大象传媒

Good Morning.
We are now 10 days in to 2018. How are your New Year鈥檚 resolutions holding up? I鈥檓 afraid mine have long since gone by the board. Losing weight by cutting out alcohol during a dry January? That didn鈥檛 last past January the 1st. Answering emails promptly, and maintaining an empty inbox. I managed that for a single day.

We are always doing things for which we must ask forgiveness: missing a deadline, forgetting a birthday. Fortunately, there are very few of us who need to beg forgiveness for serious crimes.

Evil deeds can be carried out in the name of religion, so it鈥檚 little wonder that some people believe there is no God: if there is a God, why are we still suffering violence and poverty? My answer to this question is unsatisfactory, but it is the best I can do: these are the consequences of acts by people, not God.

As Jesus hung on the cross, dying, a thief who had also been crucified mocked him. A second thief rebuked the first. He recognised that Jesus was innocent of any crime, and asked only that Jesus would remember him when he came into his kingdom. The repentant thief experienced his own epiphany. The faith that the thief exhibited is an example to us all. It鈥檚 never too late to ask for forgiveness.

Let us pray: for those who are guilty of criminal acts. May your mercy and forgiveness lead them to new lives. We pray too for the victims of crime, that they may be comforted by your love.

Let us also pray that, like the repentant thief, we can atone for our misdeeds. We pray for a generosity of spirit, so that, in the words of the Lord鈥檚 Prayer, we may forgive those who trespass against us.
Amen