Love and Sorrow: Two Sides to the Same Coin
Love and sorrow are two sides to the same coin. You cannot grow in a capacity for love without also growing in the capacity for sorrow. Thus, Mary the mother of Jesus, who was blessed with an immaculate heart and perhaps the greatest capacity for love of any human creature, also suffers the greatest sorrows, hence the seven swords that pierce her immaculate heart.
The Price Paid For Love
Therefore, God, with his infinite capacity for love, also has an infinite capacity for sorrow. What would God have to be sorrowful over, we might ask. Our sinfulness is what makes God sorrowful. The sinfulness that stems from our free will, given from God. And why did God give us free will, if it is this free will that opens the door to his own sorrow? Because without free will we do not have the ability to love. Love is a choice, a choice one must make freely, and therefore God gave us the freedom to choose, knowing that love and sorrow cannot be separated from one another, and knowing also that all the pain and suffering in the world is a small price to pay for the gift of love.
Who Am I Hurting When I Sin?
Therefore, my reflection on the sorrow of our loving God leads me to view my own sinfulness in a new light. When I sin, it is not a trivial matter. When I sin, I am choosing myself over God. I am using my free will for sorrow, instead of love. And the sorrow that comes from my choosing to sin is borne by God himself. He truly mourns the abuse of freedom that comes from my concupiscence. It is for this reason that we must confess our sins and ask for forgiveness; not because we need God’s forgiveness to enter into heaven, but because we should truly feel sorrow for our sins, knowing the sorrow our sins have cause God, and we should apologize to God for the hurt we have caused him, and beg him to forgive us, to give us another chance. A chance to choose God, instead of self. A chance to choose love, instead of sorrow. A chance to grow closer to Him, instead of further away. A chance to use our free will for its intended purpose, instead of abusing it for our own purposes.
Help Me, God, To Love You Better
Therefore, God, for all the sorrow I have caused by my sins, I am truly sorry. In choosing to do wrong, and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should live above all things. So, I ask for your help to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. I love you, Lord, help me to love you better.