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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
How to understand these events	Dian	Sunday, February 2, 2014
Question: Peace be with you Brother. I posted something few days ago then wish I had not, but none the less I did. Thank you for all the help you offer me and many people. I think I wrote I was having problems with former priest and then I found a website for St Gemma. She had this situation as well and it was helpful for me to read of her experiences. I do think between the other situation of the person seeking harm for family and my struggles as returning Catholic that - well I feel I am being harassed but am beginning to find some consolation understanding these things happen as God allows and may even be for our souls benefit as you have said. I do not always recognize something as harassment right away, but it can be a heavy oppressing feeling where in I will begin to think many lies. I may try to pray but do not feel close to God during these times, but I know He is there so I pray to Him anyways. I sometimes will think lies such as stay away from this church. do not receive any of sacraments . people do not like you there, or they are gossiping about you- even the other priest has heard bad things about me so be afraid to go talk to him. well, I am finding when I have these thoughts- I believe these are not from God - if I do what I know Jesus wants me to do....receive the sacraments, make confession, no matter what I am thinking, it will chase the devil away. and I can move closer to Jesus and rest in his consolations and love. I pray for your comfort and strength. Peace be with you Brother
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), CCL, LTh, DD, LNDC Dear Dian: Since I had not yet answered your previous question, I defer to this question instead. The complex issues of personal dynamics in parishes is very difficult to provide any comment as there can be varied perspectives and circumstances that I cannot know. Certainly people, even priests, can treat people badly, succumb to uncharity, prejudice, or even gossip. There are situations in which an entire parish is under demonic attack inspiring and egging on the priests, staff, and parishioners to act badly. In that case the priest and the people need to recognize the problem and take a proactive approach to commit to spiritual warfare prayer to cleanse the parish of the demonic influences. My primary concern, however, is not the parish situation, but your spiritual health. In situations like this one must resist the thoughts of not going to Mass and the like. Sometimes we just cannot approach the parish as a friendly place. When that unfortunate event happens we must offer up the suffering to God for the healing of the parish and the particular people causing problems and for our own healing, and never fail to attend to the Sacraments. I have been in this position myself. As a result it was prudent not to participate in any parish activities, but to see the parish only as a place to receive the Sacraments. In terms of Confession, remember that the Sacrament is not a counseling session or a place to get frustrations "off one's chest." The Sacrament of Confession is to confess sins in kind and number. This means that one lists their sins, without explanation, and how often that sin was committed. For example, if I shoplift at Sears, Targets, and Walmart, my confession is, "Forgive me father for I have sinned. I shoplifted three times." That is it. Where the shoplifting took place is not needed. Why I shoplifted is irrelevant. If I shoplifted food from a grocery store, explaining that I was hungry and had no money is irrelevant. There is no excuse for sin. When we try to explain the backstory or reason for our sin we are, in essence, trying to minimize our sin. Just confess the sin and the number of times committed, if known. Unless the priest asks for details, no details are required. In your case, if you confess, let's say, uncharitable thoughts toward your priest, or some other person who has treated you badly, your confession is, "Father forgive me for I have sinned. I had uncharitable thoughts 453 times." Who those thoughts are about, or the circumstance that caused it, are irrelevant. Approaching Confession in this way will promote humility. Humility will bring you closer to God and make you stronger in dealing with these problems. Remember that Confession is also a Sacrament of strengthening. So is the Eucharist. Thus, Confession and the Eucharist is critical in gaining the strength needed to deflect the flaming arrows of the devil. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Remember when St. Peter stepped out on the water to come to Jesus? He was actually walking on water, UNTIL he saw the storm around him. When he took his eyes off Jesus he began to sink. Do not look at the storms, look upon Jesus and you will do fine. We will be praying for you and for the parish and the people involved. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

How to understand these events

Dian

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Question:

Peace be with you Brother. I posted something few days ago

then wish I had not, but none the less I did. Thank you for all the help you offer me and many people.

I think I wrote I was having problems with former priest and then I found a website for St Gemma. She had this situation as well and it was helpful for me to read of her experiences.

I do think between the other situation of the person seeking harm for family and my struggles as returning Catholic that - well I feel I am being harassed but am beginning to find some consolation understanding these things happen as God allows and may even be for our souls benefit as you have said.

I do not always recognize something as harassment right away, but it can be a heavy oppressing feeling where in I will begin to think many lies.

I may try to pray but do not feel close to God during these times, but I know He is there so I pray to Him anyways. I sometimes will think lies such as stay away from this church. do not receive any of sacraments . people do not like you there, or they are gossiping about you- even the other priest has heard bad things about me so be afraid to go talk to him.

well, I am finding when I have these thoughts- I believe these are not from God - if I do what I know Jesus wants me to do....receive the sacraments, make confession, no matter what I am thinking, it will chase the devil away. and I can move closer to Jesus and rest in his consolations and love.

I pray for your comfort and strength.

Peace be with you Brother

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), CCL, LTh, DD, LNDC

Dear Dian:

Since I had not yet answered your previous question, I defer to this question instead.

The complex issues of personal dynamics in parishes is very difficult to provide any comment as there can be varied perspectives and circumstances that I cannot know.

Certainly people, even priests, can treat people badly, succumb to uncharity, prejudice, or even gossip. There are situations in which an entire parish is under demonic attack inspiring and egging on the priests, staff, and parishioners to act badly. In that case the priest and the people need to recognize the problem and take a proactive approach to commit to spiritual warfare prayer to cleanse the parish of the demonic influences.

My primary concern, however, is not the parish situation, but your spiritual health. In situations like this one must resist the thoughts of not going to Mass and the like. Sometimes we just cannot approach the parish as a friendly place. When that unfortunate event happens we must offer up the suffering to God for the healing of the parish and the particular people causing problems and for our own healing, and never fail to attend to the Sacraments.

I have been in this position myself. As a result it was prudent not to participate in any parish activities, but to see the parish only as a place to receive the Sacraments.

In terms of Confession, remember that the Sacrament is not a counseling session or a place to get frustrations "off one's chest." The Sacrament of Confession is to confess sins in kind and number.

This means that one lists their sins, without explanation, and how often that sin was committed. For example, if I shoplift at Sears, Targets, and Walmart, my confession is, "Forgive me father for I have sinned. I shoplifted three times." That is it. Where the shoplifting took place is not needed. Why I shoplifted is irrelevant. If I shoplifted food from a grocery store, explaining that I was hungry and had no money is irrelevant. There is no excuse for sin.

When we try to explain the backstory or reason for our sin we are, in essence, trying to minimize our sin. Just confess the sin and the number of times committed, if known. Unless the priest asks for details, no details are required.

In your case, if you confess, let's say, uncharitable thoughts toward your priest, or some other person who has treated you badly, your confession is, "Father forgive me for I have sinned. I had uncharitable thoughts 453 times." Who those thoughts are about, or the circumstance that caused it, are irrelevant.

Approaching Confession in this way will promote humility. Humility will bring you closer to God and make you stronger in dealing with these problems.

Remember that Confession is also a Sacrament of strengthening. So is the Eucharist. Thus, Confession and the Eucharist is critical in gaining the strength needed to deflect the flaming arrows of the devil.

Keep your eyes on Jesus. Remember when St. Peter stepped out on the water to come to Jesus? He was actually walking on water, UNTIL he saw the storm around him. When he took his eyes off Jesus he began to sink. Do not look at the storms, look upon Jesus and you will do fine.

We will be praying for you and for the parish and the people involved.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.