What Does Contrition Really Mean???
Dear brothers and sisters, I have found myself in somewhat of a spiritual “rut.” I hope to get some answers for what has been bothering me. All my life as a practicing Catholic (which has been little over a year now), I have relied on the Sacrament of Reconciliation to give me the sense of certainty (or near certainty) that I have been forgiven of my sins. Recently however I have begun to doubt not so much the power of the sacrament but rather my ability to make a good confession. I have been struggling with the fear and the feeling of uncertainty that I have failed to bring the necessary matter to the sacrament and thus made my confession invalid. This is part and parcel, I believe, with my tendency toward scrupulosity….a tendency that has been borne out since I embraced my Catholic faith after being raised Baptist. An example of these problems is something that happened to me yesterday. I woke up late in the day with the knowledge that I needed to go to confession as I knew that I
