What does "sorry" mean?

"Sorry means you feel the pulse of other people's pain as well
as your own, and saying it means you take a share of it. And so
it binds us together, makes us trodden and sodden as one
another.

"Sorry is a lot of things. It's a hole refilled. A debt repaid. Sorry
is the wake of misdeed. It's the crippling ripple of consequence.
Sorry is sadness, just as knowing is sadness. Sorry is sometimes
self-pity. But Sorry, really, is not about you. It's theirs to take or
leave.

"Sorry means you leave yourself open, to embrace or to ridicule
or to revenge. Sorry is a question that begs forgiveness, because
the metronome of a good heart won't settle until things are set
right and true. Sorry doesn't take things back, but it pushes
things forward. It bridges the gap. Sorry is a sacrament. It's an
offering. A gift."

- From "Jasper Jones" (http://tinyurl.com/by8ncbp)