How often Why should I forgive?

In a culture that strongly promotes justice exceptional acts of forgiveness can seem somehow to betray our need to find balance in the world. In a world with terrorists, how can we forgive extreme acts of violence?  How do we forgive racial genocide? How does a woman who has been trapped in an abusive relationship find forgiveness for the one who has hurt her and her children repeatedly?

In the Gospel today Peter reminds us just how hard forgiveness can be. When he suggests to Jesus that one forgive 7 times he is offering what seems to be an exceptional expectation. Jesus responds not 7 but 77 times. It seems incredible, how can we be asked to do such a thing.

Forgiveness cannot be overcoming our sense of violation, forgetting what hurt has been done to us by the force of our will; such a method is ultimately impossible. We may pretend for awhile but it will come back to hurt us.

Experiencing true forgiveness lies in realizing where that forgiveness comes from. Forgiveness is a gift that is given to us. Just like our life, forgiveness is a gift from God. A gift is not something that we earn, a gift is not something that we are owed. It is something freely given. And forgiveness is something that God offers us time and time again.

We can’t forgive that way, not by ourselves. We are helped to forgive by remembering that we were forgiven first. In the parable the wicked servant isn’t an example because he could not forgive. He was an example because he had been forgiven a great debt and did not forgive a small one; he had forgotten what had been given him.

Why should I forgive; what about justice? Forgiveness is not about being weak it is not about being passive and letting someone get away with something. If there is one thing in the world that Christians demand above all it is justice. Many saints have given their lives for it. We may be asked to turn our cheek when someone abuses us, not returning violence with violence; but Jesus also says that when that happens, move on. Don’t remain in a situation where you are a victim.

The best scenario for reconciliation is when one who has harmed another admits to the fault and is willing to make reparation for the harm that is done in order to restore the balance.  In the real world such a scenario doesn’t always take place. Sometime those who have hurt others refuse to take responsibility; sometimes they refuse to admit that they have done anything wrong. Sometimes those who have hurt us leave or even die before we can come to a place of forgiveness in our hearts; but it is still important to forgive.

We realize that even though human justice does not always prevail we can trust that in the end God’s justice will. Forgiveness offered even if it is not asked for, not heard or not accepted by the other person is necessary because it becomes the beginning of our own healing. We need to be able to let go of our anger so that our hurt does not continue to deepen.

The message of the Gospel today is not that forgiveness is easy. It is that forgiveness cannot be bounded.  There is nothing that we can do for which we cannot be forgiven by God. Our response to that gift is to remember it; to let that gift be alive in us and be willing to offer it to others.

Is there anyone that you need to offer forgiveness to?

Is there anyone that you need to ask forgiveness from?

When your world gets Rocked

What we read in the Gospel today is the first preaching engagement of Jesus in his home town. He had been in the surrounding towns and had met with a pretty good reception as he began his public ministry, but this particular venue was going to be a test. This was the home town boy coming back to his roots.

The people were waiting expectantly to see what he was going to say and it seemed to start out pretty good; Luke even says that they were amazed at Jesus. But then something changes. The scene goes from a nice time, listening to Jesus preach in the synagogue to an angry mob scene on a hillside as the crowd prepares to toss him off a cliff. It seems nobody was quite sure how to take this new Jesus. The categories that they had for understanding him had all been shaken up with this small town boy turned messiah.

When I think of being shaken up the image that comes to my mind is one of those snow globes that you buy when you’re on vacation. It sits on your dresser and all the white snow lies neatly on the bottom. Then your little boy or your granddaughter comes along and gives it a good shake. For a while it’s chaos; mass confusion in that little globe with snow flying everywhere.

It’s like that for us too when we hear something new especially if it’s asking big changes of us. We’re not sure what to make of it. We can become angered by the emotions we feel. Or we can become paralyzed, not knowing what to do next.  The people that were listening to Jesus got so upset they wanted to kill him.

Naaman experienced this. Naaman was a great commander; he was used to people doing his bidding. When he discovered that he had an incurable disease his world was rocked upside down. From warrior to invalid Naaman’s life was now bound up in the promise of a little Jewish girl and an old prophet; completely out of his control.

After that little snow globe sits for awhile things start to settle down again and pretty soon all is calm but the snow never falls back the same way it was. People who have been shaken up also have a chance to change. When we get all rearranged we can come back together in new and exciting ways.

Naaman had to trust those outside of his normal circles and in doing so he received the healing that he longed for. For those who struggled with Jesus’ new identity, some of them were able to come to understand him and they even followed him. But for others the task was too great, it was too hard to change.

When your life’s ship  gets tossed who do you cling to?

Break out of your rut. Do something outside of your comfort zone.

We are walking on Holy Ground

In the wilderness God Almighty introduces God’s self to Moses in a most unusual fashion. Imagine a shepherd in the hills with his sheep, lost in his own thoughts. The last thing that Moses would have dreamed of happening to him was meeting the one true God, in person, in the form of a burning bush. Does that sound farfetched?

