Katholic Kiwi Kathedral (Catholicism General) - It's a place for Catholic Kiwis to discuss Catholicism and inquirers to inquire.

[Battery Low]

I remember hearing Father Mike Schmirz say something along the lines of "you can forgive someone for wrecking your car without lending it to them again" which can be helpful for dealing with people who cause harm to you.

Turning the other cheek was a lesson about vengeance under the old Covenant, not necessarily about putting yourself in danger.

Re intrusive thoughts, I am fairly convinced that I have a form of OCD (not bothered looking into it medically though) and I struggle with intrusive thoughts etc. I sometimes see it as a vector of the devil that I have to navigate. The Deciever wants us to despair of God's love and fidelity. Seeing it as something almost external to me and trying to maintain focus/concentration on prayer (usually to Mary when this happens, but perhaps the prayer to St Michael the Archangel might help too) is something that helps me personally.

 

[Froggy Fresh Sextape]

Re intrusive thoughts, I am fairly convinced that I have a form of OCD (not bothered looking into it medically though) and I struggle with intrusive thoughts etc. I sometimes see it as a vector of the devil that I have to navigate.

There are plenty of saints who seemed to struggle with OCD. St. Anthony and St. Teresa of Avila are two notable ones. I think it's probable that mortification of the flesh developed as a way to get rid of intrusive thoughts.

Usually what I recommend is getting a scapular and just tugging on it whenever an intrusive thought about sin or Satan or whatever pops up, knowing all the saints have your back.

 

[Bowl of Ramen]

There’s no point in taking communion anymore. I’m sorry for a lot of things, but I’m not sorry for cutting my toxic sister and dad out of my life and I’m not sorry for never confronting them and making amends. Keeping them at a distance is the only way I have known peace for the law ten years. If these are mortal sins, then I’m only polluting the host.

If you need a shoulder to cry on for going no-contact, I’m here. Had to do the same! Sometimes it’s better to go NC instead of have them continually sin around you and put you in the position of sinning. You CAN love and forgive from afar.

It can be a matter of life and death in some situations. Have no regrets. Jesus in the Eucharist is your Numero Uno. Not your dad, your sister, anyone.

Think about St. Francis’ cutting ties with his own dad, to the point of stripping naked in public to rid himself of his father’s finery.

 

[A Very Big Fish]

Think about St. Francis’ cutting ties with his own dad, to the point of stripping naked in public to rid himself of his father’s finery.

"Please, just... give me the clothes later... you don't have to.... no, Francis please don't str-"

St. Francis' father, probably.

Incidentally, that story was the reason I picked St. Francis as my patron saint, instead of all the much better reasons one could pick St. Francis. I didn't do a lot of research when I picked my patron saint back in high school.

If you need a shoulder to cry on for going no-contact, I’m here. Had to do the same! Sometimes it’s better to go NC instead of have them continually sin around you and put you in the position of sinning. You CAN love and forgive from afar.

It can be a matter of life and death in some situations. Have no regrets. Jesus in the Eucharist is your Numero Uno. Not your dad, your sister, anyone.

There was a video someone shared (in this thread I believe) of an African woman talking about forgiveness after her family was massacred. To which I will say, man, some people are certainly closer to sainthood than I am, that's for sure.

But for the rest of us mere mortals, I remember hearing a woman talking about how she had a terrible relationship with her abusive father, and for a long while it was hard for her to forgive, so the way she did it, was just starting small, first just praying for simple things like, "I hope he sleeps well tonight", until eventually she was able to forgive him completely. At least for me, this was how I had to pray to forgive someone I knew who stole, quite a lot of money from me, and was completely unrepentant.

Unrelated to all the serious topics, I saw this comment on a video of clips from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and wanted to share it with my fellow Catholic chads.


For context: In the film, they pirates and English are trying to find The Fountain of Youth which in the PotC universe works by taking all the years someone would live and transferring it to the second person adding it to their lifespan, killing the first person.

Then the Spanish finds out, and King Ferdinand VI dispatches a bunch of soldiers led by a guy who is just called "The Spaniard", who show up when everyone is fighting over the fountain, and says, "Only God can grant eternal life, not this pagan water. Men! Destroy this profane temple!", and then after his men started razing it to the ground, he sees Blackbeard, who for whatever reason is also a sorcerer in the films, and just pulls out his sword and gets ready to throw down like its the most pedestrian thing about his day. The guy even pauses to reprimand Blackbeard, saying "You are a fool. You seek in this place what only Faith can provide."

So what I'm saying is that Pirates of the Caribbean 4 is some of my favorite unintentional Catholic propaganda.

Apologies for the 'tism, I just saw this and thought, "that's fucking nuts" and wanted to share it.

 

[412-L]

There are plenty of saints who seemed to struggle with OCD. St. Anthony and St. Teresa of Avila are two notable ones.

It’s even in her name: St. Teresa of Avila, OCD.

Spoiler

Just kidding, that stands for Ordo Carmelitarum Discalceatorum, the discalced Carmelites, which she helped found with St. John of the Cross.

 

[Nonokay]

There are plenty of saints who seemed to struggle with OCD. St. Anthony and St. Teresa of Avila are two notable ones.

Where’d you get that idea from? Not sure if you can make those sort of retrospective diagnoses. St Theresa of Avila was about as sober and discerning as mystics get, which is why she’s a Doctor of the Church.