Word to the Wise
Monday, February 18, 2008 - Monday in the Second Week of Lent
[Daniel 9:4B-10 and Luke 6:36-38]Be merciful just as your father is merciful.....For the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you!
At this time, I am at St. Agnes Parish in Naples, FL, to preach a parish mission. One of the nights of the mission is dedicated to forgiveness and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is celebrated. I often use a passage from the Gospel of Matthew about the unjust steward who refuses to forgive a minor thing after receiving a huge forgiveness from his boss for malfeasance! It is a profound experience to see how people struggle with forgiveness and mercy. Even if they forgive they sometimes want the most severe penalty possible for the one who has hurt them. Grudges are also part of it! There's no question in my mind that forgiveness is one of the most difficult things a Christian is challenged to do. Despite the example of Jesus saying from the cross, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do!" - we still find it hard, hard to forgive and not to punish those who have hurt us. Yet, if we don't let the hurt go, even if the injury is a permanent physical thing or a deep psychological hurt, that grudge will control our lives and distract us from growing. If we cling to the hurt and think that is punishing the one who hurt us, we are not only fooling ourselves but we are hurting ourselves more. Lent offers us the chance to take a look at what hurts us and consider mercifully forgiving all who have hurt us. This could do a lot more for us than the candy we gave up. It's much harder to give up the grudge! The harder challenge will do more for us in the long run! AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
76 ms
4
