Word to the Wise
Thursday, June 9, 2022 - Thursday in the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 18:41-46 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]
The Gospel According to Matthew gives considerable attention to Jesus' teaching on reconciliation and forgiveness. Quote above, from today's passage from the Sermon on the Mount, places reconciliation ahead of worship!! Just a bit further on, in teaching the disciples how to pray, [6:9-13] we are given these lines: "Forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TREPASS AGAINST US!" And then, immediately following that prayer: "If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.] [6:14-15] Later on, we have chapter 18:15-17 (a process of reconciliation) and 18:21-31 (parable of the unforgiving servant). The message from Jesus seems pretty clear!
There is an old witticism about "Irish Alzheimer's;" "You forget everything but the grudges!" Grudges have many sources from emotional to physical hurts and many targets, even God! The Sermon on the Mount challenges us to find those grudges within us and resolve them. This is not changed by the many "What if...?" questions that usually arise. I have spoken in this space before about an "examination of conscience" that I use for retreats and parish missions in which the focus is not on this or that deed but on injured relationships and the need to forgive. The Sermon on the Mount gives us a hard challenge. Are we up to it? AMEN