"In short, when you have committed a fault, disavow it before God; ask His pardon, promise to do better in the future. Make a good act of love and after that, go your way as though nothing had happened."
Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin
Oh, how hard it is to follow these words. This quote makes my act of contrition and my prayers for forgiveness of my sins seem such a simple path. But, in reality, my fear is that I hold onto my shortcomings for far too long, if not forever in some cases.
I am a cradle Catholic, and my fellow cradle Catholics and I always joke about how well we were taught to be guilty. If you look at me in the wrong way, I am immediately guilty. I may not know for sure what I did, why I did it, but I will express my deep remorse and promise never to do it again. But, I won't promise not to feel guilty about doing it in the first place. I'm even great at feeling guilty about matters I have no control over. No rain during a drought ... I am not just sorry, but also guilty for not being able to do anything about it. I'm just great at guilty, whether is is rational or not.
But, even the rational guilt needs to be put aside. This time of year, I always reflect back on my Mother. She will be gone for 7 years on March 30. I so often think back on comments made to my Mother, years ago, and become quite sorrowful and wish I could take back the words. I know this type of guilt serves no purpose. It is such wasted energy. It would serve me so much more richly if I dwelled on the good memories between my Mother and me. These so far out weigh the negatives. By dwelling on the good, it just pushes the bad back in the place it belongs to be filed, under "lessons learned." Maybe that's why I hold on to guilt. It is God's way of providing me with another "lesson learned" moment.
"In short, when you have committed a fault, disavow it before God; ask His pardon, promise to do better in the future. Make a good act of love and after that, go your way as though nothing had happened."
Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin
Since God is so all-forgiving, why can't I do a better job of forgiving myself?
Phew - this is a hard one! When I give it some thought - I think this is the Devil's way of making us feel unworthy, and pulling us away from God. I struggle with this as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and linking up to Saints and Scripture Sunday!
As a convert, I was the beneficiary of a man, brother Larry who exclaimed that he LOVED going to Reconciliation! I thought he was crazy and then over the years, I realized that the forgiveness we can receive is a blessing. I can let go of my shame and guilt.
ReplyDeleteIt also occurred to me that when I apologize to someone that I have wronged, it is good to ask them if they will forgive me. Much like the confessional, I can move on from it and try to do better next time.
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To forgive is a blessing and to be forgiven also a blessing. I was born Catholic - I like to say I was Catholic from my mother's womb. I don't identify with the guilt business because I look at my upbringing as giving me a keen sense of sin and knowing where I stand with God. I'm a revert and so glad for the Sacrament of Penance. We can't make the most of it without trust in God.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post on forgiveness.
It's harder for us to forgive ourselves than it is to forgive others. We need to remember if God has forgiven us, we don't need to feel guilty anymore.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Charlotte