Words of Hope, Inspiration and Healing
Words of Hope, Inspiration and Healing
When the people brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus, he said, let the one who has not sinned be the first to throw a stone. After they departed, he spoke to the woman: “Did none of them condemn you? Then neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” See what this story is showing us. Christ’s mercy is manifested only AFTER the community, mindful of its own sinfulness, has withheld condemnation. In other words, by not condemning the sinner, we are making it possible, and even easier, for the sinner to be reconciled with Christ; by refusing to condemn others, we free the sinner to seek the mercy of God.
We are saved not by our merits, but by the wondrous mercy of God. Our salvation is not to our credit, but glorifies God, who can save “a wretch like me.” Do not resist His forgiveness. Do not persist in your belief that you are unforgivable. You owe it to yourself, to your child, and to God, to allow Christ’s glory to be manifested through His forgiveness of you, through His reform of your life.
The sin of abortion is the sin of refusing the miracle of God’s gift of life. Don’t commit the sin of refusing God’s offer of a second miracle. It is the gift of God’s forgiveness, the rebirth of your spirit in Christ.
“I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sin no more.” Isaiah 43:25.
“No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can take it out and make you as clean as freshly fallen snow . . . I can make you as white as wool.”
Adapted from Isaiah 1:18.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9.
“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long, for day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover my iniquity . . . and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Psalm 32:3-5.
“Rachel mourns her children, she refuses to be consoled because her children are no more. Thus says the Lord: Cease your cries of mourning. Wipe the tears from your eyes. The sorrow you have shown shall have its reward. There is hope for your future.”
Adapted from Jeremiah 31:15-17.
“Hope is not something we can grab at on our own . . . You cannot demand hope of other people; you can only give it to them. When those close to us do not have any hope, the reason may be because we have failed to give them any . . . [Hope requires] an investment (rather than a withdrawal) of ourselves in the lives and struggles of others.
Hope is transferred only through human beings; hope comes when we are able to reach each other or it does not come at all. Hope is not outside us; it sings in our bruised hearts when some person reaches out to us at the moment we feel like giving up. The Spirit works through the touch of the person who believes in us enough not to give up on us; this action of another makes the deadened filaments of the soul glow once again; it is through persons who give us their light when we are in darkness that we experience the power of Resurrection. Hope comes to life at any moment when one man reaches out sincerely to another.”
Eugene Kennedy, The Joy of Being Human (Garden City, NY: Image Books, Doubleday, 1977).
Originally published in The Jericho Plan by David C. Reardon (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books.) Copyright 1996, David C. Reardon.
