“My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive from the heart.” – Matthew 18:35

       A parish priest carried the burden of a secret sin he committed years ago. Even though he had confessed, he had no peace. Then a woman in his parish claimed to converse with God in her visions. He was skeptical,  so to test her, he said, “When you talk to God, ask Him what sin I committed when I was in the seminary.” The woman returned to the priest with an answer from God. “He said, ‘I don’t remember,’” she remarked.

       I cannot even begin to imagine our heavenly Father as an unforgiving God. If He possessed even an iota of  unforgiveness in His heart, sinners like me would have disappeared from the face of the earth a long time ago. But despite my imperfections and wretchedness, I’m still here — only because of God’s merciful love and forgiveness.

     The verse above is a warning for us who refuse to forgive. A hardened, vengeful heart deprives us of experiencing the forgiveness that the Lord so generously gives us. When we do not forgive those who wrong us, we slap God’s outstretched arms that long to embrace us in His mercy. Undaunted, He pursues us until we come to our senses and fall into His arms. In that very moment, God erases all our sins and wrongdoing, and only His perfect love remains. Dina Pecaña (dpecana@yahoo.com)

Reflection: What God forgives, He forgets.

Lord, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

We all have a rebellious side. There is something within us that wants to be in control and make the final decision on things that matter. Obviously, this is expressed in varying degrees of strength depending on the individual. We must harness the power and strength of this desire and direct it towards the salvation of souls.

Ezekiel 12:1-12

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house; they have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house. 3 Now, son of man, during the day while they are looking on, prepare your baggage as though for exile, and again while they are looking on, migrate from where you live to another place; perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house. 4 You shall bring out your baggage like an exile in the daytime while they are looking on; in the evening, again while they are looking on, you shall go out like one of those driven into exile; 5 while they look on, dig a hole in the wall and pass through it; 6 while they look on, shoulder the burden and set out in the darkness; cover your face that you may not see the land, for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel. 7 I did as I was told. During the day I brought out my baggage as though it were that of an exile, and at evening I dug a hole through the wall with my hand and, while they looked on, set out in the darkness, shouldering my burden. 8 Then, in the morning, the word of the Lord came to me: 9 Son of man, did not the house of Israel, that rebellious house, ask you what you were doing? 10 Tell them: Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns Jerusalem and the whole house of Israel within it. 11 I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them; as captives they shall go into exile. 12 The prince who is among them shall shoulder his burden and set out in darkness, going through a hole he has dug in the wall, and covering his face lest he be seen by anyone.

Psalm 78:56-57, 58-59, 61-62

R: Do not forget the works of the Lord!

56 They tempted and rebelled against God the Most High, and kept not his decrees. 57 They turned back and were faithless like their fathers; they recoiled like a treacherous bow. (R) 58 They angered him with their high places and with their idols roused his jealousy. 59God heard and was enraged and utterly rejected Israel. (R) 61 And he surrendered his strength into captivity, his glory into the hands of the foe. 62 He abandoned his people to the sword and was enraged against his inheritance. (R)

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Clare, a contemporary and admirer of the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi. She refused to follow the wishes of her family even when they tried to bodily remove her from the convent. She knew God wanted her to be a nun and that is what she would do, despite her family’s desire for her to get married. There are times when we need to rebel and draw strength from the Holy Spirit. There are also times when we need to submit to whatever Church authorities tell us to do.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Let your countenance shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes.

Matthew 18:21-19:1

21 Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 23 That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. 25 Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. 26 At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ 27 Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. 28 When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servants put in prison until he paid back the debt. 31 Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. 32 His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ 34 Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. 35 So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” 19:1 When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan. 112 Read the Bible

Thank You Lord for: __________________

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR  2 Maccabees 5-6  

TO LOVE IS TO FORGIVE

Everybody finds it difficult to forgive. It is a decision, an act of the will. Even when we have decided to forgive, the hurt remains. And because we are hurt, we become angry. Forgiveness comes at the end of anger, not at the beginning. In order to forgive, we need to admit the pain the other person has caused us. We need to allow ourselves to be angry and hurt. Anger is the power to distance ourselves from what has hurt us. But we do not need to harbor grudges for it will only kill us.

       After anger, we decide to forgive and free ourselves from the other person’s power. Forgiveness frees us from the hurts that people have caused us. It heals our wounds.

       To forgive is to set the prisoner free, and that prisoner is you. People who never forgive are harsh to themselves. They become their own victims of unforgiveness. They punish themselves with the mistakes of others. In hurting themselves, they also hurt others.

       Human beings cannot live together without forgiveness because our imperfection will cause us to hurt each other again and again. But God has also given us healing power — the capacity to forgive. When we forgive, we create a community of love. Yes, we are a community of wounded people, but more than that, we never stop loving. When we forgive, we celebrate our power. God is asking us to forgive 70 times seven times. God does not want us to be victims of unforgiveness. For a relationship to continue, we need to forgive.

       Cardinal Tagle says, “To forgive someone is to say, ‘I hope.’ To not forgive is to say, ‘I have lost hope in God’s capacity to renew you. I have lost all hope in God for you.’” Forgiveness is an act of hope in God to work wonders in the person. When we forgive, we recognize the possibility of every person to celebrate his or her greatness because of God’s mercy and compassion. To forgive is to celebrate our power — that is love! Fr. Alex Balatbat

REFLECTION QUESTION: Think of the misery you cause yourself by unforgiveness. Are you ready for peace of mind that can last a lifetime? Decide to forgive.

Loving Father, forgive our sins as we forgive those who sinned against us. Amen.