Have mercy on me, God, in accord with your merciful love;
in your abundant compassion blot out my transgressions.
Thoroughly wash away my guilt;
and from my sin cleanse me.
For I know my transgressions;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your eyes
So that you are just in your word,
and without reproach in your judgment. (Psalm 51:3-6 NABRE)
We all have our way of distancing ourselves from God's perfection. What we call sin is just that. It is our personal ways of opposing God. And like children, we often do things without really thinking about them, and only afterward look for ways to explain ourselves--to God, to ourselves, and sometimes to others.
When we rationalize our shortcomings, we indulge our pride more than anything else. To admit our faults, we worry, would be worse not better. However, it is in David's humble words that we are given a key to freedom from the slavery of sin. When we turn to our Lord in honest humility, asking for his mercy and even begging for his compassion, he hears and answers us.
And we have the Sacrament of Penance to turn our greatest weaknesses into God's strengths. It is a paradox that can be difficult to understand, but one that makes sense if we simply remember who is the creator and who is created.
Today, I will pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, asking the Lord to by my merciful savior rather than my just judge.
Servant of God Brother Juniper, who St. Francis once described as having, "attained the state of perfect patience because he kept the truth of his low estate constantly in mind, [and] whose supreme desire was to follow Christ on the way of the cross," pray for us.
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