Our first reading from the Book of Sirach says: “Forgive your neighbor’s injustice, then when you pray your own sins will be forgiven. Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? Could anyone refuse mercy to another like themselves and seek pardon for their own sins? Remember you last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin! Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor, remember the Most High’s covenant and overlook faults.”
These words are much like the homily last week about holding grudges over the pettiest things. It’s the call to forgive as we have been forgiven. It’s the call to remember that life is too short to hold on to nonsense. Someone said last week that some people actually like holding on to grudges. They seem to enjoy being mad at someone. Not forgiving gives them the sense that they have the upper hand. Our life in Christ should convince us to look at those relationships in our life that are unsettled. We may not be able to forgive at this moment but we should, at least, have the desire to want to forgive. We may have to pray for that person for a while before healing comes. To do nothing and to harbor all kinds of resentments is not an option. I truly believe that those we have not shown mercy to or those we haven’t given the satisfaction of our forgiveness will end up being our judges as we attempt to enter heaven. For some of us, including myself, that could be a pretty scary meeting. I thinking of all those I judged harshly. Maybe I didn’t feel they were important enough to take my time. Maybe I was stingy with my forgiveness and made them feel terribly guilty before I would forgive. I just pray that they will be more merciful to me then I was to them.
These words are much like the homily last week about holding grudges over the pettiest things. It’s the call to forgive as we have been forgiven. It’s the call to remember that life is too short to hold on to nonsense. Someone said last week that some people actually like holding on to grudges. They seem to enjoy being mad at someone. Not forgiving gives them the sense that they have the upper hand. Our life in Christ should convince us to look at those relationships in our life that are unsettled. We may not be able to forgive at this moment but we should, at least, have the desire to want to forgive. We may have to pray for that person for a while before healing comes. To do nothing and to harbor all kinds of resentments is not an option. I truly believe that those we have not shown mercy to or those we haven’t given the satisfaction of our forgiveness will end up being our judges as we attempt to enter heaven. For some of us, including myself, that could be a pretty scary meeting. I thinking of all those I judged harshly. Maybe I didn’t feel they were important enough to take my time. Maybe I was stingy with my forgiveness and made them feel terribly guilty before I would forgive. I just pray that they will be more merciful to me then I was to them.