326 Q. Are we obliged to make open profession of our faith?  A. We are obliged to make open profession of our faith as often as God’s honor, our neighbor’s spiritual good, or our own requires it.  “Whosoever,” says Christ, “shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in Heaven.”

It is not necessary for us to proclaim in the streets that we are Catholics; neither need we tell our religion to impudent people that may ask us only to insult us; but when a real need of professing our faith presents itself, then we must profess it.  Suppose you are stopping in a hotel in which you are the only Catholic.  If flesh-meat is placed before you on a Friday in Lent you must quietly push it aside and ask for fish or other food; although by so doing you will show that you are a Catholic and make a silent profession of your faith.  God’s honor and your own good require it, for you must keep the laws of God and of His Church on every possible occasion.  Suppose again there were in the same hotel some indifferent Catholics, socially your equals or inferiors, who through human respect were ashamed to go to Mass on Sunday; then you should publicly go to Mass and even declare that you must go, for by so doing you would encourage these indifferent Catholics to follow your example.  In that case your neighbor’s good requires that you profess your faith.  In a word, you must keep up the practice of your religion even if by so doing you have to make an open profession of your faith and suffer for it.  But suppose it is something that God or the Church does not command you to do but only recommends, such as blessing yourself before meals or some pious practice, you could in public omit such an action if you pleased without any sin or denial of faith, because you violate no law.

327 Q. Which are the sins against hope?  A. The sins against hope are presumption and despair.

328 Q. What is presumption?  A. Presumption is a rash expectation of salvation without making proper use of the necessary means to obtain it.

A person who goes on leading a bad life, and says when warned of his danger that he is in no hurry to reform, that he will repent some day before he dies, is always living in and committing the sin of presumption.  It is a great sin, for it is living in open defiance of Almighty God.  Such persons are very seldom given the opportunity to repent at the last moment, and are, in most cases, called to judgment when they least expect it.  We are all presumptuous sometimes.  Do we not often, when we have fallen into a certain sin, easily repeat the act, saying to ourselves, now that we will have to confess the sin committed, the mention of the number of times will not make such difference for it will not increase our shame and confusion?  This is presumption; for we do not know whether God will ever give us the opportunity of making a confession.  Again, one mortal sin is sufficient to keep our souls