Posted by The WORD in other words (2009) by Fr. Eugene Docoy, SVD – South Korea
Friday 1st Week of Lent
Reconciliation and forgiveness are two important spiritual exercises not only among Christians but to people of all walks of life. But harmonious living and peaceful coexistence seem to be elusive nowadays. We often hear and read about wars, ethnic cleansing, genocide, homicides, robberies, domestic conflicts, corruptions, and cheating.
Reasons for these problems could be individual pride, greed, environmental challenges, economic difficulties, tribal feuds and so on. Sometimes reconciliation is easy to accomplish but it takes time to do it. It even takes a “lifetime.”
In a conflict, we can either be on the side of the offender or the side of a victim. In both cases we are called to reconcile just the same. If we are the offender, we are called to seek forgiveness and make amends. If we are the victim, we are called to forgive.
To seek forgiveness is often hard to do because of pride and the refusal to see our own weakness. To forgive can also be difficult to do because of the hurt and damage done to us. And the difficulty to forgive and to reconcile varies according to the degree of hurt or damage done.
Those who can easily respond to the call to reconcile and to forgive are a blessing to us. But those who cannot for some reasons, reconciliation and forgiveness should not be imposed immediately upon them. We do not need to coerce them because to do so, we are adding burden to them. To forgive often needs time and grace from God.
In a world full of hate and conflicts, the message of today’s Gospel becomes most meaningful to us. Christ reminds us that any material gift is inferior to interpersonal relationships and our relationship with God. A peaceful and harmonious life is more important than any material offering. While we need to be forgiven we should also be ready to forgive in any way we can.
In this season of Lent, let Christ be our model of forgiveness. Christ bailed us out of our sinfulness through his death on the cross. Let him be our strength!
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