Love Is Not Resentful

Saint John Paul II forgives Mehmet Ali Ağca, the man who made an attempt on his life.
(CNS photo / Arturo Mari, L'Osservatore Romano)

As we’ve said here before, Lent is a time for conversion. It is therefore an “appropriate time for a profound re-examination of life,” Saint John Paul II wrote in his 2001 Message for Lent. The Lord gives us this opportunity to draw closer to Him, and so we must look closely at ourselves in order to see what’s holding us back.

One of those things that might be inhibiting us from reconciliation with Christ is our own refusal to reconcile our differences with others. Yet, forgiveness is the only path to peace in our relationships. And so it is the only path to peace in our relationship with God. Saint John Paul II wrote:

Forgiveness given and received enables a new kind of relationship among people, breaking the spiral of hatred and revenge and shattering the chains of evil, which bind the hearts of those in conflict with one another.

Now reconciling with others is no easy feat. This step towards conversion cannot be taken unless that conversion has already begun, with the grace of God as its guide. As the sainted pontiff wrote, one must trust in God as the Lord’s disciples did:

Brothers and sisters! In commenting upon the Lord’s teaching as he journeys to Jerusalem, Saint John Chrysostom recalls that Christ does not leave the disciples ignorant of the struggles and sacrifices that await them. Jesus stresses that it is hard but not impossible to renounce oneself when one can count on God’s help bestowed on us “through communion with the person of Christ.”

With God’s help and with a “fresh experience of his mercy,” giving and receiving forgiveness is possible, no matter how much hurt there is. God’s grace makes it easier to apologize, to accept an apology, to confess, and to accept forgiveness. And in these moments of reconciliation, there is so much peace. There is so much love!

Your Sins Are Forgiven

The photograph on the left wall shows Saint John Paul II speaking with Mehmet
Ali Agca in his prison cell. The late Holy Father was convinced that
Mary's intercession saved his life after the assassination attempt in 1981.

Saint John Paul II was a man of great holiness. Our new permanent exhibit, A Gift of Love: The Life of Saint John Paul II, is filled with evidence of this. Like Christ, the late Holy Father inspired hope in others, he lead them, and he preached the Good News.

He also forgave. One of the most moving parts of our exhibit calls pilgrims to reflect upon the moment in which John Paul visited Mehmet Ali Ağca, the man who made an attempt on his life. During the Christmas octave 31 years ago, John Paul II reconciled with Ali Ağca, treating him as a person worthy of love and respect.

Let us ask the Christ child to give us the grace to be like Saint John Paul II this Christmastide, in reconciling ourselves with God and with others. 

Jesus Is Not A Dry Cleaner

Last week, Pope Francis delivered an engagingly potent homily about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He said:

Jesus in the confessional is not a dry cleaner, it is an encounter with Jesus but with this Jesus who waits for us just as we are…Many times we think that going to confession is like going to the dry cleaner to clean the dirt from our clothes.

We are tempted to feel this way about reconciliation, but in actuality, Jesus gives us so much more. He “donates to us the peace that only he gives.”

For more of Pope Francis’ homily about the graced experience of Reconciliation, go here. 

The sound of silence and penance

This past week, Pope Benedict XVI gave the Church two important messages to remember during Lent.

In his Wednesday catechesis, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the importance of interior and exterior silence and how it allows us to hear the Word and let it dwell within us. In order to pray, the Pope said we must turn off the noise of the modern world. We must find the silence that Jesus sought in His daily life and on the Cross.

Spending quiet time in prayer every day is important for those who want to take part in the New Evangelization. Confession also helps, Pope Benedict said. In an address last Friday, he connected the fruits of evangelization with the holiness of the Church’s body. God’s children are sanctified by the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and a conversion of heart directly impacts one’s ability to spread the Gospel. He said:

Thus each confession, from which each Christian will emerge renewed, will represent a step forward for new evangelization.

Although Catholics are just asked to confess their sins once a year, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father's mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful (1458).    

According to Pope Benedict, time in silent prayer and confession of our sins will not only set us on the path to holiness this Lent, but they will also help us to be better purveyors of the Gospel. Let us be sanctified so that we can fully participate in the New Evangelization.

Mary, Star of the New Evangelization, Pray for Us.