Our Blessed Lady appeared and said, " You are about to enter the Lenten season: the Glory of God will always be, now and forever. You must be sincerely sorry for your sins. With a trembling heart, be sorry. It must come from your heart. When you are sincerely sorry, Jesus will forgive you and will be joyful whenever he looks down on you." Part 1 message of the Blessed Lady to Christiana Agbo in Aokpe Nigeria - 1st March 1995
Different teachers and doctors of the Church have taught us by way of various reflections the reason for lent in the liturgical calendar of the Church.
Mary our mother and the mother of the Church, in this apparition, discloses to us the effect and reason for the season. It is for the glory of God. It is a time for “metanoia”, a time for repentance that comes from the heart, not from the head. Not a repentance because of an advantage we want to obtain or a perceived repentance because we have no choice in a certain engagement with certain persons. She says that two things happen when we are sincerely sorry for our sins: it guarantees our forgiveness and it has the capacity to give joy to our Lord when he looks down on us. We are so privileged to know what to do that will bring joy to the Lord.
As simple as it looks, monks and wise men in all ages have recommended many exercises and practices as their own interpretation of scriptures on how to please our Lord, with little success. Our Lady reveals the only requirement and places the ball in our court.
O Mary, pray for us that we may obtain the grace to do the will of God.
Questions:
1. Are we obliged to forgive even when the offender is not sorry (not repentant) for his/her sins?
2. Can the good Lord forgive us even if we do not repent but trust in the power of Mary at the hour of death.
3. What about someone who says, “This is how I feel and I am comfortable with this and you need to take me for who I am” even when what she is indulged in is intrinsically evil? How should we react to this as children of Mary?
4. When someone asks for forgiveness in order to gain certain advantage and afterwards repeats the offence until such a time when he needs same advantage again before coming back for forgiveness while capitalizing on “seventy times seven” (Mt. 18:21-22), what should be the typical reaction of a Christian? Is this not the story of our repentance with the Lord?
5. In reality, when should an offender be made to face the consequence of his actions, whether he repents or not, or should it be forgiveness all the way as a Christian?
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