A channel of your peace...

"Peter approached Jesus and asked him, 'Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?'"
Matthew 18:21

I sat outside yesterday in the beautiful nearly-Autumn morning, pondering the day, 9/11. We'd heard an amazing homily the night before at mass, talking about forgiveness. In the blissful quiet, I thought back on where I was, how I'd heard about the tragedies. I was at daily mass, in fact, and we'd prayed for "whatever was happening in New York," the news was just getting out and we didn't know what it was. I thought about our reaction. First, fear. Then, anger. Clearly we would never be the same again. It would slowly evolve to a "new normal" of weird security at the airport and a wary mistrust of other religions and people. But, now, ten years later, the gospel for 9/11 talks of forgiveness. Forgiveness? Can it be done? Is it possible? It is only through forgiveness that healing can happen. Jesus tells us "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times" (Matthew 18:22). Can we argue with Jesus, who, as he was dying on a cross, asked God to forgive his murderers? He told us what to do and then he showed us what to do. Can we imagine the legacy of 9/11 being forgiveness? Wouldn't that be God turning all things into good for those who love God? That is my prayer as we move on past this ten year anniversary. We sang "The Prayer of St. Francis" as we left mass..."Make me a channel of your peace...where there is hatred, let me bring your love." Please, let it be so. Love, heidi