THE GRAVITY OF SIN

Understanding Contrition and the Gravity of Sin

The Nature of Contrition
TRISTE in Spanish. Tristis in Latin is sad, sorrowful; contristis effectively means to be sad with. So, it's a sorrow with God. Effectively so. Remember how we talked a little bit about one of the reasons that we offer a penance? One of the goals that we have when we offer a penance is specifically that we want to be appreciative of the gravity of sin, just how horrible it really is. And when we see sin, when we understand a little bit more of what it is, it will affect us much, much more. It will attack us far more strongly. And we appreciate just how horrible it is. And the fact that God puts up with it will appreciate a lot more his love and his generosity and his mercy.

The Role of Our Lady in Demonstrating Contrition
So the first part is we must be. It is. It is the virtue by which we sorrow for. And this is most perfectly demonstrated by some of the apparitions of Our Lady and Our Lady of Our Lady of Fatima. She appeared to the children and she warned them to be sorrowful. Precision. And she showed them how. She showed them souls falling into hell as if snowflakes from heaven. And she showed them the horrors of the sufferings of hell. And she cautioned them that is the price of sin do penance for sinners. Our Lady of Last Word was actually found weeping upon a rock because of the sins of the people of the area. Specifically blasphemy and the violation of the Sabbath. Violation of the rules and commandments of Sundays. But Our Lady was actually driven to tears by those sins.

The Joy and Sorrow of Our Lady
Now, if we think about it, Our Lady is the most joyous creature ever created because she is the closest to God. She is the one who perceives God knows perfectly. She is the one who knows him most intimately. She is the one who reflects him most absolutely. So for her to be broken down by our sins to the point of tears gives us some sort of an idea of just how horrible sin is, which is one of the reasons why she appeared in that way.

The True Evil of Sin
Sin is the only true evil of this world is the only true evil of humanity is the only true evil of our lives. Sin is the worst possible thing that could exist. It would not matter if we died. All died horrible deaths. It would not matter if we were cut off from everybody we knew. If there was no sin in the world, we would be able to find peace no matter what we had to suffer, no matter what we had to put up with, if there was no sin. And that is truly the horror of what hell is and the first contemplation of hell. In the retreats and the nation retreats, we talk about the sufferings and tortures of hell. The first one is the desperate deprivation, the vision of God, which is exactly what sin is. It is being cut off from God. Mortal sin is the death of God's own life in our souls to be cut off from Him. It's the one evil in this world.

The Act of Contrition and Its Importance
So when we talk about contrition, we may not have to plumbed the depths of just how horrible sin is, but we may. But we do have to appreciate that it is truly the greatest evil in our lives. And we must want to abolish it out of our lives. When we go to confession. It's such a blasé thing to do. We don't tend to react to the amazing mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ by the fact that He even gives us another chance. We've offended him deeply and unbelievably. And yet he gives us another chance. And he cleans the slate for us. Because of the mere fact of the humility of the action of confessing our sins and because we propose amendment.

Contrition Beyond Feeling: A Willful Act
So contrition isn't just feeling sorrowful. Contrition is much more perfect, much more deep, much more sincere. Contrition is being sorrowful because of what it is and. Because of our sorrow changing our lives. So contrition isn't a sentiment. That's the first thing we must be very well aware of when we talk about being sorry for our sins. It isn't a question of just simply saying I'm sorry or even having deep a deep feeling of sorrow for our sins. But it is an actual will and act. It is a it is an intellectual recognition of a fact that this is a grave sin and this is what sin means and. It is also the will and purpose to act. Because I recognize this as being a grave evil. I will stop doing that by doing this every time we go to confession. We should be making resolutions.

Practical Steps to Avoid Sin
It doesn't have to be anything earth-shattering. I will never go to the movies again because I saw something bad in the movie I went to. No, that's not how it goes. Rather, I will actually do homework before I go to the movies to make sure I know what is in the movie, if there's anything objectionable to it. You know, one of the nice things about living in a country founded by Puritans is the fact that there are there is a lot of advertisements and warnings and on things. So that's how I will do it. I will do my homework beforehand to make sure that I will not be tempted again or I won't be caught by surprise. So instead of the full removal of an entire genre of our lives, rather, we will simply practice a simple resolution to eliminate the possibility as much as possible of falling into that same sin that we just confessed. But we must make that a part of our confession. When we examine our conscience, it's easy for us to just kind of do a checklist running through the lists, the laundry list of sins that we have, copying them down in our notebook and saying, okay, I'm going to go. I'm going to confess this. And that's that.

