Keep Moving Forward

A Reflection on the Second Reading for December 30th, 2018:
​The Feast of the Holy Family

Colossians 3:12-21

​12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, 13 forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

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​Recently, I’ve been attending some parenting courses geared towards working with children’s behavioural challenges. I’ve come to appreciate that if I want my children’s behaviours to change, I have to change the way I engage them. Their behaviours and the relationship that I have with them, are greatly impacted by the way I engage with them. For me, this has meant approaching every challenge with a more positive tone and language, being sure to reinforce the positive behaviours, even when it can seem difficult to see them. By doing this, we have witnessed an improvement in our relationships.

Paul’s reading to the Colossians seems difficult, too. When I read it, I feel like God is asking too much of me. Paul’s instruction to the Colossians makes me feel like I’m being asked to attain a perfection I am not capable of attaining. I’ve come to appreciate that forgiveness is something I struggle with. When someone is genuinely apologetic towards me, I am much more willing to forgive. In the past, when I’ve been asked by others to forgive them, what helped me to overcome the challenge to forgive, was the personal understanding that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. How could I seek His forgiveness if I wasn’t willing to forgive those who hurt me? But where I really struggle to forgive, is with those who have hurt me, but aren’t seeking my forgiveness. Either they do it without knowing the impact of their actions, or they don’t care. These are the people who are not asking for my forgiveness, but whom God also wants me to forgive.

If you have been following Dynamic Catholic’s advent preparation video series, the message on day nineteen (Dec 20th) was all about moving forward — not only in our spiritual journeys, but also in our relationship with God. In a personal testimony, Melissa Gillie leaves us with a great quote, “Nothing is neutral to the soul”. How we approach our relationships can either move the relationship forward or hinder the relationship. At home, when I changed my behaviours, the children’s behaviours also changed and the relationships improved. When I become more intentional about how I approach my relationship with God, it too, improves.

If I look at Paul’s letter to the Colossians as a tool to help me continue moving forward on my spiritual path, my relationship with God, and my relationships with others will grow. If I can begin to work toward forgiveness rather than expecting myself to do it all at once, perhaps that won’t seem so difficult either.

Let us pray that in this new liturgical year, we can try to be more intentional about bringing compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience into our relationships with others.

​Tammy LeBlanc

"Let us pray that in this new liturgical year, we can try to be more intentional about bringing compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience into our relationships with others."

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