Jordan Paul

The Lord never tires of forgiving us. It is we who get tired of asking for pardon. —Pope Francis

Dear Friends,

When I started writing this, I had a very clear idea of the story I wanted to tell, how it related to today’s readings, and how it tied in to forgiveness. Unfortunately, like many of you may know, an idea in your mind doesn’t always make a great transition when you attempt to put it in writing. Alas, it will have to wait for another day.

Instead, I’m thinking about the inherent contradictions between the sacred and secular, especially in Tucson at this time of year. It was quite warm on Palm Sunday, is going to be in the mid-80s today, and even hotter tomorrow. Spring has, for lack of a better word, sprung! Yet, we as Christians are still in a season of penitence that might feel a bit out of place. Today is Friday! Many of us are oh so close to being off work for the weekend, yet today is one of the darker days on the church calendar. But, contrary to popular caricatures, religion does not rest solely on this seeming doom and gloom. One way that Christianity in particular defies this caricature is around forgiveness. It’s the attitude around forgiveness that is especially contradictory.

Today’s Gospel doesn’t read as particularly happy. In a conversation with St Peter, Jesus tells him that he will deny Jesus three times before the cock crows. St Peter does, in fact, deny Jesus three times. Yet, we also know how this story ends: Jesus forgives St Peter and commands him to follow him and to feed his sheep.

In an interview (that is really worth reading in full) with Vox from 2021, Elizabeth Brueng, a Roman Catholic journalist, expanded on one of her tweets where she had written that “As a society, we have absolutely no coherent story—none whatsoever—about how a person who’s done wrong can atone, make amends, and retain some continuity between their life before and after the mistake.” She went on to talk about how forgiveness isn’t when someone isn’t actually responsible for what happened and isn’t when you’re trying to mitigate what happened by finding reasons to lessen an offender’s culpability. Instead, she said that “Forgiveness is when you decide to permanently forgo seeking restitution or vengeance—or however you want to think about it—for an offense that someone really did commit.

The forgiveness that Bruenig talks about is the same forgiveness we are called to show others. We’re called to show that forgiveness to others because it is the same forgiveness that Jesus showed St Peter and that is continually shown to all of us. I hope that promise sustains you on this Good Friday as we all look toward the festive and joyous season that follows.

In Christ,

—Jordan