FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION - #6

When I entered the Passionist community, I learned a prayer directed to Jesus Christ Crucified. We Christians acknowledge that he is our high priest and mediator, our peace and reconciliation. Contrition prayers seven, eight, and ten of the 1973 Rite of Penance are addressed to Christ.

Prayer seven is clearly focused."Lord Jesus, you chose to be called the friend of sinners. By your saving death and resurrection free me from my sins. May your peace take root in my heart and bring forth a harvest of love, holiness, and truth."

This prayer should bring deep consolation. It acknowledges that Jesus is the friend of sinners. The penitent is in safe company. The prayer then indicates that forgiveness and reconciliation come about through the paschal mystery, the saving death and resurrection, the charter event of faith. Then the person asks that peace will "take root in my heart." The peace prayed for is much more than a feeling of personal relief, tranquility, or calm. Biblical peace is God's gift. It is wholeness of relationship between God and Israel, between God and the land, between Israel and the nations. This peace is fullness of prosperity. It is fruitful. It produces "a harvest of love, holiness, and truth."

The next contrition prayer says,"Lord Jesus Christ, you are the Lamb of God; you take away the sins of the world. Through the grace of the Holy Spirit restore me to friendship with your Father, cleanse me from every stain of sin in the blood you shed for me, and raise me to new life for the glory of your name."

Christ is addressed as the Lamb of God, a New Testament and liturgical title. His messianic role is to take away the sins of the world. Then the penitent asks for the grace of the Holy Spirit so that she may be in friendship with God, the Father of Jesus. As in the former prayer, the power of the paschal event is at the center of forgiveness. Cleansing from sin is possible because of the blood Christ shed. The sinner acknowledges that the Crucified One shed his blood for her personally. Forgiveness brings new life. "Raise me to new life for the glory of your name."

Like the blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52) the penitent addresses Jesus in simple and unadorned words. "Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The prayer resonates with the divine liturgy. Kyrie eleison. Lord have mercy. This prayer, called the Jesus Prayer in the Eastern Catholic tradition, is repeated over and over in contemplative prayer. Repetition helps to stencil the prayer on the tablets of the heart. I have often used this prayer with children because it is simple and profoundly traditional.

The last contrition prayer addresses God."Lord God, in your goodness have mercy on me: do not look at my sins, but take away all my guilt. Create in me a clean heart and renew within me an upright spirit,"

This prayer is straightforward. It asks for mercy and the removal of guilt. It concludes with the sentiment of Psalm 50, the great penitential psalm. "Create in me a new heart and renew within me an upright spirit." Ultimately, forgiveness and reconciliation is about receiving and cultivating a new heart.