The most powerful expression of God’s Mercy corresponds to our greatest need, that of forgiveness. Apart from experiencing forgiveness, we are not free to go forward in a healthy way with our lives. We are in a rut.
In gaining for us the forgiveness of all of our sins by His Sufferings, Death and Resurrection, the Lord makes it possible for each of us to make a new start from where we are. As we receive forgiveness for hurting ourselves, others, the environment and the Lord, we are offered the opportunity to pick up the broken pieces of our lives and to go forward in an upbeat manner.
It can be easy for any of us to overlook the reality that sin has consequences that forgiveness does not take away. In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul states that we reap what we sow. It’s tempting to live with the illusion that because we are offered the forgiveness of all of our sins, it doesn’t matter how we live. Nothing could be farther from the truth than this.
Everything that we do has consequences. For example, if we break the law, we are subject to being fined and/or going to jail. If we don’t take care of or abuse our bodies, we can bring upon ourselves suffering that could have been avoided had we acted differently. We can be forgiven for goofing off in school, but by doing this habitually, we may lose the ability and/or opportunity to help others in ways that require a lot of education. The human race has been forgiven for crucifying our Lord, and yet the nail prints and wound where the spear pierced His side will be on the Risen Body of our Lord for all eternity. The most somber expression of the truth that sin has its consequences is in the reality that we all have to die.
As we make the Lord’s offer to forgive us our sins our own, especially by celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we are set free to relate to all that restricts and limits us, even the consequences of our sinfulness in a proactive manner. We can grow in the awareness that as ugly as we have made ourselves and hurt others through our own sinfulness, the Lord would take us in our brokenness and make something beautiful out of what remains of our lives in this world.
It’s neither too early or too late to make the Lord’s offer to forgive us all of our sins our own. As we do this, we will appreciate the preciousness of our lives and those of others. On the one hand, we will want to avoid those attitudes, words, actions and omissions that hurt relationships even in seemingly small ways. At the same time, on the basis of prayer, we will become aware of and want to develop those attitudes, words and actions that build up all of our relationships even in seemingly small ways.
In our determination to grow in this way, we will be attracting and inviting others to experience with us all that the Lord would give to us and do in and through us in a grateful and upbeat manner.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Nelson Beaver – Pastor