Understanding Contrition: More Than Just Feelings

Contrition is not merely a feeling; while it is beneficial to experience sorrow for our sins, the essence of contrition extends beyond mere emotion. You are not required to weep during confession, a notion underscored by various cultural practices around the globe.

The Misconception of Tears as Necessary for Contrition

Tears, though a gift and a beautiful expression of emotion, are not a prerequisite for genuine contrition. St. Teresa of Avila humorously shared her experience with the gift of tears, emphasizing that while tears are cathartic, they should not be the sole measure of our sorrow for sin.

The Danger of Reliance on Emotions

Emotions are the simplest form of expression and can easily be feigned. Relying solely on tears or feelings can lead us to believe we have made amends when, in reality, we may have barely begun the process of true contrition.

The Essence of Contrition: Beyond Feelings

Contrition involves recognizing the wrongfulness of our actions and making a firm resolution not to repeat them. This resolution must include a concrete plan for avoiding future sin, underscoring the involvement of both intellect and will in the process of contrition.

Imperfect vs. Perfect Contrition

• Imperfect Contrition: Rooted in self-interest, such as fear of hell or desire for heaven, yet still valid if it includes recognition of sin's horror and a plan to avoid future sin.
• Perfect Contrition: Arises from love for God and the pain of having offended Him, reflecting a deeper and more genuine form of contrition that transcends personal interest.

Striving for Perfect Contrition

While imperfect contrition is a valid stepping stone, we should always aim for perfect contrition, driven by our love for God and the pain of having offended Him. This form of contrition not only acknowledges the gravity of our sins but also our commitment to amending our ways out of love for God. Because of how I treated God and because of how I hurt him, I am going to change what I did by doing this. I'm never going to fall back into hurting God again by changing this, this, this, and this. I am no longer going to let myself into that situation, which let my lesser self lead me into sin that direction. I'm never going to let myself be weakened by these small vices so that I have the strength to deal with this large temptation. Whatever it may take, find a strategy. But the fact is, the goal has to be the absolute horror and rejection of sin, just for the mere fact of God is God. And I love him above all things. Because he loves me. When we boil it all down, that is the result we have. That is the essence of what we must have.

Understanding and Prayer: The Foundation of Contrition

So how do we practice contrition? How do we go from imperfect contrition to perfect contrition? How do we go from no contrition or or a bad understanding of contrition to actually practicing contrition of any sort? The how is always going to be more complicated because it depends very much upon your own self. The first step is always going to be an act of understanding. The first thing is we actually need to pray. Yes. We're back to prayer. I'm going to hammer on that a lot. But the more that we are exposed to who God is, the more we actually talk to him. The more we can understand who he is and the more we understand that, the more we understand who we are and shockingly, who we should have been. Because God created us with a plan, with a mold of who we were supposed to be. And through our sins and imperfections and vices. We have deviated from that. Now God's plan encompasses our imperfections and our sins and everything else. But that doesn't excuse the fact that we have deviated and we have thwarted his plan or tried to. We've tried to go our own route. We are not supposed to do that. So in order for us to understand our relationship to God, we must understand who He is and who we are. So that starts with prayer. In order for us to understand just how horrible sin is. We need to understand more thoroughly how absolutely ridiculously disrespectful it is for us to sin. How laughably absurd it is for us to try to control our own lives, how absurd it is for us to try to go against God in any way. It's easy for us to be able to kind of limit God as the so called watchmaker God, the one up in the skies who doesn't do anything. He just kind of set the universe in motion and left us alone. It's easy for us to approach him like that. It's easy for us to see him as someone so big. He has no time for the little things that we do or somebody who we think we can pull the wool over his eyes because we do with our own selves. It's easy for us to be able to understand all of these things, but the fact is, we don't understand who God is, and we won't until we actually really spend time with him. So contrition is always going to start with prayer, talk to God, but more importantly, listen to God.

