• I Am Who Am
• The Ten Commandments - Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church.
• Temptation
• Sin - 'Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more' - Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church.
• Love - 'You did not abandon him to the power of death' - Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church.
• He Will Pardon You - Fr. Charles Kovari, S.J.
• Confession, Reconciliation, Penance - Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church.

"The Father Heart of God Do you really mean to say that you believe there is a God ? One of the questions we all ask ourselves is: "Is there a God ?". if so, what sort of God is He ? The Bible makes it very dear that for those who accept Him as such through Jesus Christ, God is Father and His father heart longs for us to know Him. Does it all then depend on what the word 'father' evokes in you? Perhaps you have had a very warm and affectionate relationship with your earthly father, or perhaps he was indifferent or even cruel and absent to you, perhaps you never even knew him. It may take time for you to understand but you need to be assured there is a Father in heaven who knows you and really does love you and even wishes to heal your wrong images of Him. But what is God the Father really like ? God the Father is not a Father Christmas - an impersonal distributor of gifts. God our Creator has a heart full of mercy; He is a Person who yearns to share His love, care and tenderness with you and also to be loved by you. God is love and you cannot stop Him loving you even if you tried. "God is love .... There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear. . . ·1 John 4:16 Then why all this talk about sin and hell ? Hell is the refusal of this love and the refusal to be transformed by it. Because of his sin, man was unable to reach God's love, so God dealt with the problem by coming Himself. Jesus, God's love revealed, took all our sin, guilt, shame and hurt upon himself on the Cross (Jn 3:16). Believing this Good News is what the Gospel invites us to and what the Church has been calling man to. Hell is the refusal of this love and the refusal to obey Him and the Gospel of salvation. It is choosing rather to live our own way. But why don't I experience this love and why does God seem so distant ? The sun shines bright and warm even on a wet and cloudy day. However, the dark thick clouds prevent us from experiencing the light and the warmth of the sun. The same thing goes for sin. Sin and indifference block us from receiving or even perceiving God's love. By turning away from it and really seeking God in Jesus we can experience the Father's forgiveness and love. But isn't it old-fashioned to speak about sin ? Jesus says that you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. "Repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out and times of refreshing may come from the Lord" Acts 3:19. Sin is self-destructive and it grieves God's heart Furthermore, sin is opening ourselves to the devil and his destructive forces. Repentance is changing our mind about sin and accepting God's truth. It is not misery - it is the joy-ride out of it ! But I'm not too religious and besides, there are many religious hypocrites. If by religious you mean a person who seeks to observe external rituals without relating to God sincerely and who, furthermore, adopts a condescending attitude to those around, you're quite right. It is for people like this that Jesus reserved His strongest condemnation. True religion is lived from the heart. What about my deep hurts ? Jesus still heals. Tear out the pages in the gospel where Jesus healed and you will be left without a gospel. Jesus is still the same, yesterday, today and forever and is still willing to heal your broken heart and to give you a real hope for the future, most especially eternal life. Besides, in our suffering He gives us the grace to go on. In practice, what can I do ? The Lord is near to you and promises "The same Lord is Lord of all, and richly blesses all who call on Him for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved " Rom 10: 12,13 - Speak to Jesus simply as if you were speaking to a friend and sincerely ask Him to reveal Himself to you. - Ask the Lord forgiveness for all your past sins. It is truly a freeing experience to approach Him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. - Read the Gospels - but before you do, ask Jesus to help you understand His Word. - Find someone you may know has a sincere relationship with the Lord so that he/she may help you start out. - Attending a group where other young people are experiencing the joy and free- freedom Jesus promises to His Church is an effective way of keeping your faith alive."

