Why do so many people refuse to repent? Repentance is absolutely necessary and yet seems to be so seldom found. Without repentance there is no pardon of sin and no heaven. Without repentance our penance, charity, almsgiving or anything else we might do to please God is all in vain.
What is repentance? How do we know whether or not we have it? Repentance is an anguish of the soul, and detestation for past sin, and a firm resolve never to sin again. Without repentance it is absolutely impossible to obtain forgiveness. A lack of repentance is the cause of a great number of sacrilegious confessions and communions. Many unrepentant people do not even realize what a sad state they are in.
If we conceal a sin when we go to confession, this sin is constantly before our eyes and eventually we go to confession again in order to free ourselves from it. But it is different with repentance. We confess, but our heart is not in it. We approach the Holy Sacrament with a cold, unfeeling, and indifferent heart and we just go through the motions! There are a great number of Christians who will discover at the hour of their death nothing but invalid confessions!
Repentance is an anguish of soul. We must weep over our sins either in this world or in the next. In this world we can wipe out our sins by repentance, but not in the next. We should thank our Lord that the anguish of our soul is enough for Him to let us experience eternal joy. It takes so little to satisfy God.
In Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Prayers at the Foot of the Altar
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