Instruments of Reconciliation
Day 2 : Monday, week 1
To Forgive or To Be Forgiven
This moment summons us to hold sacred those times when we are called to forgive or are in need of being forgiven ourselves.
Our experience is a reminder that being able to forgive another person remains shrouded in mystery. In fact, it is difficult to pin down the exact moment when we are finally able to see the person who has hurt us as someone other than the cause of our pain. This holds true for those times when we are in need of being forgiven.
The ability to not let hurts, whatever their cause, past and present dominate our lives, to forgive or to be forgiven, and to seek reconciliation come from within. Reaching the moment where forgiveness and reaching out for reconciliation are possible is an act of inner freedom. While we have great respect for the sacrament of reconciliation and perhaps even confess our sinfulness with the community at every Eucharist, we know that forgiveness and reconciliation are a long process.
“Pardon is the instrument placed in our fragile hands to attain serenity of heart. To let go of anger, wrath, violence, and revenge are necessary conditions to living joyfully.” (Pope Francis, Misericordia Vultus, Bull of Indiction, #9)
Reflection
Reflect on situations of conflict which others have provoked but also those which I have and regret.
- Like the vinedresser in the parable of the fig tree, do I give another person a chance to mend a conflict which has left wounds?
- Am I willing to create conditions that foster better understanding in our relationships?
Prayer
St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
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