In which we speak of being contrite.

With the previous post, I mentioned penance. Dear reader #3 (aka Craigers) inquired about that wacky Catholic habit of confessing one's sins. I'll tackle it now, and hopefully in a way that is understandable, and at the same time will make you aware of why I really don't have a need for organized religion.

First, what people think. The popular conception is that you can kill a busload of nuns and orphans, go around kicking puppies and get off the hook by walking into a phone booth and uttering those infamous words, "Bless me Father, for I have sinned." Not exactly how things work. First, the words of Father MacGuire, the child molester that wrote the catechism that everybody seemed to have. (Catholics, remember the clothbound green books? Yeah!) He came up with a clever way of illustrating sin, and it's effect on your immortal soul.

The milk bottle.

When we are born, our milk bottle is empty, thanks to original sin. It's true that God is like my friend Riley--he's a grudger. This one is over that Eve chick using her ability to make independent decisions. Proof that God (and organized religion in general) is full of bosh. If God had really wanted the Adam and Eve thing to work out, he would have whipped up a bunch of Stepford Wives and not free thinking people like he did. (and yes, God is a guy.)

So we have all these stillborn babies in limbo because their milk bottles are empty, and devoid of God's grace. Baptism is the first sacrament we are exposed to, and it's the one that seals us. It is also only a "one time good deal," and it doesn't make a difference into which church you are baptized, because you are made a disciple of Christ, and last time I checked all Christian churches followed that same dude.

But I digress. To be a REAL catholic, you need to join that Holy Roman and Apostolic thing. *shrug*

Anyway, we have a full bottle of milk at baptism. Then, we go through life having fun and draining our bottle of milk. Little transgressions, such as stubbing your toe and saying "FUCK!" are probably a teensy sip on the straw(venial sin). Murdering a busload of nuns and orphans will pretty much up-end your bottle(Mortal sin). Obviously, you can have a whole shitlad of venial sins, and you'll probably get into heaven eventually, but you'll have to sit in the waiting room first (purgatory.) While in purgatory, people can pray for you (kind of a Sally Struthers thing) and with each prayer, a little squirt gets popped back in your milk bottle.

That's where confession, and another sacrament, Extreme Unction, come into play. These are mechanisms for running to the dairy for a nice quart of 2%. The process is really pretty simple, but a lot of people don't really understand it fully. Confession (and to a great extent, Extreme Unction) is highly individual. The key to being forgiven for your sin is being contrite. Only if you are really sorry for having sinned will they be erased. God is no dummy. If he knows you're just kneeling there jerking him around, your milk bottle is going to have a big gulp taken out of it, because you pissed him off again.

The actual confession part of the process is like the first step in a 12-step program. "Admit you have a problem." That, for most is actually the hardest part, and the one that takes the most effort. Thus, for the sinner, admitting to another person that they have boinked their best friend's wife, shame is created, and hopefully, they realize that they really have fucked up, and they really are sorry for having done whatever they have done.

That's when God removes your sin, and fills up your milk bottle again. "Only God forgives sins" (Mark 2:7) This brings us to penance.

Many sins wrong our neighbor. One must do what is possible in order
to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone
slandered, pay compensation for injuries). Simple justice requires as
much. But sin also injures and weakens the sinner himself, as well as his
relationships with God and neighobur. Absolution takes away sin, but does
not remedy all the disorders that sin has caused. Raised up from sin, the
sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing more to make amends
for his sin: He must "make satisfaction for" or "expiate" his sins.
This satisfaction is also called "penance."
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Sec. 1459, 1994

Enough! Although it is a grey Sunday morning (not to mention the first Sunday of Lent) I've rattled off enough church doctrine for one sitting.

Obviously, I don't agree with many of the church's standpoints on various processes, but I don't poop on the beliefs of others. SBC attends church weekly, and I have no doubt that he was present in that bug buff building outside of my window (Cathedral of Ss Peter and Paul.)

Now to matters of myself. Have I mentioned how much I love my little friend Peron? He's that guy that I go out with on rare occasions, dance with, and sit up on the balcony of OP's and talk smack about people with. That's what we did a couple weeks ago, and a good time was had by all. There was breakfast at my favorite dumpy place for breakfast at 3am, Canary Cafe where we had a lovely civil conversation without the hazard of bad techno music. Yeah, I like him, but for various reasons which don't bear discussion (read: boyfriend) he's not datable. He's going to stay comfortably in the realm of good friend.

That's ok--I like him there ;-)

The other thing that has marked this week is the misery of various colds floating around. Everyone I know has been ill this week, which is the reason I'm sucking on a zinc lozenge and eating something called L-argenine, which is an amino acid which is supposed to pump out white blood cells and make one superimmune.

That means I can go out and swap spit with someone! If only...any takers?