2 Corinthians 2:5-11: Seek Pardon
Thursday, June 13, 2019
The surest way to fend off the forces of darkness is to pardon one another. This is how the world, God, and we ourselves will know that we truly love.
From La Biblia de América: Apostles must be compassionate and know how to pardon. This is not discipline for the sake of discipline itself, nor is it a punishment leveled by the church, the community. Nor is it acceptable to allow permissiveness or anarchy. There are even tines when the church – we – must make decisions which may be painful for us. But the last word will always be love, reunion and pardon.
We have said this before in our Noontime reflections: Permissiveness leads to a further lack of obedience before God. A community of Christians is called to rebuke one another in mercy . . . first alone and if not heard, then with another member of the community and again if not heard . . . finally, before the assembly. This kind of discipline is what brings unity out of diversity.
This is the time of year when we have recently celebrated the Feast of the Ascension and remember that Christ – when he rises to God – carries our humanity with himself. He opens the door to the possibility that we too, may unite with God in the most intimate of ways.
This intimacy is what we all seek. It is what we yearn for, what we crave. It is what we feel lacking in our lives. And it is a thirst that will only be quenched if we first find it within ourselves to seek pardon and to pardon . . . to love and be loved . . . to unite with all that is . . . even if it is different from what we know. We are people who long for reunion. Let us open the door of forgiveness and enter into love.
LA BIBLIA DE LA AMÉRICA. 8th. Madrid: La Casa de la Biblia, 1994. Print.
Images from: http://thrivingwithneurofibromatosis.blogspot.com/2012/05/forgiveness.html and http://youthspeaknews.org/2011/11/29/the-gift-of-forgiveness-this-advent-season/
A re-post from May 30, 2012.
The Noontimes 