Ellenita Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 excessive tattoos and piercingsWhats excessive?! My dad had a fit when I got my ears pierced - he thought that was excessive, and then he probably thought I led all the other female members of my family to sin since they promptly followed my example....hmmmm.... I've never confessed that to anyone before!! :D However, he obviously forgave us later since he bought earrings as presents! In confession we receive specific graces. Even more importantly than being forgiven for the sins we committ (the cure) we receive specific graces for the areas of weakness that we confess (the prevention) Now this is an intriguing idea! I always thought grace is all encompassing. Are you suggesting that it 'targets' specific areas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleflower+JMJ Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 *Uncle Gus pats his eyebrow piercing* ouch! :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 Whats excessive?! My dad had a fit when I got my ears pierced - he thought that was excessive, and then he probably thought I led all the other female members of my family to sin since they promptly followed my example....hmmmm.... I've never confessed that to anyone before!! :D However, he obviously forgave us later since he bought earrings as presents! Now this is an intriguing idea! I always thought grace is all encompassing. Are you suggesting that it 'targets' specific areas? Remember our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. My neighbor has ten piercings in one ear including this long piece of metal that goes thru two different places. She bumped the big piece today and bled on everything. YUCK. Some of my sons friends have pierced themselves in all those places you don't even want to think about. DOUBLE YUCK. I would call that excessive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 Phew! I sort of hope that I don't willfully committ any mortal sin since they seem much more graver than venial sin! However there seems to be an eternal battle of conscience, free will and self control doesn't there? If confession to a priest is only about mortal sin, (but presumably you also confess venial sin during that confession aswell), if you haven't committed any mortal sin do you have to have confession before you take communion? cmotherofpirl, you posted a huge range of sins in another thread. I was interested to see body piercing and tattoos among them. Are they forbidden by the church? I'm only curious - I have no tattoos myself! The thing about venial sins is that they can grow. Say you tell a little white lie about something. Your conscience bothers you. THe next time you tell a bigger lie. Well your conscience bothers you, but not as much. So its best to stop them before they become mortal soul-killing sins. Its the slippery slope thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP2Iloveyou Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 I'm sure he is overworked. But, I still say that if a priest is not hearing confessions at LEAST once a week, he is not doing his job. I mean, a deacon can cover weddings, funerals, and baptisms (ideally, it would be a priest, but we don't live in an ideal world). A layman or woman can vist the elderly in the nursing homes and people in hospitals. They can also take Communion to them. However, only a PRIEST can hear confessions. If someone is dying and in need of Anointing, that is a totally different scenario. I don't think that one hour a week will kill any priest though. I know many priests who do all that you mentioned and hear confessions for four or five hours a week, even more sometimes. And think, some people still say priests should be married. Sheesh! It would be nice is we had a deacon, but we have one priest, and he is no spring chicken himself. I live in an old milltown and the population is mostly elderly. He does offer confession every Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellenita Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 The thing about venial sins is that they can grow. So its best to stop them before they become mortal soul killing sins. Absolutely! :D When I read through my post again I realised it might have given the impression that I was feeling rather joyful that there 'lesser' sins, and whoop de doo, we can go out and committ those no problem! Of course I believe all sin is wrong and acts as a barrier in our relationship with God...... ...though I may debate with you about what is sin..... ......and you may well say that's because I'm sinning........ :ph34r: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP2Iloveyou Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 Before one passes judgement on a priest's habits, ask him his reasons. In a small town with a couple of parishes, the priests may have split up some of the ministries. Maybe one parish priest is ederly and has physical problems sitting for hours. I know my dad can't sit for more than 30 minutes. Maybe your priest takes care of all hospital and shut-in visitations. Instead of priests just caring for thier parishioners, maybe one preist spends alot of time visiting all the Catholics in a hospital and thus is able to spend alot of time individually with each person. Sheesh. Give the guy a break. Maybe so few show up to a regular scheduled confession because it's a small town people want to go to a priest that doesn't know him. Maybe he is real big on counseling and doesn't like the 45 second confession and wants people to take a few minutes and he helps them with a real examination of conscience. I want to tell two stories and then I'm headed to bed. Our seminary rector told us when we first arrived that there is nothing more important for a priest to do than offer Mass and hear confessions. He said that if a priest ever says he's to busy to hear them, ask to see his schedule. Then he said, if he really is to busy to hear them, start cutting stuff so he is not to busy to hear them. :D The second story (and I don't know if this is true, I think so, but I'm not sure) is about a priest and his bishop. This priest was the only priest in his parish and never heard confessions. He just had a general absolution session. The new bishop heard about this and asked the priest why he did that. The priest told the bishop that there weren't enough priests and he couldn't hear everyone's confession. The bishop said, "OK." Now, the bishop drives 45 minutes every Saturday to that parish to help that priest hear confessions. Basicly, he's saying, there, now you have another priest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foundsheep Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 Absolutely! :D When I read through my post again I realised it might have given the impression that I was feeling rather joyful that there 'lesser' sins, and whoop de doo, we can go out and committ those no problem! Of course I believe all sin is wrong and acts as a barrier in our relationship with God...... ...though I may debate with you about what is sin..... ......and you may well say that's because I'm sinning........ :ph34r: does this help ellenita? 1 John 5:16-17 16 If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Gus Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 Venial isn't another word for excusable. Remember that venial sin is still sin and the wages of sin is death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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