In a very ironic turn of events, today – April 15, the day which is traditionally tax day – happens to coincide with Divine Mercy Sunday. Of course, as we all know, about the most mercy you will receive from the government on your taxes is that in years, like this one, when April 15 falls on a weekend then tax day is moved to the next business day of the following week. But even though people are aware that the government is merciless about taxes there are always many people who try to cheat on their taxes or try to take a deduction that they aren’t too sure is correct. People do this thinking that the government won’t notice their deception. And even if we haven’t acted in such a way on our own taxes, this same type of thinking has probably been used by most of us here: for instance, a child who takes a cookie when his mother isn’t looking, even though he has been told he cannot have one. Another example would be a person who walks out of a store with full knowledge that one of the items he is purchasing didn’t ring up at the register. Or the man who lies to women in order to take advantage of them or the politician that makes all sorts of outlandish promises in order to get votes without any intention of keeping those promises and the list could go on and on. To a greater or lesser extent all of us here have probably done something similar.
And of course, if ever we are caught in our deception, we expect mercy from the one we have deceived. When caught perhaps we have said something like, “Oh, come on. I didn’t do anything that was really that wrong.” Or, “What’s the big deal, it’s not like I killed someone.” Or maybe this, “Well, everybody else does the same thing, so I’m not going to feel bad about it.” And although some people may be willing to be merciful and forgive us with such poor pleas for mercy, these excuses, along with any others we may have concocted, will never elicit the mercy of God.
But to this statement someone may protest, “But I thought God was all loving and all merciful. Doesn’t He forgive all sins?” In response to this it must be remembered that while God is all merciful He is also a completely just Judge and if we are lacking in what is necessary for His mercy and forgiveness then it will not be given to us.
Before I continue I want to be clear about something. God can be merciful to us in any number of ways, the total of which could never be counted. But in light of His ultimate mercy of forgiveness given to us through the death and Resurrection of His Son and also Jesus giving that power to forgive or retain sins to His Apostles and the bishops and priests that would follow them, I am talking today only of His mercy that we receive by way of forgiveness of sins.
So what is it that is necessary on our part to receive that mercy and forgiveness that God has supplied to us through His Son? It can be summed up for us in one word – contrition. Because this is a word that is not used much in our society and may be misunderstood let me take the definition for it right out of the Catechism. “Among the penitent’s acts contrition occupies the first place. Contrition is ‘sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again.’”1 What this means is that first of all we must be sorry for committing the sin in the first place, not just sorry if we get caught. We must also detest the sin, or in other words we must hate the sin. We must remember that sin has no place with God and that He hates all sin. And if that detestation of sin is in place then the last thing, the resolution not to sin again, will already be in present within us. If we detest the sins in our lives in the same way that God does then we will not want to committ them again. And we must remain resolute to not sin again because if we go to confession fully intending to committ the sin again then even if the priest gives the absolution for the forgiveness of sins it will do us no good.
The Catechism goes on to explain for us two types of contrition: perfect contrition and imperfect contrition. Perfect contrition is what “arises from a love by which God is loved above all else.”2 This is the type of contrition that we should all aspire to in our own lives but which is probably only achieved by a few on this earth. But knowing that this is only achieved by the greatest of Saints should spur us on in our own lives to come closer and closer to that perfect love of God above all else.
The second type called imperfect contrition is described as being “born of the consideration of sin’s ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner.”3 This means that the sinner recognizes that his sins will lead to eternal separation from God. And because of the fear that comes from this recognition the sinner is driven to plead to God for mercy and forgiveness.
But connected to contrition is the fact that we should never presume on God’s mercy. In other words, we should never allow ourselves to think, “Oh well, it’ll be OK to sin this one time because I can always just go to confession and receive forgiveness.” You must never give in to that because it is the thinking of the devil. You should never give in to sin just because there is forgiveness; instead you should plead for God’s help and mercy in resisting the temptation in the first place.
