True contrition for sin without regret?

[felra]

I am intrigued by some recent threads reagrding “premarital sex” and the wide variance of responses and those who have no sense of regret over their past sinful actions, despite coming to to realize the sinfulness of their actions. For me, I regret and share with St. Paul the realization and sentiment of loss/regret over my past wrong doings, misdirected efforts that pre-dated my awakened conscience/conversion:

Philippians**, Chapter 3:7-8 “**(But) whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ…” (St. Paul speaking of his past religious zeal in persecuting Christians).

I don’t dwell in regretfulness, but nor do I find any value or merit or anything benign when i consider my own past sinfulness. Any thoughts on the dissonence between past sin and having no regrets thereof?

 

[Benedictus]

It’s pretty clear to me that regret is necessary (but not sufficient) for true contrition.

 

[mercygate]

As with many of God’s greatest gifts, our sexuality is such a tremendous blessing that even in its mis-use much good remains. Perhaps via that lesser good people come to appreciate the far greater good of God’s divine plan. That is a kind of regret, but it is a regret tinged with appreciation for the good received despite one’s youthful rejection of the divine purpose. O felix culpa!

 

[Island_Oak]

I know I have personally struggled with this conflict–though not necessarily in the arena of pre-marital sex as the earlier referenced thread discussed.

How do we confess conduct as sinful, when, even understanding intellectually that the church teaches it is wrong, we do not feel regret for the conduct? I can sincerely say I regret offending God, but isn’t that in about the same league as Bill Clinton apologizing for his conduct to anyone who was offended by it? It’s not the same as saying and meaning “I’m sorry.”

 

[Mt19_26]

If you confess your sins but don’t reget them I don’t believe you are forgiven of those sins. One of the requirements for being forgiven is to repent. Repent not only means to turn away from the sin but to also feel sorry and remorseful for the sin you’ve committed. To be remorseful is to feel “deep regret”. Therefore, you have to reget your sins to be forgiven of them. Personally, I don’t see how someone can be sorry for their sins and not regret them. Being sorry and regretful are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Pug]

Island Oak:

How do we confess conduct as sinful, when, even understanding intellectually that the church teaches it is wrong, we do not feel regret for the conduct? I can sincerely say I regret offending God, but isn’t that in about the same league as Bill Clinton apologizing for his conduct to anyone who was offended by it? It’s not the same as saying and meaning “I’m sorry.”

There is regret and there is feeling regret.

Various intentions must be in line for a confession. Intent not to sin again, intent to avoid the near occasion of sin, intent to reform and get closer to God, intent to confess, wishing you had not done whatever it is, stuff like this. I can’t imagine you have to wish a child unborn or something (from premarital sex). This could be the source of any seeming lack of regret, because they don’t regret the gift of the child.

Yeah, I know what you mean about some apologies. When your spouse says they are sorry you are all worked up in a fit over something they did, but they don’t regret it and would do it again, well, huh, that’s one pathetic apology.:ehh:

I think a tubal ligation could throw someone for a loop in trying to “regret” it if it comes about that they are just plain happy that they are infertile now because of their circumstances.

If a person is in doubt about their level of regret for something vital or important, I recommend going to talk to a good priest. They can be so helpful with this. (Well, they may not be if you really don’t regret it).

 

[Grace_and_Glory]

I think it’s important to recognize that our emotions are not entirely under our control. I agree that in order to be truly repentant, we must admit that what we did was wrong, intend not to sin again, and be sorry for sinning. However, I think it is possible (although more difficult) to do all this without necessarily “feeling” bad. I know even in my own life, there are days where I feel really bad about something I did or said, and other days when I don’t feel bad even though I still am sorry for what I have done just because my emotions are in different places on the two days.