Faith and Education: Deepening Our Understanding

And this is where the faith comes in. Our faith must be educated. Simple but educated. We must know truths about God. What is omnipresence mean? The fact that He is everywhere. What does that mean? What does it mean that he holds me in existence? What does it mean? That he is all powerful? We don't have to have deep theological explanations of all of these things, but we have to know the core concept of what these things mean. So when we approach him, we're not overwhelmed by the concept of God knowing me. Absolutely. Because that is the flip side of that. The closer we get to God, the more we see him, the more we're going to understand how he sees us. And he's going to tear away all of the illusions that we set up around ourselves. And then we're going to be well on our way to real contrition. The second that those illusions drop, the second that we no longer have a self image or a mask or anything else to hide behind at that moment. All of a sudden we start to understand a little bit more of who we really are and the absurdity of us trying to go against God. The crazy Michael, the name of, say, Michael Quesadillas, who is like God. And by understanding that, we'll see the stupidity of some. But we'll also understand a little bit more of just how horrible it is. Because despite our total insignificance. The purification of our sins and the horrors of our bad habits and vices. God loves us and He wants to save us. And He wants to share his joy, his happiness, his love with us. And he's willing to do so much for us. But. We have put up obstacles and we have fought and we have pushed against him. Time and time and time again ad nauseum. And now we can see a little bit of the honest glimpse of who we really are when we fight against God. That is the goal. Who are we and who is God? Who is God? Who am I? Once we see that, contrition becomes a whole lot easier. But that's where it starts. Prayer. Knowing God to know ourselves. Because the more we see of that relationship, the more repugnance will have for sin.

Evaluating Sin and Its Broader Impact

The next step is we have to evaluate sin. So we always say that there is no such thing as a crime with no victim. Every sin has a victim, whether it's ourselves. But every sin also affects all of society, all of nature. One of the reasons that I'm firmly convinced that people talk about global warming and people talk about natural disasters and whatever else, etc.. One of the reasons that nature does seem to be reacting more and more violently to humanity is because humanity was left as stewards of this earth by God. And the more that we deviate from the nature that God gave us to be those stewards, the more nature itself responding to the will of God is going to reject humanity. Now. We're not going to get into that whole debacle about climate change, whatever. You know, that has nothing to do with anything. The root of any problem in this world is always going to go back to sin. Always. And that is what we need to focus on.

The Ripple Effect of Sin on the World and Self

The Impact of Sin on the World and Ourselves

But the fact is, every sin resounds through the world. We were left this universe, specifically by God, for the purpose of serving him and making it serve Him. Because we're the ones with conscience and consciousness. So we're the ones who are supposed to use all the goods, this earth to serve him. Consumerism, materialism, whatever else is the root of so many evils. Precisely because of that, because we have made them ends unto themselves, and therefore we are abusing the things of this world. Every sin has in some way a repercussion. And all of nature because we are the custodians of nature. Every society is affected by the sins of the individual. We may not see the correlation, but that is the case because we are the humans and we are the only creatures on this world that are sinning. The only ones. And so all evil comes from sin. So therefore, every sin is a cause of the evils in the world.

Reflecting on Our Sins

We should think about how it affects us. How the sins that we commit are actually doing us damage and pain, how it's causing us problems. We should consider how we are weaker, more foolish, more blind. How we're going to have a harder time dealing with certain things or cooperating with the grace of God, how we're losing opportunities of grace because we keep falling into the same sins or because we cut ourselves off from grace or whatever else may be the case. Putting ourselves at risk. We should start to think about that a little bit more. We should contemplate the damage that is caused by sins. What are the natural consequences of the imbalances that are created? The injustice that is perpetrated and so forth and so on. We should start to think about the causality of our actions. It affects families. It affects nations. It affects nature. And it affects us.

The Collective Consequence of Sin

Every sin by every person. You think that this world, this godless society that is trying so hard to overthrow the nature that God created. You think that came out of nowhere? It came out of millions upon millions of individual sins and people not willing to get themselves out of sin and hold themselves or anybody else accountable for their sins, but rather started to justify them. And of course, there it goes.

