Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 12, 2012 - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[1 Kgs 19:4-8; Eph 4:30-5:2; John 6:41-51]Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. [Eph]
At parish missions I often ask the congregation if they know how many times in their lives they have prayed the Lord's Prayer. I usually get a chuckle because the number would likely be in the thousands for some of them! I then call attention to one of the petitions in that prayer: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us! We are asking God to forgive us to the extent that we forgive others! That truly puts the ball back in our court!
In the second scripture for this Sunday, from the Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul exhorts us to be compassionate and forgiving in the same way that God has forgiven us in Christ! That echoes the petition in the Lord's Prayer. So now we must face ourselves and ask about our ability to forgive. I have mentioned here before the examination of conscience that I use at parish missions. This examination focuses on our ability to forgive all the different people in our lives, including ourselves. The confessions that follow this examination show how deep this prolem can be. Is there anyone or any kind of person that we find it difficult to forgive? Is there anyone we have sworn never to forgive? Do we find ourselves asking this question: Do I HAVE TO forgive this or that person or group? The sacrament of reconciliation is not just for being reconciled with God. If we wish to be forgiven, we must, in turn, be forgiving. AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
135 ms
4
