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Sunday 28 February 2016

REPENTANCE ALL OF US NEED IT -- Prayer by St. Alphonsus Liguori


St. Alphonsus of Liguori Spoke of Repentance

"God has said that when a sinner repents their sins are so good as forgotten.  Says Ezekiel: None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him.

Whenever you fall into a fault immediately raise your eyes to God, make an act of love and confessing your fault you may rest assured pardon.”



A Prayer for Repentance by St. Alphonsus

Say to God –

“Master, the one you love is ill, 
the heart which you love is sick, covered with sores.

Lord, have Mercy on me –
Forgive me, I’ve sinned against you.

You, God, go out in search for sinners, 
here is one at your feet, who has come in search of you.

The evil has been done – what should I do now?

You do not want me to lose confidence in You.  
Even now, after my sin, you wish me only good and 
I love you as well – as my God.

I love you with all my heart and I regret the displeasure 
I have given you.  I resolve never to do so again.

Forgive me – You, Who are God – 
Kind and forgiving, 
most loving to those who call on You.

Let me hear those words 
you said to Mary Magdalene, 
“Your sins are forgiven.”

Give me the strength to be faithful to You in the future.

Amen.




WHAT ARE THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS?



and THE DAUGHTERS OF 
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS

“Sin is nothing else than a morally bad act (St. Thomas, De malo, 7:3), an act not in accord with reason informed by the Divine law.”
“Since the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great (who lived from 540 – 604 AD) the Catholic Church has maintained that there are seven capital sins, also referred to as the seven mortal sins, seven deadly sins, or seven capital vices. Mortal sin refers to sin, due to action and intention, which is of a graver nature than venial sin. Where venial sin is relatively minor, mortal sin creates the threat of eternal damnation, a full turning away from God on the part of the sinner, unless absolved of the sin...” 


The disorder introduced into our human nature by Adam’s fall from grace reveals itself especially through seven dominant vices known in the Catholic tradition as the capital sins. These are: pride, avarice, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth. We call them “capital” sins (from the Latin caput, “head”) because they are the sources or fountainheads of all the sins people commit, whether sins of commission or sins of omission.

We call them “deadly” because they cause spiritual death; Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen liked to call them the “seven pallbearers of the soul.”

Spiritual growth is impossible unless we try to dig up the roots of our sins with the help of God’s illuminating and sanctifying grace. Excerpt taken from http://www.onepeterfive.com/seven-deadly-sins-remedies/

To Remember The 7 Deadly Sins Use The Acronym
P-A-L-E-G-A-S
PRIDE, ANGER, LUST, ENVY, GLUTTONY, AVARICE, SLOTH

PRIDE – Pride is an unrestrained and improper appreciation of our own worth. This is listed first because it is widely considered the most serious of the seven sins; pride often leads to the committing of other capital sins. Pride is manifest in vanity and narcissism about one’s appearance, intelligence, status, etc. Dante described pride as “love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbor.”

GREED – Greed, which is also known as avarice or covetousness, is the immoderate desire for earthly goods, as well as situations such as power. It is a sin of excess. The object a person is greedy about need not be evil, but the issue lies in the way one regards the object, placing inappropriate value on it. Greed can further inspire such sinful actions as hoarding of materials or objects, theft and robbery, trickery, and manipulation.

GLUTTONY – Gluttony, which comes from the Latin gluttirei – to gulp down or swallow, refers to the sin of over-indulgence and over-consumption of food and drink. The manners in which gluttony can be committed, as first mentioned by Pope Gregory the Great and later reiterated by Thomas Aquinas, are eating too soon, eating too expensively, eating too much, eating too eagerly, eating too daintily, and eating wildly.

St. Alphonsus Liguori explained that “it is not a fault to feel pleasure in eating: for it is, generally speaking, impossible to eat without experiencing the delight which food naturally produces. But it is a defect to eat, like beasts, through the sole motive of sensual gratification, and without any reasonable object” (The True Spouse of Jesus Christ).

LUST – The sin of lust refers to impure desire of a sexual nature. Sexuality is a gift from God, and not inherently impure in itself. However, lust refers to the impure thoughts and actions that misuse that gift, deviating from God’s law and intentions for us. Indulging in the sin of lust can include (but is not limited to) fornication, adultery, bestiality, rape, and incest and can lead to such things as sexual addiction.

SLOTH – Sloth is often described simply as the sin of laziness. However, while this is part of the manifestation of sloth, the central problem with sloth as a capital sin is spiritual laziness. The sin of sloth means being lazy and lax about living the Faith and practicing virtue.





THE DAUGHTERS OF THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS 
were explained by St. Thomas Aquinas as Sins relating to the 7 Deadly sins they are:


  
 PRIDE 
Disobedience, boastfulness, hypocrisy, contention, obstinacy, 
discord, love of novelties (too much about fashion, etc.)
     
  ANGER 
indignation, swelling of the mind, clamor (raising your voice), blasphemy, name calling, quarrels.

 LUST 
blindness of the mind, thoughtlessness, inconstancy, 
impulsiveness, self-love, hatred of God, love of this world, 
contempt for the future world.

 ENVY 
hatred, tale-bearing, detraction, 
joy of our neighbour’s misfortunes, 
and grief of others’ prosperity.

 GLUTTONY 
unseemly joy, vulgarity, uncleanness of mind 
and dullness of mind as regards to understanding, 
loquaciousness (talking too much),
 excessive food or pleasure, drunkenness.

 AVARICE
obsession of money or coveting what 
other people have, treachery, fraud, falsehood, 
perjury, restlessness, violence and insensibility to mercy.


 SLOTH 
malice, spite, faint-heartedness, despair, 
sluggishness in regard to the Ten Commandments, 
wandering of mind after unlawful things.