By Mark Dawes, Staff Reporter
From left: The Rev. Fr. Walter Dorsey, Sister Perla Macapinlac, and Karen Kennedy in a jovial mood as they respond to questions from The Gleaner during a recent interview. - Carlington Wilmot /Freelance Photographer
FORGIVENESS IS perhaps the hardest of Christian virtues human beings are called on to demonstrate. It is often a journey and not a destination. The challenge is for people to begin the journey and stay the course.
Two Roman Catholic churches in Portmore, The Church of the Reconciliation in Bridgeport and Good Shepherd in Braeton, have embraced the ideal of forgiveness and have sought to promote it in a strong way to its members. Both churches are pastored by Rev. Fr. Walter Dorsey.
Fr. Dorsey, who has been in charge of that circuit for the last 10 years was heavily influenced by a series of writings on forgiveness by Gleaner columnist, the Rev. Devon Dick, pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church. The Meadhaven Ministers Fraternal, of which Rev. Dick is chairman, last year launched what it dubbed a forgiveness campaign to urge the nation to be more forgiving of one another. Rev. Dick, used the title of a book published in 2000 by retired Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu to stress "No future without forgiveness."
He invited Rev. Dick to address
his congregation at The Church of the Reconciliation (at which representatives of Good Shepherd were also
present) on the importance of forgiveness for personal and national development. Rev. Dick, says Fr. Dorsey was compelling in his presentation on the subject. After the service, representatives of the two churches met with Fr. Dorsey and Rev. Dick and ironed out a seven-step programme drafted by the Boulevard Baptist pastor to promote forgiveness over seven weeks in the two congregations.
Forgiveness says Sister Perla Macapinlac, a Filipino nun serving the two churches, "is releasing the person who has been offended from resentment toward the offender."
She continued: "When I have resentment and anger in me, I am in prison. I am not free, and there is something that wants to burst out. Forgiveness is releasing that. It does not necessarily mean that I am pardoning you from what you did - you have to answer for what you have done. But it means, I will have no more resentment towards you. I will be kind to you-- Therefore since I do not have this resentment anymore, I will not retaliate."
Fr. Dorsey, Sister Perla and Karen Kennedy, a lay leader at The Church of the Reconciliation were the co-ordinators of the seven-step programme.
The Bible readings, songs, homily
and the general liturgy were designed
to reflect the theme of forgiveness.
The seven-week programme went
something like this:
WEEK ONE:
The first week of the programme was dubbed 'Bawl Out.' "The first week was simply coming to terms with the hurt itself, because sometimes we bottle it up and we pretend as if it doesn't matter, Mrs. Kennedy said. "We said to them, bawl out anyway you can bawl out. Members were encouraged, if they thought it would help, to stand before a mirror and to talk and acknowledge being hurt. We encouraged our members to talk to the mirror as they were talking to the person who caused the hurt-- We told them, just say it, and don't be afraid to use any language that you need to use," Mrs. Kennedy explained. Alternately, the congregations were encouraged to write down their feelings of hurt - as if writing a letter to the person who caused the hurt, Mrs Kennedy said.
WEEK TWO:
The congregations were urged to try to understand the person who needs one's forgiveness and decide not to retaliate but leave the person to God and the authorities. There was a congregational discussion on the reasons why people hurt other people.
One of the emerging conclusions was that people who hurt others were often acting that way because they themselves have been seriously wronged, or never shown appropriate affection. A highlight of this week, Mrs. Kennedy shared, was a skit on the Pharisee and the Publican of St. Luke 18:10-14 - Jamaicanised for the local context.
Week Two also saw the churches turning their attention to the national scene as they extended forgiveness to the society for the murder of priests - Fr. Ron Pieters (killed 1993), Howard Rochester (killed 2000), Martin Royaeckers (killed 2002); and members such as Myrtle Weetom, 68; and her sister Fredricka Weetom, 45, a businesswoman - both of whom were killed on Good Friday 2000; the 'Braeton Seven' killed in 2001.
Then the congregations, recognising that they form part of the society asked for forgiveness on the behalf of society.
WEEK THREE:
The congregations looked at why they should exercise forgiveness. The concluded that the chief reason was because God has Himself forgiven them.
WEEK FOUR:
Members were encouraged to forgive even if they did not feel like forgiving.
WEEK FIVE:
During the service, church members were told to turn to another person and let that person assume the persona of the one they want to forgive. Then the members with their hands touching the person who represents the one who caused the pain, would pray forgiving him/her for the wrong inflicted. "The idea is that one would talk to the person without anymore resentment. The ideas was to talk to this person ( symbolically represented). However, we told them, do not expect that your decision to forgive will necessarily result in change in the person forgiven," Sister Perla explained.
WEEK SIX:
Fr. Dorsey asked the congregations to forgive him of all the things he had done as pastor that has offended them, including those times when his sermons went over an hour. Then a representative of the congregation stood up and accepted his apology and extended forgiveness. The representative also asked Fr. Dorsey to forgive the congregation . The representative confessed some of the sins of the congregations including gossiping, failing to pray for him, failing to inquire about his personal and spiritual welfare. "It was a wonderful moment," said Fr. Dorsey. "It was touching," Mrs. Kennedy said.
WEEK SEVEN:
The congregation was encouraged to accept their own part of the blame in the circumstances for which they seek to extend forgiveness. They were also encouraged to confess failures to God and others. Parents stood up in church and asked children to forgive them when they did to behave as good parents. Children stood up and asked parents forgiveness for those times they did not behave look children. Similarly husbands asked wives to forgive them, and wives sought husbands' forgiveness. Members with issues with other members also stood up and sought forgiveness publicly.
Fr. Dorsey, Sister Perla, and Mrs. Kennedy acknowledged that the churches seemed to have benefited from the seven-steps. They are looking to take the programme to the streets by talking with the young men in and around the community. They will tell them that they are never more like their Creator than when they forgive.
