by His wounds you have been healed (1 Pet 2:24)
Being truly sorry for something can best be explained by our repentance for the very act and most importantly by our resolve to avoid such situations in future. We had a discussion about forgiveness in this site before (March 2 and 3, see the Calendar on the right column to get it).
I feel by this question Angela is touching a concept once dealt by Saint Francis de Sales, called “Affections of Sin”. This is a common feeling of all of us who are sinful:
- If God has forgiven me why is there still a tendency for me to sin again?
- Once the innocence of a child is lost can I not be pure again?
- Yes you can.
Our Lord is compassionate and merciful abounding in love. He has made arrangements for us in his divine plan.
St. John Vianney, the saint of the confessional says, “Remember that when the priest gives you absolution, you have but one thing to think of – that the Blood of the good God is flowing over your soul to purify it and make it as bright as it was made by its Baptism.”
Confession is also called second baptism as it makes us pure giving us a chance to start afresh. In confession, even if we do not receive any anointing like Baptism, this cleansing of the soul with the Precious Blood of Christ is happening. In the Eucharist we receive the Body and Blood of Christ.
Exodus 12:13
Why should we think of this? If we fall and the wound is bleeding, if it is not deep, we can just clean it with water and leave it, then it will heal itself. These are venial sins, small offenses. We do not need to bring in confession. But if we have a deep cut in our body or a broken limb or even a malignant inflamation, we may need to go to the doctor, operate on it, apply the necessary ointment or antibiotic etc. This is the same case with grave sins. We may need to go to the priest for confession to get the real cleansing with the precious blood if the offense is grave.
If a sin has become a habit and the root of it has gone deep, we may need a really deep digging to root it out. God forgives our sins, but we have to work on our bad habits or memories to make us pure again. Memories of sin may haunt us again even if we have confessed. These memories may tell us that we have to resolve an issue within us. Address that issue in your life bringing it in prayer.
Prayers to cleanse ourselves with the precious blood of Jesus will make us pure again when we are at the confessional. We need to relive the anointing we received in baptism by calling on the precisous blood of Jesus to fall on us again. This exercise can be done any time any where.
Remember, in the Old Testament people behind those doors marked by the blood of the lamb were spared by the angel of death.
This video will tell us more:
I have found this prayer to relive the anointing in our Bpatism very effective: Let the precious Blood of Jesus flow from the top of my head, down to my eyes, ears, shoulders, chest, abdomen, back bone, and legs. Let the anointing I received in Baptism be renewed. May my soul be pure again. Amen.
This is the most profound teaching.What a magnificent gift to us all in the week when we commemorate Christ’s passion and death.
Sincere thanks
So good and reassuring to hear the words of
St. John Vianney in the post of today. It helps alot.
Thank you.
Thank you Fr.Sony, Message well explained and right in to the core of Lent. Picture & video are apt for the theme.May God bless you.