| | God Forgives | | — Fr Peter M. J. Stravinskas | | | Q When I was younger, I was coerced into having pornographic pictures taken of me. I love God very much, and the guilt is tremendous. I feel that God is very disappointed in me because I knew better. The priest here says I have done nothing wrong. I don’t believe him, I’m sorry to say. Please advise me. This is affecting my relationship with everyone.
Ans I don’t think we help people deal with guilt by telling them they’ve done nothing wrong, particularly when the person in question knows otherwise. So, my approach would be this: Yes, you did wrong and need to confess this in the Sacrament of Penance, if you have not already |
| done so. Once confessed, the sin is blotted out in God’s “mind” and should be in yours, too. It is an essential dogma of faith that God, in His mercy and compassion, can and does wipe clean the whole slate when we come to Him in sorrow and with a firm purpose of amendment.
The basic problem for many people is not that God has failed to forgive them, but that they have failed to believe that God has done so or that they find it impossible to forgive themselves. My simple advice is to put this sad episode behind you, trust in God’s mercy and get on with living a wholesome Christian life.
— Fr Peter M. J. Stravinskas
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