Begging for forgiveness

There are many people who have these deep wounds. The wounds that run so deep and forgiveness may not even be an option let alone on the radar. However, while reflecting on the life of Saint Maria Goretti, one cannot help but look at the letter written by her attacker on his deathbed. Alessandro Serenelli wrote a letter to the world. The most pro-founding is Mr. Serenelli did not demand forgiveness. He begged for forgiveness. He begged Maria’s mother for forgiveness. He begged the community for forgiveness. And more importantly, he begged for forgiveness from God.

What is striking that over 200 years later, we are a race that demands. We demand everything including forgiveness. We demand that people say sorry. We demand that people need to “pay” for their mistakes. We demand that God forgives us for committing a sin and then turn around and commit the same sin within twenty minutes of leaving the Confessional. So one can only wonder, in a world of so much hurt and anguish, how does one understand the full concept of repentance. Do we need to get to the utter point of despair and hopelessness?

The answer is no. We do not need to be completely in the form of wanting to take our own lives to live with a feeling of peace. We do not need to be rationalizing the idea of why did we commit the crimes we committed. We do not need to be rationalizing the sins we committed. Grant you, on many accounts Alessandro was on the brink of despair. He was realizing what he did years prior and how this was going to affect his life. We do not need to allow it to get to the point of despair. Christ has allowed us to drop everything at the foot of the cross. However, we have to be willing to allow Christ to be the love of our lives.

In the letter, Mr. Serenelli wrote “My behavior was influenced by print, mass-media and bad examples which are followed by the majority of young people without even thinking. And I did the same. I was not worried. There were a lot of generous and devoted people who surrounded me, but I paid no attention to them because a violent force blinded me and pushed me toward a wrong way of life.” Now, how many times do we allow our own behavior to be influenced by the mass-media? How many times did we walk past the homeless person standing on the corner? How many times did we spit on someone who has a disability? How many times did we scorn someone for something that had nothing to do with him? How many times did we walk on the other side of the street because we did not want to be bothered? These are all examples of the bad examples we still follow today. While we may not be committing rape, aren’t we still committing the same sins by being influenced by the media?

What if it is time we beg our families for our forgiveness? What if it is time we beg our communities for our forgiveness? What if it is time we beg our church for our forgiveness? But more importantly, isn’t it about time we beg God for forgiveness? While we always pray for purity and to have a life of God, maybe it is time that we start praying for the strength to be humble enough to seek forgiveness. Be humble enough to know the media is not helping our actions. Be humble enough to set the example to spend time in Adoration. Set the example to spend time after Mass. Set the example to pray before bed. Set the example to find a way to go to Confession more often. Whatever the options, do the opposite of the media. Show people that Christ is still present in the world.

By taking more of a stand with our faith and showing the world that the media is not a strong hold in our lives. Show people that we are willing to put Christ first and follow His teachings. By telling the world that we are not willing to allow the media to be our influence. Our influence needs to be Christ. We need to get back to the issues of being more Christ-like. Let people know that Christ is still present today as much as he was 2000 years ago.