FORGIVING YOURSELF
Third Sunday Lent 2008 John 4: 5-42 – 5:30 & 10:30
A beloved rabbi died and rose to heaven. There he was greeted with the hosts of angels singing and praising the rabbi for all his good works."Please don’t make such a fuss," the rabbi protested. "I was not so perfect as you make me seem."At that point the Lord God himself appeared in glory. "What’s the problem, my child? You lived a near-perfect life on earth. You deserve all the honors we can give you.""No, my Lord," the rabbi protested. "I failed miserably with my daughter. You see, she became a Christian.""I understand," said the Lord. "I had a similar problem myself with my son."
You might keep this story in mind the next time you’re disappointed in one of your children or grandchildren.
Like the rabbi often you may take a nose dive into human weakness. And like the woman at the well in our gospel story, you may plunge into sinfulness. As a result, you may think much less of yourself, or even crash into the depths of depression.
For example, impatience with your children that bursts into a volcano of anger or for example, misunderstandings between husband and wife that explode into fiery arguments leaving third degree burns that take a long time to heal.
Or gossip, for example, especially within ear shot of your children, so petty that when you think of it, you’re embarrassed because the pettiness reminds you of how small and insecure you are. Gossip, for example, about co-workers or neighbors or in-laws or fellow students or family members.
You just hate to admit something we all have in common: we are all mistake makers; we are all sinners.
But Jesus reassures you through his gentle dealing with the woman at the well that you always have second chances.
In fact, since Jesus forgives you over and over, again and again, second chances become chances as innumerable as the stars in the midnight sky.
Why then, I ask you, are you so hesitant, so reluctant, so uncertain that you will not forgive yourself?
During Lent you recall your sins in order to do penance for them. But what about the positive side? Recalling your sins so that you can forgive yourself of them.
I think on a spiritual level that one of the most forceful impediments to your spiritual development is your hesitancy or refusal to forgive yourself.
On the psychological level, not forgiving yourself can be one of the heaviest boulders pulling you down into the suffocating depth of depression. A lot of psychological and emotional problems are caused by lack of self-forgiveness.
I cannot emphasize enough how imperative it is for you to forgive yourself. If, for example, you want to feel as free as a soaring eagle, or, for example, as happy as someone who’s just fallen in love, or, for example, as released from bondage as a slave whose chains have been shattered, or, for example, as carefree as a child jumping rope, then forgive yourself!
Dominic Maruca in his essay, “A Reflection on Guilt,” says, “The memory of things past is a worm that will not die; whether that worm continues to grow or is changed into a brightly colored winged creature depends on whether we can find the forgiveness we need to bestow.” And I would add, to bestow forgiveness first and foremost on yourself.
Not forgiving yourself only indicates that you do not actually believe in Jesus’ infinite mercy, that you shove into the archives of forgotten stories, the parable of the Prodigal son, that you prefer to be haunted by the ghosts of past sins than to embrace the cross on which Jesus died for the forgiveness of all your sins and for your power to forgive yourself.
Jesus’ infinite mercy will not get through to you if you constantly put up the barrier of not forgiving yourself.
Even more! How can you truly forgive others if you won’t forgive yourself?
Remember the words of the prophet Isaiah: Though your sins be like scarlet, they will become white as snow.
HUM OR Women will love this...
A Prayer...
Dear Lord,
I pray for Wisdom to understand my husband; Love to forgive him;
And Patience for his moods; Because, Lord, if I pray for Strength, I’ll beat him to death.
AmenTHOUGHT Always forgive yourself.
A beloved rabbi died and rose to heaven. There he was greeted with the hosts of angels singing and praising the rabbi for all his good works."Please don’t make such a fuss," the rabbi protested. "I was not so perfect as you make me seem."At that point the Lord God himself appeared in glory. "What’s the problem, my child? You lived a near-perfect life on earth. You deserve all the honors we can give you.""No, my Lord," the rabbi protested. "I failed miserably with my daughter. You see, she became a Christian.""I understand," said the Lord. "I had a similar problem myself with my son."
You might keep this story in mind the next time you’re disappointed in one of your children or grandchildren.
Like the rabbi often you may take a nose dive into human weakness. And like the woman at the well in our gospel story, you may plunge into sinfulness. As a result, you may think much less of yourself, or even crash into the depths of depression.
For example, impatience with your children that bursts into a volcano of anger or for example, misunderstandings between husband and wife that explode into fiery arguments leaving third degree burns that take a long time to heal.
Or gossip, for example, especially within ear shot of your children, so petty that when you think of it, you’re embarrassed because the pettiness reminds you of how small and insecure you are. Gossip, for example, about co-workers or neighbors or in-laws or fellow students or family members.
You just hate to admit something we all have in common: we are all mistake makers; we are all sinners.
But Jesus reassures you through his gentle dealing with the woman at the well that you always have second chances.
In fact, since Jesus forgives you over and over, again and again, second chances become chances as innumerable as the stars in the midnight sky.
Why then, I ask you, are you so hesitant, so reluctant, so uncertain that you will not forgive yourself?
During Lent you recall your sins in order to do penance for them. But what about the positive side? Recalling your sins so that you can forgive yourself of them.
I think on a spiritual level that one of the most forceful impediments to your spiritual development is your hesitancy or refusal to forgive yourself.
On the psychological level, not forgiving yourself can be one of the heaviest boulders pulling you down into the suffocating depth of depression. A lot of psychological and emotional problems are caused by lack of self-forgiveness.
I cannot emphasize enough how imperative it is for you to forgive yourself. If, for example, you want to feel as free as a soaring eagle, or, for example, as happy as someone who’s just fallen in love, or, for example, as released from bondage as a slave whose chains have been shattered, or, for example, as carefree as a child jumping rope, then forgive yourself!
Dominic Maruca in his essay, “A Reflection on Guilt,” says, “The memory of things past is a worm that will not die; whether that worm continues to grow or is changed into a brightly colored winged creature depends on whether we can find the forgiveness we need to bestow.” And I would add, to bestow forgiveness first and foremost on yourself.
Not forgiving yourself only indicates that you do not actually believe in Jesus’ infinite mercy, that you shove into the archives of forgotten stories, the parable of the Prodigal son, that you prefer to be haunted by the ghosts of past sins than to embrace the cross on which Jesus died for the forgiveness of all your sins and for your power to forgive yourself.
Jesus’ infinite mercy will not get through to you if you constantly put up the barrier of not forgiving yourself.
Even more! How can you truly forgive others if you won’t forgive yourself?
Remember the words of the prophet Isaiah: Though your sins be like scarlet, they will become white as snow.
HUM OR Women will love this...
A Prayer...
Dear Lord,
I pray for Wisdom to understand my husband; Love to forgive him;
And Patience for his moods; Because, Lord, if I pray for Strength, I’ll beat him to death.
AmenTHOUGHT Always forgive yourself.
posted by The Ronald | 2:07 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home