My bishop has made a commitment to post to his blog every one of the 40 days of Lent. When I found that out I decided to make a commitment to read every one of his postings as my commitment to take something on rather than give something up for Lent.
His post today literally brought a tear to my eye. Here's the link to Bishop George Councell's blog post but I'm also pasting below what made me tear up:
Some years ago in a large city in the far West, rumors spread that a certain Catholic woman was having visions of Jesus. The reports reached the archbishop. He decided to check her out. There is always a fine line between the authentic mystic and the lunatic fringe.
“Is it true, m’am, that you have visions of Jesus?” asked the cleric.
“Yes,” the woman replied simply.
“Well, the next time you have a vision, I want you to ask Jesus to tell you the sins that I confessed in my last confession.”
The woman was stunned. “Did I hear you right, bishop? You actually want me to ask Jesus to tell me the sins of your past?”
“Exactly. Please call me if anything happens.”
Ten days later the woman notified her spiritual leader of a recent apparition. “Please come,” she said.
Within the hour the archbishop arrived. He trusted eye-to-eye contact. “You just told me on the telephone that you actually had a vision of Jesus. Did you do what I asked?”
“Yes, bishop. I asked Jesus to tell me the sins you confessed in your last confession.”
The bishop leaned forward with anticipation. His eyes narrowed. “What did Jesus say?”
She took his hand and gazed deep into is eyes. “Bishop,” she said, “these are his exact words: ‘I CAN’T REMEMBER.’”
Told by Brennan Manning in The Ragamuffin Gospel.
This was especially powerful for me because yesterday I got really mad at someone and today I was still mad. The person didn't intentionally do something to make me mad. He was just being human and being who he is.
I know I need to be reminded that when God forgives our sins, He just forgives them. He doesn't hold it over our heads or throw it into our faces later. He forgives them and we just move on.
I think our greatest challenge as people of faith is to really live our faith every single day. So when people at work piss you off do you genuinely forgive them? It can be hard to not get mad. Jesus never said "don't get mad." His charge to us is harder than that. It's to love our neighbors as ourselves.
I know I really need reminding of this.
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