To the editor:
This letter is an attempt to keep a promise I made to God when I first heard that I was receiving the Benemerenti Medal. I felt totally unworthy of any recognition from the pope. When I prayed about it, I realized that God, who has given me so many opportunities to serve other people, expected me to see this as another opportunity. There was a strong sense that there was something I was to share.
That was when I made the promise. As the weeks went by, I began to see the award as a symbol of God’s forgiveness and mercy. Would there be an opportunity to share with others my confidence in God’s mercy?
There wasn’t, so I am using this means to share what I felt when I received the medal. I came to realize that it was given in recognition of service to the Church in these latter years of my life.
If I am at all worthy of this honor, it is because the sins of my past have been forgiven. I feel that God is leaving me here to work out my salvation in a way that may provide an example to others on how to age relying on God’s help and forgiveness.
In this Year of Faith, may we all come to know God’s forgiveness and mercy.
Maureen Arcand, Madison