Homily: 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Friends,
you don’t know me, and I don’t know you, and that makes it difficult to put a
homily together that speaks to the needs of your community. Thankfully, our readings this week provide us
with a theme that is broadly appealing: meaning that it applies to just about
everyone in every place without needing a lot of “translation” into a
particular context. If you were paying
attention during the readings, you probably already have a sense of what I
mean. Regardless, let’s take some time
to look at this theme more in depth to really flesh out the message with which
God is blessing us this week.
First,
let’s remind ourselves of one thing.
That is, that in the Ten Commandments, there is not one that commands us
to forgive anyone. “I am the Lord, your
God, you shall not have other gods besides me; you shall not use the Lord’s
name in vain, you shall keep holy the Lord’s day, you shall honor your father
and mother, you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not
steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
you shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.”
Ten commandments, not one that says, “you shall forgive offenses”. Nonetheless, throughout the old and new
testament, an admonition—nay, a commandment—to forgive those who have done
wrong to you appears. This commandment
is not arbitrary, however, but rather has great purpose: a purpose which our
readings show to us today.
In the
book of Sirach (which is a “wisdom” book that is a collection of wise
sayings... proverbs, if you will), we find not only the admonition to forgive
but the reason behind it. In fact, let’s
just read it again:
Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance,
for he remembers their sins in detail.
Forgive your neighbor’s injustice;
then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,
who will forgive his sins?
Remember your last days, set enmity aside;
remember death and decay, and cease from sin!
Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;
remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.
Again,
not only does this reading tell us that we must forgive sins, but it tells us
the reason why we must do it: for if we refuse to forgive, we ourselves cannot
expect forgiveness from the Lord. When
it says, “the vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance”, it echoes a teaching
from Jesus: “the measure with which you measure will be measured out to
you”. Thus, the admonition to forgive is
one of self-preservation! Yet there’s
also a further reason given, towards the end of the reading: “Remember your
last days,” it says, “set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease
from sin!” In other words, “Don’t hold
onto these grudges and hurts. Forgive them! Because your days are numbered and holding
onto grudges threatens your readiness to receive the fulfillment of God’s
covenant with you.” Perhaps even more
succinctly: “These worldly grudges don’t matter in heaven, so let them go and
they won’t keep you from it.”
Then
in the Gospel reading, Jesus turns this admonition to forgive into a
commandment. When Peter asks how often
he should forgive someone who wrongs him, he asks with a number that was
absurd: “As many as seven times?”
Jesus replies with an even more absurd statement: “Not seven times, but seventy-seven
times.” If it wasn’t serious, it be
almost silly. It would be like someone
asking “When I see someone begging on the street, how much should I give him?
As much as $10?” and then receiving the reply, “Not $10, but $10 million”. It was the kind of reply that would make you
pause and say, “Wait, are you serious?”
That was obviously the look that Jesus got from Peter and so Jesus
proceeded to tell the parable in order to illustrate that he was, indeed,
serious and why.
The
point—and the reason why the admonition to forgive has the weight of a
commandment—is this: God has acknowledged every offense—every sin—big or small,
that any of us have committed throughout our lifetime; and when we have come
before him in humility and sincerity of heart and asked forgiveness, he has
forgiven them. Not because he is
compelled to forgive, mind you, but rather because he wants to forgive. He chooses this both out of his love for each
of us, but also because, as Our Father, he desires to give us the example of
how we are to treat one another. Thus,
the parable in which a man is called to reckon for his enormous debt (some say
that it was as much as $60 million in today’s money), but who is then forgiven
of it when he begs his master’s mercy, and who then fails to show mercy to one
who owes him a paltry amount, in comparison (maybe $100). This offense is not missed by the master who
then rescinds his forgiveness and sends the man to prison until his whole debt
can be paid. (Think about that for a
minute: how long would you have to work washing dishes at minimum wage to pay
off $60 million of debt?)
Friends,
we should not get lost in the very practical nature of this parable. Jesus is talking about mercy in worldly
affairs, for sure. The parable, however,
is meant to demonstrate to us a vision of the final judgment. All of us have racked up an enormous debt with
God because of our sins. Nonetheless,
God forgives us when we turn to him and seek forgiveness (especially in the
sacrament of reconciliation). If we,
then, fail to forgive the offenses of others against us (which are tiny in
comparison to the ways that we have offended God), God will judge us for our
lack of mercy and in turn rescind his forgiveness: sending us to a place where
we will suffer until that debt is fully paid.
