Millennial Lenten Reflections: Divine Forgiveness

Editor’s Note: The following is part of Millennial Lenten Reflections, a blog series in collaboration with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Short reflections on the day’s readings, written by young adults from FMS and other organizations, will be posted everyday throughout Lent. 

In today’s Gospel we hear Caiaphas explain to the Pharisees why he wants Jesus to be killed : “…It is better for you that one man should die instead of the people so that the whole nation may not perish.”

To Caiaphas it seemed that killing one man was justified because the rest would be saved and unified. How often have I used similar logic to justify my own actions?

I’m just going to do it, even though I probably shouldn’t, because then I’ll be happy, and doesn’t God want me to be happy?

When ultimately, my logic proves wrong. As the first reading reminds us, God simply wants to be with us. God asks us to follow his “statues and decrees” to cleanse us, to shower his blessings upon us.

And who am I kidding, every time I start a sentence with “I want to, but probably shouldn’t” usually leads to regret, not happiness.

As we approach Holy Week, I think of all the ways I have tried to justify my wrong actions. And how Christ has taken these wrongdoing and debts I have accrued and paid the price, because he is my God, and I am his daughter.

Anusia Dickow wanders around this world looking for God, most immediately in Washington, DC where she lives. She graduated from Saint Louis University with a degree in Theological Studies, focusing particularly on Ignatian Spirituality.