The sixth day of Lent
Tuesday after 1 Lent
The day before the beginning of Orthodox Lent is called "Forgiveness Sunday." At
Vespers on that day, the faithful participate in a remarkable and very personal
ceremony: they approach one another and ask forgiveness for any sins they have
committed against each other. This is not a substitute for sacramental
confession and absolution. Rather it is the logical, may we say necessary?,
prerequisite.
Sacramental
penance is often thought of as a private matter between the penitent and God, by
way of a priest, an opportunity to erase the tally of black marks on the
scorecard of the soul so that one may have a fresh start in God's eyes. This
scorecard mentality misses the point entirely. It represents a self-centered
spirituality that focuses on personal salvation, a salvation that can be
achieved or earned by fulfilling certain requirements, passing certain tests,
and, when those things fail, getting a special dispensation from the
scorekeeper. Perhaps we need to alter the terms in which we speak of these thing
in order to make any headway in addressing what is really at stake. To speak of
forgiveness tends to localize the idea in each individual. Forgiveness requires
only two people: the person needing forgiveness and the person doing the
forgiving. And often the person doing the forgiving is not the injured party,
but God, the injured party having been skipped over in the scorecard mentality
which is interested only in the ultimate disposition, not in the proximate
circumstances that have led us to need forgiveness in the first place. The 1979
Book of Common Prayer provides a service for the "Reconciliation of a
Penitent." One of the forms provided follows the traditional western form of
sacramental confession. Even so, the change of title sets a more helpful
context. Forgiveness is empty if it is not accompanied by reconciliation. In
fact, it is possible to be forgiven without being reconciled. A debt may be
forgiven and erased from the books, but this does not mean that that creditor
will do business with the defaulter in the future. Reconciliation goes beyond
forgiveness. Reconciliation is a renewal of the relationship which was broken as
well as forgiveness for the act that caused the break in the first place, and
this is what salvation is truly about. The prodigal son is received back by his
father as a son, not as the mere servant he himself knows that he deserves to
be. So let us seek forgiveness and reconciliation on a personal level. We have
provided a
liturgical form to inaugurate this quest at the beginning of Lent. This is a
beginning but it is limited to those within the community of faith and should be
carried out into our daily encounters with everyone we meet, particularly those
who are not of the community of faith and are in even greater need of the
reconciling grace of Christ.
forward to The seventh day of Lent
Full Homely Divinity Home Page