Washing Away Guilt

Our Responsorial Psalm today was from Psalm 51.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.

I was reading this again this evening, and that part of ... Thoroughly wash me from my guilt...struck me. Often after we are cleansed of our sins, we still carry the guilt. Don't we carry guilt over things that aren't even caused by our sins? An example would be as a parent, I experience guilt over something concerning my child. I feel guilty, like maybe I am not a good parent, and I have failed in this aspect. I found it interesting the next part was ...and of my sin cleanse me. Sometimes the sin is not believing God truly forgives us, so we hold on to the guilt. The guilt of the sin itself and the guilt of how it affected others. Am I rambling here? :)

I've always believed that even a sin done in the dark is like a rock thrown into water. The ripple effect spreads out and affects the Universe in ways we cannot imagine. The Body of Christ is wounded by sin. So my prayer is this ~ Dearest Lord, my sins wound your Body. Help me to see that when I seek forgiveness for my sins, I am helping not only myself to heal but also contributing to the healing of the Body of Christ. Amen