How do make reparation for my sins?

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anneramones

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How can I expiate the sins of the tongue, of the flesh, sin in thoughts and every other sin? As far as I understand when we sin and go to Confession we are in state of grace again but our soul is stained by the sins we have committed and we have to make reparation for them…no one ever told me how to do it? What prayers do I have to pray or what else I need to do?
 
As the Scriptures say, we must “bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.” The three main ways we can do ourselves are almsgiving, fasting, and prayer. Almsgiving is traditionally associated with sins against neighbor, fasting with sins against self, and prayer with sins against God (which all are).

It is especially important to do these things on the penitential days and seasons in the Church (Fridays and Lent).

Perhaps most importantly though, it is faithfully carrying the crosses and bearing the sufferings we face in this life. The Catechism sums this up:
1473 The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the “old man” and to put on the "new man."84
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If you are asking how to gurantee skipping Purgatory, I’m not sure that is possible. I think all you can do is complete the Penance given by the priest, endure any suffering you face on earth with humility, and live the best Catholic life you can.
 
That may be true. I don’t really have a solid understanding of indulgences, but most people I know offer them up to people already in Purgatory. All the same, you don’t have much control since you don’t decide when you die.
 
While one can’t decide when they die, there are instances when doctors tell people how long they have left to live, so people can try to get a plenary indulgence around that time-frame. It is difficult, true. But not impossible.
 
Willing_Spirit said:
especially if you are on life support and have the option to pull it.
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Actually, in that instance, that would be, in a sense, suicide, which I’m pretty sure is a mortal sin and then that wouldn’t be very good considering one just got an indulgence.
 
I like the Divine Mercy Sunday. Say the Divine Mercy Novena in the 9 days prior to Divine Mercy Sunday, and go to Confession, Mass and receive Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday, and say the Divine Mercy chaplet and pray for the Pope’s intentions. Giving a donation to charity on Divine Mercy Sunday is also appropriate. There is an indulgence attached, I believe, which you can offer up either for yourself or for somebody who is deceased.
 
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My understanding has always been that we are in no way obligated to receive life support and prolongue our lives when our bodies are dying naturally. I don’t think ending life support is considered suicide.
 
Maybe you’re right, just the way I’ve seen it is that ending your own life support is, in effect, ending your own life, but I suppose that could be a topic for another thread. 🤔 💡 😁
 
anneramones said:
How can I expiate the sins of the tongue, of the flesh, sin in thoughts and every other sin? As far as I understand when we sin and go to Confession we are in state of grace again but our soul is stained by the sins we have committed and we have to make reparation for them…no one ever told me how to do it? What prayers do I have to pray or what else I need to do?
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Glossary from Catechism of the Catholic Church
REPARATION: Making amends for a wrong done or for an offense, especially for sin, which is an offense against God. By his death on the cross, the Son of God offered his life out of love for the Father to make reparation for our sinful disobedience (614). We are obliged to make reparation for personal sins against justice and truth, either through restitution of stolen goods or correcting the harm done to the other’s good name. (2412, 2487). See Satisfaction (for sin)
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
2412 In virtue of commutative justice, reparation for injustice committed requires the restitution of stolen goods to their owner:
Jesus blesses Zacchaeus for his pledge: “If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Those who, directly or indirectly, have taken possession of the goods of another, are obliged to make restitution of them, or to return the equivalent in kind or in money, if the goods have disappeared, as well as the profit or advantages their owner would have legitimately obtained from them. Likewise, all who in some manner have taken part in a theft or who have knowingly benefited from it - for example, those who ordered it, assisted in it, or received the stolen goods - are obliged to make restitution in proportion to their responsibility and to their share of what was stolen.
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2487 Every offense committed against justice and truth entails the duty of reparation , even if its author has been forgiven. When it is impossible publicly to make reparation for a wrong, it must be made secretly. If someone who has suffered harm cannot be directly compensated, he must be given moral satisfaction in the name of charity. This duty of reparation also concerns offenses against another’s reputation. This reparation, moral and sometimes material, must be evaluated in terms of the extent of the damage inflicted. It obliges in conscience.
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2472 The duty of Christians to take part in the life of the Church impels them to act as witnesses of the Gospel and of the obligations that flow from it. This witness is a transmission of the faith in words and deeds. Witness is an act of justice that establishes the truth or makes it known.268
All Christians by the example of their lives and the witness of their word, wherever they live, have an obligation to manifest the new man which they have put on in Baptism and to reveal the power of the Holy Spirit by whom they were strengthened at Confirmation.
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Genesis315 said:
It is especially important to do these things on the penitential days and seasons in the Church (Fridays and Lent).
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I remember hearing Advent referred to as a penitential season as well, though when I looked it up for this post it appears to be a point of contention.
 
