, he loves us enough to let us make that decision on our own too. It's all about the condition of your heart and your relationship with Christ.

I'm praying for you in your walk with him. I would encourage you to pray and spend time in his word. You'll grow tremdously in your spiritual life. :hug: God bless.

Also, pay attention to 80sU2, NBC, PAX and MrsSpringsteen — there's a lot of wisdom there.:up:
 
clarityat3am said:
So in the eyes of Catholic religion and fairly conservative Catholics, is there any way I could be redeemed for all the massive screw ups I've made? I've recently begun to renew my faith and am taking baby steps towards becoming a better Catholic and a better person. I've made just about every screw up in the book and most of those are looked down upon. (like living with someone before being married, etc) I realize now how much I've done wrong and if I could I'd do it over again because I really do regret it, but would that even matter to someone who's never done these things and strongly believes that they're wrong? I'm starting to feel like no matter if I renew my faith or not that I'll always be 'damaged goods'. :(

It's easy in Catholicism. Go to confession. Say your three or so "Hail Mary" prayers. Don't do it again. Simple.

Melon
 
Re: Re: Is it possible?

melon said:


It's easy in Catholicism. Go to confession. Say your three or so "Hail Mary" prayers. Don't do it again. Simple.

Melon

Sarcasm duly noted, Melon, but let's try to be helpful to clarity here.
 
I'm Catholic and I never go to confession, I confess my sins during Mass and privately w/ God.

Honestly confession w/ a Priest in church in the confessional, the whole thing intimidates me. When I had to make First Confession I was scared to death. I think I said I lied to my Mother, which I'm sure was true :wink:
 
Re: Re: Re: Is it possible?

pax said:
Sarcasm duly noted, Melon, but let's try to be helpful to clarity here.

Well, I guess it sounds sarcastic, but that really wasn't my intention. Catholicism makes confession and forgiveness very simple, compared to how Protestantism deals with the issue.

Melon
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Is it possible?

melon said:


Well, I guess it sounds sarcastic, but that really wasn't my intention. Catholicism makes confession and forgiveness very simple, compared to how Protestantism deals with the issue.

Melon

Really? Do you know what I, as a Protestant, do to get forgiveness for my sins, melon? Nothing, anymore. I've already done that when I was reborn. All my sins, past, present and future were forgiven at that point. When I confess my sins now, it is for the sake of admitting guilt; it's not to get forgiveness again. That was taken care of at the cross.

That is not just my view, but the Protestant view.
 
Actually 80s, you still need to ask for forgiveness even though you're a Christian now. It's one thing to admit guilt -- it's another to say your sorry. That's what asking for forgiveness is.
 
coemgen said:
Actually 80s, you still need to ask for forgiveness even though you're a Christian now. It's one thing to admit guilt -- it's another to say your sorry. That's what asking for forgiveness is.
This is a theological argument that has gone on for ages. I agree with the side that says once you are reborn, your past, present, and future sins are forgiven.

Otherwise, what if you die right after sinning but before confessing? Are you not saved? Do you go to Heaven? If dying before confessing means you lose your salvation, then that puts us right back in the days of the law, before Christ's sacrifice, when people had priests sacrifice animals for them, and the person hoped they didn't commit another sin before they could do the sacrificing again the next week.

I agree with the need to confess your sin, but it is not necessary for salvation once you have been reborn. It is for our own benefit; it restores the fellowship.

I confess and say I'm sorry, but in so doing, but that doesn't grant me forgiveness. I've already been granted forgiveness.
 
Last edited:
I think we're kind of talking about the same thing in different ways. When I say forgiveness I'm not talking about salvation. I'm just saying there's a difference between admitting guilt and repenting.
 
