Objective: To have each person realize the importance of forgiveness and through the process receive reconciliation through Christ, which is a gift from God to each and every one of us.


Introduction
We are called to be forgiven and to forgive. During this Lenten season, we are asked to review our way of life for we are to use the contrast of Christ himself especially reflected in his passion and death. Life itself is a direct reflection of life and death. We live the passion of Christ throughout our own lives. When we choose to act as Christ, we choose life. When we choose to act in earthly ways, we choose death. As we reflect on our own ways, what are the Stations of the Cross for us? We have been forgiven for whatever we have done if only we ask to be forgiven.

During this special Jubilee Year, we are asked to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters. We are asked to forgive and to be forgiven. The grace of God will be upon us in this process of reconciliation. All our acts have either helped create the Kingdom of God among us or they have helped to destroy his presence among us. We are all called to be healed by Christ himself. We are "wounded healers" that need to be forgiven and to be reconciled, but we also can be people that heal and forgive others.


Welcome and Prayer (15 minutes)
We are to welcome each person in the meeting and invite each person to welcome others. Begin with a prayer in which the theme of reconciliation and forgiveness is noted. As part of the prayer, each person will state his or her name so as an active participant in the prayer. We are all called personally to forgive and to reconcile. Galatians 5:13-26 or Colossians 3:5-17 may be used. An appropriate song may be used like "Much Afraid" from Jars of Clay.


Sharing Our Experiences (40 minutes)
Today we see within society and the church community a need and longing for healing and forgiveness. This seems especially true at the turn of a new millennium. As we look around the world, we see both the lights of reconciliation and the shadows of darkness where pain, anger, non-acceptance, and despair abound. These shadows speak of the tremendous cries for forgiveness and reconciliation—for healing within ourselves, our families, our neighborhoods, and our churches and communities. The nightly news and local newspapers paint one story after another of the inability to forgive and heal. Families and communities are torn apart because people refuse to forgive each other and move towards reconciliation.

Every human being has been the victim of some kind of rejection, ridicule, threat, or even violence. Those experiences lead us to lose sight of human kindness and to block our own capacity to trust, love, and forgive. However, forgiveness can cure those wounds and lead us to reconciliation through love. The well-known saying "To err is human, to forgive divine" is a popular way of affirming that we all make mistakes and should be ready to forgive each other in order to live happily. Amidst the daily problems and conflicts that shake our lives, the families and communities that stay together are the ones that recognize their faults and their need for reconciliation—through offering and receiving forgiveness. On the other hand, when there is a refusal to forgive, "our hearts are closed and their hardness makes them impervious" even to God's forgiveness (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2840).

Discussion questions:

• In small groups, each individual is asked to share one instance in which they felt they were forgiven. How did it feel to be forgiven?
  
• Each participant shares one instance when they forgave someone. Describe the situation and how it felt to forgive another person.
  
• Discuss how forgiving and being forgiven helps us become better Christians.

• Each person prepares a time line of his or her own life. This time line includes key moments of their life. Mark three or four moments in which reconciliation was necessary in life. Note the feelings that followed after each particular situation.
  
• Have you noted any particular times when you have not felt that you were forgiven?
  
• In small groups, discuss ways in which we experience reconciliation as a community. What moments and elements do we experience every week that help each of us forgive and be forgiven?

• Brainstorm actions and projects that can promote forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing. (One example of such an action is to conduct a reconciliation service to seek and to receive pardon as individuals and as a community.)
  
• Separate the ideas according to the following levels:
  
  • Actions to be undertaken at the personal level
    
  • Actions requiring the participation of different groups within the faith community
    
  • Actions involving the whole faith community and/or the local civic community
• Prioritize those actions that are most important and urgent, and develop a plan to implement them.

• What helped you participate in this session and what made it difficult?
  
• What did you learn and accept about others?
  
• What did you learn about your faith?
  
• How did people make a commitment to implement a course of action?

• Opening hymn/song
  
• Invocation or invitation to prayer
  
• Scriptural reading
  
• Prayer of thanksgiving or petition
  
• The Lord's Prayer
  
• Final prayer and sign of peace
  
• Closing hymn

• Where do I need to experience reconciliation before I leave for Rome? Whom do I need to forgive?
  
• How might I be an Ambassador of reconciliation while on pilgrimage?

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