Christofine

I am a Catholic and have been taught that during confession I confess to Jesus but through the person of the priest, and of course only Jesus can forgive. And of course its all really about a self examination of conscience and sincere repentence or the whole exercise is a waste of time. I must say that I am very disappointed at the nastiness coming from the hearts of some posters on this site towards Catholics. It is not a truly non denominational site. People parrot big chunks of scripture from here there and everywhere and I'm sure half of them have no idea what they're talking about. Jesus had one simple commandment I thought, to love God with all our hearts and minds and love our neighbours like ourselves.

The precious blood of Jesus is enough but because we have a free will we have tempations and choices always. If only I could forget myself and see Jesus present in the face of everyone I meet. Today I am going to try harder to put this into practice. "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me" Matthew 25:40 Yours in Jesus Christofine

I pray for God's blessing for all the nations of the world. Please bless those in pain through hunger, sickness or injury. May those in darkness find your light in Jesus and follow Him to into peace. Yours in Jesus Christofine

We certainly do worry too much. Take my husband. He always worried about the future and wether he would have enough money to have a comfortable retirement etc. Then when he had only been retired for one year he found out he has a terminal illness. (an illness he had never worried about getting) The strange thing is that since he got sick he doesn't worry any more and is more at peace than he has ever been. Our relationship is much happier to and we never fight about unimportant things. I believe worry is a kind of fear and we all know where fear comes from. Fear comes from the devil. Yours in Jesus Christofine

Lets not forget our common humanity and just give in to tunnel vision about everything that happens. Probably if we saw the grief and pain of the victim's families, children etc we would be sad, despite holding a fixed political view. Christofine

Those beheaded Christians have died a martyr's death.

Each generation tries to create God in its own image rather than shape themselves in His image. Just remember Jesus on simple commandment. "My command is this: "to love one another as I have loved you." John 15: Apply the second part regarding Jesus example to this movement and see how it shapes up. By the way, you are blessed that your loved one attends a church, none of my nearest and dearest go anywhere near one. Yours in Jesus Christofine

Thanks Nebula I was beginning to think I'd wasted my time searching for any worthy comments on this subject. Was Jesus at Michael Jackson's memorial? I don't know Is He always present in our posts ? No Yours in Jesus Christofine

"If the Pope makes a Marxist statement, I believe we call him on it If he stands for righteousness we stand with him " Thanks so much Mattijah for this kind explanation. Now I understand where some of you guys are coming from and harbour no grudges. Yours in Jesus Christofine

Someone suggested that the Pope might be the anti Christ. How convenient if the anti Christ lived in a far away country, and was so easy to spot in his very unusual clothes. He doesn't speak English as a first language either, like most of the baddies in Hollywood movies. Actually I think his critics should stop gazing into the distance and start looking for Satan's disciples at work locally. Introducing drugs to our youth. Seeking to corrupt them through obsene, blasphemous and violent entertainment. Deceiving us with their seductive financial deals that will make us poor. These things have white anted most Western cultures. And I don't think the instructions are coming from the Pope. Yours in Jesus Christofine

Wow learn something everyday, I just had no idea the Iraqi war was part of some christian crusade. Bush may have said on some occasions he prayed or that G-d spoke to him but I cannot remember ever a time when he came out and said G-d told me to invade another country in the name of christianity. If Mr Bush didn't think his plans had God's approval, as a committed Christian why was he putting them into practise? I assume he is a Christian, as he said he is. Hopefully it wasn't just a vote getting ploy. Glad to hear you're learning from my posts.

The assets of the church are not owned by the Pope. If all the property, art and assets was sold and the money distributed amongst the poor do you think all the world's greed would disappear? No. Did the Pope give rise to the sub prime mortgage crisis? No Was the Pope responsible for Bernie Madoff's massive fraud? No. ( Is Bernie a Catholic hmm? No I don't think so.) Did he decide to waste three trillion dollars plus on a war in Iraq in a bid to control oil resources? Did he kill thousands of people in the middle east in the name of Christianity? No but some one called George Bush did.

I am assuming she is a person without good social skills, so she may be scared about having to confront you at work and on her home turf as well. Maybe her private activites don't bare close scrutiny, and she doesn't want you to witness what goes on. Or maybe she is embarrassed about you seeing her poor relatives or something who knows?. I'd tell her you are there if she ever wants help, and then return to the relationship you had before. Maybe everyone at work would like a bit of the cake. Yours in Jesus Christofine

As a Catholic and quite a new member of worthy it is very upsetting to see all these nasty, spiteful comments about the Pope. His motive for proposing a global authority on economy is obviously to reduce world poverty. A point that has been ignored by your contributors. Is not the welfare of millions of impoverished people all over the world more important then interdenominational back stabbing? I was raised in a poor African country called Tanzania where priests and pastors play sport together. I am good friends with a saint like Lutheran nun who is best friends with a Catholic nun. In Tanzania all and sundry pay respect to those who have devoted their life to God. We could all learn a lot from their example. Yours in Jesus Christofine

