Because Sparrow was being so sincere and transparent in her story, I just assumed Julia was being ignorant. I don't know Julia that well to say she was being sarcastic and the smiling face was not WINKING...which is the ALERT BUTTON for sarcasm! I will be more astute!
I didn't pick up on it Charlie, I am so sorry Julia I did not realise you were bineg sarcastic. I should have picked up on this. So sorry.
In comparing one site, Charlie's blog to the forum, well I think we can look to way the Holy Spirit manifests in the Church. For instance in the Religious Orders. To take an extreme example compare the Jesuits to the Franciscans. They are like chalk and cheese. But that doesn't mean one's Order's sprituality is more valid than another. Although I would say someone who loved the Franciscan spirit might be very uncomfortable with the other and vice a versa. I am in awe of the amount of time Charlie spends on his blog and emails. The same goes for Mark Mallet. I know from writing myself the huge amount of effort goes into especially their major posts> But I am working full time , I can't do it like this I am afraid , I can only give what I can Even if I could moderate more closely I am not so sure this would be a good thing. I like the easy interchange and if people get thrown through plate glass windows from time to time and bar stools get flung..well they get flung, I am afraid. As someone mentioned, I am Irish and this maybe is not such a big deal for me. But there are other threads are much quieter and more user friendly so folks can run from the saloon brawls to safer pastures if they like.
Hi everyone! I'm a regular reader from Charlie's website and his current post led me here. Lively place! Sparrow, I have great sympathy and empathy with your situation and your internal struggle. When I returned to my Catholic faith after 15 long years in the desert, this was a real pickle for me and my husband. I knew I couldn't go back on ABC, but I didn't totally get NFP so we counted days. That was it. After the birth of our beautiful (unplanned) daughter at my ripe old age of almost 39 years old, we both attended the NFP classes at our parish and we were STAR pupils. For us it was a team effort, but I definitely could have managed the whole thing on my own, they just recommend that it is something you do together. There was some tug-of-war over the different ways to interpret exactly when I was in the infertile phase of my cycle, and I think my husband tried to take advantage of his engineering degree arguing mathematical odds with me, etc. As I moved into my 50s my trust was tested, I'm not going to lie, because having a baby at 39 is one thing and having one at 53 is something else entirely. My gynecologist was very nervous as well. lol But the bottom line was: do we trust God, or don't we? We determined that we did so we just kept going until I was finally, firmly post-menopausal. My life, as far as I knew, was never endangered if I got pregnant but I knew the risk of birth defects rose every birthday while I was still fertile. We were meticulous with taking the temps, making internal observations and charting and it's not brain surgery, frankly. What would have happened had my husband decided he was not going to participate in NFP? It would have been a HUGE problem in our marriage. HUGE. I am serious about my Faith and I am not going to intentionally choose grave sin as the price to smooth-over what would be an enormous, underlying problem in my marriage. I suppose it's easy for me to say since it was mutually agreed upon. I think it's important that you understand that you can still get pregnant with coitus interruptus. The failure rate falls between 4-27%. And it seems troublesome to me that your Catholic husband is unwilling to periodically deny himself despite the fact that you have a heart condition, despite the fact that you are on necessary medication that would be dangerous for an unborn child, and ESPECIALLY despite the fact that this issue is putting you through agony and grief because you know what you're doing is a sin. MotherSuperior truly loves you to speak so honestly with you. You and your husband are in my prayers.
It's a strange feeling to be where I am today. How many of you have been told you are choosing hell? How many of you have been told that your choice......no matter how hard it was to decide.....that you are wrong and going to hell? How many of you have walked in my shoes......day by day step by step? It was a mistake of me to open my life up on a forum. It's a strange feeling seeing others critic my life and sum it up that I am deceived by the devil or I am married to a monster of sorts. I know that you didn't say those exact words but they were emplied. I have been reading everything . It's like walking into a room where everyone is talking about you but they don't stop when you have entered the room. They persist like if your a ghost. But I caused it by my being too open. This is my last post here. I have been told by my spiritual father to not to be a part of these types of things. I will try and listen to him. I did enjoy reading a lot of things here. Some things were good .....some things bad. I wish you all well and many blessings to you all. Thank you and God bless.
No one here means you any ill will this is what charity in truth is all about. This is the The true face of Mercy and love and not some dammed facile sentimentality that ruins lives and souls. Get yourself a new "spiritual father".;you have my prayers.
