Week 1: ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do’.

 Week 1. ‘Father forgive them  for they know not what they do’.

[Luke 23.34]

Ash Wednesday begins our Lenten pilgrimage. Lent is a time for us to let go of what holds us back, both spiritually but also physically in order that we might better celebrate the Easter Feast. As part of our Ash Wednesday observance we participate in a liturgy of repentance, of letting go of, and turning away from our sins.

 

In our First Word from the Cross Christ prays for forgiveness for those who are crucifying him, and not just for those who involved in the action of crucifixion, but for us also because it is our sins he will bear in himself on the cross. The process of reconciliation has already begun in this act of receiving the cross and of being crucified to it.

 

In one sense those who are crucifying Christ knew exactly what they were doing, they were experts in their craft, knowing exactly how to prolong the torture as well as the life of their victim. But they also do not know what they are doing, because this is more than the end of a days work for them, it is the beginning and fulfilment of Biblical prophecy and the story of our redemption. They also have no idea of who it is they are crucifying, for them he is just another Jewish rebel and bandit, their eyes are blind to the divinity revealed at their victim’s baptism and transfiguration.

 

When we sin do we truly know what it is that we are doing? Do we truly comprehend the effects of what we are doing both to ourselves and to those who are the victims of our sin? I suspect we do not, and that moreover we choose not to know, too much knowledge can blunt our enjoyment of illicit pleasure. But Jesus’s words remind us to open our eyes, to look and to know. There are no victimless sins just as there are no victimless crimes even if it us that ends up both the perpetrator and victim of our actions.

As we seek forgiveness for our own sins so we must also forgive those who have sinned against us. Just as we do not always consider the impact our own sins have, so those who sin against us may be unaware of the impact their sins have on us. In seeking their forgiveness we are seeking to do just as Jesus did.

 

Note on the image.

-       - In the image I have selected to draw us into our reflection on forgiveness we see Desmond Tutu seeking to protect a man accused by the crowd of being a police informer. Tutu’s protection helped prevent the man’s execution by the crowd and is an example of how forgiveness can require us to step outside of our comfort zone and to help those on the other side. Had the crowd had their way they would have been guilty of this man’s murder, by protecting him Tutu not only embodies forgiveness, but also saves the lives not just of the man but of the whole crowd.

 

For reflection & Action

As we begin our Lenten journey let us begin by seeking to put aside those habit of sin which haunt our lives, of identifying those things that we know to be wrong but consistently return to (e.g. gossip, backbiting). And let us take to heart Jesus’s words of forgiveness from the Cross by reflecting on the effects these sins have on us and on those whom our sins affect.