Trouble getting over past sins

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jenwha

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I am having huge amounts of sadness and regret over past sins and how I lived my life from about age 17 to 38. I was brought up being told about God but with divided parents who never took me to church. When I started going the wrong direction in my teens no one tried to stop me. Not making excuses for that I have done but I have done a 180 degree turn from the life I was living, and while in most respects I live my life now completely differently I CANNOT get past my past.

Does anyone have any advice for how to deal with this? I cannot change the past but I can’t help feeling “I wish I had been brought up in the Church, I wish I had been good and focused on God, I wish, I wish, I wish…”

I feel like half of my life has been completely wasted on sin and stupidity. I was heavily involved in drugs/sex/beer/porn. At the time I thought it was so exciting. Fun fun fun. Now I feel disgusted and even though I have changed my life (some places were more gradual than others and some places I still struggle with old habits) I just can’t get over the fact that I screwed up royally, for years, and that I can’t go back and change the past.

I have this view of Catholics that they don’t ever do anything wrong. My boss is a Catholic and he shared with me that he went to Confession and his worst sin was missing Mass once in the past year. Since I became Catholic in April I have been to Confession 3 times and my sponsor asked me why I was going so much.

Are you kidding? I’m going because I sin! LOL! Don’t you??? I wanted to scream. I guess not.

My priest told me these thoughts on past sins are from the devil but I don’t know. I wish I could just start my life all over again. I have been involved in my past with some dark dark stuff, and I wish I hadn’t. Only took me 20 years to figure out. I feel like I’m tainted and disgusting and unholy and even though I’m doing better now, those years can never be erased.

😦
 
Jenwha, I can relate to your feelings entirely since I too have the same feelings from time to time. From what I have read, this is simply a form of scrupulosity, and is something you should discuss with your priest, who can put an end to your guilt.

From my research, if you’ve been to confession and confessed your sins, then you have nothing to fear from God, since he has forgiven you. It sounds to me like you need to forgive yourself and move on with the resolve to never commit those sins again. If you do this, then with prayer, these feelings will disappear.

Remember, you are forgiven and a child of God. Rejoice in this and resolve to not feel this guilt again.
 
jenwha said:
Does anyone have any advice for how to deal with this? I cannot change the past but I can’t help feeling “I wish I had been brought up in the Church, I wish I had been good and focused on God, I wish, I wish, I wish…”

I feel like half of my life has been completely wasted on sin and stupidity. I was heavily involved in drugs/sex/beer/porn. At the time I thought it was so exciting. Fun fun fun. Now I feel disgusted and even though I have changed my life (some places were more gradual than others and some places I still struggle with old habits) I just can’t get over the fact that I screwed up royally, for years, and that I can’t go back and change the past.

I have this view of Catholics that they don’t ever do anything wrong.
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The most important thing IMO is to realise that you are not alone. Many of the Church’s greatest saints lived unworthy lives before they came back to God. Read about St Ausgustine for example. Or look at St Paul, who as Saul persecuted the early Christians before God gave him a wake-up call.

Also recall what Jesus said when he called Matthew, the tax collector, to be one of the twelve. From Matthew 9: 9-13

*9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” *

The Church is first and foremost composed of sinners. We are all sinners, who come looking for the mercy of Christ. The aim is to become a saint…it is the destination, not the starting point.
 
I agree with your priest, thoughts about past sins come from the devil. As long as you did change your life, that’s all that matters. God loves you and wouldn’t want you to dwell on it, and no of course Catholics aren’t perfect, I sin, we all sin, daily, whether we admit it or not. That’s what brings us all together, our love for Christ and the forgivness of sin. God bless.
 
jenwha said:
I am having huge amounts of sadness and regret over past sins and how I lived my life from about age 17 to 38. I was brought up being told about God but with divided parents who never took me to church. When I started going the wrong direction in my teens no one tried to stop me. Not making excuses for that I have done but I have done a 180 degree turn from the life I was living, and while in most respects I live my life now completely differently I CANNOT get past my past.

