Newsletter - 30 March 2025
“We beseech you, in the name of Christ, be reconciled to God” 2 Co 5:20
Dear brothers and sisters,
We are already half way through Lent: we have all started a journey, just as we are and wherever we are in our spiritual life, with our own personal willingness or reluctance of the moment, and most probably a mixture of both. Today let us ponder on this one verse of Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians where he asks the Corinthians to be reconciled to God. Paul’s plea is straightforward, and direct.
First of all Paul is appealing, some translations use “beseech”, others “plead, beg, pray, implore” to translate the Greek verb παρακαλέω… in all these there is an idea of pleading or insisting. This means that being reconciled to God was not a spontaneous behaviour in Corinth and its inhabitants needed to be waken up and motivated, as there is something major at stake.
Moreover this verse sheds light that reconciliation does not work without our free will and choice. The Lord our God is ready to forgive but we are to give a free and willing response to this readiness. The structure of the sentence points out to “be reconciled”. We are thus not commanded to do the work of reconciliation between man and God, actually this is a task that man cannot achieve by himself. God has done the work, through Christ on the cross, reconciling the world to himself. Actually these are the very words used in the Absolution prayer in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
However, on our side, it is our task to embrace and receive the gift of God. Indeed, it is not so much to reconcile as “being reconciled”. We are to yield and long for reconciliation, to submit in whole to the Lord’s good hands. When we step into God’s mercy, we are reconciled with ourselves, others, God and life.
The Parish is organising a reconciliation evening on Tuesday 1 April. It could be a good opportunity, for those who are willing to, to embrace this verse of Paul more fully and to embark on a reconciliation journey with the Lord. For sure, the work is not to be done by us, but on our side, we are to wish and be willing to be reconciled. Are we going to respond to Paul’s request?.
Fr Pascal Sullivan, ccn
Focus of the week
SERVICE OF RECONCILIATION
Tuesday 1 April 7.30pm – 9.00pm
In preparation for Easter we will be having our annual Lenten Service of Reconciliation. There will be an opportunity for personal confession.
LENTEN JOURNEYS
During Lent this year we will be offering video testimonies of journeys taken by people in our parish. This week a parishioner shares how God led her to our parish Alpha course. Like millions of people in the world, this simple video series changed her life.
Video available from the Parish Website www.christthekingcockfosters.co.uk