There is indeed, a Healer for the man who has stumbled, even He who on the Cross asked that mercy be shown to His crucifiers, He who pardoned His murderers while He hung on the Cross. All manner of sin, He said, and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, that is, through repentance.
Do not be ashamed when you repent: it is a medicine for sin – St John Chrysostom
Do not be ashamed to enter again into the Church. Be ashamed when you sin. Do not be ashamed when you repent. Pay attention to what the devil did to you. These are two things: sin and repentance. Sin is a wound; repentance is a medicine. Just as there are for the body wounds and medicines, so for the soul are sins and repentance. However, sin has the shame and repentance possesses the courage.
God first helps us not to achieve a virtue but to get up and try again
We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity—like perfect charity—will not be attained by any merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the… [ read more ]