Letting Go

     What follows are a few thoughts that I shared yesterday on the Scriptures for the Seventh Sunday in Winter Ordinary Time.

     As we prepare this Wednesday to hear the admonition "Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel" at the beginning of the great season of Lent, we hear words on this Sunday that remind us of the reality of sin in our lives, our frailty and the limitations that our fallen nature places upon us.  We are reminded that it is too easy to be overburdened with the weight of our failures, to be stuck in the muck and the mire of our guilt.  But we are also reminded that we have been set free, lifted up, freed of the weight and cleansed of the mud that sucks us in.  That freedom has been won for us on the tree of the cross, with a sacrifice that is beyond measure.  We have been washed clean through the blood of the lamb.  And we are called to "let go".

     That seems to be the hardest part of the process of reconciliation, of trusting that our sins can and will be completely forgiven by God when in true sorrow we come to him and his church for forgiveness.  All too often I hear people say that they know that God forgives them, but can he ever forget, ever let go of the feelings of betrayal that my sins have brought about?  God forgives ... but does he really forgive.  Will my sin come back to haunt me as I stand before the "pearly gates"?

     We all know the experience of hurting someone or of being hurt.  Even when we are reconciled and our relationship is patched up, there is still that lingering doubt, that deep seated hurt that plagues us.  Some can never get beyond that point.

    Probably the hardest person to forgive is oneself.  There have been countless times when in the sacrament someone will say - I know that I am forgiven, but I can never forgive myself!  They hold on to guilt and it eats away at them and holds them bound.

     Realizing that we have been set free, that our sins have been forgiven without reservation, that no residual effect remains, is vital to our living the life of grace that we are called to.  In the reading from Isaiah the prophet this Sunday we hear what I think is a remarkable line from God, unbelievable, really.  In listening to his people whine about their lot, in rehashing their failures, in questioning the willingness of God to make something new, God tell his people a truth - they have been set free.  In speaking to his people, God says "It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more."  What more wonderful reminder that we must "let go" and "let God fill the void".