We can also imagine the looks on the faces of those people Moses shared his experience with when he got back to town. “Poor guy has been out in the sun too long.”, would have been the common response.

But I think that, if we pause to reflect, we realize that the experience which Moses had of God and which he shared with others is not really that different from what we are privileged to partake in week after week at our Sunday Eucharist. As the people bring the community’s gifts to the table and the priest prays over them, we witness a very similar miracle of presence. At the altar we come before the “burning bush that is never consumed”, the very presence of God.

Moses’ experience of being in God’s company is also paralleled in our coming together at Church. “You are on Holy Ground”, God declares. The fiery shrub which Moses encountered was a place to take off one’s shoes and to stand in awe in God’s holy space. Our Church is not so different. Maybe we keep our shoes on but where else in this busy world can you go that offers as good a place for contemplation and prayer? To step off of bustling McCaul Street in downtown Toronto into the cool, dark, silent interior of St. Patrick’s church is like entering a conduit to tranquility.

There is one more thing in common between that fiery hedge plant of our ancestor in faith and our own house of worship and that is they are not just about passive contemplation, they are not inert places that are isolated with respect to the rest of humanity. Both, in fact, are launching pads for the faithful into participation in the unfolding events of our world

For Moses the focus of concern was for the people held in captivity in Egypt. God heard their cry and had come to their aid. Our Church is also a catalyst for bringing help to the poor and to those who cry out to God for assistance. From Haiti, to Chile to Pleasant Hill, Saskatoon, God hears the cry of his people and we are being invited to take up the cause.

Like Moses we may feel a little unqualified and perhaps are trembling in the knee. We might appear at times to follow more the example of the fig tree that refuses to bear fruit. That’s alright because God is a patient gardener, he is tender and kind and lets us know that we do not embark alone, it is “I AM” who sends us.

Where do you  experience Holy Ground?

For what, in this life, is your heart burning?

A Father’s crazy love!

The story of the prodigal son captures both the strengths and weaknesses of our human nature. It portrays a loving and forgiving father and a lost son who has squandered his life and his possessions.

The parable is often used at reconciliation services to illustrate the importance of conversion in our lives. That when we have strayed from God we need only turn our hearts back to him and God will welcome us with open arms. As an illustration of the power of conversion and repentance I think the story speaks volumes on its own.

The interesting thing is that Jesus does not present the story on its own. In Luke’s Gospel it is prefaced by two other little anecdotes, one about a lost sheep and the other about a lost coin. The context seems to be telling us that the parable is not so much about sin and repentance but about God’s passionate love for each one of us.

When you consider a woolly little sheep grazing in the pasture do you think it might have any sense of right and wrong, do we think of a sheep as a moral creature? A coin doesn’t hide itself on purpose nor can it do anything for itself to be found again. But the objects in both stories do have one thing in common. They are both highly valued by the ones who have lost them and in both cases the owners go to extravagant means to get them back.

Jesus is trying to tell us something here. He is trying to get into our heads how much God is in love with us, so much so that it’s just plain foolish. He is trying to teach us that God will do anything for us.

When we look once again at the story of the prodigal son from this perspective we focus not on the sin of the young man, not on his decision to return to his home to face what waits for him there. Instead our focus is on the Father who never stops loving. The father who goes about his daily routine with only half a mind on his work while he keeps one eye on the horizon always hopeful that this will be the day that his lost son returns. In the story there is not a moment of hesitation in the father when he finally sees his son. There is no playing back in his mind of the many ways the son had hurt him. Rather he runs to greet his son while he is still a long way off and holds him in his arms and kisses him even before the son has chance to say he is sorry.

The Father is waiting. What are you waiting for?

Ask for help to forgive someone who has hurt you.

Clothes often contain a lot more meaning then just “something we wear”.

Think about a bride choosing her wedding gown or a CEO choosing just the right power tie for the big meeting. In our parish a group of ladies get together and knit shawls to be used as gifts to the home bound. Each stitch represents a prayer sent forth from our Church to those who can no longer join our community in person. You can’t buy that at Wal-Mart.

Who can read the epic story of Joseph and his brothers without picturing Joseph’s Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat? But Joseph wasn’t just wearing a coat; he wasn’t robed in any old garb. He was wearing the symbol of his Father’s great affection and his brothers hated him for it.

Too cowardly to kill Joseph and too greedy to let him go to waste; the brothers plotted Joseph’s fate because they refused to share their father’s love. The image is driven home as we hear, “They stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore”. This figure foreshadows another beloved Son who would also be stripped of his garments and led to slaughter.

What is the proper response to such violence, to such an inability to share? In the Gospel the Pharisees are quick to answer; “retaliation”, “destroy the destroyers”. Sounds like the solution we hear all too frequently on the evening news. Jesus reveals that the way of the Father is different. God takes that which has been destroyed and turns it into something beautiful once again.

