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

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak...St. Pio

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often. St. Pio of Pietrelcina

A recent post on Stay with me, Lord covered the first sentence of St. Pio’s prayer. The above sentence is the second part. Plus my last post was on The Cross and Humility. This second sentence fits nicely with recognizing humility. At times, it seems as if we only realize we are weak when we fall. We’ve all heard the phrase, “I hit rock bottom.” When we fall, sometimes we chastise ourselves to the point of insulting God’s infinite mercy. All we have to do is open our arms to Him. His love for us is so great; He cannot help but reach for us, His wounded child. He lifts us up with strength to move forward, He will even carry us.

The weight of our sins caused Our Lord to fall on His way to Calvary. But the weight did not cause Him to remain on the ground. Alone we cannot carry our cross, but with Him we are able to stand each time and continue the journey.

Lord, when we acknowledge our weakness, You pour Grace upon us. Help us to remember to open our arms in response to Your love, and to fall unabashedly into Your merciful Heart. Amen

Natural and Supernatural Habits

F.J. Sheed wrote, Our soul has the supernatural power to act towards God, but it has a natural habit of acting for self, ignoring God.

He goes on to point out the supernatural refers to making that which we can't see as the goal, but we're distracted by the natural, the attractions of the visible. This is the struggle.

Serious sin and our choice of self stops the supernatural grace that flows through us from God. We lose, so supernaturally we become dead.

Sheed follows this with the thought we may still have faith and hope, but each is no longer life giving without love. Love is what nourishes the soul's life and habits. That is why of the three love is the greatest!

Pentecost Sunday

John 20:19-23


19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

When Jesus bestowed on the disciples the power to forgive sins, it was on Easter Sunday. This is important because of the connection of the Resurrection with spiritual life. Also he breathed this power on the Apostles. The only other time God breathed on anyone was when He breathed life into the first human being (Genesis 2:7). Jesus gives the disciples the authority to forgive, and not to forgive.

Reconciliation shines in a new light when I read this passage. Sin brings death, and reconciliation brings a new breath of life. God is so good to us! Come Holy Spirit.