Daily Gospel Reflection for June 15, 2023

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: Mathew 5:20-26

Today is my 60th birthday. As I prepare this reflection, this auspicious occasion is blessedly still months in the future. But as you read this, today is the day, the big 6-0.

Praying through Christ’s Sermon on the Mount as we have these past few days reminds me of a remarkable moment in my life when I had the opportunity to personally visit the Mount of Beatitudes in the Holy Land. That adventure, like so many I have experienced in my life, was the personal fulfillment of a dream. As with my many other life pilgrimages, praying in that place forever impacted my relationship with God and my prayer with his holy Word.

Today’s Gospel focuses on reconciliation from anger as Jesus teaches the assembled masses before him to seek reconciliation, forgiveness, and mercy. Forgiveness, both for the accuser and the accused, is one of those invisible gifts that we can never really properly understand. Yet, as people of faith, we know the gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the peace that is awaiting us when we allow ourselves to be bathed in God’s mercy.

At sixty, I still have many life lessons to learn. But one I know with certainty from lived experience is the gift of forgiveness. Having held grudges and anger in my gut, I know how destructive these forces can be and how whole I felt when I finally let them go. Having hurt a loved one and received forgiveness from them, I can attest to the joy of true reconciliation.

Even if the person we forgive has no idea that we have let it go, forgiving it is an act of mercy. And let us not forget those moments when we are called to give up the anger we possess against ourselves. This matters too!

If you are holding a burden of anger in your heart, give yourself a gift for my birthday today and invite Jesus along your path of forgiveness.

Ponder:

With whom am I angry today? How can I invite Jesus to walk the path of reconciliation today so that I may be led to wholeness of faith?

Pray:

Holy Spirit, Paraclete of Peace, infuse me with grace today that I may set aside resentment, judgment, and anger. I long to walk the path of peace.

Click to tweet:
Give yourself a gift today by answering Jesus Christ’s call to give up anger and to seek instead mercy and forgiveness. #DailyGospel

Copyright 2023 Lisa M. Hendey