Can abusing God's mercy ever be forgiven?

Started by pioflower, February 24, 2018, 08:39:26 AM

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pioflower

Hi,

I've been a terrible catholic my whole life and have sinned, thinking, oh I'll be forgiven.

I've learned what a terrible sin that is and it's mocking God.

Can it ever be forgiven?

MilesChristi

Every sin can be forgiven. Get thee to the confessional and embrace the mercy of God. He loves you infinitely. Just do it. All can be forgiven. What matters i's you want to do better now.
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
    It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
    And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
    And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
    Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
    World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

ServusMariae

hello, :) :seeya:

any sin (including the sin of presumption) can be forgiven as long as you head to the confessional with contrition & a firm resolution to avoid falling back into sin, but before anything: contrition is key. If you find yourself struggling, you can approach a priest & request for spiritual direction.

Remember: No matter how wretched, how horrible, how ugly, how messed up a sinner you are, God loves your soul incredibly dearly. (just don't take His love for granted, yeah? :) )


Carleendiane

Quote from: pioflower on February 24, 2018, 08:39:26 AM
Hi,

I've been a terrible catholic my whole life and have sinned, thinking, oh I'll be forgiven.

I've learned what a terrible sin that is and it's mocking God.

Can it ever be forgiven?

Oh, Pioflower, rest assured all of us have sinned. Possibly in more grave ways than you. All of us, as far as I know have begun our conversion. You have begun yours by acknowledging yourself as a sinner in need of God's mercy. You will be in the conversion mode for the rest of your Catholic life.

The sins you mention, those of presumption, as Servus pointed out, are actually very common. Putting off formal confession, putting off correcting wrongs, putting off proper worship due to God. Putting it all off for another day, hour and even minute, is presumption. We presume we have time, but we don't know that!

Every breath we take. Every inspiration to do good. Every decent thought or act is from God. Left up to our own devices we would strive to fulfill our every desire. Fall to every temptation. By God's patience and good graces, we will correct and convert. But first we must acknowledge Him and His authority over us. As you have done. Not presume He will allow us to fix our wretched lives in our own time, in our own way. We can not KNOW, then continue on as if we dont. Your conscience is very alive and well directing you and showing you the ways you have dishonored our Lord. Give Him thanks for that, yes, but even more important, do something about it. Which you are! Thanks, God.

While you try hard to amend your life, just know you will be assaulted at every turn. That is your proof you are making progress the evil one hates. It's painful, but satisfying. Your creature comforts will not rule, your not so good inclinations, the grip they may have will become weaker as you go forward. Temptations may increase, but your repugnance and distaste for sin will increase according to your effort.

We presume upon God's mercy. His love. His charity towards us, as we wallow in the muck and refuse to give Him His due. That is part of our fallen nature. But we can rise above this, and like you, correct it. Thanks for your post!
To board the struggle bus: no whining, board with a smile, a fake one will be found out and put off at next stop, no maps, no directions, going only one way, one destination. Follow all rules and you will arrive. Drop off at pearly gate. Bring nothing.

samguk yusa

I think if the worst sin ever ( Judas) would have been forgiven by God I think you will be okay.
Just have a willingness to improve and confession and you'll be fine.

Greg

#5
I bet you weren't that bad before the age of 5.  So not your whole life.

Cheer up.  They made the apostate JP2 a Saint.

So you are probably a double Saint.

At least you publicly recognise and confess your greatest sins.  More than Saint JP2 did.

You might abuse God's mercy, but JP2 abused God.
Contentment is knowing that you're right. Happiness is knowing that someone else is wrong.

Kaesekopf

You aren't greater than Our Lord, so yeah, any sin can be forgiven. 

Sent from my STV100-1 using Tapatalk

Wie dein Sonntag, so dein Sterbetag.

I am not altogether on anybody's side, because nobody is altogether on my side.  ~Treebeard, LOTR

Jesus son of David, have mercy on me.

LausTibiChriste

I think most Catholics with half a heart, in one way or another, commit sin thinking "oh I'll be forgiven" so don't worry about it.

Unless the sin is murder or something, then worry about it.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son Of God, Have Mercy On Me A Sinner

"Nobody is under any moral obligation of duty or loyalty to a state run by sexual perverts who are trying to destroy public morals."
- MaximGun

"Not trusting your government doesn't make you a conspiracy theorist, it means you're a history buff"

Communism is as American as Apple Pie

Daniel

#8
Presumption is one of the "unforgivable sins", but the "unforgivable sins" are only unforgivable if you persist in them until death. Otherwise they can be forgiven just like any other mortal sin.

The reason that presumption is especially dangerous is because you think to yourself, "I'll commit some sin, and then I'll confess it later and be forgiven". The problem with this line of reasoning is, there's no guarantee that you'll ever be forgiven later. Because forgiveness requires contrition. Even if you repent, and go to confession, the fact remains: if you do not have contrition, then your confession is invalid; you are not forgiven, and you commit an additional mortal sin of sacrilege in your very act of confessing without contrition.

So what it comes down to is contrition. You need contrition in order to be forgiven. But contrition is a gift from God alone. No matter how much you desire contrition, and no matter how much you repent, if God does not give you contrition then your desires and efforts are in vain. Now it's possible that God, in his mercy, will give you contrition. But it's equally possible that God, in his justice, will choose not to give it to you. Whether or not you are forgiven is ultimately up to God alone, which is why some men are "elect" while others are "reprobate". But what you can do, by your own power (maybe? or this too might require God's help?), is become more disposed to receive contrition, should God choose to give it to you. So that's all you can really do. Since you have no way of knowing whether you'll be damned or be saved, you can only repent and hope to be saved. Yet presumption is a false hope, since it prevents you from even becoming disposed to receive the gift of contrition. No man, so long as he persists in presumption, can be forgiven.

Miriam_M

Pio,

Just remember that some of the most horrendous and persistent sinners became great Saints in the Tradition of the Church prior to Vatican 2.  That includes both men and women.  It is doubtful that you are worse than they were, prior to their conversions. 

The good aspect of knowledge of our great sinfulness is the opportunity it gives us for humility and immense gratitude.  Only people with intimate knowledge of their own sin can come close to God.  It is not possible to grow spiritually without self-knowledge.  For example, if you know someone in your life (lay or clergy), not superficially, but deeply -- in such a way as to see surely that they consistently exhibit an uncommon holiness, know that they were most likely not always that way as adults, but that what you are witnessing and benefiting from is their fruit of their courage in recognizing and confronting their unworthiness and allowing God to work within them to cleanse them and refashion them.