September 14, 2014—Feast of the Exultation of the Cross

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091414.cfm

To Be Most Like God

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Exultation of the Cross.  On the liturgical calendar, this feast of September 14th [and its readings] trump the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  (For those of you non-Catholics who read my write-up each week, don’t worry. . . Even practicing Catholics have a hard time figuring out the hierarchy of feasts and our set of Biblical readings called the “Lectionary.”)  The gospel reading we would normally hear this Sunday is a continuation of Matthew 18, a follow-up to the gospel we heard last Sunday on how to reprimand another for his or her sin — the art of “fraternal correction.”  Matthew 18:21-35 is about forgiveness and showing mercy.  Christ our Lord says to St. Peter that we are not only to forgive seven times, but seventy times seven — a number denoting limitless forgiveness and mercy.  To demonstrate the profundity of this teaching, Jesus gives the “Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.”  A king (symbolizing God the Father) forgives a 10,000 talent debt, that is, 20 years worth of wages, when his servant asks for mercy.  That servant represents each and every one of us [sinners].  But Jesus shows how ungrateful this servant is (and how we all can be) when the servant refuses to forgive someone in debt to him — just 100 denarii, that is, 100 days worth of wages — a much smaller debt than what the king had forgiven.  Jesus tells us we will be punished severely if we do not forgive our neighbors from our hearts.

The forgiveness of which our Lord is speaking is not just forgiving someone for leaving their dishes in the sink, or someone being late for an important date, or someone who pulled out in front of you on the road.  It is a call to an attitude of forgiveness, so that when we are hurt badly, we will be able to be generous in mercy — as generous as God is with us.  Without this attitude, how can we forgive a close friend who says something bad about us behind our back?  How can we forgive an unfaithful spouse, or a child abuser, or a notorious murderer on death row?  How can we forgive the terrorists who plotted and executed the attacks on the World Trade Center thirteen years ago?  It is important to highlight that forgiveness does not absolve responsibility; mercy does not negate the demand for justice.  However, forgiveness opens the path to charity and the hope for conversion of the wrongdoer.  It is a submission that ultimate justice is God’s — not ours.  If you are having trouble forgiving someone right now (or some people who have hurt you badly), think about the worst sin you have ever committed against God and remember how God has been merciful to you.  Then in your prayer, thank God once again for his limitless mercy and ask for his help in forgiving the person (or persons) who have hurt you.  Some wounds are so painful that we cannot forgive without God’s grace.  And remember:  When we forgive someone, especially someone who has sinned against us gravely, it is then that we are most like God.  Forgiveness is the most loving characteristic of God, and so when we are forgiving, we are most like God.