So every sin affects our neighbor, affects our family, affects nature itself, affects our government, affects our nation. And then affects us. The more we understand just how terrible the consequences of sin are, not just on a natural level. More importantly, on the supernatural level. The more repugnance we should have for them. The fact that we are able to see something of the consequences of sin and draw correlations between sins and the effects is a mercy from God.

The Invisible Horrors of Sin

Now God and His mercy also protect us from seeing too much of that. I hammer on these points because these are points that we don't hear about a lot, and these are points that we probably don't think about a lot. But I hammer on them because it's important for us to contemplate God and His mercy shields us from the real horrors of sin so that we cannot see it. Because if we were able to see it, we would go mad. The horrible effects of sin. If we could actually see them and understand them, we would go mad.

A Literary Reflection: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde has a wonderful book about this called The Picture of Dorian Gray. Not for the Light of Heart, okay, not for the faint of heart. It's actually quite brutal. But essentially a someone. Wants to maintain his beauty. And so he asks that his picture age and wither with corruption. While he gets to stay the exact same. And the final image of his picture is just it's a horror. Because that's exactly what it is. If we could understand. If we could see our soul under the effect of sin. We would despair. But God, not wanting us to despair doesn't give us that view. He doesn't give us that viewpoint.

Our Responsibility to Recognize Sin's Gravity

But that doesn't mean that we don't try. That doesn't mean that we don't try to see how terrible it is. We don't. We should try to understand how terrible sin is. God protects us from the full magnitude of it. But that doesn't give us a pass to at least try to get to know it. Sin is horrible. And so we need to be able to have sufficient contrition to recognize the terrible nature of sin and its consequences. How it affects us. So that we can start pushing ourselves to fight against it.

The Unimaginable Friendship with God

One of the more terrible consequences of sin, actually the most terrible, is the fact that we are no longer friends of God. The mere fact of the idea of being friends with God is unimaginable. Aristotle laughed at the idea of us being able to love God because for him we were beings of such separate natures. It would be impossible for us to actually have sufficient equality to be able to love each other. He couldn't comprehend how that was even possible, just by knowing what the two natures are and how very separate they are from each other.

The Mercy and Love of God

The fact that we actually get to love God as adopted equals is a phenomenal mercy and act of love of God that we should never, ever underappreciate. The mere fact that He loves us so much, that he actually raised our nature to his level and lowered himself to the level of taking the form of a slave, should just drive us beyond contemplation, into ecstasy.

The Fear of Ecstasy

Interestingly, St. Mary did warn that anyone who asks for ecstasy is an idiot, highlighting that ecstasy is not the goal or proof of good prayer, but a special gift for certain individuals.

The Horrors of Sin and the Beauty of God's Friendship

Understanding the vocation we are called to is crucial. We are the friends of God, and to lose that friendship should be the worst possible deprivation, worse than losing all of our family or anything we ever loved. The idea of losing the friendship of God should be the most devastating idea that we could possibly imagine because it elevates us so far above who we are.

Contrition Through the Love of God

By loving and appreciating the friendship of God above all things, we take one of the biggest steps towards achieving perfect contrition. Understanding the intimate and beautiful possession God has over us should drive us to unbelievable repentance of sin and to the most amazing generosity.

The Role of Hope in Contrition

Contrition is based fully and entirely upon hope. Without the possibility of redemption, there would be no purpose in being sorrowful for our sins. We must grow in hope, understanding that our sins, by the grace of God, can be converted into His glory. This hope is what differentiates a saint from a sinner.

The Journey Towards Perfect Contrition

We must start with the knowledge of who we are in the eyes of God and approach Him with confidence, despite our unworthiness. This act of supreme confidence in God's mercy is essential. We should not be so afraid of God that we do not approach Him, despite His truly terrifying nature.

The Essence of Lent and Pursuit of Contrition

Lent is the perfect time to give ourselves completely into the spirit of contrition. We should use our sinfulness as a springboard to run to God, using imperfect contrition to achieve perfect contrition. The goal is to choose God, above all things, no matter what it means giving up, and to live peacefully in His grace, pursuing the mystery of the resurrection, which is coming.