Word to the Wise
Thursday, June 15, 2017 - Thursday in the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Cor 3:15—4:1, 3-6 and Matt 5:20-26]"Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift." [Matthew]
As I write this, I am completing a parish mission in Littlefield, TX, a small town just north of Lubbock. The second night of the mission is usually a penitential service. I use an examination of conscience that focuses on forgiveness instead of particular sins. It never fails to have an impact. We all have left gifts at the altar, as it were, because of unresolved hurts and sins against one another. The big question has to do with reconciliation because one cannot force this. Forgiveness, however, is always in our power to do. No one can stop us from forgiving. Reconciliation may not be possible because the other person is unwilling or has died or is otherwise unavailable. We have to try because we want to offer our gift!
I have sometimes waggishly imagined the size of buildings at churches to hold all the "unoffered gifts" because people have found the process of forgiveness and reconciliation too challenging. One of the paragraphs in the examination of conscience refers to "the one person who has hurt me the most, the one person I swore I would never forgive..." Is there someone like that in our life? I display two clay flower pots - one whole and one broken. These symbolize the state of forgiveness and unforgiveness. I read the gospel from Matthew in chap. 18:21-35 about the unforgiving servant and I ask how many times we have asked God to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." The Sermon on the Mount will continue to challenge us in the days ahead. AMEN
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