20200317
WHAT
IS BLOCKING US FROM RECEIVING THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD?
17 March, 2020, Tuesday, 3rd
Week of Lent
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Daniel
3:25,34-43 ©
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Let our sacrifice
to you today be a contrite soul and humbled spirit
Azariah stood in
the heart of the fire, and he began to pray:
Oh! Do not abandon us for ever,
for the sake of your name;
do not repudiate your covenant,
do not withdraw your favour from us,
for the sake of Abraham, your friend,
of Isaac your servant,
and of Israel your holy one,
to whom you promised descendants as countless as the stars of
heaven
and as the grains of sand on the seashore.
Lord, now we are the least of all the nations,
now we are despised throughout the world, today, because of our
sins.
We have at this time no leader, no prophet, no prince,
no holocaust, no sacrifice, no oblation, no incense,
no place where we can offer you the first-fruits
and win your favour.
But may the contrite soul, the humbled spirit be as acceptable to
you
as holocausts of rams and bullocks,
as thousands of fattened lambs:
such let our sacrifice be to you today,
and may it be your will that we follow you wholeheartedly,
since those who put their trust in you will not be disappointed.
And now we put our whole heart into following you,
into fearing you and seeking your face once more.
Do not disappoint us;
treat us gently, as you yourself are gentle
and very merciful.
Grant us deliverance worthy of your wonderful deeds,
let your name win glory, Lord.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
24(25):4-6,7a-9 ©
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Remember your mercy, Lord.
Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are God my saviour.
Remember your mercy, Lord.
In you I hope all day long
because of your goodness, O Lord.
Remember your mercy, Lord,
and the love you have shown from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth.
In your love remember me.
Remember your mercy, Lord.
The Lord is good and upright.
He shows the path to those who stray,
He guides the humble in the right path,
He teaches his way to the poor.
Remember your mercy, Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Lk8:15
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Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
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Or:
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Joel2:12-13
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Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –
come back to me with all your heart,
for I am all tenderness and compassion.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
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Gospel
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Matthew
18:21-35 ©
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To be forgiven,
you must forgive
Peter went up to
Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As
often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but
seventy-seven times.
‘And so the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a
king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When the reckoning
began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; but he had no
means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together
with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. At this,
the servant threw himself down at his master’s feet. “Give me time” he said
“and I will pay the whole sum.” And the servant’s master felt so sorry for him
that he let him go and cancelled the debt. Now as this servant went out, he
happened to meet a fellow servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he
seized him by the throat and began to throttle him. “Pay what you owe me” he
said. His fellow servant fell at his feet and implored him, saying, “Give me
time and I will pay you.” But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he
had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. His fellow servants
were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their
master and reported the whole affair to him. Then the master sent for him. “You
wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed
to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I
had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers
till he should pay all his debt. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal
with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’
WHAT IS BLOCKING
US FROM RECEIVING THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Daniel
3:25-43; Ps 25:4-9; Matthew
18:21-35 ]
There are Catholics who
celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation but do not experience forgiveness,
either from God or from themselves. So they conclude that the Sacrament of
Reconciliation is ineffective for bringing about real conversion. There
are many reasons to account for this failure. One reason could be the
fault of the confessor, for failing to show compassion, understanding, empathy
and a listening ear. However, the fault could also lie in the penitents
because the necessary disposition is lacking.
The first reason is the
failure to prepare oneself adequately for the sacrament of reconciliation. Some Catholics rush for the
confessional queue without first making time to examine their conscience.
In truth, before one goes for confession, especially when we have not gone for
confession regularly, we should take about a week or so to think and pray
through the sins we have committed since our last confession. Unless we
acknowledge our sins and are conscious of them, we will not be able to feel
contrite for our sins. Being aware of our sins is the first step towards
a contrite heart.
The unforgiving servant
was unaware of his own sins.
Perhaps, the master forgave him too quickly and he had no time to think through
what he had done. He was just fearful of being punished together with his
family. All he thought of was to escape from the consequences of his
offence. He had no time to feel sorry for his sins or become aware of the
gravity of his actions. He was only sorry for himself, not for the wrongs
he did and the people he had cheated. So when he was forgiven so readily
and generously by the master, immediately he demanded from a fellow servant who
owed him just a day’s wage, 100 denarii, compared to the 10,000 talents that he
owed the master, which is comparable to 200,000 years of wages.
Indeed, without
contrition of heart, we cannot feel with the sins of our fellowmen. We
become self-righteous. We
only focus on what others have done wrong but we are blind to see how often we
have wronged others. We are always focused on the sins and weaknesses of
others but keep a blind eye to our own. Consequently, we feel hurt and
nurse our wounds, become resentful of those who hurt us, keep grudges and find
ways to retaliate. Only those who are acutely aware that they are no
better than others, or even a greater sinner than many others, will be
forgiving when they are hurt by people because they know how weak and
susceptible human beings are to sin and temptation. Only repentant
sinners can feel for and with other sinners.