Does anyone have any advice for how to deal with this? I cannot change the past but I can’t help feeling “I wish I had been brought up in the Church, I wish I had been good and focused on God, I wish, I wish, I wish…”

I feel like half of my life has been completely wasted on sin and stupidity. I was heavily involved in drugs/sex/beer/porn. At the time I thought it was so exciting. Fun fun fun. Now I feel disgusted and even though I have changed my life (some places were more gradual than others and some places I still struggle with old habits) I just can’t get over the fact that I screwed up royally, for years, and that I can’t go back and change the past.

I have this view of Catholics that they don’t ever do anything wrong. My boss is a Catholic and he shared with me that he went to Confession and his worst sin was missing Mass once in the past year. Since I became Catholic in April I have been to Confession 3 times and my sponsor asked me why I was going so much.

Are you kidding? I’m going because I sin! LOL! Don’t you??? I wanted to scream. I guess not.

My priest told me these thoughts on past sins are from the devil but I don’t know. I wish I could just start my life all over again. I have been involved in my past with some dark dark stuff, and I wish I hadn’t. Only took me 20 years to figure out. I feel like I’m tainted and disgusting and unholy and even though I’m doing better now, those years can never be erased.

😦
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You say you feel tainted and disgusting and unholy. Those thoughts are from the evil one. Humble yourself before the Lord in prayer and thank Him for forgiving you, then follow Him the best you can. Go to adoration, if you can, or a bit earlier to Mass so that you can sit in His Eucharistic Presence in thanksgiving and worship.

Don’t let the evil one win by allowing these thoughts in. God loves you unconditionally, and you said you use the Sacraments. Make acts of faith and thanksgiving to the Lord for the grace He has given you!
 
Been there done that. In fact,I too, am dealing with regret over poor choices I made in my life. I understand what you are feeling. There was a similar thread last week on this subject. I posted something I had just heard on “Women of Grace”,a program on EWTN. There was a priest talking about,what he referred to as “morbid guilt”. That being sin from our past,that even though we have been forgiven,we continue to dwell on ,rather than moving forward,in joy,having received God’s abundant mercy and forgiveness.He then said"God is not so much concerned with where we have been as much as where we are today and where we are going". That statement really spoke to me… God Bless ,trust in Jesus and His love for you:)
 
I was just reading about St. Augustine today, and what you said reminded me of what he was noted to have said about his conversion.

"Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! "

I want to thank you first for sharing. Its no wonder that the angels in heaven rejoice when someone converts… I say that because its no different for fellow believers to have the privilege to know someone has been touched by God’s grace and has converted. So thank you. And thanks be to God. Its refreshing and brings me joy.

I just wanted to say that I too had gone through a lot of what you describe. I think its normal. Its a part of repentance. Its a grace. Thank God for it!
Code: 
Its true those years can never be erased, but you are in God's hands now.   He will put those experiences to good use for Him.   Look at St. Augustine...  With his life's experiences he was able to guide the church with God's help!
I also wish I could change my past. I hate it. I loathe it. Its hard not to hate oneself sometimes now that I know Who God is and how much He is worthy of all my love. Past sins come up from time to time and really get me down. I feel ashamed, especially since I might have influenced or hurt others. I used to remark to my Catholic friends when I first rejoined that I wanted to find a great big vat of Catholicism and jump in and be immersed. I wanted to make sure I didn’t have a scrap of gunk on me anymore, yet this was coming from my new gift of Fear of God, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

There were times I even felt ashamed to be in church, worried I wasn’t wanted there… but I know now, that was the devil trying to keep me from God. Yet God gave me the grace to remember this name when that happens: MARY MAGDALENE. After all, she was one of Jesus’s closet friends, and she had a past too. What a great testament to His great love, eh?
Code: 
Just rejoice and thank God and stay close to Him.  Talk to God in prayer about how sorry you were for your past and to help you help make any repairs if possible.  Pray for those you might have hurt.    God knows where you came from, what influences you had.   He judges rightly.   He gave you the grace of conversion!  He doesn't want you to go away now.   No way.
Scripture says in Acts 11:9 "“What God has purified, you must not regard as unholy.” That means you too! So stop it and just rejoice! Keep close to Jesus!
 
jenwha said:
I am having huge amounts of sadness and regret over past sins and how I lived my life from about age 17 to 38. I was brought up being told about God but with divided parents who never took me to church. When I started going the wrong direction in my teens no one tried to stop me. Not making excuses for that I have done but I have done a 180 degree turn from the life I was living, and while in most respects I live my life now completely differently I CANNOT get past my past.