Joseph will not be lost. In the end it is Joseph who, through many an amazing turn of events, ends up saving his entire family. And that other Son, stripped bare and hung on a cross. His life and death would be for the salvation of us all.

We will face violence in the world, of that there is no doubt. How will we respond? Will we fight fire with fire or will we choose to be dressed in a garment of peace, knowing that we are but stewards in the vineyard of the Lord.

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Col 3:12-14

What clothes will you put on today?

Make an effort to weave peace.

In God We Trust?

When I was discerning my vocation to the priesthood I made a pilgrimage to nowhere in particular. For five months I rode my bicycle across Canada sleeping outdoors, meeting new people and basically opening my heart to what it was that God was trying to call me to be. One of the best lessons I learned during that trip was about trust and it came from a hobo I met at the side of the road.

I was miles from anywhere when I spotted the man hitchhiking. He walked in sandals and  wore blue jean cutoff shorts and a faded worn out t-shirt. He had a small day pack which looked half empty slung over his shoulder. I couldn’t offer him a ride but I stopped to talk. For the next half hour he shared his adventures with me of traveling around the world living from one day to the next not knowing where life was going to take him. I felt a kindred spirit with this man, me and my bicycle, and I shared with him my own dream of simplifying my life and riding across the country and beyond. My ego was somewhat deflated when he asked  simply, as he look at me in my clean new riding clothes and at my bike piled high with camping gear, “Why do you have so much stuff?”

Of course not everyone can or should escape the grid and so called rat race of life to become a vagabond even if we do dream about it from time to time. But there is something to be said for asking ourselves the questions; Why do we need so much? What is it that we are afraid of? Why can’t we be more trusting in God who will provide what we need?

The parable of Lazarus at the gate of the Rich man is a simple morality tale with a simple plot. The rich man who relies only on his wealth goes to hell and poor Lazarus who has no one to trust but God gets a place in heaven. The provocative part of the story occurs when the Rich man, having learned his lesson about life’s proper priorities asks Abraham to send a messenger to warn his brothers. “What good could that possibly do”, replies Abraham, “they wouldn’t listen even if someone came back from the dead.” Is it possible that we could be so deaf that we can’t hear what God is trying to say to us?

The prophet Jeremiah speaks about trust in God as a source of life. Without it we are shrubs without roots, subject to the perils of this life. But with God we discover that our roots go deep and the waters that sustain us are never ending.

Unfortunately we all too often  find ourselves  like the man that has fallen off a cliff and is clinging to a branch. Unknown to him his feet are dangling only 6 inches from the ground and safety but in desperation to save his own life he clings to that gnarled branch for all he is worth.

“Let go” God says, “Trust in me” and you will be saved.

What branches are you clinging to?

Do a personal inventory. Ask yourself how much you really need?

Can you drink the cup?

The Olympic Winter games have come to a conclusion and the winning athletes are back home with the thoughts of their medal victories now finally starting to sink in. Probably for any Olympic hopeful the very fact of qualifying for the games must feel a little like winning a gold medal in itself whether one ultimately emerges victorious or not. The long hours of practice and years of disciplined training have paid off with that wonderful recognition that they are counted amoung the elite in their sport.

People are willing to go to great lengths, if the reward is great enough. The reward might be a trophy or a medal, for some it is money and for others it is simply knowing that they are the best at what they do. But where is the motivation if the reward is not recognition but persecution?

In the Gospel today Jesus invites his disciples to follow him to Jerusalem where he is to meet his fate on the cross. Though he describes clearly the suffering he is going to face the disciples are more interested in what is in it for them; what is the selling point? While they are thinking about it the mother of James and John comes right out and asks. “Make a place for these sons of mine; one at your right and one at your left.” Clearly she saw a reward at the end of the road, a big trophy. Jesus replies, “Yes, there is a cup waiting, but its not what you are thinking.” The cup that Jesus was describing could not have been more different from a trophy full of Champagne. “Can you drink the Cup that I will drink?”

Doing the will of God has always been costly in human terms. Jeremiah in today’s first reading is certainly aware that his days are numbered if he continues to preach the difficult message of justice and faithfulness. Yet despite the opposition the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures persevered just as the disciples did in the New Testament. They are witnesses that the treasure we seek, though, not something that can be clearly understood in this life is far more rewarding then Gold medals or silver trophies. It is treasure which has an eternal value.

Just like not all weekend athletes will be able to see themselves competing one day in the Olympic games,  not all Christians will be called to the same degree of self-sacrifice as the prophets or martyrs of the bible. Yet we are still called to be willing to stand on the podium, to share our faith even when it can at times be difficult or unpopular. We can do so when we realize that, in the words of Dorthy Day, “If we have achieved anything in this life it’s because we have not been afraid to talk about God.”

Have a conversation about God today with someone you know?

Pray for those who persecute you on account of your faith.