Lots of things are "licit", or don't have to be confessed in confession as mortal sins -- yet they are ANYTHING BUT conducive to our greater union with God, or an increase in holiness (charity). (By the way, that IS what we're all here for. NOT to experience as much pleasure as we can, or to "live life to the fullest". That is the world's spirit, not God's.)

Examples of things technically licit, yet unhelpful and/or hindering our union with God?

TV
Natural family planning
Rock music
acquiring lots of possessions/recreational shopping
obsession with sports
obsession with cars
alcohol
smoking
wasteful living (wasting electricity, water, food, etc.)
excessive convenience items
excessive climate control (so we can wear shorts in the winter)
staying indoors all day
excessive Internet use
lack of daily Rosary
lack of daily spiritual reading
lack of daily meditation
...and dozens more!

I bet none of these things are on your "confession checklist" -- but if you did ALL or even MOST of these things, you would be indistinguishable from any non-Catholic on the street. Your heart would be where everyone else's heart is -- and your speech would show it. Yes, you would go to Mass on Sunday, instead of the local "mega-Church", but your life would be in perfect agreement with the modern world.

Those around you would be in NO DANGER of being converted by your life. What does that say about the "goodness" of the above things, licit though they be?

Now we all know that the world is, and has always been, the MORTAL ENEMY of God and the Church. So how can we be such friends with the world, and still be friends of Christ? All the saints were considered eccentric and foolish by the world.

Now the hypothetical person who does all the things listed above should logically inherit ALL THE PROBLEMS that modern people suffer. Why would they avoid depression, marital strife and/or infidelity, divorce, rebellious teenagers, psychological problems, massive debt, stress, etc -- just because they got baptised in a Catholic Church? Just because they got married in a Catholic Church? It isn't quite that easy (if only it were!)

No, if we expect to escape the problems of the modern world, we need to first cast aside the WAYS of the modern world. And that is quite a bit more complicated than avoiding a laundry list of mortal sins: "No blasphemy? Check. No disobeying parents? Check. No murder? Check. No fornication? Check. Hey, I'm going great! And I'm not only a Catholic, but a TRAD Catholic, so I'm 80% saved already. If I can just keep avoiding these mortal sins, I'm a shoe-in for Heaven!"

By the way, the substance of my argument is from the classes of Fr. James Doran, SSPX. His special field of study is the family, marriage, and society. He often compared the "letter of the law Traditionalists" with the Pharisees of old.

In Christ,

Matthew

A solid Catholic should distinguish themself by their actions, not necessarily their appearance. Although, even in appearance it troubles me how many Catholic women would rather compromise their modesty than stand out from the world. Unfortunately, even modesty doesn't suggest Catholic, but rather Mormon.

Many saints have discovered it's the willingness to sacrifice, not the customs, that lead to conversions. I recently read how St. Dominic discovered that the Albegensian herasy was gaining ground fast and furious because the Albegensian leaders were living more simply and offering more fasting and penance than the Catholic clergy. This is why the early Dominicans especially were inclined to more sacrifice eventhough there was nothing inherently wrong with the other clergy of the time. If they were interested only in saving their own souls, they could have simply avoided sin, but to convert and save others required more than that. The same is true today.

Great points. Where do we draw the lines then? How do we know that places like shopping malls are against our faith?

I think shopping malls are much like the Internet in that they can serve a valid purpose if not abused. Any traditional Catholic should be able to explain why a bar is not for them and why they felt awkward when driving up to the movie theater to view The Passion. However, the shopping mall is perhaps more dangerous due to the subtleness and variety of what one might find there.

For starters, not all malls are created equal. Locally, we have a mall in a downtown area which is primarily a tourist attraction. Presuming you're not going for recreational shopping, there is plenty of reason to visit and enjoy the atmosphere and I wouldn't declare it un-Catholic. However, 10 miles up the road the next mall is obviously nowhere a good Catholic should be. The shops there are generally more extravagent (really nothing you'd ever NEED), there isn't really any natural beauty one would be coming to see, and it's often an opportunity for seeing the sorts of human oddities and immoral behavior that those living outside the city are often spared. If you have this sort in your area, spare yourself the freak show and find a more suitable place to shop.

Shopping is the next problem with malls. If you don't have a particular acquisition in mind, then you shouldn't be there. Shopping for pleasure is very worldly and encourages materialism. Malls make this sort of behavior much to easy.

I could go on, but I don't think you were specifically concerned with malls, but rather how to know. Your sensus Catholicus can get you pretty far if one is willing to be honest with themself. However, there are other means as well.

I think there are many who can't bring themselves to follow the advice given by good traditional priests that speak the unpopular truth on how to live their daily lives. They're fine with hearing that they should pray the Rosary daily, frequent the sacraments, and avoid the capital sins, but they ignore the advice when told they should avoid movies, ditch their TV, limit their Internet use, get outdoors more, flee from materialism, etc. Even if they can't personally see the connection between these things and their spiritual lives, they should trust such sources which say these are obstacles to their faith.

Trinity,
       I see you have 666 posts!  :surprised: lol