What Kind of Sorry?

By Nancy Shuman -
I learned the Act of Contrition in first grade, and recited it in Confession every other week.  I was around nine when the priest on the other side of the grille stopped me just after I'd begun with my usual:  "O my God, I am partly sorry for having offended Thee, and I..."  

He broke right in.  

"Are you only partly sorry?", he asked.  I sat there in panic.  Well... well, of course!, said I.  That's what the prayer says, that's how I learned it, yes Father I'm sure I must be partly sorry, I'm at least partly sorry and that's a good thing isn't it Father? (am I passing this test?).

Father was kind in his correction.

And I've been heartily sorry ever since.  Although...

There are times when I think about Father's gentle question.   It's not a bad one for an examination of conscience, really.  I mean - how many times do I confess sins and faults for which I'm only partly sorry?  If I'm really honest with myself, how much thought do I give to what I have done?  How often do I consider the pain I may have caused someone?  How often do I think of the pain my sins have brought to Our Lord?

Perhaps I have before me a good point for reflection.  It is Lent, after all.  A good time for self-examination.  If I prayed the Act of Contrition right here, right now, and if I were really honest with myself... what kind of sorry would I be? 

"If we are truly humble our sins will infinitely displease us, because God is offended by them"  (St. Francis de Sales)

(painting on this post by Frederick Daniel Hardy (detail); 1879)

Comments

  1. Anonymous3:10 pm, March 12, 2012

    lol...gr8 post..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nancy Shuman5:14 pm, March 12, 2012

    Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Manny10:26 pm, March 12, 2012

    LOL, when I say the Act sometimes I say it so fast it sounds to me like I said, "O my God, I am hardly sorry..." I have to make it clear to God I didn't say that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cathmom2six10:53 pm, March 12, 2012

    I remember a priest once joking about how many times he had heard people were "hardly sorry" for their sins. Once when I was younger and extremely nervous, I feared the loss of hell and the pains of heaven, and to confess my pins and do sinance. That was a difficult recovery. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nancy Shuman11:07 pm, March 12, 2012

      cathmom2five, you have done it now. I'm giggling so hard I'm nearly crying. I hope you've recovered from your childhood experience, but I hope I never recover from this laugh.... :) :)

      Delete
  5. Allison4:52 pm, March 13, 2012

    My parents used to force us to stand in the corner when we had done something that displeased them and say the Act. I would ALWAYS said I was "hardly sorry." Not anymore though!

    ReplyDelete

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