These Pricking Thorns of Guilt

March 31, 2011 by Joseph Susanka

Continued from Page 1

But it is Léa and her uncompromising, unquestioning love that gives Juliette the strength to move past her troubled history into a new and hope-filled future. Léa's unstinting efforts on her sister's behalf, her eager self-sacrifice and her passionate pleas for Juliette to divulge the painful and corrosive secrets that are eating her from within, are the catalysts for a real transformation.

Léa's love is not contingent on her sister's acknowledgment of the gravity of her crime, or even the sincerity of her repentance, and it is by means of the unconditional nature of this love that Juliette recognizes the one and fulfills the other. Without her, there would be no return to life for Juliette—no release from her debilitating guilt.

Blessedly, few of us will ever be called to confront remorse as grave as that which plagues Juliette. And yet, no matter how grievous our guilt may be, we have a far greater Friend than Léa to guide us through our repentance. Like Léa, God is uncompromising in His love; like hers, it is freely given and immeasurable, "pressed down, shaken together, running over" (Luke 6:38).

Just as Juliette was strengthened and guided by her sister's love to transform her life, so too we are strengthened and guided to amend our own lives, not for fear of the justice of His punishments or as a means of escaping the guilty thorns which prick us, but because we have offend Him "Who art all good and deserving of all our love."

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About Joseph Susanka

Joseph Susanka has been doing development work for institutions of Catholic higher education since his graduation from Thomas Aquinas College in 1999. He blogs at Crisis Magazine, where he also contributes feature articles on a variety of topics.

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