24th Sunday Year A
24th Sunday Year A – Forgiveness - I have used this homily from the start of the Covid lockdown as I think it captures our frustrations, confusions and anxieties and counters them with hope, commitment and love.
How are we all feeling? How are we all coping with the restrictions of the lockdown? It is hard to carry on within the limitations that have been set for us and really frustrating to do so when we can see examples of others flouting the rules and regulations and causing spikes in the infection-and death rates.
This frustration can build within us and cause us to worry, to feel anxious and scared and to feel frustrated and negative toward others, to feel done down, let down by them and that in turn can cause us to fret, to become concerned and to feel unduly and unnecessarily unhappy with them, with society and possibly even with life.
But we have to stop and think on this. We have to look at life in a much more positive way. A way that reflects God’s love for us and his never ending and unconditional care and compassion. As our psalm todays offers us, “The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.”
That is our guide and our steer, “Slow to anger and rich in mercy.” How easy this is to say and yet I find that this is so hard to do. When someone riles you up. When you feel that they do you down, that they have their own agenda to cut you off and to cut you up. That no matter what you feel you do or say they give you no time or opportunity to get involved, to take part, to interact, to be included.
How then do you get over this feeling of exclusion? How many times do I forgive my brother or sister this actual or perceived slight? Well, the Lord answers this direct as he did to Peter, “Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.” He is saying that no matter how many times we feel slighted or badly done to, we should forgive; we should give the other person the chance to apologise and to move forward together.
So, when we see people flouting the rules and guidelines regarding Covid, we need to have it in our hearts that they need our prayers, our thoughts and our considerations that they will come to appreciate the needs of others, of us as well of themselves.
As the psalm says, “It is the Lord who forgives us all of our guilt, who heals every one of our ills, who redeems our lives from the grave and who crowns us with love and compassion. He does not treat us according to our sins nor repay us according our faults.”
We may be faced with even more restrictions on our faith-practice as part of the government’s approach to dealing with this pandemic. We may be faced with having to follow more rules, more regulations that are phrased as guidelines but are in fact, facts: stringent and must-do facts.
We have to find our way to steer with and within these stated paths, a route that allows us to pray as community in Christ; that encourages us to act together to live the Word of the Lord every day in our lives with and for each other: that enables us to support the weakest amongst us with prayer, with thanksgiving and with any and every practical support we can.
All of this comes from the knowledge that the Lord loves us. He loves me and He forgives me for every ill and wrongdoing that I have done; that I am doing and that I will ever do. He forgives me because He loves me. He loves me because I am His. I am His own. I am His child. We are all His children and as such we should be showing our love of and for Him by how we love and forgive our brothers and sisters, not seven but seventy-seven times.
Lord, I beg your forgiveness for all of my sins and your strength, wisdom, guidance and charity to share this forgiveness and your love with anyone who has slighted me now or at any time in the future. Amen