Seeds of Righteousness

From Safari….

Some years ago, two teenagers with a long history of crime and misbehavior robbed a YMCA on the lowest East Side of New York City. On the way out they saw a young man at the telephone switchboard. They were frightened and assumed that the man must be calling the police. They held and beat him violently with brass knuckles and a black jack. They thought he was dead; they hid him behind the swimming pool and escaped.

Later that evening, a woman who came to swim was walking by the pool. She slipped in the man’s blood, screamed, and then found Donald Tippet’s body. He lived, but one eye was so badly damaged that it could not be saved.

Meanwhile, the two teenagers were seized and brought to trial. Their past records assured that both would get long sentences. Donald Tippet did an amazing thing when he called for the judge to allow the two young men to be paroled to his charge. He wanted to give them another chance. He believed they could change. One of the boys committed another crime, was caught, and sent to jail. The other boy was receptive to Tippet’s kindness. He went to college and then to medical school. He became one of our nation’s leading eye surgeons.

Here is a point to ponder: we are the Church of Second Chances. This evident in the first years of the church. Peter denied Jesus. Thomas didn’t believe. Paul was temporarily blinded before he could see clearly. The Mass begins with an admission of sinfulness. Before we receive communion, we confess that we are not worthy.

The good news of Easter gives us the confidence to believe in the incredible mercy of God which is beyond our comprehension. Jesus Christ died and rose for each of us, not because we earned it but because God believes in us. Always giving us another chance to change. To allow His will to be our guiding principle.

God has planted within us the seed of righteousness. Through our encounter of Christ in the Eucharist and Reconciliation, our sins are washed away and our hearts are filled with love. Motivated to share the love of God with others we refrain from gossip, speak kindly, give someone another chance. How are you responding to the second, third, fourth…chance God has given you? What keeps you from whole heartedly accepting God’s will in your life?

O Lord thank you for believing in us. Help us walk in your love every day!

Fr. Ron