Work to be a better person and try forgiveness

    With the celebration of Easter, many also look forward to enjoying what they had given up for Lent. While I did not give up food or drinks this year, in the past I have alternated between my two favorites – coffee and chocolate – and I distinctly recall rejoicing when I could again taste what I had abstained from.
    However, it is important to realize that we are still celebrating Easter with the Easter Octave. As my pastor has been continuing to remind us, Lent was not simply about sacrificing and abstaining from our favorite foods but also about working to become a better person. Rather than throwing our hands up and returning to our actions pre-Easter, we should continue to work to become the best person we can be.
    In his sermons, Pope Francis also has been encouraging us to become more compassionate and gentler people. Throughout these past few weeks, we have been watching our new pope and trying to learn what kind of pope he will be and how he will lead us.
    I believe this is our first clue: his insistent call for compassion. And what a message that is, particularly in our society,  where we are often not willing to turn the other cheek!
    Forgiveness is key to compassion, for if we learn to forgive our wrongdoers, we can become more compassionate people.
    In one of the homilies I heard over the Easter Triduum, the priest spoke about how easy it is for a child to forgive; yet, as adults, we continue to harbor grudges and bear the weight of anger and hate throughout our lives. These are heavy burdens, certainly, and sometimes it can be difficult to let go. But, as Jesus taught us, we must become like children if we want to enter into heaven. We must become childlike in all things, and, as we work to become better persons, we can work on our call to forgiveness and compassion by letting go of anger and refusing to hold grudges.
    Moreover, during these past few weeks of the Easter Octave, we have heard from Pope Francis of the importance of confession. In his sermon for Divine Mercy Sunday, we again heard how important he believes confession to be: “Someone may think: my sin is so great, I am as far from God as the younger son in the parable (of the prodigal son), my unbelief is like that of Thomas; I don’t have the courage to go back, to believe that God can welcome me and that he is waiting for me, of all people. But God is indeed waiting for you; he asks of you only the courage to go to him.”
    Confession is always a scary sacrament for me: I always wonder, even though I have never gone face-to-face, what the priest will think as I recite my sins. But ultimately, I usually question whether God will actually forgive the same sins that I seem to repeat.
    It’s hard for anyone to admit that they were wrong, to admit the sins they have committed, which is why Pope Francis so eloquently calls for courage. It is, indeed, courage that we must muster to go into the confessional and begin our acts of contrition. I know that I always have to rehearse in my mind what I have to do, and I know that I always get nervous standing in line and then opening the curtain. But there is always a feeling of relief, stepping out of the confessional and beginning penance. It is a feeling of renewal and of cleansing, and it is with the accompaniment of these feelings that we can truly go out to forgive and feel compassion for others.
     As we continue to celebrate the Easter Octave, it isn’t too late to go to confession or to make up for the Lenten promises that were broken. As our society continues to give in to numerous sinful temptations, we must continue working towards our own renewal, to becoming better, more compassionate, people.
    Heather Bozant Witcher can be reached at [email protected].