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NEW MESSAGES/HOMILIES CHRISTIAN REFLECTIONS DEFENDING THE FAITH
Blogger Priest 
Dear Father Joe,
Hi, I have a question about the sin of self harm. Im worried that Im in mortal sin because sometimes I pick at my pimples and apearently the internet says it’s self harm. I have no idea why I do this but picking at my pimples calms me and I usually do this when im anxious. I usually do not inflict much damage. Did I sin?
FATHER JOE: Are you a child? I refuse to answer such questions. Talk to your parents or a health professional.
Hello Father!
I have written to you in the past as a Protestant. I was raised Roman Catholic and became a Protestant for about 4 years. Within the past 5 months or so, I have been seeking more and realized that church history is SUPER important. To make a long story short, I have narrowed the true church down to the Easter Orthodox Church or Catholicism. I’ve been doing lots of studying and trying to let God lead me wherever His establishes church is. My husband and I got married about a year and a half ago at the Protestant Church (which we thought was the true church at the time). We strived to do everything right prior to our marriage (stay celibate, moral, growing in faith, etc) and now I feel as if all of that was for naught because our marriage wasn’t blessed by a priest. and it makes me so sad because we really thought we were doing the right thing under God. I was told my husband and I are living in mortal sin and that scares me. However I feel as if it wouldn’t be a good thing for our marriage if we “stop being married” and move out of our home back with our parents. I just don’t see how that is healthy. Because it’s kind of like we’re single again?? It’s just weird.
Now we would love to just go and get our marriage blessed by a priest but at this point, we are between the orthodox and Catholic Church. So in order to get our marriage blessed, we would have to be faithful Christians to one of those churches and we aren’t sure which one it is yet. What if it takes months or years to figure this out? I’m just concerned for my salvation and my marriage. Please help!!
I’m asking this for A friend and I inow you get this question alot but what happen’s to the soul when someone believe’s in Jesus Christ but they still commit suicide?
I have been an atheist for as long as I can remember. Now I am not so sure. A few days ago I witnessed something that could only be described as a divine miracle. A known criminal of my community actually helped an old lady retrieve her belongings after triping in the crosswalk. This one act of goodwill was enough to cause multiple people to start helping as well. I’ve been trying to figure out why this criminal didn’t use the opportunity to steal the lady’s bag.
Hi Father,
What do you think of this? How would classify these spirits? This is a bit of a long, but I’d really like to know your view is; and what the Church would teach about this.
So in my culture; in my little island; each community/family have a guardian spirit. The power of these guardian spirit is usually strong with those from chiefly families. Chiefs in our island nation tend to have “mana” … like what they say tend to come true; when they get angry; and spew words of anger; its not always good but because of their mana, they always control their behaviour. Even those who show some sort of disrespect to them; would face some sort negative experience.
My maternal Pa, is a Chinese man with chiefly links to their village; most within the surrounding villages would underestimate him, because he is Chinese, but because of his maternal link to the chief; he has mana. There are always two spirits that tend to be with our family. Every person know their “i-Susu” … that’s the name we call them; but it is forbidden to pay them homage or worship them (at least my Pa, gave us that rule). They will always be with the family, protecting us, and protecting our land; but we are never to worship them. We’re all Catholics and Catholicism started from the Chief who was my great-grandfather … but these spirits are attached to our land and our family (so I think, as it so seems)
So anyway; from my Pa’s side; these spirits are two women; they always say one is fair and grumpy the other is darker and not so grumpy; and oh and there’s also a big man who wears a “soldier-like” clothing. They don’t always appreciate visitors in our home to take our place. E.g. when my mom took my dad to meet her family for the first time, my papa and mama gave up their bed for him to sleep on… my dad said; that night he was awoken with one woman holding his feet and another his hand and they threw him to the ground… one of my aunts prior to marrying my uncle; met up with the big man…
they don’t like it when children in our family are left crying without supervision. Once, my mama was awoken by these two women; who were yelling at her because my cousin (who was a baby) at the time, was crying and no one was attending to her. She ran from her house down to my aunt’s house and saw her chatting in the kitchen with the other ladies, my aunt was caught by surprise when my mama told her off; about ignoring the baby .. they ran to the room and sure enough my cousin was crying.
