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MAY 10
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
“And whenever you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone,
forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mk
11: 25)
What does it mean to “hold anything against anyone”? This is often
more subtle than I care to acknowledge. I can “hold” a quiet, yet deepseated
resentment against someone, or a group of people, or even
myself, without noticing this. For example, I might constantly perceive
someone else as ungrateful for something I did or do for them; I might
feel disturbed by something a close friend said about me and turn this
around and around in my mind; I might feel burdened and discouraged
by my own inconsiderate words or actions on the past day.
All this creates an obstacle, the Lord reminds me today, to my relationship
with God. He wants me to “let it go,” so that I, in my prayers to Him, am
on “the same page” with Him, Who is merciful and forgiving. He wants
me to seek and rely on His mercy and forgiveness, but also to learn,
through seeking this contact with Him, to likewise be merciful and
forgiving. Because forgiveness of others and of myself tears down the
obstacles between me and God’s grace. It brings me out of the dead-end
of resentment and discouragement, and helps me to change and move
forward, with His loving help.
Today I am gratefully reminded to “let it go,” whatever I might be “holding
against” anyone, and hand it over to God’s mercy. Let me take note of
these small or large grudges I might be carrying around, and let them be
forgiven, “on earth as it is in heaven.”
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