Dear Friends,
Our Lenten Journey has reached its end and the celebration of Holy Week is upon us. I hope you find time this
week to join us in the liturgies as we remember the great events of the life of Jesus.
I think the liturgies of this week help us to understand how God deals with the presence of evil in our world.
From the liturgies, we learn too, how we are to deal with evil. For the celebrations this week recall what appears to be
the ultimate triumph of evil, but it ends up being the defeat of evil with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This week we
are not strangely optimistic people, but we are a people who contemplate the ultimate evil – the death of the just one –
knowing that God takes this tragedy and turns it upside down. We do not sugar coat the evil and say it does not exist,
but facing the truth of evil, we learn who conquers and how we share in the victory.
We, in a sense, are celebrating the majestic throne room scene in chapters four and five of the Book of
Revelation. The four living creatures are singing “holy, holy, holy” and the elders are casting their crowns before the
throne; but the one who sits on the throne holds a scroll written on the inside and outside, sealed with seven seals, and
nobody can be found worthy to open it and break its seals. The way to God’s unfolding purpose to put the world to
rights, to complete the project of creation, appears to be blocked. God had made the world to be looked after by
human stewards and no human being is capable of taking God’s plan forward. So what is Revelation’s answer? The
Lamb has conquered and defeated the power of evil. The Lamb has ransomed people from every nation in order to
make them a royal priesthood, serving God and reigning on earth.
We celebrate the victory of the cross this week and we, God’s people, are to carry on the story. The result of
the victory of the cross is that there is now a redeemed people ready to act as God’s agents, his stewards, being
equipped to reflect God’s image to creation, to bring God’s wise and healing order to the world, putting the world
under the just and gentle rule of God. Having defeated evil on the cross, God has set us free to live as forgiving, loving
people bringing the Good News of our salvation to those who most need to hear the story.
From the cross, Jesus offers us forgiveness. A forgiveness that changes everything. When we truly offer
forgiveness to a person who has hurt us, we are not saying that the offense does not matter, rather we are saying it did
matter and that we are forgiving them. In doing so, we are no longer held captive by the evil done to us. The one who
offers the forgiveness is set free. The one who receives the forgiveness is transformed even if they refuse to accept the
forgiveness. The relationship has changed; it is no longer conditioned by the evil act.
Forgiveness is not the same thing as tolerance. It does not mean that you let people get away with evil acts; it
does not mean that you are not taking evil seriously. Forgiveness starts with the acknowledgment of an evil taking
place, naming the evil, taking the relationship with the offender into place and then not allowing the evil to determine
the type of person we will be. It is hard work. It is God’s work.
Join us in contemplating this amazing work of God this week. Perhaps by doing so, you will enter a bit more
deeply into the mystery of God’s forgiving love and be able to offer it to others. Only when we can truly begin to see
the future God has in store for us, can we begin to live it now – free, loving, forgiving…
Peace,
Fr. Damian