Absolutely! And it reminded me of a quote from St. Augustine: “The law is given that grace may be sought; grace is given that the law may be fulfilled.”
Jesus's teachings are uncompromising, but balanced by his great mercy and forgiveness. Who of us hasn't made a huge mess in their life that contradicts the faith and love of Christ? We all depend on his love, which gives us all time to make amends and draw closer to the Truth in how we choose to live.
Of course, so long as we acknowledge the truth of the Gospel. If we fudge the truth to make it easier on ourselves, we won’t seek mercy because we will simply excuse our sins. The clarity of truth is what inspires repentance and conversion, as Christ showed in the Gospel.
If I would have read this, as a young man with little knowledge of Catholicism, my reaction would have been complete discouragement: “It's just another small, elite club, and you ain’t in it.” I would encourage the author to find a different way of making his point about The Church’s sexual morality. This, taken by itself, is a counsel of extreme despair to any young man with even normal sexual desires, not to mention the myriad other modern depravities. I’m pretty Traditional in my sensibilities, and generally opposed to even the slightest concession to Modernity, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
As a convert at 18 who had dealt with sexual sins for years, this uncompromising stance was the only thing that allowed me to overcome my vices. Concessions to sin help no one, nor do excuses or ambiguity of teaching. If people want that they can find it everywhere else in the world today.
Absolutely! And it reminded me of a quote from St. Augustine: “The law is given that grace may be sought; grace is given that the law may be fulfilled.”
One of my favorite quotes!
Thank you Kaleb.
I’m glad someone liked it!
Jesus's teachings are uncompromising, but balanced by his great mercy and forgiveness. Who of us hasn't made a huge mess in their life that contradicts the faith and love of Christ? We all depend on his love, which gives us all time to make amends and draw closer to the Truth in how we choose to live.
Of course, so long as we acknowledge the truth of the Gospel. If we fudge the truth to make it easier on ourselves, we won’t seek mercy because we will simply excuse our sins. The clarity of truth is what inspires repentance and conversion, as Christ showed in the Gospel.
If I would have read this, as a young man with little knowledge of Catholicism, my reaction would have been complete discouragement: “It's just another small, elite club, and you ain’t in it.” I would encourage the author to find a different way of making his point about The Church’s sexual morality. This, taken by itself, is a counsel of extreme despair to any young man with even normal sexual desires, not to mention the myriad other modern depravities. I’m pretty Traditional in my sensibilities, and generally opposed to even the slightest concession to Modernity, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
As a convert at 18 who had dealt with sexual sins for years, this uncompromising stance was the only thing that allowed me to overcome my vices. Concessions to sin help no one, nor do excuses or ambiguity of teaching. If people want that they can find it everywhere else in the world today.