Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the Word
…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan
August 10 – August 17
1 — “So will my heavenly Father do to
you [handed over to torturers], unless each of you forgives his brother from
his heart.” (Mt 18:35)**
Extended meditation
As Franciscans try to follow the way
and life of Jesus, we will be guided by Jesus’s thoughts on love. It was how he thought; it was what he wanted
us to do. Among the actions of love in
our consideration must be the whole thought of what it means to forgive.A
couple of years ago the General Board of the Mennonite Church released a statement
on violence. They reminded their members
that “No violence committed against us,
or those we love, justifies our committing violence in return. No suffering, not even death, can separate us
from the love of God. Jesus calls us not
to resist evil with violence, to forgive rather than to seek revenge, and to be
peacemakers.” The statement was a
statement accepted by all Mennonites as well as a reform of the Mennonites
known as Amish.Not
too long after the statement, a non-Amish gunman shocked the nation when he
entered an Amish schoolhouse and systematically killed five Amish children,
wounded a number of others, and then killed himself. The reaction of the Amish community likewise
shocked the nation. An Amish spokesperson released this statement to the press: “I don’t think there’s anybody here that
wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have
suffered a loss but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these
acts.”They indeed reached out to that family, comforting them only
hours after the shooting and extending forgiveness to them. In fact, the Amish who do not usually accept
donations set up a charitable fund for the family of the killer.The “Lord’s Prayer” is the most common prayer in Christian
churches. The prayer is significant for
the Christian because of a number of reasons, one of them being the stress that
Jesus placed on forgiveness. As he
verbalized the prayer, Jesus said that a principal part of our prayer to God
must be asking for forgiveness, and at the same time, saying to our God that we
will forgive others. Then he repeated
the idea in his own words after he taught the prayer.Jesus knew that we must ask for forgiveness of God and
others and he wanted us to recognize that words alone were not enough. We must prove by our actions that we mean
what we say.
2 – Turn back and
live! (Ezekiel 18:32)…Have I sufficiently turned away from
sin and chosen what God wants of me?
3 – “Persevere in running the race…while keeping
our eyes fixed on Jesus.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)…Remembering that we profess
the Gospel as Franciscans.
4 —“My soul proclaims the greatness of
the Lord; my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” (Lk 1:46-7)**…Is
there too much self-pride in my life?5 – “For
God all things are possible.” (Mt 19:26)**…Do I place my trust in God in as complete a way as humanly
possible?
** One of the most
important passages of the Gospels
