2090915 FAITH IN GOD’S
FORGIVENESS GIVES US THE CAPACITY TO FORGIVE
15 SEPTEMBER,
2019, Sunday, 24th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Exodus 32:7-11,13-14 ©
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The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down now,
because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have apostatised. They have
been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have made themselves a
calf of molten metal and have worshipped it and offered it sacrifice. “Here is
your God, Israel,” they have cried “who brought you up from the land of
Egypt!”’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘I can see how headstrong these people are!
Leave me, now, my wrath shall blaze out against them and devour them; of you,
however, I will make a great nation.’
But
Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘why should your wrath
blaze out against this people of yours whom you brought out of the land of
Egypt with arm outstretched and mighty hand? Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
your servants to whom by your own self you swore and made this promise: “I will
make your offspring as many as the stars of heaven, and all this land which I
promised I will give to your descendants, and it shall be their heritage for
ever.”’
So
the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had
threatened.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
50(51):3-4,12-13,17,19 ©
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I will leave this place
and go to my father.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my
offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
I will leave this place
and go to my father.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within
me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy
spirit.
I will leave this place
and go to my father.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare
your praise.
My sacrifice is a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you
will not spurn.
I will leave this place
and go to my father.
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Second reading
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1 Timothy 1:12-17 ©
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I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has
given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call me into his
service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and
discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a
believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me
with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus. Here is a saying that you
can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy has been shown to
me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest evidence of his
inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later have to trust
in him to come to eternal life. To the eternal King, the undying, invisible and
only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Ep1:17,18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call
holds for us.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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2Co5:19
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Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to
himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that
they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 15:1-32 ©
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The tax collectors and the sinners were
all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees
and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats
with them.’ So he spoke this parable to them:
‘What
man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine
in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he
found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got
home, call together his friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” he would say
“I have found my sheep that was lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there will
be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine
virtuous men who have no need of repentance.
‘Or
again, what woman with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp
and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it? And then, when
she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,”
she would say “I have found the drachma I lost.” In the same way, I tell you,
there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.’
He
also said, ‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me
have the share of the estate that would come to me.” So the father divided the
property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together
everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money
on a life of debauchery.
‘When
he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began
to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who
put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his
belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then
he came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s paid servants have
more food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this
place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against
you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid
servants.” So he left the place and went back to his father.
‘While
he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran
to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to
be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the
best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a
feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to
life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.
‘Now
the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the
house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked
what it was all about. “Your brother has come” replied the servant “and your
father has killed the calf we had fattened because he has got him back safe and
sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to
plead with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these years I have
slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me
so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of
yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his
women – you kill the calf we had been fattening.”
‘The
father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it
was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was
dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”’
FAITH IN GOD’S
FORGIVENESS GIVES US THE CAPACITY TO FORGIVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EX 31:7-11, 13-14; 1 TIM 1:12-17; LK 15:1-32 ]
Perhaps, one of the most difficult
things in life is forgiveness. We are neither capable of
receiving forgiveness nor offering forgiveness. When we are the one who has
been wronged, we speak in terms of our rights and justice. We haul the
offending party to court. If legal means is not possible to redress the
injustices, we take things into our own hands through revenge and
violence. However, if we were the offender, we hope we could be
forgiven. But quite often, even if forgiveness was given, we don’t feel
that that we have really been forgiven. This difficulty of accepting and giving
forgiveness is rooted in the fact that we are conditioned in a reward and
punishment system.
This affects our ability
to experience God’s forgiveness, which is the root of our incapacity to
forgive. In
our relationship with God, we think God deals with us in the same way as
man. We do not believe in unconditional forgiveness. Hence, we feel the
need to earn merit so that we can justify ourselves before God. This was
the thinking of the Pharisees and the scribes, for when “the tax collectors and
the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say”,
they complained, “‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.'”
It would be unjust for God to accept sinners without punishing them.
The elder son in
today’s parable represents this attitude of the Jewish religious leaders.
His grievance was directed not against his younger brother but the father for
letting him off so easily. “He was angry and refused to go in, and his father
came out to plead with him.” For as he said, how could “this son of
yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his women
– you kill the calf we had been fattening.” In other words, he should be
punished. If the elder son could not accept the generosity of his
father, it must also be said that the younger son likewise
could not forgive himself. He wanted his father to punish him by
treating him as if he were one of his servants. Indeed, when we have done
wrong, quite often we feel better if we were punished for our sins so that at
least we have paid for our mistakes. It is the human way of settling
scores, “an eye for an eye!”