Does anyone have any advice for how to deal with this? I cannot change the past but I can’t help feeling “I wish I had been brought up in the Church, I wish I had been good and focused on God, I wish, I wish, I wish…”

I feel like half of my life has been completely wasted on sin and stupidity. I was heavily involved in drugs/sex/beer/porn. At the time I thought it was so exciting. Fun fun fun. Now I feel disgusted and even though I have changed my life (some places were more gradual than others and some places I still struggle with old habits) I just can’t get over the fact that I screwed up royally, for years, and that I can’t go back and change the past.

I have this view of Catholics that they don’t ever do anything wrong. My boss is a Catholic and he shared with me that he went to Confession and his worst sin was missing Mass once in the past year. Since I became Catholic in April I have been to Confession 3 times and my sponsor asked me why I was going so much.

Are you kidding? I’m going because I sin! LOL! Don’t you??? I wanted to scream. I guess not.

My priest told me these thoughts on past sins are from the devil but I don’t know. I wish I could just start my life all over again. I have been involved in my past with some dark dark stuff, and I wish I hadn’t. Only took me 20 years to figure out. I feel like I’m tainted and disgusting and unholy and even though I’m doing better now, those years can never be erased.

😦
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Jenwha, you said, “I feel like I’m tainted and disgusting and unholy …, those years can never be erased.”

“feel” is an important word. You want to “feel” good again. You “feel” bad because you tainted yourself and “feel” dirty for what you did because those were unspeakable things.
And so “feeling” dirty you “feel” unworthy, and that 20 years is so long that it is nearly impossible for you to “feel” clean enough to be worthy of God since the dirt has penetrated you so deeply. You “feel” that there is no spiritual soap strong enough to wash away all the filth you still “feel” is there.

I’m not going to try to make you “feel” clean, but I do have a few words which Jesus spoke to St. Faustina which “makes” you clean.

“I cannot love a soul which is stained with sin; but when it repents, there is no limit to my generosity toward it. My mercy embraces and JUSTIFIES it. With my mercy, I pursue sinners along all their paths, and my heart REJOICES when they return to me. I FORGET the bitterness with which they fed my heart and REJOICE at their return.”

And again.

“A soul’s greatest wretchedness does not enkindle me with wrath; but rather, my heart is moved towards it with great mercy.”

And again.

“Souls that make an appeal to my mercy DELIGHT me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the GREATEST sinner if he makes an appeal to my compassion…”

Now I keep hearing how happy you made our dear Lord and Saviour. If he is happy, than you should be happy that you made him happy.

Just to take this one step more. Jesus, in the bible, was the good sheperd who went after the lost sheep, leaving the rest of the sheep to do so. He says when he found this lost one, he put him on his shoulder and carried him back to his fold. It dosen’t say a word about any severity or correction, just tenderness and joy over finding his lost sheep.

Jesus also told the parable of the son who took his inheiritance and left his father’s house. After living it up, and when all his money was gone, he returned home. And Jesus said his father saw him coming home from afar, and went out to greet him and throw his own garb around his son who returned. Not a word of scolding or criticism, just joy that his son returned home.

I get the impression that he dosen’t look at what you did, but only that you are home and is happy for you and for himself that you are together again. He isn’t looking at 20 years, but looking at you now.

Be at peace.
 
This is scrupulosity. It is of the devil. Do not listen to it. A priest once reminded me of something that I find helpful with my own tendencies towards scrupulosity. Remember, even though you are a sinner, God loves you. He loved you enough to make you, knowing full well what you would do, knowing all the sins you would commit and even that you would post in this thread. Not only that, He died so that you would be able to live and so that He could redeem you for sins you had not yet even been alive to commit.
 
OH… just a suggestion too. When you get these feelings, you can always bless yourself with Holy Water and say the prayer “By this holy water and by Your Precious Blood, wash away all my sins, O Lord.”

If you need some Hoy Water for home use, then you can get some at your church.

(The following word for word is from this website: catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=20)

" St. Theresa of Avila on holy water: “From long experience I have learned that there is nothing like holy water to put devils to flight and prevent them from coming back again. They also flee from the cross, but return; so holy water must have great value.”

