Forgiveness
Dear Reader, As I prayed with this weeks readings my heart was filled with much hope, inspiration, and anticipation for what the Lord is seeking to work in your heart. Holy Spirit kept illuminating each day what I could bring forth and offer to you so that you in turn could offer it back to the Lord. I encourage you to take your time this week with the following. Perhaps piece by piece giving our Savior and exemplifier of forgiveness time to work the soil. I am including several outside ‘resources’ that Holy Spirit brought to mind that I myself have found profoundly helpful and beautiful. Forgiveness is hard, but when embraced and given to our Lord it is a beautiful gift that we receive in the grace it releases. Trust in our Lord, He seeks only your greatest good.
Dear Lord Jesus,
I ask that your presence, love, and encouragement are felt by each person who enters into Your Word and these reflections. Prepare their hearts oh Lord for the grace and mercy that you seek to bring into their lives through surrendering to your call to forgiveness. Amen.
Before we begin by reflecting on each reading, I would like to include an excerpt from Sr. Miriam James Heidland’s book, Restore…
None of us ultimately wants to live with a hard heart. We might do so, even unknowingly, because we have become used to living that way as an avenue to protect ourselves, but I do not believe this is what we truly want or deeply desire. Forgiveness is not letting someone off the hook. It is not saying that what happened to us did not matter. It is not words alone. It is not pretending things are fine. It is not condoning bad behavior. It is not skipping justice. All of these things keep our hearts hard, in denial, and in the cycle of pain and resentment. Forgiveness is asking Jesus Christ for the grace to forgive. It is relinquishing our grasp upon the person who hurst us, surrendering the person to Jesus and asking Jesus to restore jsutice. It is an acknowledgement of the pain inflicted, how it affected us, an ongoing emotional release of it, and a decision to offer that person and ourselves a gift of love and freedom.
Sirach 27:30-28:7 Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord?
Where have you nourished anger in your life? What effect has that had on your day/week/year?
Have you felt trapped in the cycle of anger, unable to ‘let it go’?
Have you recognized/realized that unforgiveness closes the door on the healing the Lord seeks to bring into your pain?
Psalm 103 Bless the Lord, O my soul
Can you in the midst of the hurt turn to the Lord and praise Him in advance of the healing He is seeking for you? Reflect with the following song.
Romans 14:7-9 None of us lives for oneself…if we die, we die for the Lord
Have you ever thought of forgiveness as a death to self?
Spend some time on the image of the cross. Spend some time with our Lord and allow Him to show you each moment on the cross that was His death for you, for you from a place of profound love, not condemnation, not shame, but love.
Matthew 18:21-35 I say to you not seven times, but seventy-seven times
After spending time with Jesus, experiencing the depth of His love and the vast number of times He has forgiven you, does seventy-seven still seem daunting? Forgive yourself if this is still a struggle. Take it to Jesus, He is the only one who can grace us this gift.
We forgive because we are forgiven. (Eph 4:32) Sometimes the ease with which we forgive, or the difficulty stems from the human relationships that form our identity. Who in your life has been a “model of forgiveness”. Keep in mind that not all models are good models. We may also have been taught to hold anger.
If the Lord is bringing to mind a beautiful soul who has inspired you with their ability to forgive, praise the Lord for the gift of them in your life, maybe even take the extra step and thank that person for their witness of Jesus!
If your eyes have just been opened to a source of why forgiveness is so difficult, can you ask Jesus to break the effect their example has had on your life? Can you then ask Jesus for the grace to forgive them that example?
The Deep Dive
The following is a forgiveness meditation. Jeff and I have used similar formats in our work with Inner Healing and I have used this time and again in my own life. It is a beautiful way to be guided by our Lord. Find a quiet time where you can give our Lord at least fifteen minutes. The following is taken again from the Restore book by Sr. Miriam (pg 167).
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you whom you need to forgive
Picture the person in front of you and pay attention to what you feel in your heart and body.
Make an account of the debt they owe you. (What did they take fro you? How did they hurt you? It is okay to feel angry, sad, or nothing at all)
Imagine telling them what they did to hurt you and how it has affected you.
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any identity lies you believe about yourself based on this incident.
Renounce any lies the Holy Spirit shows you: “In the name of Jesus Christ, I renounce the lie that I am not loved or cared for, that I have to perform well to be loved”, and so forth.
Announce the truth of your identity in Christ: “In the name of Jesus Christ, I announce the truth that I am seen, that I am valuable, that I am loved” and so forth.
Bring the person wit you to meet Jesus on the Cross at Calvary; look at his face of care and mercy.
Ask Jesus to forgive the person.
Ask Jesus to give you the grace to forgive the person.
Pray a prayer of blessing for that person. Ask God to bless them and heal them on their journey.
Ask Jesus to seal this forgiveness and heal the wounds in your life.
Thank God for his healing mercy and grace.
Finally to close this Lectio Divina out, a closing song that was in fact the first inspiration Holy Spirit brought to me.
