I suppose it's a good thing to be on the fence about needing the Sacrament of Reconciliation, if you are a well-formed Catholic with a strong conscience. It means that you are not the sort of person who lives the kind of life that the fear of judgment is inordinately terrifying. On the other hand, the saints seem preoccupied with their own sinfulness. That makes sense; if the light of Christ always shines, it'll see a lot of dust and dirt. In short, I went.
Maybe one gets a little proud on the road to Heaven, because I didn't want to go. I always think there might be a guy who hasn't been in 40 years, and I'm holding up the show. On the other hand, if I cared enough to speak these faults--even, blessedly, not mortal to my soul--God the Holy Spirit thinks these are more serious than I do.
And I felt more sorry about them in the sharing than I did when I was debating whether to go. I have to believe that was a work of grace. God never works shame in our hearts, but he does bring about renunciation. That's a key difference. Shame is the wounded pride of failing ourselves or others; repentance is the firm determination to walk with God, leaving sins behind. We might sin much in a repeated way; it doesn't mean we were not sorry, or that we don't intend to do better. It might mean there is a deep need or desire that we are trying to fill with something else. That something can look pretty good, even many times. We've got to keep our wits about us, so we aren't sucked down further.
He loves us. [Isn't it weird how you rip CCM/P&W all the time, and still link to their songs?--ed.] Yes, it is. However, if you were going to get a completely-unfitting-for-Mass praise chorus stuck in your head, on the condition that you'd actually believe it down to the core of your being, you could do way worse than this one. I want to believe this; if I did, I'm sure I'd live differently.
Maybe one gets a little proud on the road to Heaven, because I didn't want to go. I always think there might be a guy who hasn't been in 40 years, and I'm holding up the show. On the other hand, if I cared enough to speak these faults--even, blessedly, not mortal to my soul--God the Holy Spirit thinks these are more serious than I do.
And I felt more sorry about them in the sharing than I did when I was debating whether to go. I have to believe that was a work of grace. God never works shame in our hearts, but he does bring about renunciation. That's a key difference. Shame is the wounded pride of failing ourselves or others; repentance is the firm determination to walk with God, leaving sins behind. We might sin much in a repeated way; it doesn't mean we were not sorry, or that we don't intend to do better. It might mean there is a deep need or desire that we are trying to fill with something else. That something can look pretty good, even many times. We've got to keep our wits about us, so we aren't sucked down further.
He loves us. [Isn't it weird how you rip CCM/P&W all the time, and still link to their songs?--ed.] Yes, it is. However, if you were going to get a completely-unfitting-for-Mass praise chorus stuck in your head, on the condition that you'd actually believe it down to the core of your being, you could do way worse than this one. I want to believe this; if I did, I'm sure I'd live differently.
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