randybako

Hi Randy, Thanks for the note. Hope you had a nice Easter. My computer is down. Will write you once I get my computer back. (Borrowing a friend's briefly.) Blessings to you and yours! : )

Hi Randy, I hear you. My brother had 17 years of Catholic education, was an altar boy, lecturer, etc., married Protestant, and is raising his children Protestant. It breaks our hearts. However, there was time when he was a lukewarm Catholic and his wife brought him back to a healthier relationship with God through her faith life. So, I try to focus on the good that came out of it. I can understand why you would have a hard time attending the wedding. However, the Lord knows your heart and your reservations. The words of St. Thomas Aquinas may apply here - "to convert people you have to take them by the hand and guide them". I think this means that we need to meet them where they are at. Will pray that your son marries in a Catholic Church. However, if he does not and lives as a protestant, know that the foundation that you and your wife laid can never be lost. I can see it in my brother and have faith that one day, he will, too! Blessings to all.

more form Ciarrocchi's book (THE DOBUTING DISEASE)The theologian says in essence that a person with a scrupulous conscience judges a particular moral act incorrectly, and therefore, the act does not have the moral meaning the person feels he or she may have intended. This resolution provided a practical solution for the scrupulous person and the church used this idea to develop pastoral strategies for support. The strategies, in effect, were exemptions to laws and practices required of the non scrupulous. What is particularly intriguing from the modern perspective is that these principles were well formulated as early as the fifeenth and sixteenth centuries. In attemting to to solve a spiritual problem for its members , these writings, document the ancient existence of a troubling emotional condition".

The book "The Doubting Disease" by Ciarrocchi is very good he discuses the history of Catholic Pastoral Care in regards to scruples.here is a taste: What were scrupuolous persons to do? On the one hand, they must follow their conscience. On the other hand, doubt is the essence of scrupulosity. The general rule for moral action was, " No one can act with a doubtful conscience."First, resolve the doubt in some way. How is it possible to resolve a doubt logically when a person constantly feels doubtful? To sovlve the quandary theologians applied the principle of an erronneous conscience. By definition, an erroneous conscience was one that was not in conformity with the objective reality of a moral act. It eithe viewed moral acts as wrong or immoral acts as right. In the case of scrupulosity the person sees sin where there is non. Labeling a scrupulous conscience as erroneous was liberating for the person.

Hi Randy,
Thanks for the message earlier. Couldn't help but think of you when I heard the homily today: http://thesundaymass.org/video
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!!!

Hi Randy,
I imagine this has been a rough week. Thinking of you and your family. God's blessings to all of you!

Hi Randy Happy and Blessed Easter to you also my friend
May God bless you always
Love Teresa

Hi Randy, praying for a blessed Easter for you as well.

thank you Holy War 11

Thinking of you and your family today. A Blessed Easter to all of you!!!