Hence, it is necessary
that we be convinced of the unconditional forgiveness of God. Humanly speaking, it is the justice
and right of God to punish us for the wrongs we do. But today, the
gospel shows us the heart of God. The three parables speak of God’s
mercy, a mercy that seems so illogical and incomprehensible, just like love.
Why would someone who
had lost a sheep leave the ninety-nine behind to look for the missing one? Shouldn’t he stay behind lest the
others stray as well? Or take the case of the missing coin? The
point is that the joy of reconciliation is indescribable and beyond
logic. The joy of finding a lost one and the joy of reconciliation and
forgiveness is something beyond material, logical or quantitative terms. Such
joy is captured so vividly in the story of the prodigal son or rather the
prodigal Father who lavished his love on his children. Even though his
unfaithful son squandered almost everything away, the gospel reveals the heart
of God as one who is always anxiously waiting for his lost son to return to
restore him to sonship. Similarly when the elder son who became resentful
of his love and refused to go in, “his father came out to plead with
him.” This is the untiring love of the father. So, if we were to
understand the nature of His unconditional forgiveness, we must understand the
heart of God.
Firstly, God is faithful in love. When
God wanted to destroy the people, Moses interceded by reminding Yahweh of His
promise to Israel and he relented.
Secondly, God’s love for
us is total and all absorbing.
When we love someone, we love a person at a particular point of time.
Love always demands the full attention of the person in that moment.
Thus, when someone is in need, it commands our whole attention. This is
not to say that other things or other people are not important to us but at
this particular point of time, the person in need is all that matters.
Indeed, if one of your sons were sick, surely you would do anything and
everything for him, not even counting the financial cost. But that does
not mean you do not care or love the rest of your children. This is how
God loves us. His love is like the shepherd who would abandon the ninety-nine
behind to seek out the lost one.
Thirdly, God’s love for
us is a personal love.
God looks at each one of us as individuals, not as a faceless member of a
crowd. We are not merely a bunch of sheep. Even though sheep might
look alike, yet God regards each of us uniquely. He pays special
attention to each one of us. Every one of us is important to God.
Each one of us is unique to Him. Hence, God would abandon the rest
of His sheep for a while simply to look for the lost one. God is not
contented to look after those sheep that are well but He is equally interested
in each one of us.
Fourthly, God is understanding in love.
He knows that we sin in ignorance. We need to be pitied more than to be
blamed when we sin. In the gospel, we are told that through his misery
and hunger, the prodigal son came to his senses. Similarly, Paul confessed the
same sin when he testified, “Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I
became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord
filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus.” The
Israelites were no different. They left the path the Lord had marked out for
them. Instead, “they have made themselves a calf of molten metal and have
worshipped it and offered it sacrifice.” It was fear and ignorance that drove
them to idolatry.
In the light of the aforesaid, the
implication is that if we were to forgive those who sinned against us, we must
realize that because we are made in His image and likeness, we share in the
heart of God. As children of God, we are to imitate the compassion of
the Father. “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.” If
not, Jesus says, we are pagans, since pagans do good to those who do good to
them. We are all sons and daughters of God, not slaves. This privilege
makes us His mediators of mercy and forgiveness.
This is possible
provided we are open to God’s mercy and forgiveness. It was Paul’s encounter with the
overwhelming Divine Mercy of God in Christ that he became an apostle of mercy
himself. He said, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me
strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call into his service even
though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit
the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me …”.
God wins us over by His
mercy and love.
Paul in no uncertain terms declared, “nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them.”
In St Paul, God wants to demonstrate His patient love for all. St Paul is
an example of the unfathomable depth of God’s mercy and what His grace can do
for every sinner. Indeed, he testified, ” if mercy has been shown to me,
it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest evidence of his
inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later have to trust
in him to come to eternal life.” Indeed, if Paul the great sinner
could be saved by God’s grace and mercy, then all of us, regardless how great a
sinner we are, can be confident of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
What is needed is simply
our cooperation and our desire to repent by accepting His forgiving love. The Father seeks our
repentance. He does not look at our past. The prodigal father said,
“it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here
was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.” This desire is
expressed by a sincere and humble recognition of one’s sins without excusing
ourselves. We only have to say with the prodigal son, “I will leave this
place and return to my father.” Yes, we must pray with the psalmist, “I
will leave this place of sin; I will leave this place of misery and return to
my Father.” Once we acknowledge our need to return to the Father’s love,
we can be sure that the Father is waiting for us. When we return, He will
ask no questions for the joy of union is all that He wishes for us. He can
only say, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his
finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill
it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was
dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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