Your Question: With an all-merciful God, wouldn’t he consider the weakness and sinfulness of all people and let everybody in heaven?

First, we have to recognize that the mercy of God is much more than we can imagine! When we fall away, he is always waiting to welcome us back when we come to Him and ask for His wonderful forgiveness and mercy. No matter how many times we turn away—even if we keep doing the same things over and over—God will welcome us back when we seek His forgiveness! He did, after all, take into account our sinfulness and weakness and become incarnate. Additionally, God gives us help to amend our ways—especially when we turn to Him in the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Beginning from this understanding, however, we also wrestle with the fact that though Jesus talked a lot about the promises of eternal life, he also talked about hell. We understand “hell” to be a state of eternal separation from God. While often portrayed as a place of physical fires and little red devils running around with pitchforks, we may be better off to think of hell as a state of being, rather than a “place.” Why is this radical separation from God a possibility?

God loves us more than we can imagine, and desires that we love him in return. The only way we can love God is if we have free will. Without free will, we are incapable of love! How many times have you heard a love song that includes the line “I can’t make you love me” or something similar? Well, it’s true! Love, by its nature, must be a free choice we make—what we call an act of the will.

This freedom God gives us is an amazing gift. It is at the center of being created in the image and likeness of God. It separates us from the animals, and is one of the fullest expressions of what it means to be human. God could have made the world so that we were just a bunch of automatons that ran around, serving God without any question. But, God wanted something more. He wanted us to be able to LOVE! And, in order to love, we have to be able to CHOOSE to love God. In order to be able to choose to love, we need free will.

The consequence of free will, however, is that we must also be able to choose to not love God. We can choose against God, and we can reject God. This possibility is illustrated in the Genesis creation stories—our first mother and father chose to deny God.

When we consider that God can do whatever God wants to (because He is, well, GOD), it is amazing that He did this. God allows the possibility of His creation rejecting Himself, just so that we can have the joy and sweetness of loving God. Love is that valuable and that wonderful, and it is the action by which we most express how we are made in God’s image and likeness (because God Himself is Love). We get to love God, and have a love-relationship with God, rather than being automatons. Furthermore, we get to love each other, rather than simply co-existing with each other like ants in an ant farm.

We also can reject God, however. God had to allow for that possibility in order to us to be able to love Him. This is always a possibility when we have free will in a broken world! It is therefore said that God doesn’t send people to hell, but people send themselves to hell. You can think of hell as the eternal choice a person makes against God—a choice in which the person says that he/she does not want God in his or her life. So, in summary, God wants all of us to be with Him (1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pt 3:9). God allows the possibility of freedom, and also the possibility that we will reject Him.

We cannot know exactly who is in Hell. We cannot presume know the innermost state of a person’s relationship with God, and we cannot presume to know God’s final judgment of a person. This is not mean, however, that we can’t know what is wrong and right, and what constitutes good and evil. We live in relationship with Christ through the Church, walking in His ways. Christ, through the Church, teaches us ways to live that, with God’s help, will bring us closer to God and will help us to live in harmony with one another. That’s why we don’t just do whatever we feel like doing all the time and simply trust that God will think it’s okay if we are pretty good people. God has revealed to us how we should live, and so we seek to know and live God’s truth! The point is that we know that the Church is our light in the darkness, and gives us a way to live that is true, good, and brings joy and freedom to our lives. By God’s power, and with our cooperation with that power, we trust that God will lead us closer to Himself. We trust in the Lord’s mercy, while seeking to live holy lives. The Lord is indeed kind and merciful, giving us freedom and the ability to come to love him more every day.

Your Question: The Little Black Lenten Book talks about St. Dismas...what more can you tell us about him - why as "the good thief" is he a saint?

The account of the "good thief" is one of the most beautiful moments in the account of the crucifixion:

From the Gospel of Luke 23:39-43
"Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, 'Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.' The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, 'Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation. And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.' Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' He replied to him, 'Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.'"

We often chant "Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom" at the end of Holy Thursday Mass, or on Good Friday. While not much is known about Dismas, he is an example for us because he recognized Jesus as the Savior and made a profession of faith to the Lord. His admission of fault and beautiful act of faith as he met his own death, is something we all can hope to reflect in our own lives.