1 YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND HIM ONLY
        SHALL YOU SERVE.

"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your strength' (Dt 6:5)
The first commandment summons man to believe in God, to hope in Him and to love Him above all else.
'You shall worship the Lord your God' (Mt 4:10). Adoring God, praying to Him, offering him the worship that belongs to him, fulfilling the promises and vows made to Him, are acts of the virtue of religion which fall under obedience to the first commandment. The duty to offer God authentic worship concerns man both as an individual and as a social being.
'Men of the present day want to profess their religion freely in private and in public' (DH 15).
Superstition is a departure from the worship that we give to the true God. It is manifested in idolatry, as well as in various forms of divination and magic. Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the first commandment. The veneration of sacred images is based on the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God. It is not contrary to the first commandment."

"You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely...' But I say to you, Do not swear at all. ' O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!' (Ps 8:1). The second commandment enjoins respect for the Lord's name. The name of the Lord is Holy. The second commandment forbids every improper use of God's name. Blasphemy is the use of the name of God, of Jesus Christ, of the Virgin Mary, and of the saints in an offensive way. False oaths call on God to be witness to a lie. Perjury is a grave offence against the Lord who is always faithful to His promises. 'Do not swear whether by the Creator, or any creature, except truthfully, of necessity and with reverence' (St Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises 38). In Baptism, the Christian receives his name in the church. Parents, godparents and the pastor are to see that he be given a Christian name. The patron saint provides a model of charity and the assurance of his prayer. The Christian begins his prayers and activities with the Sign of the Cross: 'in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.' God calls each one by name (cf. Is 43:1)"

"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath. 'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy' (Dt 5:12). 'The seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord' (Ex 31:15)
The Sabbath, which represented the completion of the first creation, has been replaced by Sunday, which recalls the new creation inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ.
The Church celebrates the day of Christ's Resurrection on the 'eight day', Sunday, which is rightly called the Lord's Day (cf. SC 106). 'Sunday... is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church. On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass'. 'On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound... and abstain from these labours and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord's Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body'. The institution of Sunday helps all 'to be allowed sufficient rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social and religious lives'. Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord's Day."

        "Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality any other names would be futile. To try to understand what sin is, one must first recognise the profound relation of man to God, for only in this relationship is the evil of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity's rejection of God and opposition to Him, even as it continues to weigh heavy on human life and history.

Only the light of Divine Revelation clarifies the reality of sin and particularly of the sin committed at mankind's origins. Without the knowledge, Revelation gives of God, we cannot recognise sin clearly and we are tempted to explain it as merely a developmental flaw, a psychological weakness, a mistake, or the necessary consequence of an inadequate social structure, etc. Only in the knowledge of God's plan for man can we grasp that sin is an abuse of the freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving Him and loving one another. "

If someone breaks a commandment does he go to hell?

We can never answer this question as we can never judge others, but God alone can judge. Repentance in the sacrament of reconciliation is the most important action a sinner carries out, showing God that he is ready to humiliate himself infront of Him, to be worthy to start a new and love again."
 
 

        "After his fall, man was not abandoned by God. On the contrary, God calls him and in a mysterious way heralds the coming victory over evil and his restoration from his fall. This passage in Genesis is called the Protoevangelium ('first gospel'): the first announcement of the Messiah and Redeemer, of a battle between the serpent and the Woman, and of the final victory of a descendant of hers.

The Christian tradition sees in this passage the announcement of the 'New Adam' who, because he 'became obedient unto death even death on a cross', makes amends superabundantly for the disobedience of Adam. Furthermore many Fathers and Doctors of the Church have seen the woman announced in the 'Protoevangelium' as Mary, the mother of Christ, the 'new Eve'. Mary benefited first of all and uniquely from Christ's victory over sin: she was preserved from all stain of original sin and by a special grace of God committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life.

But why did God not prevent the first man from sinning? St. Leo the Great responds, 'Christ's inexpressible grace gave us blessings better than those the demon's envy had taken away.' And St Thomas Aquinas wrote, 'There is nothing to prevent human nature's being raised up to something greater, even after sin; God permits evil in order to draw forth some greater good. Thus St Paul says, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more"; and the Exsultet sings, "O happy fault,.... which gained for us so great a Redeemer!"'"
 
 
 

It would appear that Our Lady at Garabandal was repeating this plea of her Son Jesus when she said, " "If you ask His forgiveness with sincere hearts, He will pardon you."

