20200813 RECEIVING FORGIVENESS FROM THE HEART
13 August, 2020, Thursday, 19th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading | Ezekiel 12:1-12 © |
The oracle of exile against the whole House of Israel
The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, you are living with that set of rebels who have eyes and never see, ears and never hear, for they are a set of rebels. You, son of man, pack an exile’s bundle and emigrate by daylight when they can see you, emigrate from where you are to somewhere else while they watch. Perhaps they will admit then that they are a set of rebels. You will pack your baggage like an exile’s bundle, by daylight, for them to see, and leave like an exile in the evening, making sure that they are looking. As they watch, make a hole in the wall, and go out through it. As they watch, you will shoulder your pack and go out into the dark; you will cover your face so that you cannot see the country, since I have made you a symbol for the House of Israel.’
I did as I had been told. I packed my baggage like an exile’s bundle, by daylight; and in the evening I made a hole through the wall with my hand. I went out into the dark and shouldered my pack as they watched.
The next morning the word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, did not the House of Israel, did not that set of rebels, ask you what you were doing? Say, “The Lord says this: This oracle is directed against Jerusalem and the whole House of Israel wherever they are living.” Say, “I am a symbol for you; the thing I have done will be done to them; they will go into exile, into banishment.” Their ruler will shoulder his pack in the dark and go out through the wall; a hole will be made to let him out; he will cover his face rather than see the country.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 77(78):56-59,61-62 © |
Never forget the deeds of the Lord.
They put God to the proof and defied him;
they refused to obey the Most High.
They strayed, as faithless as their fathers,
like a bow on which the archer cannot count.
Never forget the deeds of the Lord.
With their mountain shrines they angered him;
made him jealous with the idols they served.
God saw this and was filled with fury:
he utterly rejected Israel.
Never forget the deeds of the Lord.
He gave his ark into captivity,
his glorious ark into the hands of the foe.
He gave up his people to the sword,
in his anger against his chosen ones.
Never forget the deeds of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:88 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Because of your love give me life,
and I will do your will.
Alleluia!
Or: | Ps118:135 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let your face shine on your servant,
and teach me your decrees.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 18:21-19:1 © |
'How often must I forgive my brother?'
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.’
Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and he left Galilee and came into the part of Judaea which is on the far side of the Jordan.
RECEIVING FORGIVENESS FROM THE HEART
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZEKIEL 12:1-12; MATTHEW 18:21-19:1 ]
In the course of my ministry as a priest, I have come to realize that the greatest obstacle in helping people to make progress in their life, or to live joyfully and freely is their inability to forgive those who have hurt them, or to forgive themselves for hurting others, especially those whom they love. Quite often, they also cannot believe that God or those whom they have hurt have really forgiven them. They simply cannot accept that their heinous crimes and their many offences are forgiven. As a result, they are held back by their past, by their negative experiences, by their fears and regrets.
We can thus imagine what King Zedekiah must have suffered for all the mistakes he had made. He suffered a tragic end. The Babylonians “slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah; they bound him in fetters and took him to Babylon.” (2 Kgs 25:7) I think he would not have been able to forgive himself even at death. That last scene before his eyes were plucked out would have haunted him for the rest of his life. This tragedy was already prophesied by Ezekiel. Unfortunately, he did not take heed of the prophecy. “Their ruler will shoulder his pack in the dark and go out through the wall; a hole will be made to let him out; he will cover his face rather than see the country.” If we had gone through such a crisis or trauma in life, we certainly would need healing, not so much physically but emotionally and spiritually.
Forgiveness is so central to human happiness, without which it is difficult for us to grow to be wholesome beings. This explains why in the bible and in the gospel particularly, the theme of forgiveness takes central stage, especially in the preaching of our Lord. Indeed, the whole mission of Jesus is reducible to the work of reconciliation with God, with each other, and within oneself. He came to reconcile man with God, and men with men. In His preaching, forgiveness is spoken of in different ways, more often than all the other themes. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” (2 Cor 5:18f) Reconciliation presupposes forgiveness from God and forgiveness of and from our brothers and sisters.
