Before I converted to the Catholic Church I really had a struggle with “human emotions.” If I was sad, mad, or sorrowful during sufferings, I was made to feel, very “guilty.” If I was having “human emotions” such as these, I did not have “faith in God.” I was not “rejoicing in God my Saviour.” I did not “trust in God to get me through them.”
I will never forget I went to “Confession.” I had been betrayed in the “worst way,” according to myself. I was “angry,” “hurt,” and I had said some pretty “mean” things to this person. Anyways, I begin to apologize over and over for these “feelings” I was having, and what I had said. My Priest looked at me and said, “Why are you apologizing for “feeling human?” I absolutely did not know what to say! It dawned on me, how ingrained it was in me, that human emotions, on the negative side, were “wrong.”
Through the teachings of the Church on the Seven Sorrows of our Blessed Mother, and the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, I begin to learn, “human emotions” are okay. Eventually, with the help of the Sacraments and teachings I will work through them.
When I learned that Jesus and The Blessed Mother had “human emotions” on the Day of the Cross, a whole other world opened up to me as well. I learned they were not “joyful” or “blissfully happy” on that day. Yet, through every “emotion” and every “suffering” they still carried out God’s perfected plan. It had nothing to do with their “lack of faith” in God. It was about their “response” as to what was happening. (I even learned Mary was “fearful” when she lost Jesus in the Temple)
To be freed, from this “burden” has meant everything to me. For it was truly a “heavy cross” to bear. I walked around in “guilt” all the time. Now I say, “Lord, You know how I feel. Help me through it. I give it to You.”
Then I rejoice because I have a wonderful and understanding God, Who is so ready to help me. Who has given me a Church that demonstrates this very thing in my life.
God Bless, SR
SR I love this! You have such a wonderful understanding of the faith, which is beautiful and rare. Most people ignorant of our Faith say the Catholic Church is the one to make them feel guilty. You’ve described it perfectly, how even Mary felt sorrows.
Hey Number 9,
Hope you are feeling better today. It is true and this is how I spent 48 years of my life. I will be doing some post this upcoming week on what all the Church truly has taught me in comparision, to what I thought was the “truth.” I am not saying I have never had “guilt” since being a Catholic, but what the Church does is offer me a way to get rid of it. Guilt is a wonderful thing, but hanging onto it, robs us of so much. When a Church offers you no way to get rid of it, one is kind of stuck. Those “ignorant of our Faith” do not understand that is one of the many beauties of Her. The Catholic Church freed me of so many things, and I hope all “cradle Catholics” and “Converts” as well see what all She does have to offer in the upcoming post. Thanks for comment and you are in my prayers. God Bless, SR
Thank you. I have an MRI scheduled for Friday.
Praying all goes well. I have had so many, I need to take stock out in them:>) God Bless, SR
Very nice! As a person filled with emotion and often guilt it was helpful to have such a positive perspective — thank you.
Hey IPat,
Thank you for comment. It is hard to live with guilt, very hard. The teachings of the Church helped me so to learn how to deal with it. Again thanks for comment and God Bless, SR
Great post SR! I guess some human emotions can be sinful or lead to sin but for the most part I would think most thoughts or emotions aren’t sinful. To me being angry is sort of like being tempted. Being tempted isn’t a sin but giving into that temptation and violating God’s Law is a sin. I’m not an expert on human emotions because I tended to keep things inside me while growing up. I guess I felt I had to be fine no matter what due to all the chaos happening in my family. I do better with expressing my emotions now though. God Bless.
Hey Teresa,
I agree “human emotions” can lead us to sin, especially anger. The emotion of “anger” is not a sin, as the Bible tell us, “Be angry and sin not.” We see Jesus “angry” in the temple. Of course be “angry and sin not” in my life is a whole other story:>) But to have to live your life, feeling that every sorrow, every feeling of frustration, every feeling of anger, etc…somehow goes against God and your faith in Him, is so hard to do. It is like a continual letting “God down” type of thing. Daily, as we have all of these emotions daily. I am glad you “express” your emotions better now. When one is so closed that is a hard thing to do as well. Took me years. Thanks for comment and God Bless, SR
I am so sorry that you had to go through the torment of thinking your human emotions let God down. I am so glad that the Catholic faith helped you to better understand about your human emotions and that it is okay to express human emotions. God loves you no matter what. God Bless.
Yeah He does:>) When I became Catholic, for the first time I undestood how much! Thanks My Girl and God Bless, SR
I LOVE this post. I always feel comfort knowing that Jesus was human, he must have experienced the very real ups and downs of human emotion. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful post.
Hey Jennifer,
I am glad you liked it. It gives me great comfort also, in knowing “Jesus was human” and felt everything I feel. I did not learn that until I became a Catholic. Not much was ever said regarding His humanity. Thanks for comment and God Bless, SR
Love it. I just saw that you were blogging again!
Well hello!!!! Good to hear from you and hope all is well. Will be by to visit your blog. Yes, I am back up. Things are getting back to normal, please pray they stay that way. Thanks for comment. You know yourself it is all toooooooooooooo true! God Bless, SR
Glad you’re back up. My prayers are with you. And yes, VERY true!
Thanks for the prayers and “welcome back.” God Bless, SR
Jesus was human too. In the Gospels he gets angry, he weeps, he smiles, and he rejoices. He also suffers pain. It is through our emotions that we can relate to Jesus most. That is why God gave us the gift of emotions. We don’t just adhere to God with our intellect and will, but also through our heart — most importantly through the heart. Jesus wants our hearts and he says so in the Bible. So we have to give him our whole heart, every bit of it, with every sentiment, feeling, emotion, and passion. If we suppressed or withheld our emotions from him, we would not be giving him our whole selves: heart, mind, body, and soul. It is the whole person he created, the whole person he loves, and the whole person he wants back in return.
Thanks, SR!
Hey Biltrix,
Hope you are feeling better. What a wonderful “add-on” to the post. How correct you are. It was a hard time in my life, and one very difficult to get through. In fact I never did, until I came into the Church:>) Thanks for comment and God Bless, SR