Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy

Women and Men Seeking Holiness as the Answer to Abortion

  • Welcome
  • Seeking Holiness
  • Membership
    • Directors
    • Special Prayer Partners
  • Sacraments
    • Holy Mass
    • Eucharistic Adoration
    • Frequent Confession
  • Prayer
    • Morning Offering
    • Devotion to Mary
    • The Holy Rosary
    • Lectio Divina
    • Chaplet of Divine Mercy
    • Examination of Conscience
    • Annual Retreat
  • Mercy
  • Patron Saints
    • Our Lady of Mercy
    • St. Augustine
    • St. Margaret of Cortona
  • Resources
    • Articles from other websites
      • Horror of Sin & the Mercy of God
    • Recommended Books
    • Brief Quotes from Saints
  • Contact
  • Prayer Requests
You are here: Home / Reflections from Saints and Holy Persons / Create a Clean Heart in Me, O God!

Create a Clean Heart in Me, O God!

March 7, 2012 by Fr. Ben Cameron Leave a Comment

With voices in harmony and hearts in concord we have begged the Lord for our own hearts by saying, Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew an upright spirit in me (Psalm 51:12)…

It’s a psalm of someone repenting, someone wishing to retrieve the hope he had lost, lying where he had fallen, begging the Lord to give him a hand to raise him up again; like someone quite capable of injuring himself but not of healing himself. After all, we can stab and wound our own flesh whenever we want, but to heal it we look for a doctor; well, in the same way the soul is perfectly able to sin all by itself, but to heal the hurt it has caused by sinning, it implores the helping hand of God.

That’s why he says in another psalm, I myself have said it, Lord. Have mercy on me, heal my soul since I have sinned against you (Psalm 41:5). The reason he says I myself have said it, Lord, is to thrust before our eyes the fact that the will and decision to sin arises from the soul and that we are fully capable of destroying ourselves, while it takes God to seek that which was lost and to save that which had wounded itself. For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). It is to him that we pour out our prayers and say Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew an upright spirit in me (Psalm 51:12). Le the soul that has sinned say this, or it may perish twice over through despair, having lost itself once already by its delinquency.

St. Augustine of Hippo

Filed Under: Reflections from Saints and Holy Persons

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

Can God forgive our gravest sins?

Sometimes people ask if God can really forgive our most grievous sins — He not only can, but He actually does, if we ask for forgiveness. In this video, I share some stories of people who were notorious sinners — some would say “monsters” — who experienced the grace of forgiveness from the Infinite Mercy […]

One Soul at a Time

Over the past year, we have seen a several signs of hope regarding the sanctity of every human life, and suffered a few setbacks as well. On the positive side, the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the infamous Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey decisions, rejecting the notion that there is a federal […]

November – Month of the Poor Souls

One of the spiritual works of mercy is to “pray for the living and the dead.” We usually remember that we should pray for the living, because they are around us, seen by us, and their needs are often apparent to our eyes. But do we remember to pray for the dead, for the souls […]

Our Lady, Terror of Demons

We are in a war, a spiritual war. The Christian life is a constant war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. But what does that mean? We are at war with “the world” in its fallen state, in which the world around us, fallen and prone-to-evil human society, attempts to lead us away […]

Blogroll

  • Testimony from a Woman Healed from Abortion
  • The Power of God's Mercy to Heal even the Deepest Wounds
  • Women of Grace: Part one of interview with Fr. Ben Cameron

Devotional Links

  • Chaplet of Divine Mercy
  • How to Pray the Rosary
  • Miraculous Medal
  • The Green Scapular

Post-abortion healing

  • Entering Canaan Retreats
  • Hope After Abortion – Project Rachel
  • Rachel's Vineyard – International Site
  • Rachel's Vineyard Kentucky
  • Rachel's Vineyard Kentucky Facebook page

Religious

  • Fathers of Mercy

Posts: Listed by Topics

  • Art in Honor of the Unborn (2)
  • Latest News (30)
  • Liturgical Prayers (3)
  • Prayer requests (1)
  • Radio/TV interviews (3)
  • Reflections from Saints and Holy Persons (34)
  • Spiritual Teaching (82)
  • Testimonies (4)
  • Uncategorized (5)
  • Works of Mercy (18)

Post Archives: By Month

Copyright © 2023 Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy · All Rights Reserved · Website built by Spears Marketing · Admin