5th Sunday of Lent
March 2007
Lent is a time for repentance and reconciliation.
Lent is also a time for rejoicing. It is a time for rejoicing because our sins, our faults and failings, the little things we have done wrong and the great things we have done wrong are forgiven and forgotten by God. Lent is a time to put the past behind us and face the future with joy, determination and peace.
Some among us have not put the past behind us. Some of us keep dredging up our past wrongdoing, or what we consider to be our past wrongdoing. We keep punishing ourselves, loathing ourselves and refusing to forgive ourselves.
As the master said to the wicked servant in St. Matthew's Gospel: You wicked servant; I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow-servant just as I had pity on you?
Since God has forgiven me the very least I must do is forgive others and myself. We often forget the ‘myself’ part.
It is not unusual for a person to be carrying a great load of guilt for something they did or had done to them, years and years ago. This always has repercussions for our attitude to ourselves, to God and to our neighbour.
If I haven't totally accepted God's forgiveness and forgiven myself it will be difficult for me to forgive others. Total forgiveness and acceptance of others as they are, comes from total forgiveness and acceptance of myself as I am.