Holy water is a means of spiritual wealth – a sacramental that remits venial sin. The Church strongly urges its use, especially when dangers threaten. The devil hates holy water because of its power over him. He cannot long abide in a place or near a person that is often sprinkled with this blessed water. "
 
jenwha said:
I am having huge amounts of sadness and regret over past sins and how I lived my life from about age 17 to 38. I was brought up being told about God but with divided parents who never took me to church. When I started going the wrong direction in my teens no one tried to stop me. Not making excuses for that I have done but I have done a 180 degree turn from the life I was living, and while in most respects I live my life now completely differently I CANNOT get past my past.

Does anyone have any advice for how to deal with this? I cannot change the past but I can’t help feeling “I wish I had been brought up in the Church, I wish I had been good and focused on God, I wish, I wish, I wish…”

I feel like half of my life has been completely wasted on sin and stupidity. I was heavily involved in drugs/sex/beer/porn. At the time I thought it was so exciting. Fun fun fun. Now I feel disgusted and even though I have changed my life (some places were more gradual than others and some places I still struggle with old habits) I just can’t get over the fact that I screwed up royally, for years, and that I can’t go back and change the past.

I have this view of Catholics that they don’t ever do anything wrong. My boss is a Catholic and he shared with me that he went to Confession and his worst sin was missing Mass once in the past year. Since I became Catholic in April I have been to Confession 3 times and my sponsor asked me why I was going so much.

Are you kidding? I’m going because I sin! LOL! Don’t you??? I wanted to scream. I guess not.

My priest told me these thoughts on past sins are from the devil but I don’t know. I wish I could just start my life all over again. I have been involved in my past with some dark dark stuff, and I wish I hadn’t. Only took me 20 years to figure out. I feel like I’m tainted and disgusting and unholy and even though I’m doing better now, those years can never be erased.

😦
Click to expand...
I agree with your priest that these thoughts of dwelling on your past sins are from the devil. Don’t give them another thought. If you have confessed them, then Christ has forgiven you. You now need to forgive yourself.

I struggled with the same thing you are going through and it’s a common struggle. The devil wants to lead you into despair. He hates when you trust God. He hates when people learn about God’s great mercy.

I had the grace one time to understand what forgiveness truly means… While the memory of the “actions” of the sins are still there, there is no more sin. When we sin, we hurt the other person. Healing means, it’s as if that wound never occurred. The healing is so complete, that while there still may be a scar, the healing from that scar is even better than it was before. The relationship is stronger than it was before because of the hurt and forgiveness.

Adam and Eve sinned. It created a wound. But Christ died and saved us. We would have never known the greatness of God’s love in that way had Adam never sinned. If mankind had never sinned, we would never know what it means to be loved so much that we are still loved even after we sin! We are loved so much that God, Himself, wanted to be the one to suffer with us in our sin and fallen humanity.

Go to confession often! It is the sacrament of healing and it gives you graces to deal with your sins. The priest around here recommend every two weeks, but go every week if you have to! There is nothing wrong with that. There are some saints who went every day.
And really, if we go longer than a few weeks, we forget specifics, and confession becomes harder.

Don’t despair! And don’t live in the past. Only the devil wants this. If you live in the past, you will be depressed. If you live in the future, you will be anxious.

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. All we have is today, so let us begin!” - Mother Teresa

“Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things pass away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
He who has God
Finds he lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.” - Teresa of Avila

God can make good come from anything. He WILL make good come from your (and my) sins. He wouldn’t have allowed the sin if something better couldn’t come from it.
 
jenwha said:
I am having huge amounts of sadness and regret over past sins and how I lived my life from about age 17 to 38. I was brought up being told about God but with divided parents who never took me to church. When I started going the wrong direction in my teens no one tried to stop me. Not making excuses for that I have done but I have done a 180 degree turn from the life I was living, and while in most respects I live my life now completely differently I CANNOT get past my past.

Does anyone have any advice for how to deal with this? I cannot change the past but I can’t help feeling “I wish I had been brought up in the Church, I wish I had been good and focused on God, I wish, I wish, I wish…”

I feel like half of my life has been completely wasted on sin and stupidity. I was heavily involved in drugs/sex/beer/porn. At the time I thought it was so exciting. Fun fun fun. Now I feel disgusted and even though I have changed my life (some places were more gradual than others and some places I still struggle with old habits) I just can’t get over the fact that I screwed up royally, for years, and that I can’t go back and change the past.