We know he is a saint, because Jesus Himself told him that he would be with him in paradise. Everyone who is in paradise is a saint. Let us all pray that our faith will be strong like that of St. Dismas, and that we recognize and embrace Jesus in our lives.

For more on St. Dismas:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintd11.htm

Your Question: Why does what we consider sin seem to change? What is a sin, and how does it affect where our soul spends eternity?

Many people have experienced the Church’s way of teaching change over their lifetime. One such way is in the way that we are taught about sin. Often the rules change or seem to change! This is because the Church is not an unchanging, lifeless institution. Rather, the Church is a living Body of Christ that both maintains Tradition, and has to live out that Tradition in a changing world. So, there is both constancy and change in the Church. Just as I have been the same person my whole life, I have (hopefully!) changed tremendously throughout my life. But, at my center, I have remained the same.

We first have to recognize that the Church is both sinful and holy. It is holy because the Holy Spirit works in the Church, leading it to all truth, as Christ promised. But the Church is also sinful—because it is made up of sinners! Often, then, the beauty of the teachings of the Church have been distorted by the sin and limitations of its members, and particularly its teachers.

That being said, in the past some people experienced Catholic teaching that put a focus on fear as a motivation for living a good life. Live a good life, or go to Hell, seemed to be the message given to the people in the pews. (This is, of course, a generalization, but there are many people who remember such things!).

This had an impact on how people understood redemption. Some of those who grew up in the fifties and sixties remember a church that emphasized redemption as something that was given if you lived the good life and followed all the rules. To break the rules and not repent through the Sacrament of Confession, meant you went to Hell. What many teachers of the faith seemed to forget, however, was that our life of sin and redemption is not about following a system of rules and avoiding certain traps in order to win eternal life.

Redemption and salvation is first of all about a relationship with Christ—a God who saves us, and is literally dying to know us and purify our lives. This relationship with Christ transforms us, freeing us from sin and bringing us to live lives of self-giving love!

What is sin? Sin is an offense against God, and “an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is a failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as ‘an utterance, deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1849).

In other words, sin is something that separates us from God, our neighbors, and ourselves. We injure our relationship with God, others, and ourselves when we commit sin.

The particular actions that we consider to be sin are typically gleaned from Scripture and Tradition. Violations of the Ten Commandments, as well as Jesus’ command to love one another as he has loved us, often provide the material for us to discern the ways in which we have injured our relationship with God by doing, saying (or not saying), or thinking certain things.

The sin we commit harms not only our relationship with God and the people whom we’ve sinned against, but it also has an effect on our spiritual life and wellbeing. If we kill someone, it’s going to have an effect on us. When we habitually lie, it becomes harder to tell the truth, and so on. This is what we mean when we talk about being enslaved to sin—we are habitual creatures, and the evil we do grows on us!

Tradition and Scripture have always recognized that there are different kinds of sin, with different seriousness attached to them. The Church recognizes that some sin is more serious because it has a greater impact on our relationship with others, and our own spiritual wellbeing. Grave sin (typically called mortal sin), is more serious because it seriously harms our own wellbeing and our relationships with others. Certain acts are said to always be drastically harmful, no matter who commits them. It is, of course, more serious to murder someone or somehow impair their wellbeing, than to maybe just yell at someone or something. It is not only logical that this would be the case, but also supported in our Tradition of the Church.

So what about the particulars? What actions are considered sin, and why has this sometimes seemed to change? We get our understanding of what sinful actions are from Scripture and the teachings of the Church. You can find what we call an “examination of conscience” based on the Ten Commandments, or the words of Jesus. The point of these exercises is to uncover the places in our lives where we choose ourselves over God.

In some cases, the particulars seem to change. Sometimes it’s because of flawed teaching and teaching that was centered about using fear to get people to do something, and which left out a teaching on the mercy of God, and God’s great power. It’s also because times do change, and the Church reads the signs of the times to help us discern what kinds of behavior best express love for God and neighbor. Yes, there are some things such as murder, theft, adultery, fornication and the like that have always and will always be considered sin.

