Christians

Fr dear Fr: I am reconciled and something now of a repentant sinner, and yet I still find I am dwelling on my past sins and still feeling guilt about the past, is there a word for this feeling of not being able to get away from the past?

This is a request from a northern diocese near Nottingham and it is a good one that is sometimes and indeed oftentimes experienced by the children of God caught in the mental webs of the whole Dutch Revolution in religion that occurred 200 years ago with a strict bishop in charge over there of many devotional images and much Christian art, so it can be a genuine hindrance to making unimpeded spiritual progress. Children need the freedom of the children of God in order to flourish. Spiritually, it is an article of faith to believe one is forgiven once one has gone to confession to a valid priest (Ott), but it is interesting as a matter of pride that we often focus on our sins as failures and weaknesses in our trajectory (Flanagan) rather than on God’s mercy and love and loving-kindness (Rahner), too much devotion to Mary of an irrational kind may be to blame, rather than seeing Mary as a servant and conduit of divine reason as well as of cosmic love. Spiritually our little planet is quite dark, but it is a mistake to agree with the methods and targets and goals of darkness. As Fr James Martin used to say to his bishop - I understand but I disagree.