What St. Ignatius Taught Me About My Sins and Other Souls
- Talmida Ti
- May 4
- 3 min read
A Catholic Reflection on Sin, Mercy, and Their Effect on Other Souls
I was reading The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, and his comments on the particular judgment after death stopped me in my tracks.
He describes how, at judgment, even the guardian angels charged with the souls of our brethren may testify against us — reproaching us for the scandals we caused and for the ways our example led others away from God.
And I just sat with that.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry to those angels.
I can only imagine how much you have loved, cared for, watched over, and guided the souls entrusted to you. You were assigned to them by our Father — given the responsibility to help them throughout this life, to guard them, to guide them, to fight for them.
And then there was me.
How many times did I sin against your human?
How many times did I cause them to stumble?
How many times did you fight for them while I became the obstacle?
You must have pleaded for them. You must have warned them. You must have tried to help them turn away from whatever harm I caused. And maybe my own angel was there too — pleading for me, warning me, trying to turn me back toward grace while I ignored him.
Did my angel try to help your human too?
I hope so.
I know that when I die and face my judgment, I am going to be guilty of sins I do not even remember. There will be offenses I forgot, moments I dismissed, careless words I excused, wounds I caused that barely crossed my mind again.
But Heaven remembers.
How many offenses have I made that I do not even think about?
How many times did my sin offend the Sacred Heart of Jesus — who loves every soul I wounded as His own child?
How many times did my example make someone else weaker, colder, harder, or more distant from God?
And if my sins wounded souls in ways I never saw, Lord, I entrust them to Your mercy. Heal what I cannot repair. Restore what I damaged. Reach the souls I failed to love rightly.
Because how can I call myself a friend of God while fighting against Him?
When I sin against my brother — His child — I am not merely breaking a rule. I am fighting against love. I am fighting against Heaven.
Help me, angels.
Help me.
I can only imagine God has allowed me to see this because I have been praying so deeply for the gift of perfect charity. I hate that I have hurt Him by hurting others. I want to love His children as He loves them — deeply, tenderly, faithfully.
And I know God would not place that desire in my heart unless He wanted to draw me toward it.
As St. Thérèse says so wisely, God does not inspire impossible desires. If He places a longing in the soul, it is because He wants to fulfill it by His grace.
But I also know I am weak. I cannot do anything by my own strength.
So, my dear angels — Heaven's army, Heaven's soldiers, friends of God — I beg for your prayers.
Help me avoid the near occasion of sin.
Help me resist temptation.
Help me grow in perfect charity.
Help me love all God's children rightly, and never become a stumbling block for them again. I have hurt too many already. I have caused too many to fall. Help me, my dear angels, to spend the rest of my life helping lift them up.
Pray for me, dear friends of God.
Pray that I may repair what can be repaired, and entrust what I cannot repair to the mercy of Jesus.
Pray that I may become small, humble, hidden, and faithful.
Pray that I may never again lead another soul away from God, but instead become, by grace, a little instrument that helps lead them home.
Forgive me, Lord, for my sins against You and against Your children.
Forgive me for the offense my sins have brought to Your Sacred Heart.
Forgive me for the souls I have wounded, knowingly or unknowingly.
And help me to sin no more.
Jesus, I trust that Your mercy is greater than every wound I have caused, every sin I remember, and every sin I have forgotten. Heal what I cannot heal, repair what I cannot repair, and teach me to love.
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
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