Category Archives: Psalm 103

Forgiveness is a journey

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Lawrence W. Ladd (1879-1945)
Parable of the King and His Servants, ca. 1880
watercolor and pencil on paper
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Gift of Bates and Isabel Lowry, 1986.70.5

Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults. Sirach 28:7

Forgiveness is a journey that takes time and our willing participation. God gently calls us to let go of the wrath and resentment that have held us in bondage and become more like God in mercy and kindness. To answer God’s call we work our way through the anger and blame and fear we feel as the result of being treated disrespectfully, carelessly, scornfully, unjustly, inhumanely. We will eventually arrive at the heart of the grief of how others have treated us, how we have treated others, how a societal norm is growing where it is acceptable to treat people as objects to be manipulated rather than as subjects who have been made in love to be loved.

Today I will ask God to show me how to forgive those who have hurt me and to become willing to make amends to those I have hurt. I will remember God’s covenant of love and ask for the grace to grow more like God in mercy, kindness, patience, and compassion.

Cultivate your true nature

Jan Luyken (1649-1712)
etching illustrating Luke 13:6-9
Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England
Photo by Harry Kossuth, 2009

Jesus told them this parable… “[The gardener] said to [the orchard owner] in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future.'” Luke 13:8-9

We are called to cultivate and feed our true nature of love and goodness in order to help bring peace, justice, and love to our troubled world. Praying, meditating, contemplating sacred Scripture, and taking time just to be are ways to nurture our hearts, minds, and bodies so that we bear the good fruit of love and goodness in our daily lives.

Today I will ask God to remove any obstacle that prevents me from fostering the growth of mercy, kindness, patience, and generosity towards those who are afraid, suffering, or in need of sanctuary.

Release enmity

The Unforgiving Servant – Matthew 18:21-35 JESUS MAFA. from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. [retrieved September 17, 2023].

Remember your last days, set enmity aside. Sirach 28:6a

When I hold on to wrath, anger, vengeance, or enmity, I am in danger of embodying those forces of destruction. When I hold on to kindness, mercy, patience, and compassion, I become more like the Lord whose power of love brings healing and forgiveness to all hearts.

Today I will pray for those who have hurt me, and I will pray for those I have hurt.

Kindness and mercy

Mount of the Beatitudes

Jesus said to his disciples, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44

The Lord doesn’t call me to seek out harmful situations, but life experiences of unjust treatment, rejection, or abuse do happen. I must cultivate a practice of letting go of the pain, fear, and grief caused by people or events that are out of my control and ask God to bless everyone I find hard to love.

Today I will immerse myself in God’s kindness and mercy. I will ask God to open my heart so that I may in my turn release the kindness and mercy I receive from God into the world.

Lord, bless all the people I resent and help me to forgive them. Bless all those who resent me, too, as I am not always kind, merciful, or loving in my treatment of others.

Cultivate kindness and compassion

James Tissot (1836-1902)
Le vigneron et le figuier,
between 1886 and 1894
gouache over graphite
on gray wove paper
Brooklyn Museum

The Lord is kind and merciful. Psalm 103:8a

Kind words and actions and a compassionate presence do more to build up the kingdom of heaven than harshness, impatience, and an unforgiving attitude.

Lord, show me how to be more like you. Fill me with your kindness, peace, and compassion. May my words and actions reflect your infinite patience and love.