Reconciliation is the good virtue

Apr 16, 2014

By Bernard Anthony
“What virtue do you practice?”asked Fr Andrew Kooi. “First we need to be reconciled with my brother /sister and only then can I offer my gift to God. We cannot have one set of relationship with God and another set with people; I cannot be reconciled to one and not to the other. Repentance has to be expressed both to God and the person I have hurt.”

“It is no use going to pray and making our offering to God if we have hurt a brother/sister. We must leave the gift at the altar and go and be reconciled with him/her and then only come and offer the gift to God, which is the focus of Matthew 5:2-26.”

Fr Andrew Kooi facilitated a short Lenten Reflection titled Loving and Forgiving for 43 Catholics from Kuala Lumpur on Mar 29 at the Church of the Sacred Heart.

To give us a good example, Fr Kooi said the Lord’s Prayer clearly states…forgive us our trespasses (sins,) as we forgive those who trespass (sin) against us… Then Fr Kooi asked, “How often are we conscious about this?” Giving another example, Fr Kooi said when making the Sign of Peace, “are we exchanging the sign of peace with each other genuinely or just putting on a show?”

The 43 participants then went into personal reflection on the following questions:
-- Are we loving and forgiving to others, just as God is loving and forgiving to us?
-- Do we hold grudges against others, or have we learnt to break free from them and learnt to forgive and reconcile?
-- Is my relationship with God growing, or am I drifting away from God?
-- Am I procrastinating with my spiritual growth, or am I doing something to improve it?

Before the Lenten Reflection, the group of 43 participants held a Prayer Session in the Church. Finally, Fr Kooi gave an introduction on the history of his parish and the other three places of worship, namely Annunciation in Raub, St Francis Xavier in Kuala Lipis and the Mass Centre in Genting Highlands which he also administers. He called on the faithful that the local Church needs more young priests and people to help in God’s vineyard and asked the group to pray for more vocations.