Portals of life
09/16/2018
Atonement
Fr. Al Demos, September 23, 2018
On September 19th our Jewish brethren celebrated the Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur. The Greek word for ‘atonement’ is “εξιλέωση”. Theologically the word means ‘to make reparations for wrongs’ and to ‘make reconciliation with God’. It calls to mind the need for us to confess our sins both daily to God and through the Holy Sacrament of Confession, where one confesses to God before the priest who witnesses the confession on behalf of the Church.
In the early Church confessions were given before the congregation as well as privately before a priest. It was considered best that the confessions be kept confidential before the priest and not as a matter where others might be unsympathetic and judge the person confessing.
So for us, as Christians, we are asked to atone every day of our lives. Why? Simply because as human beings we make mistakes over and over again, usually the same ones, and sometimes others. We are reminded that though we “atone” the only way our atonement can be complete is through the loving, compassionate, sympathetic, understanding and profoundly loving mercy of Almighty God!
That can only take place because of the greatest act of atonement in all history that took place almost 2,000 years ago on a hill called Golgotha in Jerusalem. There our Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed His life for our sins and for all the sins of the world of all time. His blood was shed as The Lamb of God to redeem us all from our sins. Though four nails held His body to the Cross, He could have easily come down from the Cross, except for the fact that it His Divine Love for us held Him firmly to the Cross and He absolutely refused to let go of that Divine Love that He cherishes for each and every one of us.
As a Christian, how can anyone not look upon the Cross with love in our hearts for our Lord and regret for our weakness in breaking God’s Holy Commandments? So each day of our Christian life we should turn to God in prayer, praying for those who have passed from this life, praying for those struggling to live a true Christian life, and praying for forgiveness for our own personal weaknesses.
Christ cried out from the Cross to His Holy Father, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” We need to cry out daily in prayer, “Father, forgive us for the wrong we do and for the righteousness we do not do!”
May Almighty God accept our daily ‘atonement’ through His great mercy! Amen!