Patrick asked:I have an acquaintance who is a practicing Catholic and takes the Lord’s name in vain by posting g-damnit on her Facebook page. I mentioned this to her and she said ‘if you are offended just block me’. What should I do?Tim Staples replied:"... In the listing of the commandments, that comes right after idolatry ... that tells you how grave it is ... As a matter of charity to reach out to your friend ... she needs to understand that taking the Lord’s name in vain like that is objectively grave matter, and we’re not talking about stepping on a nail and using the Lord’s name in vain and not thinking ... When you’re talking about putting something on your Facebook page and you’re thinking about it and you’re writing, that’s where you have full reflection about what you’re doing ... She may in fact still be malformed to where she does not know it is in fact a sin ..."Copyrights:Catholic Answers, "Open Forum" (San Diego: Catholic Answers, 2013)Editor's note: This is an excerpt of the answer provided. For the complete response download the podcast. |