Ruth Chapter 12 - Reconciliation
Chapter 12: I read this chapter with amusement because the Lord has been working on me in this area. It is extremely amusing to me that in the other online book study that I am concurrently doing this week’s topic is also Reconciliation….both the same week. There has to be a message here somewhere. Something the Lord has done since Easter is to lay it on my heart to humbly go to my own pastor for Reconciliation rather than to some unknown priest during communal parish Reconciliation services. That was my previous behavior. With amusement and openness I read this chapter. …….. On p. 159 I liked the analogy of the athlete analyzing his/her game/performance to find his weakness and how the serious athletes then “work tirelessly to transform their weaknesses into strengths.” What a great analogy to life. We as serious Catholic have to be just as serious in our faith walk with the Lord, analyzing and confessing our weaknesses, repenting and praying for forgiveness and for the strength to change and then really striving to improve our performance with the Lord’s help. I find this to be an ongoing process, which is helped by the reading of scripture, books like this and studying the lives of the saints. …. “Great men and women want to know their weaknesses.” They are our role models. ………Matthew states “Repent means to turn back to God. Do you need to?” In our society right now it seems like we are not suppose to be judgmental. …We let people wallow in their sinfulness in the name of being open-mindedness. Do we need to repent? Yes! Do I need to repent? Yes! And I think we have a responsibility, with the Lord’s guidance, to lead others to repentance and into relationship with our Lord. Easier said than done! …… I liked the line “Every journey toward something is a journey away from something.” I want to walk a straight journey toward God but I tend to keep turning back and forward. Two steps forward and one step back….I hope the growth is forward. …… I also like the line on p. 163, “I find Reconciliation to be a humbling experience but not a humiliating one.” Amen to that. p. 165 states, “Reconciliation is not just a cleansing experience, but also a strengthening experience.” Amen to that to and what about the example of the clean car tending to stay clean and the dirty car tending to attract more dirt. I really find that I do strive to “stay clean” when I have humbled myself, looked at my sinfulness, repented, confessed, been absolved and been sent out to sin no more. Lord, may we all realize our value as being touched by the Master’s hand and let us hold on to that hand forever. I thank the Lord for our Catholic gift of Reconciliation.
- posted by Ruth @ 9:59 PM