Acknowledging our faults
This, I believe, is a clear mark of a good, humble, if not a holy person. When one acknowledges his own faults and weaknesses, and more so, of his own mistakes and sins, he is truly getting real and is not deluding himself into living a self-contained, make-believe world.
And if he does something about them, being sorry and atoning for them, learning from them and developing the appropriate virtues, then he is corresponding to God's will, which is what is most important in our life.
This is the beauty of this attitude which we should try our best to cultivate in ourselves. Acknowledging our faults attracts God to us. Ever full of mercy and compassion, as shown by Christ himself, God can never be indifferent to our weaknesses and predicaments. He will rush to help and comfort us.
We need to learn to readily and abidingly acknowledge our faults, mistakes, sins, etc. that, sad to say, is a disappearing feature in our lives. We need to correct this problem because it is actually very harmful to us. This problem undermines our very contact with God and our relation with others.
Acknowledging our faults does us a lot of good. It deepens our humility, very crucial in our life for without it, practically no other virtue develops in us. It keeps us simple and prevents us from falling into complications, since we would then have no need to come up with a web of excuses, rationalizations and other unnecessary self-defense mechanisms.
Acknowledging our faults leads us to have a working spirit of penance that purifies us and makes up for them. It puts us in the proper condition for further spiritual growth. It gives us greater intimacy with God and closer relationship with others. We would become more objective and fair in our views and outlook, since our own faults and defects would make us more understanding towards others.
Though it may sober us a bit, acknowledging our faults does not at all take away our joy and verve for life. It does not deflate us. Quite the contrary. We would be freed from unnecessary fears and doubts. We would feel light, with the lightness that is not a matter of frivolity, irresponsibility and recklessness. We would be more able to respond to the needs of the others and the call of the time. We would put more life to life.
We have to learn to be quick to say sorry to God and to run to him once we feel the sting of our weaknesses and defects, and especially when we fall. We should end our day with an examination of conscience that concludes with that word so endearing to God: Sorry.
By going to God, we also get to see the why's and wherefore's of our sinfulness which is always within the providence of God. We get to see the whole picture and find reason to be hopeful.
Let us never forget that we are all sinners. We are very fragile since, as the gospel says, we are vessels of clay and we have feet of clay. Just a little disturbance and we are likely to collapse.
Besides, we are ranged against powerful enemies of our soul. Our weakened flesh, the devil and the deceiving allurements of the world all conspire to take us away from our true happiness which is to be with God and with others. They often force us to live in our own world, thinking that it is where our joy would be.
Aside from saying sorry, let's make a habit of going to frequent confession, since as a sacrament it is where Christ our redeemer through the ministry of the priests bears all our sins, dies to them and resurrects. In confession, Christ would be our judge, doctor, friend, brother and father.
Let's also make a habit of making acts of atonement and reparation to continually purify ourselves of the remains of our forgiven sins-read, our attraction to evil, our concupiscence-and to strengthen ourselves to be able to resist temptations more effectively.
Let's remember that Christ never tires of forgiving us. It is not his delight to see our spiritual death. Rather, he is happy when we go back to him like the prodigal son. This should give us an idea about what would make God happy with us.
Remember Christ's words in the parables of the lost coin, lost sheep and the prodigal son: "There shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance." (Lk 15,10)
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