Owning up to Indescretions

Repairing my past has been a long bumpy road.  Honesty is my new policy, and it's not always pretty.  Asking for forgiveness is risky, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. So, how do you approach someone about potentially damaging information you revealed to another?  Do you take the chance they never find out?  Or do you own up to what you did, possibly causing a rift in the relationship?  Others will judge our actions, and that is acceptable. Whether we like it or not, judgments will be made.  But the important thing here is how we respond in turn.  Our natural instinct is to become defensive when reprimanded. Instead of defending yourself, be understanding of the other person's reaction, and ask for forgiveness.

In today's Responsorial Psalm (Ps 145) we say, "The Lord is gracious and merciful."  But the following is what prompted my blog entry today:

The LORD is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works. The LORD lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.

Humility can bring us to our knees. But the Lord is there waiting to lift us up!  Take responsibility for your actions no matter what.  Don't lie, or cheat, or hide the truth.  What's done is done. All we can do is accept the consequences and stay focused on the path to holiness.

In Anne a lay apostle’s book, Lessons in Love, she shows us the compassion Jesus has for us:

“Now in the case of necessary reprimands, Jesus also moves gently. He whispers to the soul who places himself in silence and who truly seeks the light of Christ. The Lord gently illuminates an area of mistake or a departure from the path. Picture a dimmer light switch being turned up ever so slowly. We may have suspected we were at fault. On some level we knew we were behaving in a manner inconsistent with the true call to behave like Christ. Jesus needs us to see this. He needs to identify our erroneous actions or thinking and He does so in silence, gently, but seriously. When I say He corrects gently, I want to communicate that the Lord is never spiteful and He never gloats at our mistakes or sins. He never says gleefully, “Got you.” He does not lie in wait to catch us sinning, like the Pharisees did to Him. Rather He stands alongside the path to prevent us from wandering away.”

Thank you, Lord, for nudging me to ask for forgiveness when I have hurt someone.  Please give me the graces to accept the consequences of my actions.

God bless,

Bonnie