Is "I'm Sorry" Enough

Is “I’m Sorry” Enough?

Thinking like a parent if one of my children was wounded or defiled by someone, I don’t think a quick “I’m sorry” would be enough for me. Something more is required. So how does our Heavenly Father endure the multiple egregious offenses against His Son and our Mother Mary? These are daily occurrences in word and deed and all we hear is, “Oh, isn’t that awful!” We have seen and heard of desecrated cemeteries, tabernacles and churches even to the person of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. All of which cry to heaven for reparation. We can pray for the souls of those who destroyed Nativity creches, spray painted statues of saints and church walls. The perpetrators are rarely caught, brought to justice nor do they have the opportunity to repent much less make reparation. However, God in his mercy will accept acts of reparation from any soul for others misdeeds.

Every sin committed must be confessed and a penance is required to remove our guilt and restore our relationship with God. Reparation is the necessary pain or suffering that must be endured to make up for the harm done through our own self-indulgence when we sin. This is the necessary price to be paid as a condition for receiving God’s mercy.

Why do we need reparation? Because God wants it and his justice requires it. Somehow, we have lost the sense of the gravity of every sin. If we could view all of our sins with the same horror with which we regard spousal or child abuse and human trafficking, we would see it differently. Divorce rips out someone’s heart and abortions murder innocent life and we take in stride as just a part of contemporary life or we may be so horrified that we are driven to some kind of action.

Every sin committed, every little lie, every dishonest deed, rudeness, and mean word offends the heart of God with all the horror of a far more grievous sin. The more important the person sinned against, the greater the offense. If we could see the true condition of our souls even though we have confessed our sins and prayed our three little Hail Marys, we would be terrified at how much is still owed to God in reparation. We may have paid the minimum balance on our debt to God but the interest rate on that balance keeps accruing. Few of us will go straight to heaven until the pain of our sin has been erased through reparation in this life or in the next.

God however is a merciful God. He allows us to be purified at the end of our lives in purgatory, but he also accepts our chosen or unchosen pain in this life if it is offered in reparation for our sins. In his generosity we can even offer sacrifices for others or for those who are already in purgatory. What an awesome God!

Retribution must be paid willingly or unwillingly through our penances sacrifices either of our own choosing or of God's choosing. What then, counts as reparation Father Hardon speaks of seven.

Prayer-     Any prayer but especially the rosary and the holy mass This is why we have mass      is said for the dead but why not for the living.

Share-     Humans have become so self-centered rather than other centered. We can share our prayers our money our goods and our time for the good of others

Forgive-     Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us do not expect God to forgive you what you refuse to give to others

Work-      Work is penance and especially work that- is hard or not enjoyed. Our work can be offered in reparation for our sins.

 Endure-      Every day includes physical and emotional pain for most of us. Endure rudeness, insults, being overlooked and physical pain without complaint or self-pity. Think of what irritates you on a regular basis and use that for the sake of souls.

Deprive-    Guilty pleasures also serve as opportunities for reparation. Just saying no to ourselves or not now is an act of deprivation that can be offered to God with love. Sacrifices similar to depriving ourselves of a legitimate good are performing little sacrifices, such as sleep without your pillow, choose the least attractive morsel, wait to be served last. Give up your time to help others or play with your children. Sacrifice is surrendering something to God.

These deliberate acts of reparation offered joyfully to God on a silver platter with gratitude for his mercy and accepting these small deeds in reparation for the horror of our sins will satisfy God's justice. We can offer these same actions for the souls of the living or the deceased. Joining sacrifice to our prayers for others, enhances its value and power. It also demonstrates our love for God.

At Fatima Mary said to the children, “Make everything you do a sacrifice and offer it as an act of reparation for the sins by which God is offended as a petition for the conversion of sinners.” Our mother has asked us repeatedly to pray the rosary and offer sacrifices. Had we been obedient children over the past 107 years the world would likely not be in such an evil condition. At every apparition she persistently has requested prayer and penances.

The Fatima prayer for reparation “Oh, most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly.  I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences by which he is offended.”