A lady of society was gazing upon an image she had never seen before in the city’s art museum. "My dear fellow," she said condescendingly to the Curator, "I have never seen this painting before. I find the image shallow and rather crude in appearance. What do you call this?" The curator answered without giving the slightest expression, "That madam, is a mirror."
Mirrors are weird… I can look at myself in the mirror and with all confidence declare to the world, “Stud! Image of pure masculine perfection!”.. but then someone takes a picture of me and “Oh my God! Who the heck is that pudgy.. balding.. dork?”
Show some folks a mirror and they can stand there all day admiring what they see, but for most of us it is a simple tool.. hairs brushed.. nothing fuzzy on the teeth.. shirts not on backwards.. and so on
However.. there are other times when we can look in a mirror a bit more philosophically.. because we look not at the reflection.. but just below the surface of the reflection… and it is there.. that we often times don’t like what we see.
America’s Funniest Home Videos – clearly the greatest show on television – had a segment on silly animals (Zeke with his tongue stuck to the minus seventeen degree metal fence post could have won hands down) but they had this Corgi dog that was going absolutely postal on its own reflection in a mirror.. barking.. growling.. then running around to the back side of the mirror trying to catch its reflection (obviously as bright as Zeke).. but this Corgi was relentless in its attempt to attack and destroy itself..
For many of us.. when we look in the mirror.. and when we gaze just below the surface of the reflection.. we act towards ourselves in a very similar manner.. if we could get at that reflection.. we would tear it to pieces… and this often times comes from the fact that we are disappointed in ourselves for something we did or didn’t do.. because we are angry with ourselves… simply put.. we can’t forgive ourselves.. Like David declares in Psalm 51.. “I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”.. and our reflection is only a constant reminder of who we believe ourselves to be.
So.. how do we learn to forgive ourselves? The difficulty in addressing this from a biblical perspective is that there really are no scriptures speaking to it… and then again.. much of the New Testament and specifically the teachings of Jesus.. speak of nothing else… as St. Paul declares.. In Jesus “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.”..
You see.. forgiving yourself is not about some trick of the mind.. some psycho analytical exercise.. its not any of that… Forgiving yourself is about believing.. the words.. of Jesus.. and what did Jesus say?.. Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven”.. period… No heavy conditions were placed upon those words.. there is no payment required.. there is no need to carry around the burden of our past sins any longer… Why do you think Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”… The Lord declares that your sins are forgiven so that you might be unburdened from them… Allow Him to release you.. To say that your sin is too great, is to declare that God is too small.. and if that’s the case, then we are all doomed.
Take Judas Iscariot for example.. he sinned.. he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver… at Jesus’ arrest he recognized that he had done wrong.. Scripture says, “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders… “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”… “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” … So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself…. Judas had been with Jesus from the beginning… time and time again he had heard those words spoken by Jesus, “Your sins are forgiven.”.. but he could not believe – he saw in the mirror the reflection of himself that the Devil wanted him to see.. that he was sinner of such greatness that he could never be forgiven by God.. and it destroyed him… but.. would Jesus have forgiven Judas?
I remember that story about Bishop Jack Nicholls, the Bishop of Sheffield, who once asked a sixth grade girl where she thought Jesus was between Good Friday and Easter – that time we are told that Jesus descended into hell – the young girl replied, ‘I think he was in deepest hell.. looking for his friend Judas.’
Do not allow the haunting memories of your own sins to destroy you.. instead.. allow Jesus to give rest for your soul….. Your sins ARE forgiven. Believe it.
Let us pray… From the depths of our hearts we thank You, Dear Lord, for Your infinite kindness in coming to us. How good You are to us! With Your most holy Mother and all the angels, we praise Your mercy and generosity toward us, poor sinners. We thank You for nourishing our souls with Your Sacred Body and Precious Blood. We will try to show our gratitude to You in the Sacrament of Your love, by obedience to Your holy commandments, by fidelity to our duties, by kindness to our neighbors and by an earnest endeavor to become more like You in our daily conduct. Amen.
A healing service will follow the sermon today so that we may experience not only the healing of our bodies, but the healing of our souls from the pains of sin.
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