[Parker Sgarbossa]

[Parker Sgarbossa]

[Parker Sgarbossa]

[Parker Sgarbossa]

[Parker Sgarbossa]

[Parker Sgarbossa]

I would ask “where do you believe that our conscious stems from?” “ do you feel that nagging tug of your conscious when you do something bad?” “Did you know that is the Holy Spirit that is guiding you?” If we pay attention to that little voice more often, He will open our eyes to the Truth that is God and his laws. It’s great that you’re happy, however the things you have listed don’t ever give lasting joy and peace which is why we always feel driven for more/better to drown out that little voice that is God.

[Parker Sgarbossa]

God doesn’t stop loving you even when you choose of your own free will to reject Him… however His qualities are mercy AND justice like any good parent. If you choose to turn away from Him and his commandments, you choose not to love him with the sacrificial love he desires (agape) so you can enter into relationship with Him in heaven for eternity. Anywhere that is devoid of Mercy is hell. He won’t force you to be in heaven if you don’t have that love for Him because you’d hate it and it would just be another hell.

[Parker Sgarbossa]

I’d say imagine the love you have for your parents. When they are with you, you don’t have to imagine them in your mind, but when they aren’t with you, you use a photograph or a token of their love to remind yourself of them. You don’t believe they are physically present in the photo. Same thing with images of Mary, Jesus, and the Saints, they help stir the imagination so we can picture them when we pray to them.

[Parker Sgarbossa]

I’d say that sounds like you believe that salvation is by faith alone, is that what you believe? If yes, I would question how then does someone explain what Jesus meant when he said “love your neighbour as I have loved you?” Jesus didn’t just love us from afar, he practiced the corporal and spiritual works of mercy and embraced suffering for others sake. That is true love, sacrificial love (agape, the Greek word for sacrificial love, which is the love Jesus was referring to).

• This reply was modified 6 days, 22 hours ago by Parker Sgarbossa.

[Parker Sgarbossa]

Jesus implemented the sacrament of reconciliation through his priests because when we confess to God privately – while this is still good to do- we can’t be certain of forgiveness because we may not have the right disposition in our confession (ie not truly having contrition for our sins). A priest can discern this and decides whether to abstain from absolving the sins or not. Plus by confessing to a priest they can give advice and help if your conscious is clouded (ie uncertainty about the graveness of a sin or finding sin where there is none).

[Parker Sgarbossa]

[Parker Sgarbossa]

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