I have this view of Catholics that they don’t ever do anything wrong. My boss is a Catholic and he shared with me that he went to Confession and his worst sin was missing Mass once in the past year. Since I became Catholic in April I have been to Confession 3 times and my sponsor asked me why I was going so much.

Are you kidding? I’m going because I sin! LOL! Don’t you??? I wanted to scream. I guess not.

My priest told me these thoughts on past sins are from the devil but I don’t know. I wish I could just start my life all over again. I have been involved in my past with some dark dark stuff, and I wish I hadn’t. Only took me 20 years to figure out. I feel like I’m tainted and disgusting and unholy and even though I’m doing better now,** those years can never be erased. **

😦
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I could have written your post. Really. You’re right. Those years can never be erased. But they can be redeemed. Day by day, as you make your life a reflection of Jesus, the days you spent in darkness WILL be redeemed. If, like me, you have made choices in the dark days, that you would make differently now, understand that God has a purpose for everything, even our shame and pain. We just can’t see or understand the mind of God.

One thing that I have just begun to do, is offer my pain as a type of penance for others. My husband needs to open himself to God, and so when I think of the woman I should have been, IF IF IF, I just offer that pain up for the intention of my husband’s reversion. You can offer your pain to the souls in purgatory, or for someone in your life who needs prayer.

I have a few things that I do when I am filled with regret. I pray the rosary. I pray, “Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I go to Mass more often. I go to adoration. Adoration is so powerful! Jesus heals me from the inside out when I spend time with him. You can cry there and no one cares. Eventually the tears stop, and then the Holy Spirit comes and intercedes, and helps us pray when we have no words.

I cannot tell you how important the sacraments are. The people who don’t go to confession are missing out on an amazing source of grace. Maybe they are like my husband and feel that they don’t really sin. :eek::rolleyes: Well, I do, and although I am afraid every time, I need it like I need a shower every day! I mean, I don’t go to confession every day, but often enough. And of course the Eucharist. Every time I receive in grace, it helps me stay strong against the lies of the devil (you are worthless, you are tainted, you ruined your life, you have never been any good, etc.).

You will be in my prayers. There are so many of us who have regrets.
 
Hi Jenwha,
Look at it this way…
**Either you believe God is so loving and powerful that He can forgive us our sins, or you believe He is too weak and powerless to do so. That’s it.

If you believe that God is too weak and powerless to truly forgive you, then you need to worry and keep bringing this stuff up, because He was too weak to really have forgiven you. You must also then believe that God also lies when He says He forgives us, because He would be too weak to actually do so.

Now, if you believe that God is all powerful, loving and The Truth, then after you make your Confession and the priest ( under authority from that same God ), forgives you, you must trust that God is powerful and loving enough to have done so. Then you move on.

To keep looking back and worrying about stuff that has been forgiven is, I would think, a BIG lack of faith and trust in God. You can’t have it both ways… Either God can and does, or He can’t and won’t.**
 
tuscany said:
Hi Jenwha,
Look at it this way…
**Either you believe God is so loving and powerful that He can forgive us our sins, or you believe He is too weak and powerless to do so. That’s it.

If you believe that God is too weak and powerless to truly forgive you, then you need to worry and keep bringing this stuff up, because He was too weak to really have forgiven you. You must also then believe that God also lies when He says He forgives us, because He would be too weak to actually do so.

Now, if you believe that God is all powerful, loving and The Truth, then after you make your Confession and the priest ( under authority from that same God ), forgives you, you must trust that God is powerful and loving enough to have done so. Then you move on.

To keep looking back and worrying about stuff that has been forgiven is, I would think, a BIG lack of faith and trust in God. You can’t have it both ways… Either God can and does, or He can’t and won’t.**
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OK, but the temporal effects of our sins still exist. I mean, things like risk of disease, the lasting effect of depression, relationships formed when we were still in sin, etc. I can totally believe in God’s power to forgive and cleanse me from my sin, but the things I did while sinning remain a part of my life in many ways. Do you see what I am saying?
 
