A Frank and Earnest Conversation About Metanoia – Act 1
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Sometimes it can be difficult for us to accept that God loves us so very much that he gives us the unmerited Grace of his forgiveness. Here is a simple way to remember the power of that Grace.
Recognition: When I recognize that I am a sinner, I become aware that I can commit and have committed sin. I acknowledge in some definite way that I have made a choice to willingly and knowingly perform an act that is contrary to God’s law. Once I recognize my sin, I can choose to ignore it or to renounce it. If I acknowledge that I am a sinner who has sinned, I can also describe the evidence and effect of my sin.
Remorse: When I consider God’s goodness to me and contrast that with my failure to respond accordingly, I can choose to ignore my sense of guilt or I can choose to acknowledge the grief I feel for my past wrongs. When this remorse is sincere and effective, I feel genuine sorrow for my shortcomings; I feel contrite and am humbled by my weakness.
Repentance: To repent is to change my perception of my actions and resolve to reform my life. I make a conscious decision to turn from sin and dedicate myself to the amendment of my life. The underlying intent should be that the change for the better will be a permanent change. I make a firm decision to avoid sin and to resist the desire to be tempted.
Reconciliation:Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation I can seek to restore the compatibility between me and God. I can restore my capability to live in harmony with God as well as with whomever I have wronged by my choice to commit sin. My ability as well as my willingness to seek and accept God’s forgiveness is restored.
Restitution: Part of my obligation as a servant of God is to make compensation for the wrong I have done. I am accountable to God for the way my actions affect my life as well as the lives, and perhaps even the souls, of my family or my community. Sometime this compensation is a form of penance that is an act of devotion — praying certain prayers prescribed my confessor — or I am directed by the priest to restore an equivalent for what I have wrongfully taken, to make amends for some injustice that is physical or spiritual. In either case the objective is to cause restoration of a previous state. He completely forgives – and more importantly, completely forgets – my sin.
Renewal: When I acknowledge my sins and repent, confess my sins and do penance, resolve to avoid sin and to resist the desire to be tempted and to seek and to accept God’s forgiveness, I experience a restoration of the state of Grace God intended for me when He created me. I am spiritually reborn, converted from a sin-stained soul and reconformed to the image of God. I am radically changed and able to recognize, accept, and make use of the graces God has given me. I am made new again.
Rejoicing: My restoration to harmony with God and with humanity has the effect of generating inexpressible joy and unsurpassable peace. My ability to obey Christ’s Law of Love allows me to remain in His love. It also allows His Love to remain in me. Jesus Himself told us this so that His Joy would be in us and that our Joy will be complete (see John 15:10-12). I feel delight because God has not only shown me what my heart desires; He has also satisfied that desire beyond my expectations, beyond even my ability to comprehend. The Psalmist found delight in the Law of the LORD. My delight — our delight — is in the fulfillment of that Law through the salvific Grace given to us in Jesus. As St Paul said in Romans 5:10-11 – 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Here is a short summary in outline form –
Seven Key Words of Faith in God’s Forgiveness
1.1.See there is a problem
1.2.Know that my sin is the problem
1.3.Know that I am powerless against it
2.1.I regret the outcome of my actions
2.2.I trust in God’s understanding of my sorrow
3.1.3.1. I make a conscious decision to correct my thinking, my communications, and my actions
3.2.3.2. I make that decision public through my actions
4.1.I am resolved to restore the relationships with God and with my community that I have damaged through my sin
4.2.I seek and accept forgiveness from God and my community
5.1.I am willing to atone and to offer compensation for the damage I have caused
5.2.I gratefully acknowledge expiation of my sins
6.1.I am transformed by the renewal of my heart, my mind, and my actions.
6.2.I make it my resolve to avoid the kinds of circumstances that enabled me to sin
7.1.I rejoice in the restoration of a right relationship with God and my community.
7.2.I share my rejoicing freely and still, with due humility, show respect for others
Chick Todd was reared as a "Baptiterian" in Denver, Colorado and grew up to become an American Roman Catholic. After several years of feeling called to the Roman Catholic Church, I made my First Communion as a Catholic at Easter Vigil in 1969. That happy event was followed two weeks later with the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony with Crucita at Chapel 2 on Lackland AFB in San Antonio TX.
We are shown here at the celebration of our 50th Anniversary which included a renewal of our Vows. During those fifty years we have been Catechists, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Eucharist, Lectors, and the RCIA/C Coordinators for our Parish, St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish on the island of Kaua'i in Hawai'i.
When we married, we devoted our Marriage Vocation to establishing and maintaining a Christ-Centered Home. It still works that way today. The love we have shared with each other has been multiplied as we share it with others, especially our two adopted children, and all the children and adults we have helped catechize.
I have always been a serious Bible student and now run a blog called The Moon Beam Network at www.aloha-friday.org where I publish a weekly Catholic Bible study every Aloha Friday. Crucita is an exceptional Master Teacher, and so we find abundant opportunities to share our love of Word and Sacrament with many others. Come visit us at The Moon Beam Network. E komo mai!