There are other things, however, that have to do with how we worship and live out our faith that change a bit more with the times. For example, the rules for fasting were different in the early church—no meat at all during Lent, and no dairy products either in some regions. To intentionally and consciously not obey the rules of fast is a sin because the Church has determined that in that time, observing those practices is the way we should all make sacrifices to God together. The times change, however, and now the rules are apparently much more relaxed. We have to keep in mind, however, that these rules are not mindless expressions of control over us. Rather, they are part of the guidance of the Church to give us concrete actions we can do out of obedience, to all come closer to the Lord as a whole community together. One of the Church documents from the Second Vatican Council puts it this way, “At all times and in every nation, anyone who fears God and does what is right has been acceptable to him (see Acts 10:35). He has, however, willed to make women and men holy and to save them, not as individuals without any bond between them, but rather to make them into a people who might acknowledge him and serve him in holiness.” Part of becoming a people who is gathered to God not simply as individuals, but as a whole church community, means that we do things together. Christ promised that his Spirit would continue to be with the Church throughout the ages, and that the primary mission of the Church was to go forth and make disciples of all nations (See Matthew 28:19-20). The Church teaches what it does in order to gather us all to Christ, not simply as independent units, but as a whole people. So, this means that we have certain standards the Church sets out so that we can, in fact, be together! When we freely choose to intentionally not observe something like a fasting or abstinence rule (assuming that we aren’t sick or advanced in years or under some circumstance where we would cause disunity and scandal by doing so), we are removing ourselves from the community. We set ourselves apart. In short, we sin.

Does this mean we go to Hell? I don‘t know! We really just have to recognize our fault and ask God for His bountiful mercy! Of course we do things to hurt our relationships. Of course we turn away from God. But that doesn’t have to be the end of the story. When we turn back to God, seeking his mercy, we are strengthened by God’s power. Our human relationships are made much stronger when we seek forgiveness from one another—sometimes we even see our worst enemies become the most devoted friends and loves of our lives. So it is with God. He strengthens us even through our sin and redeems us. As we go to Him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, for example, we receive strength to walk more closely with God and not turn away. Redemption means not only that we don’t have to be condemned, but also that we become holier people in this life! It becomes easier for us to know and do good, and we are actually less tempted to do sinful things. Have you ever known someone who quit smoking and then later said that he or she can’t stand the smell of cigarette smoke? Our spiritual lives can be the same. Oftentimes the vices that were so attractive at one time become repulsive to us.

So, what about eternity? There is a difference between what we consider sin, and the judgment we receive for it. We have to remember that we don’t know all the ways of God. God can do so much more than we can imagine. Additionally, each person is a mystery in some way, and we cannot claim to know exactly who has chosen to turn away from God and refuse to repent and send himself to Hell. Ever notice that the Church will never say who is in Hell for sure? Ultimately, God knows the depths of our hearts. We are indeed all finite and flawed. But God knows our efforts and love for him.

Additionally, the Church says that we can’t be held completely responsible for the wrong we do that we don’t recognize as wrong. You can’t accidentally commit grave sin. This doesn’t mean, however, that we can just live in ignorant bliss! The point of our Christian lives is to know God and to know the truth, and truth sets us free. So, we should seek to know God and love Him, and spend eternity with Him. Unintentional ignorance is, well, not really something we can be held responsible for! The government doesn’t expect children to be able to responsible for their own wellbeing, right? Likewise, God recognizes when we are children. However, to intentionally not learn the truth is something we can be held responsible for. Intentionally staying ignorant is like shooting ourselves in the foot. We are simply choosing to live in the darkness.

So, let us all ask God to bring us into the light! We hear Jesus say, “Be not afraid!”. God mercy is so much more than we can imagine, and he longs for us to come to him. The truth about God and about ourselves will truly set us free.

For more on this topic:

See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1846-1876. You can view it online at http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a8.htm

An Example of an Examination of Conscience:
http://www.stthomasirondequoit.com/id272.htm

Your Question: What are the main differences between Orthodox and Roman Catholics, besides the Greek origin?

