Episode 06: Redemption
Mercy & Redemption
An opening mediation
“God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: he makes saints out of sinners.”
“You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake. Through him you have confidence in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. ”
A Reflection on Mercy and Redemption (1 Peter 1:18-21) by Pope Francis Jubilee Audience September 10th, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
The passage that we have heard speaks of God's mercy which is implemented in the Redemption, that is, in the salvation which we were given with the Blood of his Son Jesus (cf. 1 Pet 1:18-21). The word "redemption" is not often used, yet it is fundamental because it indicates the most radical liberation that God could fulfill for us, for all of humanity and for all of creation.
It seems that man today no longer likes to think he has been freed and saved through God's intervention; he deludes himself that his freedom is a force for obtaining everything. But in reality this is not the case. How many illusions are sold on the pretext of freedom, and how many new forms of slavery are created in our times in the name of a false freedom! Many, many slaves. 'I do this because I want to, I take drugs because I like to, I am free. I do elsewise'. They are slaves! They become slaves in the name of freedom. We have all seen people like this who end up on the ground. We need God to free us from every form of indifference, selfishness and self-sufficiency".
The words of the Apostle Peter clearly express the meaning of the new life to which we are called. By making Himself one of us, the Lord Jesus not only takes on the human condition, but also raises us up to the possibility of being Children of God. By His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ, the blameless Lamb, conquered death and sin to free us from their dominion. He is the Lamb that was sacrificed for us, so that we can receive a new life made up of forgiveness, love and joy. These three words are beautiful: forgiveness, love and joy. All that He assumed was also redeemed, freed and saved. Certainly, it is true that life puts us to the test, and at times we suffer for this. However, in these moments we are invited to turn our gaze to the crucified Jesus who suffers for us and with us, as sure proof that God does not abandon us. Let us never forget that in anguish and persecution, as in everyday sufferings, we are always freed by the merciful hand of God who raises us up to Him and leads us to a new life.
God's love is boundless: we can discover ever new signs that show his attention towards us and, above all, his wish to reach us and to await us. All our life, although marked by the fragility of sin, is placed under the gaze of God who loves us. How many pages of Sacred Scripture speak to us of God's presence, closeness and tenderness for every man, especially for the smallest, the poor and the troubled! God has great tenderness, great love for the small ones, for the weak, for those rejected by society. The greater our need, the more his gaze upon us is filled with mercy. He feels compassion and pity towards us because He knows our weaknesses. He knows our sins and He forgives us. He always forgives us! He is so good, our Father is so good.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us open up to the Lord, and receive his grace! Because, as the Psalm says, "For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with Him is plenteous redemption" (Psalm 130[129]:7).
Waiting for Divine Redemption
A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord! 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! 3 If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plenteous redemption.8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
The humility required to grasp and understand our own sinful natures can be hard to come by, especially in a modern world where people are judged not on their success as being a good person and emulating Christ's example for humanity, but by the ability to prove exceptional in some way; in making money, in pursuit of a dream, in exhibition of physical prowess, in how well we prosper. It also prevents us from being able to accept the need for salvation as gift we cannot otherwise earn for ourselves.
Our psychologic impulse is to make excuses for our own behavior, to justify the choices we make, so to speak. It is essential for our self-esteem that we view ourselves positively. Good self-esteem is well accepted as necessary for happiness. Thus, we convince ourselves that when we do bad things, we had a good reason. He was mean to me first, so I was only mean in return. The proverbial "look what you made me do". We will also blame our bad behavior on bad habits, being in a bad emotional state, even on being "hangry". We will even overwrite the reality of a string of events in our own memories to hard wire these justifications into the vaults. Thus, we can look in the mirror and appreciate what we see.
Yet being made in the image of God, our worth as a person, our self-esteemed, should be based on God, on the overwhelmingly wonderful news that the Creator of Heaven and Earth knows each of our names. That is what makes us worthy. It also makes us capable of really taking the hard look into ourselves and being able to evaluate our own behaviors in the cold light of truth. In this way, we accept our need for God's mercy, actually learn to amend our ways, and slowly grow in our ability to emulate Christ.
This is the way of salvation or the path to holiness. In this same light we can lull ourselves into thinking that only the Devil tempts us. The Scriptures tell us in the first chapter of James that this is not the only source of temptation. We indeed also tempt ourselves from our own desires.
Trial and Temptation
“Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one; but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.”
Have the courage to embrace God's mercy and redemption, so you too can take that long hard look in the mirror and still like what you see.
Weekly
Prayer
Intentions
To be prayed daily
Pause for some silence
Pause for some silence
The Sign of the Cross
Start by touching your right hand to your forehead, then your stomach, followed by your left and right shoulders while saying "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen"
On the Road of Life
Let us pray for all those who are traveling on the road of life: For the proud, the arrogant, the self-righteous and for all that is proud, arrogant, and self-righteous within us; For the weary, the tired of life, the resigned, and for all that is weary, tired of life, and resigned within us; For the well-fed, blinded by consumerism and self-satisfied, And for all that is well-fed, blind, and self-satisfied within us; For the angry, the violent and the vengeful, and for all that is angry, violent, and vengeful within us; for the loveless, for those who in their love seek only themselves, And for all that is loveless and self-seeking within us; For the envious, the ill-willed, who see in others only rivals, And for all within us that is envious, ill-willed, and inclined to rivalry; For the avaricious and the grasping, who cannot rest until they have their hands on everything, And for all within us the is greedy and prevents us from sharing and letting others share. You, Lord, have set out, and you travel through the ages to reach us in our time. Come to us also and transform our pride into humility, our indolence into courage, our smugness into disquiet, Our anger into the capacity to make peace, our lack of love into solicitude, our envy into sympathy, our avarice into fullness of life. And our death into life. Amen.
Specific intentions:
We adore you, oh Christ, and we praise you. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
Lord, help me to peer into myself and see my shortcomings, and with that honest look give me the courage to amend my life.
Personal intentions:
Please add your own intentions here.
Our Father:
Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Glory Be:
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end, Amen.
Weekly
Journal
Prompt
Weekly Readings
This week in contemplating our need for Redemption, we can hit some hard truths. Our brains are hard wired to make excuses for us and two us to justify our sometimes poor behavior. Thus we can never really even fairly examine the state of being without the grace of God. We need both the courage to convict ourselves as sinners and God's mercy to understand that we are worth saving. How have you come to understand or experience a need for a Savior? Why do the Cross and Resurrection have to be so bound together? Can you have one without the other?
Click on the Link to download each of the articles for further reading this week.
Personal Redemption
Can I be saved? Click here to download
A History of Salvation
How does the Holy Spirit change us? Click here to download
What does salvation mean?
Can man live by faith alone? Click here to download
Weekly Activity:
Divine Mercy
This week your activity is to try out a meditative prayer called the Chaplet for Divine Mercy.
You can use a regular set of rosary beads to help you keep your place while praying the chaplet. If you don't have a full rosary the finger rosaries we handed out in class last week will also work well. If you have neither you can always just keep track on your fingers.
Divine Mercy Prayers
Optional Opening Prayers:
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls,
and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.
O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy,
envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
(Repeat 3 times) O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!
Our Father:
Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be that name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail Mary:
Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. Blessed is the Fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Optional Closing Prayer
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.