For My Sister

[Catherine Therese]

My dear sister is going through a tough time.

She's unemployed and not particularly concerned about that fact - this has been the status quo since last October and she is making no attempt to rectify the situation, rather she's free-riding off my parents. She's in her mid-twenties and old enough to be contributing.

She's frustrated and depressed with her own situation.

She lashes out in anger at all of us fairly frequently.

She's genuinely seeking truth but at the moment she's fallen in with some extremists and she is judging my family, telling us we're not Catholic enough and she is even going so far as to say that she feels that the Holy Father (and several before him) are wrong on any number of points (none of which have invoked the status of being Ex Cathedra statements, but papal teaching even without ex cathedra is not to be taken lightly, especially when the teaching sits quite comfortably within the hermeneutic of continuity and is the teaching of several consecutive popes. She really is seeking but so far her ability to discern truth from falsehood appears to be limited.

She is also doing a lot of good work outside of the home, counselling women who are going to have abortions etc. This is a wonderful thing to be doing and I'm proud of her for the contribution she's making. Nevertheless she'll worship the ground that her fellow counsellors walk on and bask in their approval, all the while being highly abusive at home, particularly towards my mother but really towards all of us. She refuses to lift a finger at home, won't even help stack dishes after a meal or little things like that.

When she's not out counselling or practicing in the choir for mass, she's at home locked in her room watching DVDs and wont come out and interact with the family even a little bit.

She's just very mixed up at the moment. We're trying to give her space and be open to what she has to say when she talks religion and makes all her accusations about our alleged lack of fidelity to the Church... its really hard to respond in love, rather than frustration. And its hard to know what lines to draw so as not to encourage her in the freeloader behaviour whilst giving her the love and support she needs.

Please pray for her, and my mother especially, who bears the brunt of her abuse. Please pray also for my father and for all the rest of us that we do nothing to make the situation worse, and better still that we can be effective support for her during this difficult time.