It is a common trick of Satan to induce someone into sin by putting before his eyes the mercy of God and the easiness to obtain His forgiveness. But as soon as the sin is committed Satan changes his strategy and now he convinces the poor sinner that he misused God's mercy by relying on it with temerity, and now he lost all of his hope for forgiveness. Satan may even tempt the sinner to commit suicide, as he did with Judas. Suicide without repentance would make the victory of Satan final.

And now I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

On the contrary God since the Old Testament stresses on His willingness to forgive even the greatest sinner: "If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of the crimes he commit-ted shall be remembered against him; he shall live because of the virtue he has practised. Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord God. Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?" (Ezek. 18:21-23).

The Unforgivable Sin Distrusting God's mercy is a greater offence to God than any other sin we may have committed. There is only one kind of sin that cannot be forgiven: the final obduration in sins. This is called the sin against the Holy Spirit, or the unforgivable sin. In other words, if we die in the state of serious sin, we are lost, but as long as we are living, God is willing to forgive us."
 
 
 

 
    "There are two important conditions for this forgiveness: First we must ask for it ourselves. It is rot enough that other people ask and pray for our conversion. We must cooperate with the grace of God obtained for us by those who intercede for us. We must admit our sinfulness and ask for the mercy of God. In other words, we must admit that we offended God, instead of trying to excuse our sins, repeating to ourselves that we cannot believe that the Church is right in teaching us that these actions are really sinful, " prohibited by God. We must cease to appeal to our dead conscience, saying that we do not feel any remorse of conscience because of our actions, though we know well, that they are against the Ten Commandments of God, or against the precepts of the Church.

Normally this admission should be made in sacramental confession. In this case an imperfect sorrow, based on fear of God's punishment is sufficient to obtain God's pardon. Those who cannot go to confession, either because they have no time for it, or because they do not belong to the Catholic or Orthodox Church, may obtain God's pardon by the sincere admission of their sinfulness accompanied by perfect contrition, which is based or the love of God. In case of imminent danger of life this may be the only way for all of us. Therefore it is very useful to elicit the act of perfect contrition frequently during our life, especially every evening before going to sleep."
 
 

      "The second condition is that we must be sincere. This means the firm resolution to do everything we can in order to avoid relapsing into the serious sins of our past life. First of all we must avoid those occasions, companions which led us into these sins. Secondly, we must strengthen ourselves against unavoidable temptations by prayer and practising the opposite virtues. Thirdly, if due to our weakness we sin again, we should return to God as soon as we realize our mistake. This should be done by an act of perfect contrition or at least by an act of imperfect contrition, followed by a good confession as soon as possible. If someone continually confesses several serious sins, he might doubt his sincerity and even the validity of his previous confessions. But just the fact that after a good confession we became weak again and sinned seriously does not necessarily mean that we were not sincere. Only if we neglected all the precautions and disregard the use of supernatural means (i.e. prayer, the sacraments) to avoid the occasions of sin, may we doubt our sincerity  . But even in this case, we must ask our confessor to help us, to advise us on how we can be more successful in avoiding the same kind of sin in the future and, most importantly, remember that we can always go back to God with confidence in His mercy."
 
 

  

        "Only God forgives sins. Since He is the Son of God, Jesus says of Himself, 'The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins', and exercises this divine power: 'Your sins are forgiven.' Further, by virtue of His divine authority He gives this power to men to exercise in His name.

Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that He acquired for us at the price of his Blood. But He entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the apostolic ministry which He charged with the 'ministry of reconciliation'. The apostle is sent out 'on behalf of Christ' with 'God making his appeal' through him and pleading: 'Be reconciled to God.'

The priest has this duty and power on behalf of God and he must make sure that he doesn't take this for granted.

The spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are:
 

-reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
-reconciliation with the Church;
-remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
-remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
-peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
-an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.
 

Individual and integral confession of grave sins followed by absolution remains the only ordinary means of reconciliation with God and with the Church."
 

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