Cri de Coeur about lost innocence and The Present Crisis

I received this.  It may be helpful to some of you.

Frankly, quite a few seriously meaningful notes have come.

This is a fruit of The Present Crisis that the Enemy probably didn’t foresee.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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21 Comments

  1. Gab says:

    Wow. Powerful words and advice. This story could be me, raised a Catholic, left the Church (but not God), led sinful life, returned to the Church, received sacrament of Confession but still feel guilty for my many, many, many sins. And the potential and real repercussions of my sins still haunt me.

  2. Fallibilissimo says:

    Reminds me of the movie Calvary when the priest is asked which is the virtue he would most esteem, and he says “I think forgiveness has been highly underrated”. It’s the gift that keeps on giving in so many ways, sometimes not only giving it but especially receiving it.
    May God forgive us all of our sins. We so long for the day to see His holy face as every moment we live here on earth makes our nostalgia for Him stronger.

  3. Paul of St Paul says:

    Wonderful post. Thankyou Anon.

  4. anthtan says:

    @Fallibilissimo I’ve thought about that movie, Calvary, a lot in recent weeks. Not an easy watch, because of the subject matter and the story. The movie might seem to be bashing the Church because of the abuse the protagonist has to endure, but now the quieter, more reflective scenes stand out more to me. And I guess that’s where the soul and meaning of the story lie.

  5. To help struggling people.

    Prayer to God the Father
    With Brief Introduction
    Written by Father Paul L. Weinberger
    Inspired by St. Therese’ of Lisieux
    http://semperficatholic.com/page21.html

  6. AndyMo says:

    “This is a fruit of The Present Crisis that the Enemy probably didn’t foresee.”

    Where sin abounds…

  7. RKR says:

    I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how Christ’s glorified body retains its wounds. That can give us hope and encouragement I think that our sufferings and scars (and I have plenty myself) are of lasting value.

  8. Ellen says:

    So very touching and powerful. Thank you Anonymous. I have found in my area, that in the wake of the scandals, most Catholics have clung closer to Jesus than ever before. I never left the Church, but I can see how my personal sins are not just confined to me. They are like ripples in a pond, and distort my relations with people both near and far from me. I can only beg forgiveness and do penance.

  9. Peter Stuart says:

    “I realize now that in heaven those scars can be reminders of the great battle for my soul that Christ and I won.” Wow, did I ever need to hear that. Many thanks to your correspondent.

  10. s i says:

    Battle scars….I like that!
    Thanks for sharing Fr. Z and Anonymous.

  11. Benedict Joseph says:

    God’s grace is manifested in the soul who wrote this letter. They have absorbed the great truth contained in the Cross. This person has claimed the pearl of great price.

  12. Dismas says:

    @Gab – Three generations of Catholics have been successively neglected and spiritually abused for the false show of the Zeitgeist. I too see much of my own life in there.

    The world is a terrible place for a child to try to figure out everything on his own. Sometimes a whooping IS the merciful and pastoral thing.

  13. Mark Windsor says:

    This was very helpful to me personally; immense gratitude toward the author.

  14. rcg says:

    Oh, I think he did and is scared witless of it. Remember there was more than one Mary at the foot of the Cross and the one that discovered that The Tomb was empty was a person just like this woman. Our Mother may crush his head, Mary Magdalene will hold him down.

  15. chantgirl says:

    It is natural to feel lingering guilt over confessed sins which have hurt others in a grave way. Ask anyone who has endured abuse, or has had an abortion, or has suffered from the adultery of their spouse. While sin is forgiven in confession, some sins leave scars not just on the sinner, but on those who have been harmed by the sin. Reparation is owed to God and the person harmed.

    Some of these scars will only finally be healed in the next life.

    For myself, when I feel guilt over a transgression I have committed against someone, even if it was years prior and already confessed, I try to take that as a signal that I need to do some penance or have a Mass offered for that person. Likewise, I also carry some scars from sins committed against me that will truly only be healed in the next life. When these threaten my peace, I try to ask God to not allow the perpetrators to go to Hell on account of these sins, even though I still feel anger and disgust toward them. I can’t stomach the thought of anyone going to Hell, even if they deserve it, and I know that there are probably more days than not when I deserve Hell too.

  16. LeeGilbert says:

    FWIW, Today for the second day in a row I arrived early for 7AM Mass and there in the semi-darkness a priest was saying the old Mass, the Tridentine Mass, begun at 6AM. When I asked the sacristan about it, he said Father will be doing this for the foreseeable future in reparation for the sins of priests. And at the end, the Leonine prayers.

  17. MissBee says:

    Father, I really needed to see this. Thank you. I also struggle with memories from my previous life and it’s a difficult penance.

  18. Mary of Carmel says:

    My parents left the Church when I was nine. I got involved in sorts of sinful stuff including practicing the occult and new age stuff and did so for over 25 years. Came back to the Church and received Confirmation. I too, have had the same struggles as Anon. Great letter Anon!

  19. AveMariaGratiaPlena says:

    Battle scars — fantastic! Thank you to the author of that letter.

  20. Elizabeth D says:

    I’m going to dissent a little–though not that Christ has won the victory! That is the essential thing. I think sin does result in various wounds that do not simply heal and form a scar. In fact if love is more perfectly present, the wound is all the more so a wound. If someone was validly married for instance, and wrecked it, and is estranged from their spouse, then if they are converted and have more charity they are going to experience that more clearly as a wound, not a scar but a wound. I think somehow God wills to purify and transform our woundedness, a mystery of love. Christ was wounded for our offenses, died and rose, and His glorified body bears not scars but wounds. He hasn’t moved on from being wounded by sin; He’s transformed it utterly. It is His wounds that are the result of honorable battle, it is His wounds that are clean, and it is better that we have wounds purified and transformed in the likeness of His than to have scars.

  21. maternalView says:

    Thank you for sharing, anon and Fr. Z.

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