When we lack contrition
of heart, we also cannot feel the forgiveness of God for us. Some Catholics who go for regular
confession, keep repeating the same sins and confess them like a broken
recorder. There is no change at all and no attempt to rectify oneself and
to avoid committing the same sins again. Without remorse, there will be
no change of heart because deep in our hearts, we do not see that what we do is
wrong. We confess them simply because the law says so, or the Church says
so. As Jesus told of the adulterous woman, “Therefore, I tell you, her
sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But
the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” (Lk 7:47)
So we must begin with a
sincere and thorough examination of conscience to bring about a contrite heart. This was what Azariah did for
himself and for the nation. He turned to God for mercy and
forgiveness. “Lord, now we are the least of all the nations, now we are
despised throughout the world, today, because of our sins.” Azariah
acknowledged that their sins caused them to be in this situation. He did
not make excuses. After acknowledging the sins of Israel, he asked
for forgiveness from a contrite heart. He said, “We have at this time no
leader, no prophet, no prince, no holocaust, no sacrifice, no oblation, no
incense, no place where we can offer you the first-fruits and win your
favour. But may the contrite soul, the humbled spirit be as acceptable to
you as holocausts of rams and bullocks, as thousands of fattened lambs: such
let our sacrifice be to you today.” This contrite heart is expressed in a
resolution not to sin again. “May it be your will that we follow you
wholeheartedly, since those who put their trust in you will not be
disappointed.”
Secondly, we must appeal
to God’s mercy.
We must never doubt the mercy and forgiveness of God. The scriptures
always speak of God’s mercy and compassion. He is always faithful to His
covenant even when we fail Him. That was how Azariah prayed to the Lord,
“Oh! Do not abandon us forever, for the sake of your name; do not repudiate
your covenant, do not withdraw your favour from us, for the sake of Abraham,
your friend, of Isaac your servant, and of Israel your holy one, to whom you
promised descendants as countless as the stars of heaven and as the grains of
sand on the seashore.” The mercy of God is reiterated by our Lord
when Peter asked, “‘How often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As
often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but
seventy-seven times.” In other words, like God we must forgive all the
time, not three or even seven times. Every time when someone is sincerely
contrite, we must forgive the person when he or she asks for forgiveness.
God is the One who forgives seventy-seven times! That is always!
The abundant forgiveness
of God is portrayed in the way the Master forgave his servant who owed him
10,000 talents.
God is generous in forgiveness. “The servant’s master felt so sorry for
him that he let him go and cancelled the debt”. God is like this
master. He feels with us and for us when we sin or have done wrong.
He does not want us to suffer. He only wants to forgive. The
prophet Micah said, “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over
the transgression of the remnant of your possession? He does not
retain his anger forever, because he delights in showing clemency. He will
again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You
will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show
faithfulness to Jacob and unswerving loyalty to Abraham, as you have sworn
to our ancestors from the days of old.” (Mic
7:18-19)
However, in order to
receive God’s full forgiveness, we must be ready to forgive others. When
we do not forgive, it means that we have not received God’s forgiveness. If we have truly received God’s
forgiveness, how can we still not forgive others? Our sins against God
are many times more than what any person can sin against us. So if we
know how God has forgiven us in spite of our grave sins, how much more should
we forgive those who have sinned against us? But this is not something
reducible to a mathematical calculation. It is of the heart. The
unforgiving servant did not come to realize how much the master had done for
him. So he failed to receive the master’s forgiveness in his heart even
though the master had forgiven him. So a clear sign that we know whether
we have been forgiven by God is when we are able to look at our fellowmen and
say to them, “Your sin against me is nothing compared to my sins against God.
So if God has forgiven me, what audacity do I have to ask God for forgiveness
when I cannot forgive your sin?”
Hence, the Lord’s advice
is clear, we must forgive from our hearts. The master said, “You wicked servant, I
cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound,
then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?”
Jesus concluded, “that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you
unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.” To forgive others
from our heart means that we do not just forgive our enemies notionally, but
truly from a heart that feels one’s sinfulness, God’s forgiving love and mercy,
and a heart that feels with the sins of others, so much so that we no longer
judge them with anger and hatred, but see them with mercy and compassion. We
see them as wounded, ignorant, broken, insecure, and foolish. We use the
sufferings inflicted on us to grow in mercy and compassion, in holiness, for
they purify us in love. We love sinners even more because we know that
they are hurting themselves.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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