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Father Henri Nouwen has
written a book about prayer entitled, "With Open Hands." Father Nouwen
begins his book with the analogy that the person invited to pray "is
asked to open his tightly clenched fists and to give up his last coin."
This image recalls the teaching from the book of Sirach, "Wrath and
anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight" (Sir. 27:30).
When all is said and done, we human beings cling to the strangest
things.
We cling to our wounds and hurts as though they were our most prized
possessions. As long as we cling to our past, we cannot hope to
find God in our present. When we are the ones wronged and offended, we
are living at the center of our world. In the real world, God is at the
center. In God's presence we quickly realize that we are the ones who
have wronged and offended God. The core teaching of our faith is that
Jesus has brought God's forgiveness into our lives through baptism.
Unfortunately we live in an age that seldom seeks forgiveness. We might
look for an explanation or a justification for our behavior, but we
rarely acknowledge that we have sinned, against God or one another.
When we refuse to acknowledge
our guilt, we certainly refuse God's forgiveness. As disciples we
are called to celebrate God's forgiveness at work in our lives. None of
us is perfect. No matter how holy we think we are, there is always more
we could and should be doing. But we are not overwhelmed by our
sinfulness. We have forgiveness in Christ. If we truly experience
forgiveness in the Lord, we must become forgiving people. One who has
experienced forgiveness is filled with joy. This is good news that needs
to be shared. This is what it means to be his disciples. There may be no
time in our lives when we are more God-like, than when we share his
forgiveness by forgiving others.
In recent days we have heard
many accusations and recriminations about who lost New Orleans. There
will be much talk, expensive congressional investigations, and political
name-calling. While it is important to understand what went wrong, what
is most needed is compassion and determination to assist those in need.
Please be generous in our collection to assist the hurricane victims. |
