20220811 THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRISTIAN FORGIVENESS
11 August, 2022, Thursday, 19th Week in Ordinary Time
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.
THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRISTIAN FORGIVENESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZ 12:1-12; MT 18:21-19:1]
The theme of forgiveness is perhaps the most recurrent theme of Jesus’ preaching and also that of the whole bible. Indeed, the whole purpose of Jesus’ coming is to build the family of God by reconciling man with God and man with each other. The work of reconciliation involves repentance and forgiveness of sins. The main cause of disunity is not only the sins of humanity but also the lack of forgiveness.
Instead of forgiveness, humanity preaches revenge and retaliation at all levels – on the family front, in society and globally. What people seek is not forgiveness but revenge on those who have hurt them. To them, justice means ‘an eye for an eye’. It is not about righting a wrong, but punishing those who have hurt us or offended us. It is not about healing and reconciling, but to perpetrate the same evil on those who have done evil to us. But revenge will bring us nowhere closer to reconciliation. It will only bring greater hatred and a vicious cycle of retaliation. Without forgiveness, the world and humanity remains fragmented.
Jesus advocated forgiveness as the key to resolving the division in humanity and the healing of the wounds of the individual. But the forgiveness spoken about in the gospel is different from the idea of forgiveness in the world. In the understanding of the world, forgiveness is limited, conditional and more from the perspective of punishment. In other words, there is always that desire in us to make sure that those who made us suffer or lose our reputation will suffer the same. Only then are we satisfied and willing to let go. It is therefore important to spell out the qualities of Christian forgiveness.
Christian forgiveness in the first place has its source in God’s forgiveness. It is not about us forgiving those who have hurt us. Rather, it is about God who has taken the initiative to forgive us; notwithstanding how grievous our sins are. In the gospel story, we have the master forgiving the servant who owed him a debt that was so enormous that no one could ever clear that debt. Yet, the master in his mercy forgave all the debts of that servant. The point of the parable is that God forgives us all our sins, regardless how evil and how serious they are. There is nothing that the Lord would not forgive us.
His utter forgiveness of course is demonstrated not just in the history of Israel when God sent prophets, one after another, as in the case of Ezekiel in the first reading. But most of all, He sent His only begotten Son to assume our humanity, forgiving us and healing us of our sins and the consequences of sins. He even gave up His life for us on the cross. The depth of God’s forgiveness is seen on the cross when Jesus not only forgave His enemies but made excuses for them and also prayed to the Father to forgive them. Indeed, the forgiveness of our Lord for all, including His enemies, is the basis for us to forgive others.
This explains why Christian forgiveness is preceded and presupposes God’s forgiveness. Without experiencing God’s forgiveness, we will not have the capacity to forgive those who have hurt us. Only with the forgiveness that we have received does God expect us to do likewise. The master reprimanded the 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?” So if we have the audacity to beg the Lord for forgiveness of our sins, and the Lord has forgiven us, we must also extend that same unconditional forgiveness to our fellowmen as well. This command from the Lord is not unreasonable because He has already given us the capacity by forgiving us our sins. We must now render to others who have hurt us much less, compared to how we have offended the Lord.
But we cannot experience God’s forgiveness unless we are aware of our sins. Acknowledgement and self-awareness is the predisposition to encounter God’s mercy and find forgiveness. Many are too proud to admit their sins. Many more cannot even see their mistakes, sins and arrogance. Instead of looking into their hearts, they blame others for the mess they are in. Without recognition of our sinfulness and our wrong doing, no forgiveness can be forgiven because it is not sought. This was the case of the first servant. He was not aware of the gravity of his offence. Thus, after being forgiven by the master, he immediately sought revenge on his fellow servant who owed him a debt that was negligible, compared to the extraordinary amount he owed to his master.
So without consciousness of one’s sins even when they are forgiven, no conversion is going to happen. That is why many Catholics go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation but no change takes place in their life. All they had was a temporary relief from guilt but no radical conversion happens, simply because they never took the time to reflect on their sins and make proper preparations for the sacrament of reconciliation. Many Catholics make a verbal confession without contrition of the heart or a real understanding of the seriousness of their sins and how they have hurt God, their loved ones and those whom they have offended. Getting in touch with ourselves and coming to awareness of the severity of our sins will bring us to a true transformation if we see how much we are hurting others and our Lord. And by contemplating on His love and mercy in the passion and the cross, we will be moved to true repentance of heart because of His compassion.
Christian forgiveness is also unlimited. When Peter confidently asked Jesus, “Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?”, he thought that was already being very magnanimous. Why is there no limit to forgiving our brother who has sinned against us? The reason is simply because we never stopped sinning against God. In the history of humanity and our own lives, after having received God’s forgiveness, can we say that we do not fall into sin again? The truth is that we are always sinners, if we do not commit this sin, it is another. Because we are sinners by conception, we need to ask God for forgiveness all the time. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Ps 51:5) If we can sin against God, then we should expect our fellowmen to fail us again, now and then.
Christian forgiveness, as Jesus said, must also be from the heart. “And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.” Many forgive only logically but not in the heart. Many say they forgive but that forgiveness does not set them free because it is a lip service. Such forgiveness only expresses our desire to forgive but unless we set the person free from our heart, no real healing takes place. To forgive from the heart means that we make a decision to let go and not allow the person to control our lives any more. It means that we have decided to move on, learn from the mistake, painful as it might be, situate the sins of the offender, forgiving, understanding and accepting his or her human weakness, and use that pain to heal others. Forgiveness from the heart means that we no longer nurse that wound and accept it as part of the social reality of human weakness and our solidarity in sin. When we release those who have offended us in our heart, we will no longer see them as our enemies but with eyes of compassion, for like Jesus, we too would say, “Forgive them for they knew not what they were doing.”
Today, we are warned that if we do not repent of our sins or do not seek forgiveness or forgive from our heart, we will suffer the consequences of our sins because of the lack of forgiveness. Jesus said, “In his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debts. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you.” Like the Israelites who did not seek forgiveness in spite of the warning of Ezekiel that they would be exiled, we too will hurt ourselves even more by refusing to forgive from our heart.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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