In the end what it really all comes down to is that if we want God’s mercy and forgiveness in our lives then we should want to be like Him in all things. We must be sorry for the sins we have committed, we must be resolute in not sinning again and we must practice our Catholic Faith according to the teachings of the Church so that we can become more and more like our Savior Jesus Christ. And if we do these things then we can be assured of God’s infinite mercy because at the end of our lives when we are judged by that most just Judge He will no longer see a sinner with a multitude of excuses for the wrongs that have been committed but instead someone who has been formed in the image of His Son.
1CCC, §1451
2CCC, §1452
3CCC, §1453
And of course, if ever we are caught in our deception, we expect mercy from the one we have deceived. When caught perhaps we have said something like, “Oh, come on. I didn’t do anything that was really that wrong.” Or, “What’s the big deal, it’s not like I killed someone.” Or maybe this, “Well, everybody else does the same thing, so I’m not going to feel bad about it.” And although some people may be willing to be merciful and forgive us with such poor pleas for mercy, these excuses, along with any others we may have concocted, will never elicit the mercy of God.
But to this statement someone may protest, “But I thought God was all loving and all merciful. Doesn’t He forgive all sins?” In response to this it must be remembered that while God is all merciful He is also a completely just Judge and if we are lacking in what is necessary for His mercy and forgiveness then it will not be given to us.
Before I continue I want to be clear about something. God can be merciful to us in any number of ways, the total of which could never be counted. But in light of His ultimate mercy of forgiveness given to us through the death and Resurrection of His Son and also Jesus giving that power to forgive or retain sins to His Apostles and the bishops and priests that would follow them, I am talking today only of His mercy that we receive by way of forgiveness of sins.
So what is it that is necessary on our part to receive that mercy and forgiveness that God has supplied to us through His Son? It can be summed up for us in one word – contrition. Because this is a word that is not used much in our society and may be misunderstood let me take the definition for it right out of the Catechism. “Among the penitent’s acts contrition occupies the first place. Contrition is ‘sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again.’”1 What this means is that first of all we must be sorry for committing the sin in the first place, not just sorry if we get caught. We must also detest the sin, or in other words we must hate the sin. We must remember that sin has no place with God and that He hates all sin. And if that detestation of sin is in place then the last thing, the resolution not to sin again, will already be in present within us. If we detest the sins in our lives in the same way that God does then we will not want to committ them again. And we must remain resolute to not sin again because if we go to confession fully intending to committ the sin again then even if the priest gives the absolution for the forgiveness of sins it will do us no good.
The Catechism goes on to explain for us two types of contrition: perfect contrition and imperfect contrition. Perfect contrition is what “arises from a love by which God is loved above all else.”2 This is the type of contrition that we should all aspire to in our own lives but which is probably only achieved by a few on this earth. But knowing that this is only achieved by the greatest of Saints should spur us on in our own lives to come closer and closer to that perfect love of God above all else.
The second type called imperfect contrition is described as being “born of the consideration of sin’s ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner.”3 This means that the sinner recognizes that his sins will lead to eternal separation from God. And because of the fear that comes from this recognition the sinner is driven to plead to God for mercy and forgiveness.
But connected to contrition is the fact that we should never presume on God’s mercy. In other words, we should never allow ourselves to think, “Oh well, it’ll be OK to sin this one time because I can always just go to confession and receive forgiveness.” You must never give in to that because it is the thinking of the devil. You should never give in to sin just because there is forgiveness; instead you should plead for God’s help and mercy in resisting the temptation in the first place.
In the end what it really all comes down to is that if we want God’s mercy and forgiveness in our lives then we should want to be like Him in all things. We must be sorry for the sins we have committed, we must be resolute in not sinning again and we must practice our Catholic Faith according to the teachings of the Church so that we can become more and more like our Savior Jesus Christ. And if we do these things then we can be assured of God’s infinite mercy because at the end of our lives when we are judged by that most just Judge He will no longer see a sinner with a multitude of excuses for the wrongs that have been committed but instead someone who has been formed in the image of His Son.
1CCC, §1451
2CCC, §1452
3CCC, §1453
RSS Feed