WORD FOR MISSION
Missionary reflection on Sunday Liturgy
FORGIVENESS
REGENERATES
the individual and human society
XXIV Sunday in
Ordinary time
Year “A” - Sunday
11.09.2005
Ecclesiasticus 27:30
- 28:7
Psalm 102
Romans 14:7-9
Matthew 18:21-35
Reflections
The central
theme of the five
biblical texts
today (including the Our Father) is forgiveness: the Christian
necessity
to forgive as many as "seventy-seven times", which means
always, as Jesus teaches us in the Gospel, which is the last
part of the ecclesiastical discourse of Mt.18 on relationships
among
persons. It is
a teaching Jesus insisted on, from "Blessed are the merciful" in the
Sermon on the Mount to Calvary: Mt.5:7; 6:14-15: 9:2-6; 12:31-32;
18:21-35;
26:28. And following on the words comes the example of Jesus on the
Cross: "Father,
forgive them, they do not know what they are doing" (Lk.23:34).
The pinnacle of pardon!
The Bible records a progression
in the
understanding of the law and the practice of pardon. In the
early times
the brutal Lamech, son of Cain, knows only cruel reprisal, revenge
without
limit, up to 'seventy times seven' (cf. Gn.4:23-4). A more appropriate
reaction
is shown in the primitive lex talionis: 'eye for eye, tooth
for tooth',
etc. (Ex.21:24). This is not intended as an incitement to pay back the
wrong
suffered, but rather as a limit that reaction must not pass. The
highest point
reached in the Old Testament, with the call to forego vengeance and
rancour,
comes in Lv.19:18: "love your neighbour as yourself". Today's text of
Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) expresses the same position. In the time of
Jesus,
rabbis set the number of times to pardon someone at three. Peter pushed
as far
as seven (Mt.18:21), but Jesus accepts no limits: as many as seventy
times
seven! Pardon must be without measure, because the mercy of the Father
is infinite
(Lk.6:36).
The readings present various
bases for
forgiveness. In the Gospel, Jesus' parable highlights the
immense
distance between the heart of God, who forgives everything, always, (Responsorial
Psalm) and the human heart, which is often petty and mean
(Mt.18:33). In
the first Reading, Ben Sira warns severely: "Remember
the last things... remember death" (v.6-7).
Aggressiveness melts when one reflects on human limitations. "It may
seem
a banal saying, but it has its psychological profundity: the denial
of death
is the root of violence... To reject
the sense of finiteness means to have placed at our very roots the
premises of
all errors" (E. Balducci). In the second Reading, Paul urges tolerance
and
understanding by placing at the centre of life not the egotistic self,
but
Christ who died and rose again for everyone, and is the only one who
gives
meaning and worth to our life and death. Living for the Lord (v.7), one
discovers universality and mission, which render us open to everyone.
Forgiveness regenerates from
within
both individuals and communities, at all levels. It makes them like God, in His
image and likeness; it gives freedom from tensions and aggressiveness
that
often mar relationships between individuals and within society; it
breaks the chain
of revenge; it reveals the greatness of spirit of individuals and
institutions.
Beyond the interpersonal and domestic circles, Christian forgiveness
has
dimensions and applications especially at the level of groups,
societies,
nations. Pope John Paul II often made this the topic of his
messages for
the World Day of Peace, and proposed it as the criterion for the
solution of
tensions among peoples. * One person who has reflected long and deeply
on the
world dimensions of forgiveness is Cardinal Carlo M. Martini:
"Forgiveness also has a civil and political importance. As long as
people
are unable to give up something to which, theoretically, they have a
right, as
long as they want what is theirs, what is due to them, at all costs,
and all
they do is to make a list of all their arguments and reasons, peace
will not be
achieved, because they do not want to pay anything. But peace
has a
price... Peace, in a world marked by sin, calls for a constant
intention to forgive: in families, within communities, in and between
Churches,
and even more in the civil context." Peace and pardon are the priority
message of mission.
The Pope's words
*
“Offer
forgiveness, and receive peace” (1997).
“There
is no peace without justice; there is no justice without forgiveness”
(2002).
John
Paul II
Messages
for World Peace Days
In the steps of Missionaries
- 11/9: St. Jean Gabriel Perboyre
(1802-1840),
a French Vincentian priest and missionary in China, where he was
imprisoned,
fastened to a cross and strangled in the Province of Hubei.
- 13/9: St. John Chrysostom (around
349-407),
Bishop of Constantinople, a Father and Doctor of the Church. He wrote
and
preached, and suffered persecution. He died in exile at Cumana on the
Black
Sea.
- 14/9: Feast of the Exaltation of
the Holy
Cross. The Cross is the icon of the One who was crucified, and is the
symbol of
the paschal mystery for the salvation of all nations.
- 15/9: Our Lady of Sorrows, closely
associated
in the saving passion of her Son.
- 15/9: Blessed John Baptist and
Giacinto de
Angelis, catechists, martyred in Mexico (+1700).
- 15/9: Bl. Paul Manna (1872-1952), a
PIME
priest, missionary in Burma and founder of the Pontifical Missionary
Union for
the spreading of the missionary spirit among Catholic communities. He
is also celebrated
on 16th January, as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity approaches,
which he
also promoted.
- 16/9: St. John Macías (1585-1645),
a
Dominican lay brother of Spanish origin. He lived and worked in Peru,
dedicating his life to the poor and sick.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Editor:
Fr. Romeo Ballan, mcci - Former Director of
CIAM, Rome
Website: www.ciam.org
<http://www.ciam.org/> “Word
for Mission”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++