<!--
/* What it does: Remove spaces around the email design added by some
email clients. */
/* Beware: It can remove the padding / margin and add a background
color to the compose a reply window. */
html,
body {
Margin: 0 !important;
padding: 0 !important;
height: 100% !important;
width: 100% !important;
text-align: center;
}

/* What it does: Stops email clients resizing small text. */
* {
-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;
-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;
}

/* What is does: Centers email on Android 4.4 */
div[style*="margin: 16px 0"] {
margin:0 !important;
}

/* What it does: Stops Outlook from adding extra spacing to tables.
*/
table,
td {
mso-table-lspace: 0pt !important;
mso-table-rspace: 0pt !important;
}

/* What it does: Fixes webkit padding issue. Fix for Yahoo mail table
alignment bug. Applies table-layout to the first 2 tables then removes
for anything nested deeper. */
table {
border-spacing: 0 !important;
border-collapse: collapse !important;
table-layout: fixed !important;
Margin: 0 auto !important;
}
table table table {
table-layout: auto;
}

/* What it does: Uses a better rendering method when resizing images
in IE. */
img {
-ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic;
}

/* What it does: Overrides styles added when Yahoo's auto-senses a
link. */
.yshortcuts a {
border-bottom: none !important;
}

/* What it does: A work-around for iOS meddling in triggered links.
*/
.mobile-link footer a,
a[x-apple-data-detectors] {
color:inherit !important;
text-decoration: underline !important;
}
-->

<!--
/* What it does: Hover styles for buttons */
.button-td,
.button-a {
transition: all 100ms ease-in;
}
.button-td:hover,
.button-a:hover {
background: #555555 !important;
border-color: #555555 !important;
}

/* Media Queries */
@media screen and (max-width: 600px) {

.email-container {
width: 100% !important;
}

/* What it does: Forces elements to resize to the full width of their
container. Useful for resizing images beyond their max-width. */
.fluid,
.fluid-centered {
max-width: 100% !important;
height: auto !important;
Margin-left: auto !important;
Margin-right: auto !important;
}
/* And center justify these ones. */
.fluid-centered {
Margin-left: auto !important;
Margin-right: auto !important;
}

/* What it does: Forces table cells into full-width rows. */
.stack-column,
.stack-column-center {
display: block !important;
width: 100% !important;
max-width: 100% !important;
direction: ltr !important;
}
/* And center justify these ones. */
.stack-column-center {
text-align: center !important;
}

/* What it does: Generic utility class for centering. Useful for
images, buttons, and nested tables. */
.center-on-narrow {
text-align: center !important;
display: block !important;
Margin-left: auto !important;
Margin-right: auto !important;
float: none !important;
}
table.center-on-narrow {
display: inline-block !important;
}

}

body {
background-color: #fff;
width: 100%;
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}

p{
line-height:20px;
}

h1, h2, h3, h4, h5{
color:#7A9534;
}

.signup a {font-family: Roboto Condensed, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;
color: #4F4293; padding-bottom:0px; padding-top: 15px;
font-weight:600; margin-bottom: 0px; text-decoration: none}
-->

Catholic Charities USA


Friday of the First Week of Lent

Today's Lectionary Readings
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Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that
your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the
altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and
offer your gift.

I always felt like forgiveness depended on trust.  In order to
forgive someone, you first had to be able to trust that they will not
offend you again.

Maybe this was why both trusting and forgiving never came easy to me.

In college I worked at a Catholic Conference & Service Camp that
travelled to different states each week.  One morning, I was
asked to give a witness talk about forgiveness.  In my talk I was
honest: forgiveness was not easy, and I still could not bring myself
to forgive a family member who had refused to see me, even as a young
child.

After the morning session ended, a man came running up to the stage to
talk to me.  "Active forgiveness!" He shouted. 
"You need active forgiveness!" 

I listened as he shared about how his wife abandoned his family, but
he chose to actively forgive.  His advice was you cannot wait for
the feelings to be there, you cannot wait to feel like you can trust
or forgive someone, you must take the very first step and say out
loud, "I forgive you." 

That was hard advice, but it absolutely changed my life. 

In the Gospel reading today Jesus tells us to do the same.  Leave
everything you are doing, and go seek reconciliation first. Even if
you don't want to. Especially if you don't want to.

In order for us to do our jobs well we must actively forgive. 
Serving those in need can too easily harden our hearts.  If you
find yourself burnt out or frustrated with the causes of our clients'
conflicts, take a step towards active forgiveness. You can't
wait for the day when you'll "feel" like forgiving
societal causes of poverty. It will probably never come.  But you
must trust (yes, trust) that genuine, healthy solutions can form after
forgiveness.

Then you can bring your gift of case management or advocacy or food or
prayer or empowerment or citizenship or adoption or housing or
education right up to the altar because, as Jesus says, gift giving
must come after reconciliation.

Devyn Buschow is the Parish Relations Program Manager at Catholic
Charities Dallas, a Georgia Bulldog, and a Hockey Mom.

This and other Catholic Charities USA reflections may be viewed here.
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