Reconciling GraceSample

Healing Grace

What a beautiful picture of healing, restoration, and grace we see in this passage. What if every congregation emulated this depiction of gracious restoration in the criminal justice system? What if offenders who are repentant believers were greeted with joy while they were still a great way off, in prison? What if they were lovingly guided home as the forgiving father did his prodigal son? Once a brother or sister in Christ has served their sentence and is returning home, what if they were graciously welcomed back into the community with a ceremony or celebration of reentry? Such grace could do much to heal the many wounds caused by incarceration.

Let us remember that every person is in dire need of grace, from God as well as from one another. There is great power in the forgiveness we receive, but even more so in the forgiveness we grant.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we humbly beseech you to grant us your grace and give us the willingness to grant grace to others. Bring all of your repentant, incarcerated daughters and sons back home to their families. Grant healing to anyone they have hurt, and the forgiveness and grace to forgive them. Help us to do all that we can to welcome them back into the community. AMEN.

Author

Luigi is committed to transforming the criminal justice system to focus on restoring individuals to useful citizenship and away from a model focused on punishment. He is a North Park writing assistant and helps organize student writing workshops. He is working to shatter malicious, dehumanizing stereotypes around incarcerated persons.