Cheryl Juech - Friday, March 13

Week 4 - Luke 23:32-43
Friday, March 13, 2015
A Reflection on Forgiveness from Cheryl Juech

All of us struggle to give and receive forgiveness. I continue to learn that forgiveness is not an event; it is a life-long and daily process infused with mystery, intention and grace.

Today is a pivotal word is this passage. 
It touches on the curious promise of limited time that we live with every day.

We may resist. We may flounder. We may negotiate. We may mock. We may blame. Or, we may learn and re-learn that today is the day to seek and offer forgiveness, and to accept the forgiveness that is offered to us . . . today . . . as promised and revealed in this passage.

Our own hearts and souls depend on forgiveness to breathe and to grow and to remain faithful to the end. Others are depending on our forgiveness as well. We are all worthy and waiting and today is the day. Today is a gift, wondrous and valuable and honorable.

There is an old story of an elderly father in Spain who was suffering over his estrangement from his son Paco. This father decided that today is the day, and he placed an ad in the newspaper which read:

Dear Paco, Meet me in the square at noon. All is forgiven.
~ your father.
When he arrived in the square at noon, there were hundreds of sons named Paco.

Far too often, despair and hope compete for our attention.
Every day there is breaking news. And, the real breaking news is that 
people enter and leave the world every day. Echoing the words of poet Mary Oliver: “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” What will you do today?

Much is beyond our control. Choosing hope over despair is within our control. Despair can be noisier, more frantic and compelling. Today, we can choose to crowd out despair with hope and faith and forgiveness.

Let us pray: 
Today is the day the Lord has made. May we rejoice and be glad in it, attentive to the light that dawns within us when we join our hearts with those who forgive us our debts as we forgive those with debts against us. May we know God’s good grace and mercy and hope on this wondrous day. Amen