on another occasion; we had been preparing for a big function in the farm, so preparations finished till around 2am in the morning; by the time we got to our rooms we just knocked out.. now one of my aunts just had a new born; a few months old … and he started crying; but we were all too tired to get up; probably didn’t even hear my little cousin crying; but another aunt from another room heard it and was walking towards our room to tend to the baby, but as she moved closer she heard two women talking and the baby had calmed down. My aunt thought straight away that it was my mom and the mother of the baby; so she went back to bed. The next morning when the mother of the baby awoke, she couldn’t find her son… my cousin was nowhere to be found; at first she thought, one of us “baby-lovers” must’ve taken our cousin out for some morning dew; but none of us did … she panicked and rushed to wake my mom and to her surprise, my cousin was sleeping peacefully next to my mom… even my mom was surprised.
On a more recent time; there’s a school next to our farm and there were plans to have taps in the school and not water tanks anymore. So as they laid the water pipes, some gentlemen had dug across our land; without my grandfather’s knowledge or approval. So there’s was to be grand opening; when they opened the tap, no water came out; another gentleman decided to dig back; follow the pipe to see if there was a blockage; just as he approached our land, he was met by a huge man (spirit in the form of a huge dark man) telling him off; that’s when he realised that those that laid the water pipes did not approach my Pa.
That very day, they approached my pa; with the traditional requirements, seeking forgiveness and requested for permission; my Pa accepted it; and right after, water flowed from the tap. It is traditional that before anyone steps into another man’s land; a proper request must be done to the land-owner; unfortunate things happen when this is not done.
My mom once shared a story about one of the chief’s daughters who was playing netball; another girl in the other team accidentally tapped her head to get the ball; and to the spectators surprise she fell hard onto the ground as though someone had knocked her down. She later confirmed that a huge man had knocked her down because she had tapped the chief’s daughter in the head. It is against our culture and tradition to touch a person’s head. The head is the most sacred; and is considered rude and very disrespectful to touch a person in the head. After this experience; the chief’s daughter was not allowed to play anymore, for the safety of the other players.
These spirits usually appear in a “man” form or an animal form … and they usually have names …. They sometimes sound scary but given that 95% of the indigenous in our country are Christians we don’t always venture into worshipping these spirits, though there are stories of some who do. We don’t see them as demons neither do we see them as angels, nor do we see them as ghosts; but we see them as spirit beings who protect our land, our ocean, and our life. What do you think of these spirits? What would you see them as? What does the Church teach about these?
Can I still be a Catholic if I am not sure homosexuality is a sin and definitely do not believe gay people go to hell?
Dear Father Joe,
Thank you so much for your last answer. I am doing better but I have a question? Is profanity a mortal sin? For example a song was playing and I sang the lyrics that were sexual/profane. Is this a mortal sin if you are not saying it to another person or have no intent of harming/doing sexual things? Thanks.
Hi again, Father Joe. I have a question about near occasion of sin. Today, I was watching YouTube videos and I was worried that the video I was watching would contain porn. The video I was watching was nothing porn related. I suspected there was porn and I am always suspicious about it. I don’t know why I suspected there was porn. I always am conscious of the videos I watch becuause I’d rather not sin. If there was porn I would changed the video to something appropriate. Did I sin?
Thank you for your answer on pride with the idea that there is both good and bad pride. That is helpful. God Bless, Lauren
Hello Father, I have a question about mortal sin. Lets say someone knows something is mortal sin later that day they do that mortal sin but it is not premeditated. Must that person premeditate on it to become mortal sin or is it automatically mortal sin once they heard about it? I heard that mortal sin is a seriously immoral and it’s a deliberate rejection of God. But what happens if the person does it without thinking and are not like “Nah, ima do it anyway even though I know it’s seriously immoral, evil, and a rejection of God.” I’m very confused about the full knowledge part of the three conditions because I’ve heard some people say that you must know it’s a sin and must actually premeditate on it. I’m not so sure about that, can you please help?