.. Awww.. Sparrows .. . .I am sorry for the heartache brought to you for sincerely opening up like you did . Having only cell service to connect to the net now keeps me from sharing much or maybe I should say at length.. maybe not a bad thing. =] I find it easier to just read most times. I did want to step in here and say, Farewell dear sparrows. .. take what is good and leave the rest! Maybe you won't fly too far away =] from us. Remember.. . Jesus and His Holy Mother do love you!
I'm deeply grieved that our gentle sparrow has to leave us. A dear friend used to say, "Some days, I'd rather face the lions than the Christians."
Great response, Kathy. I was going to write something but you have summed up the situation perfectly.
I hope you're not implying that she was faced here with the stern merciless face of cold hearted judgement. Shame on you if you were.
Sparrows, you can leave, but I won't stop praying for you and your husband. So, please know that I will keep you both in my prayers, always. Peace.
Commenting is a risky business,I am so sorry that Sparrows was hurt, it was not my intention to hurt her, only to tell the truth. It would be safer to say nothing but is that the right thing to do?
So if someone came on here and told this forum full of strangers that they we're going to kill themselves, would everyone who responded to Sparrow still respond the same way?(Pride) Or would you be sensitive to the person knowing they are in a fragile state and gently talk to them, explaining that killing themselves is not the right thing to do?(Charity) I read your comments and some of you should probably rethink the way you approach other peoples problems. Asking questions is a good place to start. Maybe try to understand the persons total situation instead of just trying to be the first with a witty post or telling them what they should do in front of the whole forum.(Pride) I would suggest that unless we want to lose more current and future members with real problems, we take this as a learning experience and do better for people like Sparrow going forward.(Humility) There was talk earlier about Padraig not having the help Charlie Johnston does to govern this forum. As Padraig said, maybe he wouldn't want to govern it like that even if he did have time. But, there are a lot of people on here who are willing to help others who have come here in a time of crisis. Maybe next time someone comes on here and spills their guts, one should reach out to them privately and try to carefully assist them with their particular situation. That "one" should let the rest of the forum know that they are helping and everyone else should lend support to both of them.(Charity in Truth) I don't typically say much that may influence you guys because, in the end, I don't want to be responsible for the people I influenced to make a bad decision. But in this instance, I believe that everyone can humbly learn from this situation and going forward make this forum the place it was set up to be. God bless all of you and especially Sparrow in her time of crisis.
That seems like an inappropriate response. It is a sin to stand by and not tell someone the truth, with love, which is exactly what many have done here.
In this case I believe a public response was necessary because there are many people reading this forum, and we never know how they may be influenced by our response or lack of response. Our silence would imply our agreement with her, and would send the wrong message to those reading here. It was her choice to post publicly. The responses I saw were all very loving and kind, none were judgmental at all. Nothing to do with pride.
Some of the comments on Charlie's forum (referring to the critical and unkind comments here) are actually correct. I've noticed a difference on this forum since Pope Francis was elected. When I first joined the forum, most threads were about deeper spiritual insights, private revelation, various apparitions, and current events relative to faith and prophecy. Bickering and anger were not prevalent in my observation, though there were some very important exchanges by individuals such as Mark Mallet and other authors on the nature of eschatology, the era of peace, etc. However, many of the threads since the election have been hijacked by some personalities that are not very charitable, and most of these are centered upon bickering over the finer points of doctrine, Church teaching, magisterial authority, and papal infallibility/fallibility, etc. But they also began to bleed over into all of the other discussions as well. I am sorry if nobody else sees this, but to me it is very stark, and very obvious. Only those who joined during or after the papal election would not be able to notice.....especially those that are the ones setting the uncharitable tone. Cocky spiritual attitudes seem to abound.....
If those "personalities that are not very charitable" open their hearts to many of the wonderful posts on this forum, Jesus and our Blessed Mother will change their hearts and open them to the Light of Truth. Let us continue to help our brothers and sisters and not give up on them! Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we love you - save souls! God bless you.
There are millions of Humans searching for Truth, Guidance and Direction for this life and the next. Many are fragile, confused or just need a "shoulder" to lean on. Born again Baptists and Know-it-All Catholics, in my opinion, are some of the most counterproductive forces on Earth! Luke 6:37-42; Romans 14:1-12/Douay-Rheims Bible 1JUDGE not, that you may not be judged, 2For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3Any why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye; and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye? 4Or how sayest thou to thy brother: Let me cast the mote out of thy eye; and behold a beam is in thy own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. GOD SAVE ALL HERE!!
