A Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
Last week we concluded our Sunday mini-series on the Sacrament of Confession. Today we'll start a new mini-series. It's the perfect follow-up for our somewhat detailed discussion of Confession. It concerns "perfect contrition."
Many if not most of us likely have some familiarity with perfect contrition. But we may not appreciate the true power of perfect contrition. As a result we may not understand the critically important role it should play in our lives.
To help us gain a true appreciation of the power and importance of perfect contrition, we'll turn to a little booklet written in 1904 by Rev. J. Von Den Driesch, Perfect Contrition: The Golden Key to Paradise. The title alone serves as an exhortation to learn all we can about what should be one of our primary pious practices. To reinforce this, in the introduction, we find this from a Cardinal Franzelin: "Could I preach throughout the whole world, of nothing would I speak more frequently than of perfect contrition."
With that, let's begin by understanding what contrition is:
“Contrition is a sorrow of the soul, a detestation of sin committed, to which is joined the purpose, the sincere determination to lead a better life, and to sin no more. To be of any avail, contrition must be interior, that is, it must be in the soul, and not merely uttered with the lips, without reflection; that would be merely sorrow of the lips. It is not necessary that this interior contrition should manifest itself outwardly, as for instance, by sighs or tears; these may be signs of contrition, but they are not the essence of contrition. The essence of contrition is in the soul, in the will, which sincerely turns away from sin, and to God. Contrition must also be universal; that is, it must include all the sins committed, at least all the mortal sins. And finally, Contrition must be supernatural. Contrition, like all things, must come from God, through God’s grace, and with the help of God’s grace it must produce its effect in the soul."
Let's pause here to emphasize this last point: that contrition must be supernatural. A sinful thought, word, or action may cause us to "feel guilty": Perhaps when you were a kid you regretted lying to you mother when she found out and got mad at you; or maybe you fudged your hours at work and got paid for time you didn't actually work. If you're sorry for what you did because you're now facing the consequences of your action, that's "natural" contrition. Rev. Von Den Driesch explains:
"If the motive for contrition is derived from nature, from pure reason, for example, if you are sorry only because you must suffer sickness, disgrace, temporal loss, etc., then the contrition is merely natural and worthless; but if the motive for contrition is a doctrine of Faith, for example, if you are sorry because you offended God, deserved hell, purgatory, lost heaven, etc., then it is true and supernatural contrition."
Once we understand the distinction between natural and supernatural contrition, we further break down supernatural contrition:
"This true and supernatural contrition may be twofold: perfect and imperfect. What is perfect contrition? Perfect contrition is a sorrow which comes from the love of God; imperfect contrition, or attrition, is sorrow which comes from the fear of God. Contrition is perfect if it comes from perfect love of God. Our love of God is perfect when we love God because He is infinitely perfect, beautiful, and good in Himself (this we may call love of benevolence), and because He has shown His love and goodness to us in so effective a manner (or love of gratitude). Our love of God is imperfect if we love Him because we hope for some benefit from Him. When our love is imperfect we are thinking principally of the gift; when it is perfect, on the goodness of the giver. In imperfect love it is rather the gift that we love, in perfect love it is the giver that we love, not so much for the sake of his gift, as for the love and goodness which are shown in the gift.”
Having now understood what perfect contrition is and acknowledging its importance, it's reasonable to assume we would want to express sorrow for our sins in the form of perfect contrition. We'll be looking at how we can do this beginning next Sunday.
I hope you can join us for our regular posts this week.
Many if not most of us likely have some familiarity with perfect contrition. But we may not appreciate the true power of perfect contrition. As a result we may not understand the critically important role it should play in our lives.
To help us gain a true appreciation of the power and importance of perfect contrition, we'll turn to a little booklet written in 1904 by Rev. J. Von Den Driesch, Perfect Contrition: The Golden Key to Paradise. The title alone serves as an exhortation to learn all we can about what should be one of our primary pious practices. To reinforce this, in the introduction, we find this from a Cardinal Franzelin: "Could I preach throughout the whole world, of nothing would I speak more frequently than of perfect contrition."
With that, let's begin by understanding what contrition is:
“Contrition is a sorrow of the soul, a detestation of sin committed, to which is joined the purpose, the sincere determination to lead a better life, and to sin no more. To be of any avail, contrition must be interior, that is, it must be in the soul, and not merely uttered with the lips, without reflection; that would be merely sorrow of the lips. It is not necessary that this interior contrition should manifest itself outwardly, as for instance, by sighs or tears; these may be signs of contrition, but they are not the essence of contrition. The essence of contrition is in the soul, in the will, which sincerely turns away from sin, and to God. Contrition must also be universal; that is, it must include all the sins committed, at least all the mortal sins. And finally, Contrition must be supernatural. Contrition, like all things, must come from God, through God’s grace, and with the help of God’s grace it must produce its effect in the soul."
Let's pause here to emphasize this last point: that contrition must be supernatural. A sinful thought, word, or action may cause us to "feel guilty": Perhaps when you were a kid you regretted lying to you mother when she found out and got mad at you; or maybe you fudged your hours at work and got paid for time you didn't actually work. If you're sorry for what you did because you're now facing the consequences of your action, that's "natural" contrition. Rev. Von Den Driesch explains:
"If the motive for contrition is derived from nature, from pure reason, for example, if you are sorry only because you must suffer sickness, disgrace, temporal loss, etc., then the contrition is merely natural and worthless; but if the motive for contrition is a doctrine of Faith, for example, if you are sorry because you offended God, deserved hell, purgatory, lost heaven, etc., then it is true and supernatural contrition."
Once we understand the distinction between natural and supernatural contrition, we further break down supernatural contrition:
"This true and supernatural contrition may be twofold: perfect and imperfect. What is perfect contrition? Perfect contrition is a sorrow which comes from the love of God; imperfect contrition, or attrition, is sorrow which comes from the fear of God. Contrition is perfect if it comes from perfect love of God. Our love of God is perfect when we love God because He is infinitely perfect, beautiful, and good in Himself (this we may call love of benevolence), and because He has shown His love and goodness to us in so effective a manner (or love of gratitude). Our love of God is imperfect if we love Him because we hope for some benefit from Him. When our love is imperfect we are thinking principally of the gift; when it is perfect, on the goodness of the giver. In imperfect love it is rather the gift that we love, in perfect love it is the giver that we love, not so much for the sake of his gift, as for the love and goodness which are shown in the gift.”
Having now understood what perfect contrition is and acknowledging its importance, it's reasonable to assume we would want to express sorrow for our sins in the form of perfect contrition. We'll be looking at how we can do this beginning next Sunday.
I hope you can join us for our regular posts this week.
Happy Sunday!
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