“Good Ground For Hope”
In
today’s First Reading the author of the Book of Wisdom in speaking of God says,“you gave your children good ground for hope
that you would permit repentance for their sins”. Suppose you were asked to
make a list of those things in your life that make you hopeful, what would you write
down? You may have a litany of things that give you hope. You may answer that a
loving and understanding family is the cause for your hope. You may say the
bright promise that the future holds in store for you and those you love fuels
your hopeful attitude. Or, you may draw your hope from seeing the bright
optimism on the faces of the young people in your life. There are many sources
of hope in our lives but unfortunately, we don’t often think about them. I
wonder if we did take the time to list them, would any of us have the least
inkling that being reconciled to God is the source of our hopefulness or that
our hope lies in God’s willingness to forgive (and forget!!!) our sins?
Reflecting
on this thought we are able to see that there are two amazing powerful
spiritual dynamics at work here. Not only does God in His goodness give us the
grace to allow us to seek His forgiveness, but He is also eager to grant us
forgiveness. Our Lord is indeed “…good
and forgiving”.
Our
sinfulness stunts our growth, just as the weeds take away from the wheat
growing in the field and reduces the bounty of the harvest. God does not want
our lives to be diminished by sin. He does not want us to be stifled or
overcome by our sinfulness. He has called us to an “abundant life”, and He wants us to “live life to the fullest”. And, He has given us a way to do this.
The
Sacrament of Reconciliation is the good ground for our hope. It is for our own
good, our mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reconciliation is the way
we respond to God’s good graces that sustain and nourish us on our earthly
journey and which leads us to the source of all of our hope, God Himself. Let
us spend some time this week taking an inventory of ways we need to be
reconciled to God and perhaps each other and then seek the grace of the
Sacrament itself. With our hope revitalized in this Sacrament of Reconciliation
we will be better able to share that hope with everyone around us.
Enjoy
the day!
Deacon
Tom
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