This place is hell and eternity is the length of time that we will need
to pay the debt.
Forgiveness,
therefore, is not about appearing nice—or worse yet, soft and weak—but rather
about the eternal destination of our souls!
We forgive because of our gratefulness for having been forgiven and
because this way of mercy is the way of the kingdom of heaven which we, as
disciples of Jesus, have been tasked to proclaim to the world! You know, everyone is out there looking for
and claiming solutions to all of the strife that afflicts our world today. I hear very few persons, if any, saying that
the way out of this strife is to forgive others their offenses. Well, let me be one who says it: there will
be no way out of the strife and enmity that are embroiling our society today
unless we can look at our neighbor and say: “What you did hurt me, but I forgive
you. If there is anything that I have
done to hurt you, I am sorry and I beg your forgiveness.” You and I must take personal responsibility
to do this or we will never see this societal strife come to an end.
“But
Father, that’s not fair!” You’re right,
it’s not fair if you’re only thinking in worldly terms. Strict natural justice says, “An eye for an
eye and a tooth for a tooth”. Do not
forget the words of Sirach, however: “Remember your last days, set enmity
aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin!” In other words, “Pay attention to what is
beyond this world and live according to those consequences, not the ones of
this world.” In the world beyond this
one, we will be shown mercy to the extent that we showed mercy. If we want unlimited mercy, then we must be
unlimited in the mercy that we show to others here and now. “But Father, won’t the wicked then
prevail?” Maybe so, but in this world
only, while our souls will be preserved for eternal life.
This
week and last, we’ve been treated to lessons on a number of the “spiritual
works of mercy”. Last week, Jesus gave
us a very practical example of how, with great love, to perform the work of
“admonishing the sinner”. This week, he
is showing us the consequences of failing to perform the works of “forgiving
offenses” and “bearing wrongs patiently”.
While these negative consequences are to be avoided, there are,
nonetheless, positive outcomes, too. For
when we forgive offenses and bear wrongs patiently, we, in a sense, absorb the spirit
of wickedness in the world and take away its energy.
Here’s
what I mean: We all remember the “super-bouncy balls” right? When you bounce one of these balls in a small
room with nothing in it but walls, what happens? It loses very little of its energy as it
ricochets off walls repeatedly, perhaps even bouncing back and hitting you, the
one who gave it its energy in the first place!
If there are some soft surfaces in there, however (an overstuffed couch
or chair with pillows, let’s say) and the ball hits one of those things, then
what happens? The ball’s energy is absorbed,
and it stops bouncing all together. This
is the effect of the spiritual works of mercy on evil and wickedness in the
world. As long as we resist them, trying
to “fight fire with fire”, we become like hard surfaces off of which the energy
of the evil and wickedness bounce and ricochet back into the world. If we bear them patiently and offer ready
forgiveness, however, we become those soft surfaces in the room which absorb
their energy so as to end their destructive chaos.
Is
this the way that the world proposes to solve our problems? Nope.
Will we be mocked for proposing this as the way? Absolutely, yes. Does that change the fact that we are called
to live and proclaim it? Not one
bit. Friends, the fact that you are here
at Mass demonstrates to me that you get this, at least implicitly. For what we celebrate here is the ultimate
fulfillment of all that I just explained: Jesus took the full brunt of force
that human wickedness and evil could bring forth in his passion and he absorbed
it so that the full force of the grace of God could be poured forth into the
world again. As members of his Body, we
are called to continue this work of absorbing the world’s wickedness and
pouring forth grace in its place so that the full flourishing of God’s kingdom
can be made manifest in our time.
Only
in Christ can we do this; and so, as we come forward to receive him today, let
us open our hearts and minds to be filled with his strength and courage, so
that we might be greater instruments of his mercy in the world.
Given at St. Mary Parish: Union City, IN – September 12th,
2020
Given at St. Joseph Parish: Winchester, IN – September 13th,
2020
Given at Immaculate Conception Parish: Portland, IN –
September 13th, 2020
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