There are a few main distinctions between Roman Catholics and those whom we call “Eastern Orthodox.” The issues are varied and many, but I'll address here some of the major ones: the differences in origin, the role of the Pope, the Creed, and worship.

You are right that there is a difference in their origin. Early on, cultural differences between western Christians (those who spoke Latin and congregated around Rome) and eastern Christians (those who spoke Greek and congregated around Constantinople, among other places) created a difference in some of the practices and theology of Christians in the east and west. Eventually, some of these differences actually caused a division between Christians in the west, and most of those in the east.

There were several main reasons for the division. One is that western Christians look to the Pope as the vicar of Christ, and are therefore “in communion” with him. Eastern Orthodox Christians recognize the Pope as a “patriarch,” but they don’t see him as the head. Rather, Eastern Orthodox Christians are organized around several “patriarchates,” all of whom have authority and headship. There is special reverence given to the patriarch in Constantinople, but all of them operate somewhat independently and with their own authority. If we operated that way in Roman Catholicism, the U.S. Catholic bishops, for example, would not be bound to take direction from the Pope in Rome, but would have their own autonomy in a certain sense. As we have it, however, all Catholic bishops around the world are in communion with and are obedient to the Pope as the vicar of Christ.

A second major difference is not usually thought about a great deal among common Roman Catholics. Another major division occurred between Christians in the East and West over the Creed that we recite at Mass each weekend- the Nicene Creed. This is known as the controversy over the "filioque." In the Creed, we state that the Holy Spirit proceeds “from the Father and the Son.” The “and the Son” is “filioque.” This phrase was not a part of the original Greek text of the Creed when it was first written in the 4th century. It was added in the 5th century to emphasize Christ’s divinity when many people in the Church were denying that Christ was divine. The conflict is that the eastern Christians didn’t think the bishops had the authority to make such an addition, and that the additional actually changed the meaning of the Creed. The western folks saw it as simply making more explicit something that was already believed. Both sides got angry and division ensued. We often don’t realize how much work, sweat, tears, and passion had to happen to articulate the Creed that we say every weekend together. Those Christians went through a lot in order to come up with a way to clearly express their belief and preserve it throughout history in our beautiful creeds.

Another point of distinction between the Roman Catholics and Orthodox is our way of worship. First of all, there are a lot of similarities. We both believe in the “Real Presence” (though Eastern Orthodox wouldn’t necessarily call it that.) We both have a set form of worship every week (liturgy), and a similar church calendar. We also both honor the saints in the same way, and share many other practices as well. We both have religious brothers and sisters, as well as ordained deacons, priests, and bishops.

There are, however, differences. One difference between Roman Catholic and Orthodox worship, however, is in language. Our liturgy often comes from Latin. Theirs is Greek. This is a tricky point, however, because there are Eastern Catholic churches that have a litury that is Greek in origin, and that are actually Catholic and not Orthodox. This would mean that their liturgy looks almost exactly like that of an Eastern Orthodox church. The only difference is that the Eastern Catholic churches are in communion with the Pope in Rome, rather than the Eastern Orthodox patriarch. It can be very confusing!!! The bottom line, however, is that if you went into an Orthodox church and were accustomed to the Mass we have here at Three Holy Women, you wouldn't necessarily know what to do, though you'd recognize some of the same major elements.

Overall, we are very similar to our Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters, and many efforts are being made to bring this great division between east and west back into communion with one another.

Your Question: What is sanctifying grace?

First of all, "grace" is a term we use to describe God's freely given power or action in our lives. Grace is not a substance, but an action, a state of being. There are many ways of describing grace and the ways in which it comes to us and acts in our lives. "Sanctifying grace" refers to the grace given and received in baptism. Sanctifying grace is a supernatural state of being infused by God into our souls at baptism. This life of God given and living in our soul is permanent once it is received. This is why we do not "re-baptize" people in the Catholic church. Baptism with water, and the invocation of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit bestows sanctifying grace--a real participation in the inner life of God. It "sanctifies," which means to "make holy," by giving those who possess it a participation in the life of the Trinity. Sanctifying grace makes the new Christian a child of God and unites them with Jesus Christ.