Living To Avoid Remorse

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #6

February 11, 2022

Living To Avoid Remorse

Recently the media in our area was filled with two horrific news stories. Both of them involved horrible instances of violence, and remorse.

The first was a man from our nearby town of Mahwah. The man was arrested here in New Jersey following an attack on his parents in Long Island. Media reports say that this attack involved the man’s children, the mother of the children and custody of those children. An altercation occurred and it is alleged that the man, Dino Tomassetti shot both his parents. Fortunately, neither of his parents were fatally injured. Recently Dino was arraigned in court. The news indicates that Dino saw his parents in court and broke down and cried. I’m glad he felt remorse. I wish that he had acted in a way that caused no harm and no remorse.

The second news story was even more horrific. A registered nurse, Nicholas Pagano who worked as a travel nurse attacked a patient care tech at Hackensack Medical Center. He is reported to have attacked this woman by striking her with a wrench before setting her on fire with a blow torch. At last report, the woman was in critical condition at a nearby burn unit. Prayers and a Go Fund Me page have been set up to support this injured woman. This attack caused a manhunt for Nicholas. The body of Nicholas was found a day later. He had killed himself. I assume that it was out of remorse. Again, I wish that he had acted in a way that he would not have had to regret later.

I don’t know anyone who has acted as horrifically as those two men but I can’t think of anyone who has not acted in a way that has caused remorse later on. Everyone at one time or another has acted impulsively, without thought. Usually such impulses later cause embarrassment, remorse and shame, not to mention the harm that impulses do to others, those we act toward and those who are hurt by unintended consequences of our actions.

Remorse, guilt and shame can all be avoided. Let us all think about our actions before we take them. If we have hurt people, let us make amends with anyone we have hurt before we live with those awful consequences of bad behavior, remorse, and guilt. Let us also resolve to live lives that do not lead to such things. 

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

# Dino Tomassetti                                                    # Nicholas Pagano

#Regret                                                                      #Remorse

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book:https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/