Today’s parable of the Unforgiving Servant begins by underscoring the forgiveness of God. The servant owed the king “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.” Of course, the debt is ridiculously exaggerated. Ten thousand talents would be equivalent to 100 million days of wages for a labourer. Even the combined revenue of Galilee was just three hundred talents. The total revenue of the province, which included Judea and Samaria, were only 600 talents. This of course was to show the great debt of man to God, and God’s generosity in forgiving us no matter how big our sins or offences might be. Nothing is too big for God to forgive, because He is all mercy. “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 servants master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt.”
But what should disturb us is that this man who received such mercy from God could not even forgive his fellow servant for an infinitesimal debt owed to him compared to what he owed his master. It is difficult to fathom his lack of mercy to his fellow servant when he had been shown such mercy from God.
His action seems to contradict what our Lord said of the woman who was a great sinner. “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) She loved much because she felt accepted by our Lord, unlike the Pharisees who despised her. It is normal for a person who has been forgiven much to empathize with those who have sinned much, and to render the same forgiveness one has received. How could the servant be so unforgiving? This is incomprehensible. However, this is precisely the attitude of most people. We want forgiveness when we sin, but we are not ready to render forgiveness to others who have sinned against us. How dare we ask forgiveness from God when our sins against Him are many times more serious than the sins of our brothers and sisters against us? Just like the unforgiving servant, there is no basis for comparison for our debt to God. St James warns us, “For judgement will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement.” (Jms 2:13)
So what could be the reason? Simply because we have lost consciousness of our sins. Many of us have lost the sense of sin. We have been committing it so often that we have become numb to our sins. When we commit them for the first time, we feel guilty. After repeating them, we get used to it. That was the case of the unforgiving servant. He was a great sinner. He was numb to his wrongful actions. When threatened with punishment, he asked for forgiveness not because he realized his mistake or felt sorry for what he did, but simply because he was afraid of punishment. There was no realization of his mistake. He did not spend time reflecting on his negligence. He did not have a contrite heart.
When we are not sorry for the wrongs we have done, there is little motivation to correct them. This is why, contrition of heart is important if we want to stop sinning. Many of us repeatedly confess the same sins more out of fear than real sorrow for our sins. In fact, if we are always going for confession for the same sin, it means that we are not truly sorry for what we have done. Perhaps we do not even see that it is so wrong. We confess only because the Church says it is a sin. We go for confession to relieve ourselves of guilt and avoid the punishment of hell. To receive God’s forgiveness or even the forgiveness of our fellowmen effectively, it requires us to enter into the depth of the wrong we have done so that we have true compunction of heart. The more sorrow we feel for the sins we have committed, the greater the liberation and gratitude when forgiveness is offered. As the Lord warns us, “Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.” (Mt 7:6)
Again, when forgiveness is easily given, we do not appreciate it as much. We tend to take for granted the generosity of God. When we are forgiven so easily, it can become cheap grace. Because the sacrament of reconciliation is available to us anytime, we are not afraid to commit sin. However, when it is difficult to find a priest for confession, we would think twice before we commit any sin. The servant was forgiven too soon by the master and so had no effect on him.
Although it is true to maintain that God forgives us all regardless of the sins we have committed; there will be a time when God will not remove the punishment from us because this is the only way we can learn. This was the case of the Israelites in today’s first reading. The Lord punished both the Northern and Southern Kingdom for their infidelity to the Covenant. God allowed Assyria to wipe out the Northern Kingdom and had the people exiled to Assyria; and later for Babylon to conquer Judah and the inhabitants brought to Babylon. Only through suffering, can we grow in faith and love. The author of Hebrews tells us, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” (Heb 12:6 cf 12:7-11)
Therefore, whilst it is important to forgive from our heart, we must also receive forgiveness from our heart. God always forgives us from His heart, and there are people who truly forgive from the heart as well. Nevertheless, even if there are people who forgive from their heart, unless we have a heart to receive it gratefully, that forgiveness will be like water flowing off the feathers of a duck. So for effective healing, both contrition and forgiveness are needed. We need to be truly sorry for our wrongdoings and our sins; but we also need to receive forgiveness from the hearts of those we have wronged. Unless both the offender and the one who forgives act from their hearts, that forgiveness will remain incomplete and ineffective. Most likely, the offender will sin again and those who have been hurt will retaliate in other ways.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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