Slideshow image

 Forgiveness
Let Us Pray

One coin, two sides.

One side reads forgiveness, the other blame.

There are any number of words we could use on either side of this coin. The coin is a metaphor for the world--the same world Christ walked in bringing a message of forgiveness.

Forgiveness was a major concern for our Lord in his 'Sermon on the Mount': possibly among the most significant of his teachings.

For our worship each week, the Lectionary provides four readings. This coming Sunday—Epiphany 6-with a theme of forgiveness, each lesson is well worth the read. 

In Sirach 15.15-16 we will read:

“If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is within your power.
He has set before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.”

Forgiveness is the one basic requirement for peace in the world.  This past week, three Christian leaders visited the Congo with a message crying for peace in a country bereft of peace.

One leader, Pope Francis, denounced the “poison of greed”, driving conflicts in Africa, as he began his visit. On Tuesday he said, ‘the rich world had to realize that people were more precious than the minerals in the earth beneath them’.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, on his return to England from the Congo on Monday, addressed the Synod of the Church of England. He said, ‘we have deep and passionately held differences…but anything less than a true gathering in the community of love is not speaking Christian’.

Each week at St. John’s, we gather in prayer for reconciliation and community-building in a shared community of many different cultures. We pray for reconciliation with our neighbours, the Coast Salish Peoples and the Cowichan Tribes. We pray to always gather, being a community of love. 

Then, we will be true to our Christian principals.

One coin, two sides. One side reads forgiveness, the other blame.

Peace to you,
Archdeacon Brian+