As a Catholic I don't see confession as any sort of necessity. I do it by choice, not by coercion. It can be very helpful with guilt, and for some, no doubt, it is simply a way to deal with guilt. Heck, the guy who sponsored me through catechism never goes to confession either although I think that has something to do with his work schedule.
 
verte76, I didn't mean to offend you with my post earlier. I hope it didn't come across wrong. I'm glad you don't see confession as something that you have to do to be forgiven. I disagree with us having to go through someone else to get to God. God doesn't want it that way. He wants a relationship with us. I'm not going to have a good relationship with my dad if I'm only talking to him through my mom, you know? While I don't agree with it in those terms, I do agree it's good to be held accountable. I'm just rambling thoughts here. :wink:
 
coemgen said:
I think we're kind of talking about the same thing in different ways. When I say forgiveness I'm not talking about salvation. I'm just saying there's a difference between admitting guilt and repenting.
That, there certainly is.
 
This is what my mother can't stand about Catholicism. Because confession and forgiveness are obtained so quickly and easily, someone can just say, "Oh, I'm forgiven now, so I can go out, commit the same sin again, and then find a priest, bing, confess, and I'm scot free again." You actually learn to devalue sinning more.

Personally I like the way the Armenian Apostolic Chrurch handles this. There is no individual confession, no private one-on-one jazz. No embarrassment .guilt confessing to a priest..ESP a celibate one fi the sin is a desicetionary one. If you want to confess something, you do it Sunday morning, during the Badarak (Mass). Before Communion, the priest does a ritual call to confess sins. Everyone who feels they have the need to confess something comes to kneel at the altar, and the priest does his little ritual symbolic cleansing. You recite after him that "I confess that I am guilty of the seven deadly sins and all their forms: namely pride, envy, ager, sloth, covetnousess, gluttony and lust." (This is also great b/c the formula is in Armenian, and it's the one part of the mass where you have to know Armenian, so every one knows a bit of the language. )You repeat a formula that asks for forgiveness, the priest absolves and you and tells you to sin no more. etc. Then you rise and are free to take communion. If you don''y confess, you can still take communion, or course. But it;s a compromise: You don't have to tell the priest exactly what your sin is--only God knows that. If you don't want to confess your sin before the congregation, you don't. But if you sincerely feel the need to confess and ask forgiveness, you go in front of the whole congregation and make a generic confession, and the public knows you haven't been a good little boy or gal that week. So it's like a compromise, before God, but entirely voluntary. YOu can make it a public spectacle before the Church, OR you can keep it private before God, if that's your choice. If you feel the need to confess to the CHURCH and not just to God, everyone will know, though not know all.


Personally, I agree with Coemgen. When I became a Christian I'll never forget that prayer I had to recite, asking God to cleanse me and make me whiter than snow. It was like a instant change...I actually felt the brden of sin being physically lefted freom me. There are other physical aspects of being Baptized I;d rahte rnot get into. But I'll say that in the end, the only true confession is between you and Him. Ands in the end it;s what matters.
 
Thanks for sharing that Teta040. I don't think, at least I hope, that Catholics and all Christians would simply ask for forgiveness and use it as a free way to sin. That's not biblical. In fact, the Bible warns us against doing that.
I'm not familiar with your church. Are you saying you have to go to church to be forgiven? I'm sorry, but with all due respect that's not biblical. There's no formula that has to be repeated either. I'm not trying to offend you, just trying to understand more about your denomination. :wink:
 
coemgen said:
Thanks for sharing that Teta040. I don't think, at least I hope, that Catholics and all Christians would simply ask for forgiveness and use it as a free way to sin. That's not biblical. In fact, the Bible warns us against doing that.
The Bible even says that when you become a Christian, the old sin nature is crucified, and it is replaced with a new nature. That new nature stirs up the desire in the Christian to be in God's will, and not to sin. Frankly, if someone told me that he is a Christian, yet doesn't feel conviction when he sins, and he actually wants to live a life of sin, I have to say that I would wonder if he really ever made a committment to the Lord in the first place.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Is it possible?

80sU2isBest said:


Really? Do you know what I, as a Protestant, do to get forgiveness for my sins, melon? Nothing, anymore. I've already done that when I was reborn. All my sins,
past,
present

and future

were forgiven at that point.

This is great news for you.

Forget about the celibacy.

Go for it.

Sex is great!

You will be glad you did. :wink:

And you are already forgiven. :up:


Katie bar the door

take the phone off the hook,

pull down the shades

and let it rip.
 
Back
Top Bottom