Hi, Father. I’m 13 and afraid that I committed blasphemy, today while I was praying and I had a thought about Jesus’ name with a particular curse word after it. I don’t know if it was intentional or not but I certainly would not like to have it again. I never meant what I said. Can blasphemy even be committed in your mind? Or is it only in your head? I’m worried that I mortally sinned by having that thought and especially because I cannot go to confession because my parents won’t drive me. My Dad is an atheist and my Mom is Catholic but doesn’t believe in confession. I have begged them to go but won’t take me and on rare occasions they ask me what did that was classified as mortal sin. I am not comfortable sharing what I did. Please don’t think my parents are bad parents or think my Mom is a bad Catholic. My parents are the best parents I could ever ask for and I am very thankful that God gave me to them. Can you please help?
What would the effects of holy water be if sprinkled where evil thrives the most
Dear Father Jenkins,
I’d like to know if disobedience to parents is a mortal sin. Let’s say someone’s parents tells them not to do something and they do it anyway. Would that be a mortal sin? Or does it depend on what they are doing and what the parents told them not to do?
Hi,
I am a non-catholic (Taoist) and my partner is a catholic. We are recently in talks of getting married and the topic of infant baptism came up. He is very insistent on baptising our future children at birth. And of course I am against this. My view is that I will want to bring up our children in future with no restrictions to religion, they should be free to explore any religion they wish (even not having a religion). And as an infant, no child is able to make that kind of decision. It is not fair for the parents to make such a decision on behalf of the kids. Further, he hasn’t been going to the church regularly, I do not see how he is able to ensure the children practice the religion dutifully after baptism.
I was willing to compromise by allowing the children to be baptist & to go to Sunday churches/classes, on the condition that I can still bring them to temples & for them to pray to my deities & to make offerings. However, my other half does not agree.
I would like to understand from the Catholic point of view the following;
– Why is it important for infants to be baptist?
– What would be the drawback if infants are not baptist?
– Can catholic infants not be baptist?
– Can a baptist infant continue to be exposed to other religion & to practice them?
Thank you.
Dear, Father Joe.
Hello, today I was praying and I’m afraid that mabye I cursed God. I tried to hold the thought back but it just slipped out and I said a curse word at God. I didn’t mean to curse Him. I’m scared that I’m in mortal sin. Did I sin?
Hi Fr Joe,
I know there are times when I am prideful, but where is the line between self-confidence and pride? How can one take pride in some quality or ability they possess while at the same time remain humble and have humility? I feel like there is some grey area for me knowing when my thoughts, words, or actions have crossed the line into being prideful.
Thank you,
Lauren
Dear Fr. Joe,
I have a follow up question, what is your opinion on David Daleiden, who created a Biotech front group, named “Biomax Procurement Services” for the purpose of infiltrating prominent officials of Planned Parenthood for the purpose of having them reveal their operations and actions of selling aborted baby parts. He concealed his identity to create a sense of trust amongst the child murderers and ask them how much do aborted parts cost. What do you think of police undercover operations that created concealed identities in order to enter and later ruin the operations of criminals? The comedian Sacha Baron Cohen poses as a myriad of colorful personalities and acts intentionally provocative in order to reveal the hidden biases of others. In WWII Pope Pius XII had an army of spies and informants spying on the 3rd Reich’s operations, you can read more in the book “Church of Spies: The Pope’s Secret War Against Hitler” by Mark Riebling. Can all of these actions be justified under the doctrine of “Wide Mental Reservation” or are they all immoral forms of lying?
With all due Respect,
Romanicus
Dear Father Joe,
Hello, I have a series of questions about mortal sin so here we go:
1) One time my brother and I got into a fight. He started insulting me and started insulting him but it wasn’t verbally it was more of in my mind because I didn’t want him to hurt him. But I said insults about him in my mind Did I mortally sin? Is it even a mortal sin to insult someone? I’m concerned about this because I heard about Matthew 5:22.
2) One time, I was depressive (don’t worry not anymore) and I had a thought about committing suicide, and I said I was going to do it. But I never did it or planned on how I would kill myself. Even though I said it at the moment I knew that I would NEVER do it anyway because life is a gift from GOD even though sometimes it may be depressing. Did I sin?
3) Another time, I was in the bathroom and I had a thought about suicide. So I reached for the scissors on the shelf and just held it in front of myself and looked at it, Even though I said suicide I meant self harm and that was my invison of it. More of cutting myself and bleeding than dying. I didn’t know self harm was a sin then and did I sin since I said suicide?
