24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time are:

1. Sirach 27: 30-28: 7
2. Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
3. Romans 14: 7-9
4. Matthew 18: 21-35

• Transforming forgiveness
• On May 13th, 1981, Ali Agca attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II.  The pope forgave his would be assassin, and met with him shortly after the attempt.  It would be heart-warming to be able to say that the Pope's forgiveness was transformative for Agca, but reviews of his life since the attempt are decidedly mixed.
• If forgiving another is no guarantee of making them a better person, what is the point?
• Do you think that forgiving another makes you more or less vulnerable to subsequent injury that they might inflict on you?
• Does it really matter? 

• Kind and merciful
• Mercy and justice would appear to be at odds with each other, yet they are both deeply evident in God.
• Do you think that it is possible to show mercy and justice?
• How would you define justice?
• How would you define mercy?
• Is it possible to show one without the other? 

• What matters in the end
• Day to day living can be so day to day.  Life can feel like a treadmill with no real forward progress, barely keeping your head above water.
• If someone asked you what you are living for, what would you say if you only had a minute?
• What would you say if you had a half hour?
• Given the ultimate goal of your life, how does your work fit into that picture today?
• When was the last time that you asked yourself that question? 

• The freedom of forgiveness
• When someone injures us, we suddenly feel vulnerable.  We ask how such a thing could happen to us at all.  Let alone how it could happen to us at the hands of that person.  If we're at all inclined to neurosis, we might spiral into self-doubt and wonder what we did to somehow deserve that.
• Why do you think that it is so hard to forgive?
• Does our forgiveness of another oblige them to respond in any way?
• Does our forgiveness require that they in any way deserve it?
• When you have asked for forgiveness, how has the asking changed you?
• What would have been your reaction if the other person did not forgive you? 

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Do I have the courage to forgive?
• How can I bring about more mercy and justice in my immediate circle?
• Am I fulfilling my life calling, my destiny in God?
• How/where might God be calling me to heal with forgiveness?

I Forgive You

 

At my age, memory can be a rather fickle thing.

Hurtful things that I've said and done come back to mind.

Floating to the surface of my memory at the oddest times.

And I don't always know what to do with them.

 

I try to remember who I was back then.

I try to find some reason for that behavior.

Or some deeper lesson from that experience.

Maybe inspiration to do better in the future.

 

I know that I cannot redeem that younger me.

No amount of better behavior will make up for those actions.

But perhaps, by the grace of God

I can still bring about some healing.

 

Now I ask God to forgive me

Just in case I've never asked for that.

Where its possible I strive to make amends.

But the hardest thing is to forgive myself.

 

No excuses, no "boys will be boys"

Just a realization that I've been hurtful, spiteful

Nevermind the real or imagined motivations.

And let that younger me know that he is loved.

 

Eternity knows no bounds of time as we know it.

I like to think that I can reach back to that younger me

Claim my right as a child of the Eternal.

And lay a loving hand on his shoulder.

 

And maybe start some healing at the source.

Maybe learn from him how to show mercy in the hear and now.

To those who need it all around me.

And leave a little more of me in Jesus' loving hands.

 

Shalom!