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Acceptance Through Repentance

28/4/2020

4 Comments

 

A Reflection on the First Reading for May 3rd, 2020:
Fourth Sunday of Easter


ACTS 2

14But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 36Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." 37Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" 38And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him." 40And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." 41So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
​



Pause. Pray.
And then read more...



This is the
third time I’ve tried to write this reflection.


My first attempt was weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, but prior to April 19th, 2020, where 23 people senselessly perished as a consequence of moral evil.

My second attempt was post-massacre, trying to force this reading into the solace I wanted from the heaviness of these days. But this excerpt from Acts is essentially a call to personal repentance. In the infancy of the church, Peter and the apostles boldly proclaim to the crowds that Jesus, perfect and innocent, was crucified by the people themselves. Peter’s words reveal to those listening the cruel reality of Jesus’ death, and what their wrongdoings have done to Him. The gruesome nature of the cross cuts them deeply “to the heart,” and they ask, “What shall we do?” Peter goes on to exhort them to repent of their sins and be saved.

Right now, I imagine most of us want to lay blame on anybody or anything else for the weight of darkness that has settled around us. Right now, the people and circumstances that have inflicted our pain and suffering are external and outside of our control.

Grappling with this word, I decided to go for a walk outside and I asked the Spirit to speak.


“The sins of one cannot be separated from the whole of humanity,” I heard.


A fierce wind blew powerfully through the trees. I was drawn to the Divine Mercy chaplet. Upon recitation, it began to hail. The sky wept hard, icy tears, as if from a heart frozen with grief.

Like the people in the early church listening to Peter’s words, my heart cried, “What shall I do?” These events are not fixable. They are completely irreconcilable, as is this “cut to the heart.”

While I may not be personally responsible for the heinous acts of my brethren, or for the spread of an invisible sickness, accepting Act’s call to repentance means I need to accept that humanity as a whole needs a Saviour. Nothing other than Jesus Christ, through His victimhood of merciless violence, can reconcile within us these days of isolation, terror, and loss.


Let us pray:

​Lord, have mercy on us and on the whole world. I accept You as Saviour and I repent on behalf of our fractured humanity. May You heal and reconcile all our sufferings with Your Cross from now until the end of time.




Michelynne Gomez


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Photo by Edoardo Cuoghi on Unsplash

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4 Comments
Judy Savoy
28/4/2020 03:42:35 pm

Beautiful reflection Michelynne. Thank you so much.

Reply
Michelynne
28/4/2020 05:19:14 pm

Thank you Judy. Grateful for God and community during this crazy time.

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Sara Andrews
28/4/2020 08:29:14 pm

Wow. Thank you so much Michelynne. You have a real gift my friend!
"The sky wept hard, icy tears, as if from a heart frozen with grief". Such a powerful image. It brought tears to my eyes.
xo

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Michelynne Gomez
28/4/2020 08:39:45 pm

Thanks Sara. It's been a hard past couple weeks for everyone. The hail could only have been timed by God...so many weeping now like that.

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