TheRealJuliane said:
OK, but the temporal effects of our sins still exist. I mean, things like risk of disease, the lasting effect of depression, relationships formed when we were still in sin, etc. I can totally believe in God’s power to forgive and cleanse me from my sin, but the things I did while sinning remain a part of my life in many ways. Do you see what I am saying?
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I see EXACTLY what you are saying!
 
**Yes, I do understand what you are saying, and what I am saying is that if you keep yourself in the past wishing you had done things differently, you will waste the life God has given you. Yes the things you did ARE a part of your life, but you can choose to make them a huge part up front and center, or a small part tucked back away somewhere.

If someone has caught a disease from something they did in their past, or gotten their girlfriend pregnant, or had an abortion, or killed someone while driving drunk… you cannot change what you did. You can serve your time, try to make restitution, talk to groups of young people about diseases, pregnancy, or abortions, etc. but once you have Confessed this, and you have been absolved, you need to move forward. You can now make different choices, and do the right things, but why keep beating yourself up every single chance you get over something you cannot change? If you have lasting physical things from what you did, then you just have to accept that that was the price of that act. You paid the price, accept it, and now you have to move on.

How do you explain to God someday that your guilt over what happened 60 years ago has made you waste the life God has given you ? How do you explain that your guilt or shame was stronger to you than His forgiveness ?

You are holding on to these past mistakes for dear life. What you need to do is put all your faith in God, accept what you did ( and maybe now have to live with consequences ), and move forward. You can’t swim to the other side of the pool if you won’t/can’t let go of this side.**
 
Thank all of you for your replies. It really has helped me a lot. I do believe that Satan works on you all the time to commit the sin and then once you have he likes to beat you up for it.

👋
 
jenwha said:
I feel like half of my life has been completely wasted on sin and stupidity.
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That’s because it was, BUT when you returned to the Church, and made your big Confession, your sins, however scarlet they were became white as snow. Now you have to make up for the graces you lost out on during those years. You won’t do so by having a pity-party.
I have this view of Catholics that they don’t ever do anything wrong. My boss is a Catholic and he shared with me that he went to Confession and his worst sin was missing Mass once in the past year. Since I became Catholic in April I have been to Confession 3 times and my sponsor asked me why I was going so much.
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I wouldn’t believe that. Many Catholics have a lax conscience and don’t have much of a concept for what sin is and what is a serious sin. St. Augustine said that the holier he became, the more he was sinning. Not because he was sinning more, but because his conscience was becoming more delicate (not to be confused with the scrupulous conscience) and was more aware of his sins than when he had more of a lax conscience.

I’m a revert of just over one year. I had very poor formation and lived a life of sin. I’m always at confession. Not because I’m committing mortal sins or scrupulous, but because the more I learn about sin and moral theology, the more aware I am of my own sins (I had no idea a person could simply sin merely by intending to sin, but not actually doing the action), including sins I had done in the past that I wasn’t aware were sins. Now that I am aware of these sins, even though they were absolved indirectly, I still have to confess them.

One thing that helped me was on my one year anniversary, I made a general confession of all my sins of my entire life since the age of reason (it spanned 18 years) and told myself that in doing so I was putting my past behind me and not revisiting those sins. Yes, if unconfessed sins come to mind they must be confessed, but aside from that, you have to leave the past behind and move on so that you can gain as much grace as you possibly can. You probably weren’t aware of this, but we all have a pre-determined place in Heaven, but we can’t get there unless we have all the graces we were intended to have. Now we have to work overtime to make up for the lost graces caused by our sins.
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
You won’t do so by having a pity-party.

While I appreciate the response, I object to your characterization of my thread in this way. I am troubled by my sin as it relates to the hurt it did me, yes, but so much more for offending God. Sadness at offending God is not in any way looking for a “pity party” and IMO that is a hurtful and trivializing comment that you made.
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**Holy Mother, please intercede for us.
Aid the helpless, strengthen the fearful,
hold the sorrowful, help those sick, in pain or suffering,
comfort those needing peace, hug the lonely,
guide us from evil, guard the unborn,
soften the bitter, assist those who need to heal,
protect those in danger, pray for those who have died;
may all who keep your sacred commemoration
experience the might of your assistance.
Amen. **
 
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