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| Return of the Prodigal Son by Pompeo Batoni 1708-1787 |
by Fr. Tom Collins
One of the great misfortunes of the Church was the way that the Second Vatican Council was initiated in a spirit of confident hubris, rather than in a spirit of humble and docile repentance. Much excitement surrounded the news that the Church was going to be renewed by developing a greater openness to the secular world, and thus make the Catholic Faith more relevant to all. Although this promotion of optimism may have been initiated with good intentions, events over the past half century have revealed that it was quite seriously deficient for the promotion of authentic spirituality in the Church and the world, since the only way to authentic renewal is a humble repentance guided by a deepening docility to the whole truth of God, which St. Paul refers to as the obedience of faith (cf. Romans 1:5, 16:26).
The need for proactive repentance has become increasingly evident, as so many souls have been incrementally infected by the false premises promoted by habitual and socially condoned sin, secularism and cynicism. As a result, the repentance of many has tended to be guided not so much by a sincere conscience as by a sin-seared conscience. This is reflected in the tendency of so many penitents to confess, "I feel bad about . . . .", rather than, "I have offended God in desecrating myself and others by . . . ."
The need for proactive repentance has become increasingly evident, as so many souls have been incrementally infected by the false premises promoted by habitual and socially condoned sin, secularism and cynicism. As a result, the repentance of many has tended to be guided not so much by a sincere conscience as by a sin-seared conscience. This is reflected in the tendency of so many penitents to confess, "I feel bad about . . . .", rather than, "I have offended God in desecrating myself and others by . . . ."
The most perfect form of repentance is guided by contrition, not by guilt. For, whereas guilt is focused on ourselves and our feelings, contrition is based on a deep sorrow for having offended our gracious and loving Father and a reverent and humble appreciation of His gracious love and mercy. And, while guilt often leads to either a crippling self-reproach or vapid rationalizations (cf. II Tim 3:2-7), contrition is rooted in a humble and deep appreciation of God's gracious and regenerative mercy, whereby not only is the desecrating power of sin purged from our lives and relationships, but also we become regenerated and begotten anew in His sanctifying righteousness. Guilt is nurtured by merely looking at ourselves in some sort of spiritual mirror. But contrition is nurtured by abiding in the loving, grateful and transformative gaze of our compassionate and merciful Father. After all, we can only truly know ourselves and our true dignity by abiding in the gaze of the One, Who reverences us, loves us and appreciates us most purely and perfectly.
Perfect contrition, then, involves a pro-active commitment to open one's soul to the light of God's truth and love through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. It is guided by a conscientiously deepening exposure of a soul to God's truth, not merely a reaffirmation of a soul's personal perspectives and agendas. As such, it must also be open to a transformation of all our relationships by obedience and accountability to the whole truth of God, not merely to those dimensions of His truth, which conform to one's personal preferences or to the attitudes and customs of secular society. This was indicated by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, who, in docility to the Holy Spirit, taught that a proper examination of conscience should be guided by specific reference to the Word of God, as proclaimed in the Holy Scriptures and/or the Church's Magisterium.
As a soul grows more deeply through ongoing repentance into the sacred and sanctifying mystery/dynamic of divine intimacy, it is filled with a holy discontent. Not satisfied with its own regeneration in God's grace and mercy, it seek to draw all others and all its relationships into that sacred mystery through prayer, evangelization, reparation and mortification. It seeks to fully share as a gift all that it has recieved as a gift from God.
In a way, it reflects the spirituality of Our Blessed Mother. Through a special privilege graciously bestowed on her by God, she was free from all sin and pure beyond comprehension. Yet she was not alienated from sinful humanity. She did not hoard her holiness in some sort of spiritual hermetically sealed container. Rather she fully shared in the sacred sanctifying humanity of her Son from the moment of her conception, seeking to share as a gift, what she had received as a gift with all humanity. Thus it was that, in a unique way, she humbly made herself "most in need of God's mercy". But, unlike us, who need God's mercy because of our sins, she needed God's mercy because of her sorrowful compassion for all of sinful humanity. And she hungered and thirsted for all of humanity to share in God's gracious and redemptive righteousness with such humility and purity of heart that compassionately ordained that His Righteousness become flesh within her womb through the gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit. Thus it is that Catholics, as her spiritual children, enter the most profound dimensions of divine intimacy by following her example. Not content with the regenerative grace infused in them through the sacraments, they are driven by the Holy Spirit to allow His gracious mercy to flow through them to all who are entrusted to their care and their prayers. Thus they tangibly affirm that the only true righteousness is that which is shared by dynamically draws others out of the degradation and desecration of sin into the sanctifying mystery of God's gracious love and truth.