Hello, father,
Today I saw by chance a video in which the person, a pastor, also an exorcist, spoke about characters from ancient mythologies.
He presented a poster of Thor movie, a famous and much-loved character from an established movie franchise. I know him as a deity of the Vikings, but little else(as do most viewers of this movie).
Both Thor and Loki appeared on screen. The pastor said:”These are both demons, and I personally encountered them” .
This raised some questions: 1. Are gods worshipped by certain civilizations actually demons?
What about mythical heroes, such as Hercules(they made a TV series on him, and two movies recently)?
2. If so, does it mean there really exists a demon known and worshipped as “Thor” by Nordic people, the Vikings?
3.Do filmmakers know all this and try to deceive us by presenting that god/demon as a good-looking hero, who fights for justice, or are they just thinking to present a good story and that is it?
I apologize for asking too many questions here, but as chance has it, I really enjoyed that movie, although I was not a big fan..
Thank you for taking your time to read this and for everything you do for people here!
Dear Fr. Joe,
I am a political activist and I am trying to see what tactics I can use that would still be consider moral under catholic teaching. What I seek to accomplish may appear quite odd and perhaps even sinister to many who are not acquainted with the nature of politics. Nonetheless, I simply wish to spread views that support Catholic social teaching and to make enemies of the faith look bad through the manipulation of public opinion and perspective. The most effective way to do this is a duel tactic involving evangelizing those who have a chance to convert and to make the enemy look bad through the usage of sock puppet accounts and Astroturfing. What I wish to ask is if Online Sock Puppetry, Astroturfing, False Flagging, and overall Psychological Operations and Covert Actions are sinful. Sock Puppetry is when I make an alternative account online that either spreads my views or is a strawman of my ideological opponents without people knowing it is me using this alternative account. Astroturfing is when I pay people to protest or support me in a way to make it appear my belief system is more popular than it actually is without them knowing they are paid protesters. False flagging is if an operation or action is done in which observers blame someone who didn’t do it because the action implied that it came from them, most often an outright verbal lie is never told as people assume who the perpetrator is (Imagine someone drawing a swastika on a Synagogue and people assume a Nazi drew it instead of another person attempting to get attention and sympathy for Jews there). For all of these I know they appear bad and deceptive, but why I am asking you this is due to the fact that I never see the Church ever condemn these actions, especially if they are done by many corporations and government intelligence agencies. A person told me that though misleading, these actions are not intrinsically the same as the sin of lying as many of them can be pulled off without necessarily telling someone a falsehood but simply through concealment it leads people to incorrect conclusions in matters not critical to the faith.
With all Due Respect,
Romanicus
Just wanted to tell anonymous who left the comment that I’m so sorry about her ordeal. God bless her.
Albert
Hi father I recently asked if a catholic church mamed our lady queen of Angel’s located in Los Angeles California valid and recognized and you asked me if it was la iglesia de nuestra señora la Reina de los angeles and that its recognized is this church you mentioned same one in los Angeles California.
Yes father its that church la Iglesias de nuestra señora la Reina de los angeles. When I look it up it’s Our lady queen of Angel’s catholic church it is located in los Angeles and that’s where I want to baptize my son. Thank you father for confirming that it’s a recognized church.
Dear Fr. Joe,
I read your response to Albert. I think a spouse who commits adultery owes it to their spouse to be upfront and tell them! I think it would be deceitful not to tell them. This happened to me 12 years ago when my husband had an affair and ended up with a permanent STD. This ended our physical relationship altogether, and I’ve been living a celibate life ever since. I would prefer to remain celibate than risk contracting any diseases. Luckily I had the opportunity to make a choice before it was too late. Just my 2 cents. I guess having been on the other end, I would want the protection of my health over the protection of my marriage. After all, if I had unexpectedly ended up with an STD, I would have figured things out, and my marriage would have likely been over anyways. Just my perspective. This should not be a lie that is kept from the spouse. I have forgiven my husband and we are still married but not really in a marriage. (which likely would have been the case whether he told me or not).
Thank you,
Anonymous
Thanks again father for your time to answer my questions so thoroughly. Thank you also for the anecdote of the nun during WW2. I suppose if so our best in head situations and rely on the sacrament of confession to cleanse us of where we may have gone wrong it’s better than just leaving it up chance. Bless you.
Albert