Get it all out

Sometimes just saying “I’m sorry” is not enough.

As human beings, we are complex, multi-layered creatures and sometimes as we stand before our simply perfect and infinite God it is good for us to take the time to peel back these layers as we express our sorrow and ask for his mercy.

Today’s first reading (Daniel 9:4b-10) is a long unrelenting cry of contrition.

Lord, great and awesome God,
you who keep your merciful covenant
toward those who love you
and observe your commandments!

We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;
we have rebelled
and departed from your commandments and your laws.
We have not obeyed your servants the prophets,
who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes,
our fathers, and all the people of the land.

Justice, O Lord, is on your side;
we are shamefaced even to this day:
we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem,
and all Israel, near and far,
in all the countries to which you have scattered them
because of their treachery toward you.

O LORD, we are shamefaced,
like our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
for having sinned against you.

But yours, O Lord, our God,
are compassion and forgiveness!
Yet we rebelled against you
and paid no heed to your command, O LORD, our God,
to live by the law
you gave us through your servants the prophets.

God is indeed rich in compassion and through his Son our Lord Jesus Christ extends to us the free gift of his perfect forgiveness.

This season of Lent can be a wonderful opportunity for us to deepen our experience of this gift. Perhaps it would be good for us to get beyond our usual expressions of contrition and to set aside special time to make an especially meaningful examination of conscience and perhaps even arranging extra time for an unhurried celebration and experience of God’s grace through the Sacrament of Penance.

God is indeed rich in mercy. We need to peel back all of our mental and emotional layers and let that mercy flow upon us.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.