I wasn’t even thinking about Purgatory. Just about reparation, why we have to do it even if our sins are forgiven in Confession and how much we have to do to repare for our sins
 
One of the better explanations I’ve heard of Purgatory is that God forgives your sins but there is still a Saint he wants you to be. Purgatory is part of the process of changing from the (forgiven) you that you are now to the Saint he calls you to be. That’s why people often say penitence in this life or purgatory in the next, because they both bring you closer to that state.
 
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Oh, well sorry to misdirect the discussion then. I think only God can answer that though, because only He knows the full extent of the damage our sins have caused, so only He can judge what is a proportionate/satisfactory atonement. Purgatory is said to fully expiate our sins, so perhaps if you are not asking to avoid Purgatory then Purgatory is your answer.
 
Actually, there are special indulgences the Church grants for the moment of death that are easy to obtain (see especially section 2):

AT THE POINT OF DEATH
§1 A priest who administers the sacraments to someone in danger of death should not fail to impart the apostolic blessing to which a plenary indulgence is attached.

§2 If a priest is unavailable, Holy Mother Church benevolently grants to the Christian faithful, who are duly disposed, a plenary indulgence to be acquired at the point of death, provided they have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime; in such a case, the Church supplies for the three conditions ordinarily required for a plenary indulgence.

§3 In this latter case, the use of a crucifix or a cross in obtaining the plenary indulgence is commendable.

§4 The faithful can obtain this plenary indulgence at the hour of death, even if they have already acquired a plenary indulgence on that same day.

§5 The catechetical instruction of the faithful should ensure that they are duly made aware and frequently reminded of this salutary benefaction of the Church.

 
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anneramones said:
How can I expiate the sins of the tongue, of the flesh, sin in thoughts and every other sin? As far as I understand when we sin and go to Confession we are in state of grace again but our soul is stained by the sins we have committed and we have to make reparation for them…no one ever told me how to do it? What prayers do I have to pray or what else I need to do?
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You really can’t, not in the total sense, anyway. That is why Christ died for us on the cross. Not to trivialize the Passion with a slang expression, but He did the “heavy lifting”. If He hadn’t done what He did, you could never make reparation for your sins.

But He did. All that God asks of us, is to do what we can, penances, prayer, and sacrifice, to “fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ” (Colossians 1:24 DRV), and He offers us through the Church the grace of plenary and partial indulgences. Accept God’s gift and try to become as holy as you can be. That’s all you can do, and that’s all that’s expected. Beyond that, don’t worry about it.

I would truly like to see PBEs (Protestants/Baptists/evangelicals) explain this verse of Scripture and how it doesn’t conflict with their credo of “Jesus did it all”, how it doesn’t imply that we have something to do, ourselves, to atone for our sins — prayer, penance, reparation, sacrifice, offering of our sufferings.

The closest thing I can see, is that they do accept the Scriptural mandate of fasting, but only as a spiritual discipline, not as a means of penance and reparation. As an evangelical friend of mine once told me, they do not view our mitigated fasting as “real fasting” — he said “that’s not a fast, that’s a diet”. (I assume that, if nothing else, he at least drank water, I would hope so anyway.) He told me there is power in fasting, and on this point, I agree with him.
 
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