Why do you want to be forgiven?

Not a true story:

Man in Confessional: "Forgive me father for I have sinned, it’s been a year since my last confession, in that time I accuse myself of committing all seven deadly sins in 30 minutes."

Priest: "Wow, I gotta hear this."

Man: "I was angry and envious of my neighbor so I seduced his wife and lazily ate all his groceries and didn’t share with anyone."

Priest: "You forgot pride."

Man: "No, I’m pretty proud of getting away with it."

We can laugh at this, but do we have a lax attitude toward God’s rules? Do we sometimes laugh at our own sins? Do we think that it would have been nicer if God had been able to ignore some of the things we fall into?

We are supposed to be serious about our faith, and that means that we seek genuine contrition. Contrition is that heart felt attitude that finds disgust in the sins we commit. Contrition is that desire, not just to be forgiven so that we can get to Heaven, but also so that we can receive the grace to help us avoid the sin in the future because we know that it is displeasing to the God Who redeemed us.

Let us make sure that we seek the fullness of contrition. Without it, we will likely fall back into sin, and that will make our hearts become more callous toward sin; which is exactly what the devil wants. True contrition, as a part of true repentance, is necessary for salvation. Seek forgiveness, yes, but seek it for the right reasons.