Forgiveness, Love, Gratitude

Today's Gospel, Lk 7: 36-50, tells the story of Jesus' dining in the house of a Pharisee named Simon. Simon is putting on a dinner for the elite--a dinner in our day known as a black-tie dinner that is only open to invited guests who are expected to be wearing tuxedoes. In walks a woman Simon despises and says to himself in effect: How can Jesus allow this woman to anoint His feet, wash them with her tears and wipe them with her hair. Does He not know "what sort of woman she is" (Lk: 7: 39)? He also looks down upon Jesus and says in his heart: If this man is a prophet, He should know better than to allow this woman to come close to Him, much less touch Him (cf Luke 7:39:).

 Our prayer, based on this Scripture passage, might go like this:

"Lord, You sent this morning's Word to transform my innermost being, as You tried, in today's Gospel, to open Simon's heart. Help me. Transform my self-righteousness into the humility of this woman who recognized her sinfulness and is grateful for Your gift of forgiveness. May I step down from my pedestal of looking down on people as the Pharisee looked down upon this woman. I, too, am a sinner. I belong prostrate before You beating my breast, not on the stage tooting my horn and certainly not judging others or excluding them from my company."

 

Be compassionate as your heavenly Father is compassionate

Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” we read in today’s Gospel, Mt. 5: 43-48.  We see God’s perfection at work in His forgiveness of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.   That forgiveness included the acknowledgement and condemnation of Ahab and Jezebel’s sin, not Ahab and Jezebel themselves who contrived Naboth’s murder and then took possession of his vineyard.

“Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” means forgiving those who harm us, treat us unfairly, put our dreams to death and usurp that which we treasure.   To forgive, one needs to recognize and acknowledge that wrong has occurred. It also means letting go of the human tendency to strike back, inflict pain on the “enemy” in whatever way possible, hold on to grudges, and/or carry resentments around as excuses to continue acting angrily throughout our lifetimes.  Examples of the kind of generosity God shows the sinner abound in both the Old and New Testaments, all the way to Jesus forgiving the woman caught in adultery, the persons ready to stone her, Peter in his threefold denial and the good thief on the cross and you and I in all of our sinful behaviors and attitudes.  You and I are called to the same heroic deeds done in Jesus’ name and through the graces of redemption

Being compassionate as Mary was

Feast of the Sorrowful Mother:  In prayer this morning, I was reminded that people are nailed to the cross every moment, in agony, by the acts and words,  the deafness and blindness,  of others. The questions I was confronted with were: Can you be there when my Son asks that of you? When your God calls you to show compassion and support , can you do that without striking out at the source of that person’s suffering whether of his/her own doing or coming from others, without condemning that person or those causing the suffering?  Can I stand in the midst of “violence” without resorting to “violence” in words or deeds, without condemning anyone, neither the “crucified” or the “crucifiers”? I was reminded that neither Mary nor Jesus lashed out at those who were crucifying Him. Jesus said: “Father, forgive them. They know not what they are doing.”  Do I realize that those who do or say things that hurt another human being usually do not realize what they are doing? Who would intentionally kill the spirit of another human being, seriously cripple anyone’s self-esteem, self-confidence, initiative and creativity? Probably no one, really.  Like Mary, can I stand with, show compassion and give support to “the wounded” without causing further damage by lashing out, ranting and raving, doing violence myself?

A call to live by faith

As I reflect on the news around us--local and world situations--my mind is challenged as a Christian. How do we renew a world that seems so far away from its Creator, a world that seems to have put other things first and set God on  a back burner, so to speak.  How do we recognize the Divine Presence in all that is and will be? My mind is preoccupied with the realization that a Holy, Powerful energy continues to bring order out of the chaos we have created in all aspects of human existence. We have a God who rights the wrongs we have committed against all of humanity and all of creation; a God who pardons all our ills, as Jesus pardoned His executioners and us from the Cross, when He said: "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing."  My heart rejoices this Easter Season that the One who came into the world 2000+ years ago, and continues coming, did not and does not come to condemn the world but to save it. What a God we have in Jesus, in the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit! God be praised and served! And God, have mercy on us, for we know not what we are doing when we continue to spread violence and perpetuate wars at home or abroad, in foreign lands or in our city streets, with strangers or friends and family members and with the universe itself.  God, have mercy!