Forgive and you will be forgiven

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Luke, that if we call ourselves Christian - We must forgive - At all costs…Easier said then done - But that does not change the directive one bit…..”Jesus said to his disciples: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you”…….How do we do this? - The answer - Divine Grace…..To forgive in this radical manner is humanly impossible…..How do we receive this divine grace?….We must radically surrender to God and empty our selves of our selves, so God can fill us with his Holy Spirit…….Catholics pray the Lord’s Prayer daily and when we do, we say the words….”Forgive us our trespass as we forgive those who trespass against us” - Do we realize what we say when those words come out of our mouth?…..If a person is to carry out this radical concept of forgiveness, which Jesus himself taught us….There must be a certain level of detachment from secular world views…One can not be “worldly” in word and deed and forgive radically…..The “world” looks to “even the score”…The “world” looks to “get ahead”…One can not forgive and do those things….For a person to carry out the words of Christ, when it comes to mercy and forgiveness - One must be focused on heaven as their one and only goal…………...”Winning Out” or “Settling a Score” can not be of a concern….And again, this implies sacrifice on the part of anyone who attempts to live in this manner - Are you willing to live in this manner? - To live sacrificially? - To live for heaven?….Many say they do - But when it comes time to forgive a grevious wrong committed against them - Their words fade way and “old habits” settle back in……This is why to racially forgive as Jesus asks of us to requires divine grace and detachment….And we cannot self manufacture this grace - We are only given it if we cooperate with Jesus so he can fully animate our life…..This is how we enter into enteral life and this is how we “forgive those who trespass against us.”
 

“Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life”

When you look at the news one sees just how cruel mankind can be - How can a person forgive such atrocities?……Again, it all boils down to how you see the world and what your ultimate goal is…..Is you “end game” heaven”…or…Is your “end game” to thrive on this earth…..As Scripture tells us…“No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon”…To radically forgive in the manner that Jesus asks of us may require you to seem weak to the world at times….To maybe not get the job you were working for….To take “a back seat”…Are you willing to go there? - At the request of Jesus? - To live for heaven and not to “thrive” here on earth……..These three words said from the heart - “I am sorry” - Carry with them so much power…Saying those words from the heart can de-escalate some of the most heated conflicts mankind can face….Yet we are unwilling to say them - Because of our pride…..Each of us are sinners and every practicing Catholic knows when he or she goes to a Sacramental Confession with a priest that we are forgiven by God….So how can we then not forgive others their trespasses against us?…..Time does not heal our wounds - Time makes our wounds fester - Only Sacramental Grace and the Holy Spirit can accomplish within us this radical request by Jesus Christ - To forgive…..This is why Jesus and his message is the answer to many, if not all of our words problems….And in order to convince the world of this solution - The world has to “see” the Gospel radically lived out……One act of racial forgiveness can open the “eyes of the blind”…And talking about such an act does not make it happen….We must live as we say we believe - And that requires divine grace.

“Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name; Deliver us and pardon our sins for your name's sake”

Today at Mass we are reminded of our need for God’s mercy and forgiveness - And as we know, all we have to do is ask for it in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and God will forgive us - Great!…But there is a condition - And that condition is, we too must forgive others who have wronged us…Each time we sin, we trespass against Jesus Christ himself, who gave everything he had for us, even his own blood!…Do you ever ponder that reality?…..Therefore we too must forgive - But we don’t….Why? - Could it be we are looking to “get ahead” here on earth? - To settle a score? - To win at all costs?……..This secular mindset must be banished from our soul…..To forgive radically requires us to live racially….We will never be able to forgive as Jesus asks of us, if we do not realign our priorities - Loving God above all things and Loving our neighbor as our self - If these are our priorities, we can and will forgive with the help of God’s grace…If not - We simply will not……And if we refuse to forgive others - God will not forgive us…..”For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you” - Stop and think about that for a minute!…..As Catholics, we are quick to say a “bunch of words” when we pray…But do we mean them? - More importantly - Do we live those words?……”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”…..God seems to mean what he is telling us here - Do we take Jesus at his word?…..Forgive and you will be forgiven…………JMJ