On Radical Forgiveness

Immaculee and Pope John Paul II are very much like saints. Both can forgive the person or people who have so wrongfully harmed them and altered their lives forever. It is truly amazing, the closest one can get to divine probably. I cannot even imagine being able to forgive someone, truly forgive someone for harming me and being able to move on and accept them.

In PJPII's case he forgave the man who tried to kill him. An act of God saved him, so I can see why he found it in himself to forgive him since he knew God was with him and He would protect him. PJP and Immaculee are remarkable people. Forgiving someone who purposefully and consciously tried to cause harm to you is something I myself cannot imagine doing. They say to be able to forgive is divine, so in a sense I guess I will always be trying to achieve that, but Immaculee and PJP succeeded by leaps and bounds and now serve as very important role models in this instance.

On a Messy World

When I hear about injustices or tragedies in the news or by word of mouth, I sometimes do not know how to respond. Sometimes I am moved so deeply that I actually find a way to help. Other times I can brush it off and feel empathy but not the need to help. I think through the Gospel we are taught to take to heart the suffering and injustices we hear about and try to do something about them. I will be the first to admit that it is hard to find a way to help in an injustice that happens across the globe. If I am not immediately affected by something it is hard to make a connection to it and understand fully the repercussions. When we hear stories of women being abused and degraded in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, i understand how horrific that is, but since I am not directly affected and those countries are so far away, I don't think I can help. The Gospel basically tells us we ought to take what we hear seriously and do anything we can to stop it. The article says that basically reacquainting ourselves with the seriousness of the injustices we hear about or see on a day to day basis is the key to making a difference. When we hear about deaths or injustice daily it desensitizes us to the seriousness of the offenses. According to the article, prayer may just be the answer in helping us to sensitize ourselves with the situations in a hope to relate to them. I think any method that tries to make people realize the seriousness of the worldwide injustices and suffering that takes place every day will help. Prayer or familiarization of the happenings or just a want to know what happens outside of our communities can help. Also when faced with terrible news like starving children or mass amounts of people without homes, its easy to think that a single person can't help, so why bother. But in reality, it takes a lot of people who want to help but don't know how coming together and making a difference.