Mercy, Mercy, Me

Picture from Catholictv.org site

It's been quite an interesting week for me. Of course, it started with Divine Mercy Sunday, which was amazing and uplifting and included a trip into the confessional with my Pastor. He thought he knew me well until I whipped out a piece of paper with a few indiscretions jotted on it and started to verbalize what I had written. The paper was a result of a case of insomnia from months ago. You know how it is when you can't sleep. You think of regrets, things you have to do and stupid things like what exactly is the purpose of a mosquito? So, there I lay with thoughts swirling around my head of events that happened, when I was about age 15, and regretting them. That's 46 years ago btw; I'm not a spring chicken. That's the incredible beauty of confession. Just as Our Lord sent his Apostles out to forgive sinners in His mercy, so too do the priests of today do that and we are absolved of our sins and sent on our merry way to repent and sin no more.

A day or so after that I got into a very deep discussion via chat with a good friend of mine about our histories and some rather startling and dark periods in our lives. From that, we went in even deeper to ask if we found it in our hearts to forgive those that had hurt us. I can't speak for my friend but for me it did momentarily bring me back to the depths of hurt that I felt, but it did also remind me that I had moved on. It had taken years to come to grips with it all but yes, I did indeed forgive them and had let go and I believed that the others that were also affected had done so as well.

Last week I was remiss when talking about Divine Mercy Sunday in not expounding on it, because, you see, mercy is a two way street. We run to Christ to ask for forgiveness, but how often do we do that for others? How often do we forgive others and show mercy to those that have truly and deeply hurt us? Yet, we are called to do just that. Jesus commanded it.

"Love one another. As I have loved you, love one another." ~ John 13:34
  
From the Sermon on the Mount ~ Lord's Prayer – “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” ~ Matthew 6:12

"Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven" ~ Matthew 18:21-22

It's not easy; it's probably one of the toughest things in the world to do, but not only is it expected of us it is also good for the soul and the psyche. Hate, resentment, revenge are not of God so why hang onto them? Light, love, healing, forgiveness, mercy are Christ-like and the more we practice it the easier it becomes. 

I ask for your forgiveness and mercy, if I have ever hurt you, regardless if it was yesterday or years ago. I am sorry. 

I leave you with the words of Paul for us to ponder and adopt. May we ALL live by these words.

"Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. " Colossians 3:13

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." ~Ephesians 4:32

Peace,
Mare

A Tale of Three Families

I heard the most amazing story this morning, which totally and completely elated me. A friend of mine just met her siblings for the first time. She, and her Mom were abandoned by her Father when she was just a toddler. It seems he went on to start a family elsewhere and out of the blue my friend was contacted by her brother through FB. They recently all met for the first time and the pictures she shared with us show the remarkable family resemblance between them.

Her amazing homecoming reminded me of someone near and dear to my own heart. His Father also left his Mother and him, but she was still carrying him in her womb when that father split.  He too has siblings that he has never met but, so far, there hasn't been any happy ending and joyous reunion of any sort. It doesn't mean that there won't be one in the future though. You just never know what life will bring you.

The third story is the one about Melissa Ohden. I'm reading a book about her life called, "You Carried Me." Melissa was an aborted baby that survived and was subsequently adopted and raised by a loving, supportive family. I am slowly reading it, and do not want to give any spoilers away but she does search for her biological Mother and the book details it along with her feelings and questions. I can tell you that I'm finding it very difficult to read not because of the subject matter. It's because I can relate to Melissa, her biological Mom and her adoptive Mom on so many levels. You see, I am the Mother mentioned in that second scenario.

Though some of the stories share some talking points the one thing that ties all of them together is just how much one person's decision can have consequences not only to their life but to the others in it as well. In essence, all three babies had a parent abandon them, yet, all of them were raised in good, nurturing, homes and they all grew up to be wonderful human beings in spite of the circumstances. God bless them all.

Life is chock full of challenges and choices that have to be made. It's been said that most people encounter 3 serious issues a year that they have to deal with. (Judging by my own life I think that's a bit understated.) I think in this day and age of narcissistic behavior we have to be reminded again and again that there are other people in our lives that we have a responsibility to. Think long and hard about the serious issues that arise in your life and the affect it will have on your loved ones. Pray to God to guide you in your decision making. Let him help you with the big stuff. I promise you, he is always listening.

Best wishes to my friend and her new found family. May God bless us all with peace, joy and love.

Mare