In the introduction to the week these words: “Nothing in Jesus is alien to us.” followed by these words from Merton: “Christ is the Lord of a history that moves.”
Christ, Jesus, is a part of humanity in part as he bore, bears, responsibility for humanity’s sinfulness as do we all whether or not we commit the particular act or not. Just as humanity’s relationship with God changed eternally with Adam’s and Eve’s disobedience so humanity’s relationship with God is restored by Jesus’ choice to allow crucifixion, choice in the sense of purposely rejecting the normal human response of fight or flight in face of the authorities condemnation and not in the sense of supernatural omniscience. We like Jesus can choose to repent of humanity’s sins, atone for the evil done by the communities we inhabit. In fact as followers of Jesus we are called to do just that. I was profoundly affected by a Roman Catholic priest who apologized and sought forgiveness from a group of women for the abuses of the priesthood. While I am sure he had not personally committed those sins I am equally sure he accepted the responsibility of his priestly community for the evil done, repented, and sought reconciliation whatever the cost.
Merton wrote: “It is by the Cross that we enter the dynamism of creative transformation, the dynamism of resurrection and renewal, the dynamism of love.”
The experience was freeing beyond belief for me. Past hurts completely faded. And I suspect it was also liberating for him. Rather than deny, justify, rationalize, and run from the evil we do, like Christ, if we are crucified we are freed to rise again to new life. We all are free to take on another’s sin, to confess, to make restitution, to atone. Thereby forgiveness and reconciliation can happen; Christ leads the way.
Might we try?
Merton said: “True encounter with Christ liberates something in us, a power that we did not know we had, a hope, a capacity for life, resilience, an ability to bounce back when we thought we were completely defeated, a capacity to grow and change, a power of creative transformation.”
How will you, how will we, respond to the resurrected crucified One?
Blessings, Caroline
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