Only by following the lead of the Holy Spirit into such a sanctifying dimension of repentance can we witness the renewal of humanity in a way that transforms our character and relationships in a way that enables us, in Christ, to transcend our condition by the hope infused into our hearts, and thus draw all dimensions of our humanity into the eternal peace and joy of God's Heavenly Kingdom.
Fr. Thomas Collins
Perfect contrition, then, involves a pro-active commitment to open one's soul to the light of God's truth and love through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. It is guided by a conscientiously deepening exposure of a soul to God's truth, not merely a reaffirmation of a soul's personal perspectives and agendas. As such, it must also be open to a transformation of all our relationships by obedience and accountability to the whole truth of God, not merely to those dimensions of His truth, which conform to one's personal preferences or to the attitudes and customs of secular society. This was indicated by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, who, in docility to the Holy Spirit, taught that a proper examination of conscience should be guided by specific reference to the Word of God, as proclaimed in the Holy Scriptures and/or the Church's Magisterium.
As a soul grows more deeply through ongoing repentance into the sacred and sanctifying mystery/dynamic of divine intimacy, it is filled with a holy discontent. Not satisfied with its own regeneration in God's grace and mercy, it seek to draw all others and all its relationships into that sacred mystery through prayer, evangelization, reparation and mortification. It seeks to fully share as a gift all that it has recieved as a gift from God.
In a way, it reflects the spirituality of Our Blessed Mother. Through a special privilege graciously bestowed on her by God, she was free from all sin and pure beyond comprehension. Yet she was not alienated from sinful humanity. She did not hoard her holiness in some sort of spiritual hermetically sealed container. Rather she fully shared in the sacred sanctifying humanity of her Son from the moment of her conception, seeking to share as a gift, what she had received as a gift with all humanity. Thus it was that, in a unique way, she humbly made herself "most in need of God's mercy". But, unlike us, who need God's mercy because of our sins, she needed God's mercy because of her sorrowful compassion for all of sinful humanity. And she hungered and thirsted for all of humanity to share in God's gracious and redemptive righteousness with such humility and purity of heart that compassionately ordained that His Righteousness become flesh within her womb through the gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit. Thus it is that Catholics, as her spiritual children, enter the most profound dimensions of divine intimacy by following her example. Not content with the regenerative grace infused in them through the sacraments, they are driven by the Holy Spirit to allow His gracious mercy to flow through them to all who are entrusted to their care and their prayers. Thus they tangibly affirm that the only true righteousness is that which is shared by dynamically draws others out of the degradation and desecration of sin into the sanctifying mystery of God's gracious love and truth.
Only by following the lead of the Holy Spirit into such a sanctifying dimension of repentance can we witness the renewal of humanity in a way that transforms our character and relationships in a way that enables us, in Christ, to transcend our condition by the hope infused into our hearts, and thus draw all dimensions of our humanity into the eternal peace and joy of God's Heavenly Kingdom.
Fr. Thomas Collins
frtrac1@hotmail.com
It is very interesting that you opened your meditation with a recollection of the failed, albeit well intentioned, focus of the II Vatican Council on "openness to the secular world"; and you close your meditation with a recollection of Our Blessed Mother, full of grace, spotless and pure, "sharing the sacred, sanctifying humanity of her Son from the moment of her conception, seeking to share as a gift, what she had received as a gift with all humanity".
ReplyDeleteOne opened up their door and let the world in.
The other opened up her door and shared endless grace out.
Anyone can walk in a door left open.
To meet God in the shared grace of His Blessed Mother demands the eyes of faith and heroic conversion.
One is the portal to hell.
The other is the gateway to heaven.
"Contrition" is the key (as you say) which is at its core driven by supreme love of God before self. Grace is the lifeblood that sustains the contrite in their sanctifying transformation on their way to Beatitude.