Word to the Wise
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent
[Daniel 3:25, 34-43 and Matthew 18:21-35]Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often must I forgive them? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times."
Last week I was down in Naples, FL, to preach a Parish Mission. The theme of the Parish Mission was "The Strength that comes from God." Usually one night of the parish mission is dedicated to a Penance Service, and part of that service is an Examination of Conscience. The particular form of that which I use departs from a catalogue of sinful actions and focuses on the people who may have sinned against me or against whom I may have sinned. This follows up on the parable of the Unforgiving Servant which is the gospel scripture for today. Notice in the question by Peter and Jesus' response (given above), there is no mention of particular sins. There is only a relationship mentioned that has been broken by some harmful action, whatever it may be. The emphasis is on constant forgiveness. The parable puts forgiveness in the form of a debt! Indeed one version of the Lord's Prayer uses that word: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors! At the end of the parable, Jesus repeats words he spoke after teaching his prayer to the disciples at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in this same gospel. We cannot expect divine forgiveness if we do not forgive others (including ourselves)! Remember the old expression: "To err is human, to forgive is divine." The last lines of the examination of conscience that I use in a parish mission call for me to forgive that one person who has hurt me the most, the person whom I swore I would never forgive! The gospel scripture today places no limit on the number of times nor the nature of the transgression(s). It does not exclude certain types of transgressors, either. It would be truly ironic that we could be very good at feeding the hungry, and giving drink to the thirsty, etc., but be utter failures at forgiving any of these people if they hurt us (as they most certainly will do at some time! There is no substitute for forgiveness. There is no other experience that can take its place. It may be a far better Lent if we can learn to forgive someONE rather than "giving up" someTHING. We can do it with the strength that comes from God. AMEN
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