MEDITATION:
Written by Carlo Carretto (1910-1988), an Italian religious author of the Catholic congregation of the Little Brothers of the Gospel. This is an excerpt from his book “Why, O Lord?”
The fact of the matter is that loving is difficult. And so is forgiving, truly forgiving. It is difficult for us and hard for the Church. Since forgiving an adulteress or an ex-priest irks the sensibilities of the “body religious” it is easier to put that body’s interest before the plain word of God. To avoid causing scandal, to set a good example, it is wiser not to accept the scandal of the cross which in any case offends our sense of justice! To defend morals it is more sensible to excommunicate someone, to deprive someone of the Eucharist. By so doing, we avoid offending a community that wants to see justice done, that feels the need to see a sinner punished. We have not succeeded in grasping that we have been bought at the price of blood and that, as Jesus said, “A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). And God himself has given us the example.
PRAYER:
This prayer is from the Mozarabic Rite, a liturgical rite of the Latin Church, once used generally in the Iberian Peninsula in what is now Spain and Portugal. Developed during Visigoth rule of the Iberian peninsula in the 500s A.D.
We cry to Thee, O Lord, do Thou have mercy upon us and grant forgiveness. O King of heaven, and everlasting Lord, receive the prayers which we pour forth: And grant forgiveness. Visit the sick—bring forth captives, help the widow and the orphan: And grant forgiveness. We have sinned and have departed from Thee, do Thou, who art the Redeemer of all, save us: And grant forgiveness. Have mercy on the penitent, and wash away the stains of sin: And grant forgiveness. Amen.
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