The problem with fairness
Why is it important to forgive?
Photo by Gus Moretta on Unsplash
WE MUST FORGIVE
Ecclus. 27:30-28:7 & Mt. 18:21-35
"Father, here's £5. Will you say a Mass to curse my neighbour!"
"I can't say a Mass for that intention", said the priest.
"Father, here's £10 please say a Mass to curse my neighbour!"
"I will not do that", said the priest.
In that case Father, here is £5 for a special intention'.
How inventive we can be when it comes to seeking vengeance and wanting to harm those who hurt us. We can hold on to thoughts of anger. We have a great capacity to store up hurts, letting them fester until they make us bitter and spoil all the good that we can do.
Who are the people we find hardest to forgive? If we have been hurt, I'm sure we can put a name to someone whom we find it difficult or impossible to forgive. The chances are it will be someone who is close to us, a work colleague, someone whom we thought was our friend, a member of our own family. As soon as we recall their name do the same feelings of hurt bubble to the surface? Does the video of the scene replay inside our head? There is still so much baggage we carry around, weights we just won't let go off.
How moved we are when we hear of incidents of honest and whole hearted forgiveness. Even after all these years since the IRA bombing in Enniskillen, we can remember most vividly the words of Gordon Wilson, the father who held onto the hand of his dying daughter, Marie. He spoke only words of forgiveness and compassion. It would have been so easy, and in a way almost expected, for him to berate those who had planted the bomb. The sad thing is that such incidents are rare and memorable mainly because of the infrequency.
Today's Gospel leaves us in no doubt that Jesus expects our initial response to such situations is to be one of forgiveness. We are told that we must not put a limit on the number of times we have to reach out in generosity and pardon to those who hurt or even hate us. The servant whose debts were beyond any chance of repaying appealed to his Master for more time to pay. The Master's response was way beyond the servant's expectations. The Master saw the impossible situation of the servant, and was moved with compassion and wiped out the entire debt. Such a weight was taken off the shoulders of the servant. His goods were not taken from him. His family remained together.
However, his response to forgive his fellow servant of his paltry debt showed that he had failed to learn the lesson of forgiveness.
He was still caught up in the situation we heard of in the first reading from the Book of Ecclesiasticus. "If a man nurses anger against another, can he then demand compassion from the Lord? Showing no pity for a man like himself, can he then plead for his own sins?" It is far too easy to look at the great sinners and feel smug because we are not as bad as Hitler or Bin Laden or the latest individual to be pilloried by the newspapers. Our faults may not be in the same league but they are faults none the less.
Forgiving our enemies, or anyone who has hurt us, is something every follower of Jesus Christ must do. Jesus knows it is the hardest thing to do. He gave us the example of forgiveness. On the cross He forgave His enemies. He teaches us that if we want forgiveness from our Heavenly Father, we must always forgive others. This is what He taught us in the Our Father, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
Lord Jesus, let us remember that in the measure that we forgive others God will forgive us. Forgiveness is not an option, it is essential to our entry into heaven.
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