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CCC, 2352

I am not certain that God is in fact calling me to write about this section, but it's one of the citations that I have memorized. You probably don't do it, but maybe you know a guy or girl. A friend who happens to be an atheist asked me where Jesus talks about this, and this was my answer, with apologies to those brethren of ours that wouldn't cite the Catechism per se as the words of Jesus, even indirectly. Lots of things seem good, or at least neutral, but they are not. In fact, part of the allure of sin is that it involves choosing an apparent good instead of the true Good, which is God. Very few things are entirely devoid of goodness in any way, and that's why the Fall was awful; we desire goodness, but now we are inclined to flee from it, and we're fairly adept at choosing the wrong thing, or the right thing at the wrong time, left to ourselves.

Anyway, God doesn't want us to do it, because He loves us, and there are no trick questions on God's exams. I know a guy who told me what this is like, when you are deep into it; "addict" is the right word; you can't plan, you can't function; all you care about is the next "hit." If this is you, and you're Catholic, if you will pardon the levity, we have an app for that. Go to the Box, as we call it, as many times as you need; pray, beg God and the saints for help to be stronger when these particular flaming arrows come at you.

You are not dirt; you are not unlovable; your life is not a waste, even if you sin. Satan discourages; God loves, and simply knocks on the door. And He never stops. Everyone has something that fills them with deep shame. Maybe this is your thing. Maybe it's something else. But whatever it is, God loves you infinitely more than you do, more than any of us can imagine.
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