"Forget not, never forget that you have promised me to use this silver to become an honest man. … Jean Valjean, my brother: you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you; I withdraw it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God." ~ Bishop Myriel to Jean Valjean in Les Misérables
In Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, the protagonist, Jean Valjean, is released from prison after 19 long years for stealing a loaf of bread and attempting to escape. Hardened and bitter, he struggles to reintegrate into society in Digne-les-Bains, France, where his status as a convicted criminal leaves him unable to find shelter, food, or work. Desperate, Valjean seeks refuge at the home of Bishop Myriel, who unexpectedly welcomes him with open arms, providing food, shelter, and the love of Christ. In return for the bishop’s mercy, Valjean plays the part of the criminal and steals valuable silverware from the Bishop, fleeing in the night. He is quickly captured by the police and brought back to the Bishop’s home the next morning.
To everyone’s surprise, Bishop Myriel tells the police that Valjean did not steal the silverware; it was a gift. He even reminds Valjean that he forgot the candlesticks, the two most valuable items in the house. After the police leave, Valjean must confront the man who has shown him unimaginable mercy. The Bishop explains that he has bought Valjean’s soul with silver, urging him to never forget this mercy and to live an honest life, freed from the darkness of sin. Valjean must now live for God, and he leaves to embrace a life of heroic virtue and generosity under the new name of Monsieur Madeleine in Montreuil-sur-Mer.
Each human person, from the moment of conception, is loved by the Heavenly Father who created them in His own image and likeness. Each person belongs to God just as a child belongs to their father who loves them. The tragedy of sin—the legacy of our first parents—has marred our relationship with our Heavenly Father. His love remains unchanged, but our love for Him is eclipsed by darkness as we trade our status as beloved sons and daughters for that of criminals, self-exiled from the paradise we were created to inhabit. Each of us is like Jean Valjean, hardened by the effects of sin and unable, on our own, to repair the damage we have done to God, others, and ourselves (Romans 3:23: "…all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God").
It took the love of a brother to reach Jean Valjean: “Jean Valjean, my brother: you no longer belong to evil, but to good.” Having strayed to the point of no longer recognizing the voice of his Father, Valjean is reached by a brother who knows the Father’s voice and is a faithful son. Bishop Myriel sacrifices something precious to free Valjean from the cycle of darkness and sin he could never escape on his own. The only Eternal Son of the Heavenly Father became “flesh and made his dwelling among us” so that we could see “his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Our Lord Jesus is the only Son who is faithful and pleasing to the Father (Matthew 3:17: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased"). He is the only one who knows the Father and was sent to reveal the Father’s love to those lost in darkness (Matthew 11:27: "…no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him").
Unable to reconcile ourselves with our Father, we need the love of a brother who sacrifices something precious to reach us and move us into a new life we could not otherwise imagine. Christ, our brother, gives more than Bishop Myriel’s silver; He gives His own precious blood on the Cross, “shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28) so that He “might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29). Through Christ's death on the Cross, we “have been purchased at a price” (1 Corinthians 7:23) and no longer live for ourselves or for the works of darkness but for God alone (Romans 6:11: "…you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus"). Like Valjean, we have been given a new life and a new name as Christians, sons and daughters of God in Christ (1 John 3:2: "Beloved, we are God’s children now").
All of Christ’s sermons spoke of the love of our Father and the offer of forgiveness and reconciliation through the sacrifice of His Son. Yet His greatest sermon was preached from the pulpit of the Cross in His Seven Last Words. The first of these is the prayer of a brother for His Father’s lost children: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). This prayer from the hour of His suffering is powerful and efficacious: “Father, forgive.” The prayer of the “Our Father,” the parable of the Prodigal Son, and the call to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect would all lack power without this moment on the Cross, where Our Lord prays, “Father, forgive” as He pays the price for that forgiveness.
In this first year of the Great Novena, we contemplate this mystery of Christ’s prayer for the Father’s forgiveness on all of us. As we do, we ask for the salvation Christ merited on the Cross to reconcile more of the Father’s children with Him through the Sacraments of the Church. Here are two simple questions to drive our reflections this month.
First, do I know the Father’s love for me? This may seem like an easy question, but it is the most crucial of our lives. Do I really know the Father’s love? The Mystery of the Cross of Our Lord contains the fullness of the Father’s love for us, “who gave His only Son” for our salvation (John 3:16). Drawing near to the Cross means coming to understand the Father’s love and living a life pleasing to Him, the path of sacrificial love. Meditating often on the Mystery of the Cross allows us to habitually recognize the depths of the Father’s love for us. May the Lord in His mercy grant us the grace He has merited in this First Word, that the Father would forgive us. May we come to know His love more deeply this year.
Secondly, do others know of the Father’s love for them? After discovering the Father’s love through Bishop Myriel’s sacrifice, Jean Valjean became a vessel of God’s mercy to others. Ultimately, Valjean practices heroic self-sacrifice for the good of another. This Great Novena invites us to be like Jean Valjean, imitating the mercy and love shown to us. There are people in our homes, neighborhoods, and communities who do not understand God’s love for them. How can we make that introduction? How can we demonstrate self-sacrifice and mercy so that someone else can know the Father’s love for them? All the grace needed to share this message was won for us on the Cross by the Lord who prayed, “Father, forgive.” We too are called to pick up our own cross daily and pray along with Our Lord, “Father, forgive.”
In the closing scene of Les Misérables, Valjean dies surrounded by those he loves, his soul at peace. His life, once marked by bitterness and sin, has become a journey of redemption and sacrificial love. He is now ready to meet the Father, having lived out the Bishop’s words. His soul, once bought with silver, is now given to God. Like Valjean, we too are called to make this journey, trusting in the mercy we have received and offering that same mercy to others.