It is said at evening prayers, at times you will hear it said at mass, the Confiteor. We all know this prayer: I confess to Almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
There is one line in there that has struck me straight to the heart. In what I have done, and in what I have failed to do! Unfortunately isn't it true that in most of our prayers we fall in the habit of being too robotic. Yes we do recite the words, but do we really understand what we are saying? In what I have done, and in what I have failed to do. The sin of omission. The most overlooked sin in our lives. How many times have you said to yourself, I am a good person? Were there any times in your life, that you really didn't do anything wrong but you failed to right a wrong with compassion and mercy. Obviously I'm writing about this because it's triggering something in my life. Not doing something wrong, doesn't mean you're completely right either. I recently followed a blog that took it one step further, when they said the following: in what I have said, and in what I have failed to say. That one could be a double whammy. How many times in my relationships I was quick to say the wrong things, or how many times I didn't try to encourage someone. It seems like almost every day I am reminded of my favorite scripture verse "Encourage each other daily while it is still today!"
The challenge for all of us is for each and every day to break apart that one portion of this prayer and make it the most important thing in our lives. To walk away from the sin of omission. To try to be perfect like God!
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
There is one line in there that has struck me straight to the heart. In what I have done, and in what I have failed to do! Unfortunately isn't it true that in most of our prayers we fall in the habit of being too robotic. Yes we do recite the words, but do we really understand what we are saying? In what I have done, and in what I have failed to do. The sin of omission. The most overlooked sin in our lives. How many times have you said to yourself, I am a good person? Were there any times in your life, that you really didn't do anything wrong but you failed to right a wrong with compassion and mercy. Obviously I'm writing about this because it's triggering something in my life. Not doing something wrong, doesn't mean you're completely right either. I recently followed a blog that took it one step further, when they said the following: in what I have said, and in what I have failed to say. That one could be a double whammy. How many times in my relationships I was quick to say the wrong things, or how many times I didn't try to encourage someone. It seems like almost every day I am reminded of my favorite scripture verse "Encourage each other daily while it is still today!"
The challenge for all of us is for each and every day to break apart that one portion of this prayer and make it the most important thing in our lives. To walk away from the sin of omission. To try to be perfect like God!
No comments:
Post a Comment