Hi Strawberry jam Welcome to worthy God is way beyond our understanding but here is the result of my clumsy attempt to do so. I came to Christianity via eastern religions and so have a view that others may not share. Its my belief that our birth on this planet presents an opportunity to each human being to spiritualise themselves. This can only be done through his/her free will. Each person can do this by following God's word, Jesus' example and self sacrifice in the service of others. Painful experiences are like sandpapering the rough edges off a rock in order to get the desired shape. Like a baby not understanding why its mother cannot hold it in her arms all day, we don't understand why we have pain in our lives either. Life on earth is just a flash in the pan in the scheme of things , but bliss awaits when we have been made perfect. Christofine I

I don't think there was anything wrong in selling your bible to somene who was probably hungry for God's word, and willing to pay for it. We humans value things more when we pay for them. You used the money to care for your animals not for your own needs. What's wrong with that? This worrying that you do suggests to me that you are a sincere Christian, and genuine, trustworthy person. I pray that you find the peace you deserve. Christofine

It seems like this time of accumulating teachers in accordance with our own desires is upon us. I've always had a problem with the notion of separation of church and state, maybe party politics is the problem. It only looks right from a worldly perspective. Here's a hypothetical. Imagine I am a politician in a nation where state and church are separated, and then I die and go to meet my maker. God would ask me if I had lived according to His teachings and Iwould have to reply , "Yes except when other people were in disagreement with your laws, then I made a clever compromise." Yours in Jesus Christofine

Normally when a patient fills in their admission form prior to being admitted to hospital they are able to disclose their religion and whether they would like a visit from a chaplain. Permission for spiritual ministering by medical staff could be collected this way to. When people are fearful and in pain, their doctor and other health professionals are in a unique postion to comfort and heal in Jesus' name, at a time when that person is probably anticipating the possibility of death.

Maybe it could be included as an optional extra.

Thats a great article! It says everything.

Remember the parable on Jesus' last day of teaching? "The poor widow had put in more than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth: but she, out of her poverty, put in everything- all she had to live on" Mark 12 43-44 A few years ago I went to church in the quite poor, but very peaceful East African country of Tanzania and the congregation all gave money to the collection although some did not have enough money for shoes. I witnessed this but I have not become like them, I still try to hang on to my money. Although its getting increasingly difficult with the price of things! However it should not be made light of: its a big stumbling point not to have complete trust in God. Its a tough one!

I've heard people in the US talk freely about God and I love that about them. Here in Australia, although there are exceptions, the only socially acceptable expression of passion is for your football team. So I suppose it would be a bigger challenge for a doctor here to approach the subject with patients. My doctors have been great, but care has not included any spiritual dimension. Jesus rules! Christofine

Sad to think good people are gagged this way. The high regard and trust most people have for doctors could make their sharing about Jesus especially potent to. Its good to hear God brought you through your depression Fez. Its is a real scourge as I know from personal experience. My best friend's son who suffered from depression took his own life a few years ago. My own son had it but recovered several years ago now. God answered all my prayers to my eternal and sincerest gratitude. Yours in Jesus Christofine

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8116497.stm In the above article it is suggested that doctors could discuss spiritual matters as part of the doctor patient relationship. I think it would be easier to open up to a doctor or nurse in a life or death situation if they were open about their own beliefs. Sorting out all the denominational issues would be another matter however. God bless Christofine

We all stuff up, yes we do, and I like to remember the story of the Prodigal Son and hope I have dug myself deeper into Gods heart with my frequent need for forgiveness. As a Catholic I attend confession at these times. For those that have not experienced this type of confession please let me explain. Its not like the mocked confessional scenes from two ads that we have had here in Australia one where a priest sits drooling over a chocolate bar or another where he is perspiring over a beautiful woman's lascivious description about an erotic weekend she spent at a resort. Another popular misconception is that simply be the act of going to confession we are forgiven and this is not true. The priest listens to us but it is Jesus who hears and forgiveness only comes if we are truly sorry in our hearts. A prayer or act of penance is given to help makes amends. Of course we can add to this to. I have a book about the ten commandments which helps understand how our habits can lead to sin. I'll give an excerpt from the sixth commandment but I go through all of them before each confession. I examine my conscience for; " sins in thought or desire; in looks: bad magazines, movies; in words: jokes, songs: in actions alone or with another ( man or woman ): immodest dress, self abuse, impure touches, fornication, adultery, and so on." Not all Catholics have been taught to do this before confession and many don't go at all. I am a very happy person and I have a fair few trials to contend with. So I must be doing somthing right. God bless you all Yours in Jesus