6th Sunday of Year Year A

The Collect for the 6th Sunday of Year A reads as follows:

 

O God, who teaches us that

You abide in hearts that are just and true,

grant that we may be fashioned by Your grace,

as to become a dwelling pleasing to You.

 



 

In making this prayer tangible for during the week, the following reflection questions emerged:

 

 

1. What does it mean to me for God to abide in my heart?

2. What areas in my life need to be reviewed in the light of being just and true?

3.  Dwell on the word fashioned and consider the synonyms associated with this word to enrich your reflection.

4.What does God's grace mean to me?

5. What does it mean to be a dwelling pleasing to God?

6. What areas of my life need review in reconciliation to receive God's grace?

Mt 5:17-19:

"Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.   For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.  Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

  

In the Gospels, Jesus talks about God’s mercy and love.  However, we can tend to forget that He is also a God of justice whose laws we must obey.  God doesn’t want us to follow his commands out of a fear of punishment, or out of a desire to make him happy with us.  The call to obedience goes much deeper.  It has to do with our dignity as the crown of His creation.  God demands our obedience because He has a plan to fulfil, and he has called us to be co-workers with Him in bringing that plan to fruition. 

 

At creation, God told our first parents to ‘fill the earth and subdue it and to have dominion over creation (Gen 1:28).  As heirs of this commission, we are called to make this world – and our heart into a fit dwelling place for the glory of God.  We are called to manifest His character to the world and bring His love into every aspect of life on earth.  The commandments of God are not just chores to which we must diligently apply ourselves.  They are part of our heritage as a royal people (I Peter 2:9)

 

Mt 5: 20-26:

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to the men of old, `You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.'  But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, `You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire.

So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.    Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny".

 

Forgiving and being reconciled with those who have hurt us is probably one the most challenging thing we face in life.  On the one hand, we want to be free of our hurt.  Yet, at the same, time, we feel justified in our anger because we have been wronged.  In many cases, if left to our own resources, we would never be able to bring about true reconciliation.  Here are two approaches which may be useful in helping you forgive the wrong of others who have hurt us.

 

Approach 1:

 

Using Corinthians 13.  Recently I went to a symposium on St Thomas Aquinas.  I wont go off the point here to tell you all about that, but  in amongst all the wisdom and discussion of the day, I brought home this little gem. 

 

In Corinthians 13 on love, it talks about those who brood over the injuries that are done to them.  I have to say that I do tend to fall into this trap at times ( probably more often than I wish). 

Why I found this so very helpful was I pondered on the word brood.  When I brood over something, I more than just dwell on it, it becomes like a stuck replay of the event, the words, the situation.  Then the more I brood, the darker the cloud of my heart, soul and overall well being.  Everything then becomes magnified even more,the injury deeper and a sense of anger, resentment and later hopelessness emerges strongly.

 

Now here is the clincher- If I love myself in a healthy manner, then I do not need to brood since brooding is not healthy to my well being.  If I love myself healthily, then I will let go of the hurt because it is not good for my well being.  This to be is a great starting point when people do hurt us and it is hard to let go and forgive.  Obviously we need to go further than this as God asks us to love our neighbour by forgiving them.  However, I have found so far with this approach that the ongoing situations which had troubled me ( which I had brooded over and over again) have now been let go.  The people are the same.  I am the same in one sense but I feel free.  I have stopped myself from brooding over the situations which have caused me hurt.   I am finding too that I am stopping myself when I want to brood again.

( keep you posted on how this works out long term and whether it is a way to forgiveness).

 

Approach 2

 

 

We need to ask ourselves though, who delights in divisions and broken relationships more than Satan, the ‘accuser of the brethren’ (Rev 12:10). Here, spiritual warfare with Satan can be quite strong.  In his relentless attacks again the people of God, the evil one constantly seeks to accuse us to each other, to remind us of our own and other people’s faults so that we will suspect, blame and accuse them ourselves.  Jesus however, told us to make peace with our accuser (Mt 5:25).

 

We can ‘make peace’ with the devil- and so silence his accusations- by agreeing (to a point) with the thoughts he suggest to us.  When he reminds us of how deeply someone has hurt us, we can say ‘Yes that is true.  I have been deeply hurt.  However, I know the power of the Cross-.  Jesus has forgiven me and has forgiven that person as well.  I have been hurt, but Jesus is my healer and he can restore this relationship.’ 

 

Or when the devil brings up our own sins- either of the distant or the recent past- we can take a similar approach.  ‘ Yes, I have done wrong. You’re right; I’m not worthy of God’s love.  But He loves me anyway and he sent His Son to free me from guilt and condemnation.  Thank God I’ve been forgiven. The evil one when tempting Jesus used Scripture.  We too can use Scripture as our safeguard and strength in his attack against us.

 

The whole truth, therefore, includes not only our sin, but also the blood of Jesus that has overcome sin for everyone.  If we want to experience peace and freedom, we need to start by accepting God’s forgiveness for ourselves on a very personal level, and then it is more possible to forgive others as well.  Each day we must ask the Holy Spirit to help us as we start taking steps to forgiveness.  Even if they are small, Jesus will pour out unexpected blessings on us.

 

May you have a blessed week loving God, neighbour and yourself healthily.