None of us are perfect and we sin against God on a daily basis. Sometimes these sins are big, while other times they are small. In both cases, the key to a fruitful spiritual life is to experience sorrow for those sins.
This can be relatively easy to obtain for some of our sins, as afterwards we may realize the sin and know in our heart that it was wrong.
However, other times we may know we did something wrong, but then we simply don’t “feel” sorry.
In those cases we may need some extra help, and that help is most effective if it comes from God. Oddly enough, if we have offended God, he is also the one who can help us feel sorrow for the offense.
Sorrow is a central key in overcoming our faults and is the first step in leading a virtuous life. It is also a necessary ingredient when going to confession, as we are asked by the priest to say an “Act of Contrition,” which expresses our interior sorrow for what we have done.
Here is a simple prayer adapted from the Golden Manual that asks God for help to feel sorrow or contrition for our sins. The “feeling” may not come right away, but if you are persistent, you will eventually experience that remorse and be motivated to amend your life and turn toward God.
O Lord Jesus Christ, lover of our souls, I have offended you, my most loving Father and Redeemer. But this sorrow, O Lord, this repentance, must be your free gift; and if it comes not from the hand of your mercy, all my endeavors will be in vain, and I shall be for ever miserable. Have mercy, therefore, on me, O Father of mercies, and pour forth into my heart your grace, whereby I may sincerely repent of all my sins; give me a true contrition, that I may bewail my past misery and ingratitude, and grieve from my heart for having offended you, so good a God.Permit me not to be deluded with a false sorrow, as, I fear, I have been too often, through my own weakness and neglect; but let it be now your gift, descending from you, the Father of lights, that so my repentance may be accompanied with amendment and change of life, and I may be fully acquitted from the guilt of all my sins, and once more received into the number of your servants. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Read more:
Before confession ask your Guardian Angel for help
Read more:
How to go to confession, a step-by-step guide
And today we celebrate...