S1E5.5 BONUS: Mercy and Forgiveness on Good Friday: An Excerpt from Savannah Guthrie's book, Mostly What God Does

Have you ever felt weighed down by shame so heavy it seems impossible to escape? The burden of our past mistakes can strangle us, yet the most transformative power in the universe awaits: forgiveness.

This Good Friday episode takes us deep into a scene from the film "The Mission," beautifully described in Savannah Guthrie's book "Mostly What God Does." We witness the journey of Rodrigo Mendoza, a slave trader who murders his own brother and carries a massive physical burden up a mountain as penance. When he finally faces the indigenous people he once terrorized, something unexpected happens—instead of the execution he deserves, he receives mercy as his burden is cut away, leaving him transformed by forgiveness.

The scene powerfully mirrors what God does for each of us. Many walk through life with shame "strapped to our necks like a hunk of junk," but divine mercy severs these burdens, setting us free. I invite you to consider how you might extend this same transformative forgiveness to yourself today. How might your life change if you could forgive yourself as completely as God already has?

Beyond the compelling imagery, this reflection challenges us to become "this forgiving presence" within ourselves. The spontaneous response to such overwhelming grace is the transformative power of welcoming God back into our lives.  

How has mercy transformed your life? What burden are you ready to let tumble down the mountainside? Join our community as we explore these profound spiritual journeys together.

Music by Song Channel Music.  Listen at SongChannelMusic.com

Go to WelcomingGod.com for more info about the podcast and to subscribe to our email newsletter.  

Find Savannah Guthrie's book, Mostly What God Does, here.  The chapter I read from today is called Mercy, Chapter21, pgs 191-194.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi and thanks for joining me on Welcoming God.
Hello everyone, sarah Haeckel,here.

(00:25):
On Good Friday, which iscelebrated in the Christian
tradition as the day that Jesuswas crucified, and I happened to
read this passage in this bookby Savannah Guthrie called
Mostly what God Does Reflectionson Seeking and Finding His Love

(00:47):
Everywhere this morning,entitled Mercy Me.
It's chapter 21.
And I wanted to read this toyou because it so deeply touched
me, especially on this day, atthis time around forgiveness and
mercy and God's grace and love.

(01:08):
So I give this to you on GoodFriday.
The chapter is called Mercy Me.
In a fit of humiliation andrage, he killed him About 30
years ago.
Savannah Guthrie writes I saw ascene in a movie called the

(01:30):
Mission that I have neverforgotten.
The film is loosely based on atrue story about a group of
Jesuit missionaries in colonialSouth America in the late 1700s
who came to convert theindigenous people to Catholicism
.
1700s who came to convert theindigenous people to Catholicism
.
It pulls no punches about thefraught nature of that effort or

(01:51):
the brutality of the timeperiod.
I recently rewatched it to seeif the scene I had remembered so
vividly held up.
It did.
The movie tells of a Nativepeople living in a magnificent
yet unforgiving mountain region,high above the waterfalls,
almost beyond outside reach.
Almost Robert De Niro plays amercenary and slave trader named

(02:15):
Rodrigo Mendoza.
The first time we see Rodrigo,he is capturing Native adults
and children in a net to sellthem into slavery.
Capturing Native adults andchildren in a net to sell them
into slavery.
He is unrepentantly vicious andarrogant, a fearsome and feared
man cutting a reign of terrorin the community.
That is until one day hereturns home to find that his

(02:38):
lover has left him for anotherman.
That's when, in a fit ofhumiliation and rage, rodrigo
kills him.
The man is his own brother,whom he dearly loved.
Rodrigo descends into despair.
The law provides no punishmentfor his crime of passion.

(02:59):
So when we see him next, he isin a prison of his own making,
living in squalor, shackled byhis own guilt, lying in torment,
wishing for death.
A priest, played by Jeremy Irons, pays a visit.
But Rodrigo has no time for aman of God.
For me there is no redemption,he tells him.

(03:19):
The priest challenges him toaccept penance, a way to pay for
his sins.
There is no penance, hardenough for me, he replies.
And yet, crushed by shame andeager to suffer.
He agrees.
The penance calls for Rodrigo toreturn to the mountain, back to
the villages he once ravaged,this time making the grueling

(03:41):
and unforgiving journey with anenormous makeshift pack strapped
to him a homemade beast ofburden, metal, wood and rubbish,
bound together by rope andtethered to his back.
His expiation is to haul it upthe mountain, the same one he

(04:04):
once traversed on his mission tocapture slaves.
Day after excruciating day, hestruggles to tow his cargo to
the peak, navigating treacherousfalls and scaling cliffs by his
fingernails, his load heavy asa millstone, pulling him ever
downward.
When he is near collapse, atone point some of the younger
priests in the traveling partyrush toward him to cut the pack

(04:26):
loose.
He refuses.
He has not paid his penance.
He will not permit himself tobe relieved of his burden.
It culminates in one of themost powerful depictions of
forgiveness I have everwitnessed.
Savannah writes A scene with nowords spoken, exhausted and near

(04:48):
death, the rope now strappedaround his neck.
He arrives at the top of themountain, where he comes face to
face with the indigenous peoplehe once trapped and sold like
chattel.
The little ones see him firstand recognize him immediately.
They know exactly who it is.
The leader of the peopleapproaches and pulls out a knife

(05:10):
.
Rodrigo is certain he is aboutto die, and surely that is what
he deserves.
The man places the weapon tohis neck.
Holding it there, rodrigoawaits his execution.
The knife is lifted and broughtdown violently, but only to
sever the rope and unleash thepack, the wretched load sent

(05:33):
spiraling down the cliffs to theriver below.
The burden is gone, the weightis released.
The priest, watching the sceneunfold, rushes in kneels and
wraps his arms around Rodrigo,rocking him like a baby, tears
of deliverance rushing down hischeeks like waterfalls,

(05:55):
deserving of death given liferedeemed at the hands of the
very ones he persecuted, at thehands of the very ones he
persecuted.
Is there any moretransformational force in the

(06:15):
universe, savannah writes, isthere anything more powerful to
effect change within the humanheart?
Whether or not we realize it,many of us are walking around
with our shame strapped to ournecks, like a hunk of junk,
strangling us, holding us down,but God severs it for good.
All we must do is stand stillbefore him.

(06:37):
God hacks off our burden andour shame, frees us, then
envelops us in love.
The failings we are afraid toadmit, the sides of ourselves.
We would never dare to show thesins within that even we cannot
forgive.
They go tumbling down themountainside.

(07:00):
The spontaneous response to thisoverwhelming gift of grace is
deep relief, gratitude andloyalty.
If there is a fast track tocloseness with God, his mercy,
is it.
Pardon the noise.
There's some constructionhappening here.

(07:21):
There's some constructionhappening here.
So I leave you with this and Iinvite you to connect in with
how will you show up as thisforgiving presence within
yourself?
How will you choose to forgiveyou today, like God already has

(07:52):
forgiven you, forgiven us,forgiven me?
How will we show up forgivingourselves so that we can truly
move on to be this greatest giftthat we're here to be now in
life?
I wish you all a beautiful GoodFriday and, if you celebrate,

(08:17):
happy Easter, and many blessings.
Aloha nui loa.
Thanks for joining me onanother episode of Welcoming God
.
Please subscribe to thispodcast wherever you listen and

(08:42):
consider leaving us a review, asit helps more people find and
benefit from this show.
Music by Song Channel Music.
You can listen and hear more atsongchannelmusiccom.
Until we meet again, aloha nuiloa, take care and God bless,

(09:06):
thank you.