Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. When we think about participating in the divine, what occasions first come to mind? I know for me, the sacraments are the most obvious answer. The mysteries of our Lord’s life, Pope St. Leo the Great says, have passed into the sacraments. Specifically, I think about the Mass, the joining of heaven and earth that takes place here in our church. Not only do we hear God’s Divine Word, proclaimed for us in the Scriptures, we also receive God into us through the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, which is the very Flesh and Blood of Christ. The Eucharist best exemplifies the way in which we can become like God, as St. Augustine reminds us that the intent of the Eucharist is to make us more like the one whom we receive.
But another way to participate in the divine is through the act of forgiveness. We heard this very familiar story about the paralytic being brought to our Lord. He forgives the man’s sins, at which the Pharisees become indignant because only God can forgive sins. But, to demonstrate His authority to forgive sins, Christ then heals the paralytic as well.
The Pharisees were not mistaken in their estimation that only God can forgive sins. In fact, our Lord demonstrated His divinity to them by this miracle. So any time you hear someone say that Jesus never asserted He was God, point them to Matthew, chapter 9. There are other times that our Lord reveals His divinity also, but this is certainly one of those times.
So, if only God can forgive sins, then how can we say, “sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris”; “as we forgive those who trespass against us”? How can we forgive if forgiveness belongs to God?
As a good Thomist, we can consider forgiveness in two ways. The first way, which is reserved to God alone, is the remission of sins. When God deals with sin, He eliminates it, wipes it away, and makes it so it ceases to exist. Only the consequences of that sin remain (and even those can be dealt with through pious acts). When we examine who forgives our sins in the Sacrament of Penance, it is God. Yes, God uses the ministry of the priest to convey that forgiveness, but it is God who forgives, which is why the priest is bound to secrecy (we call it the seal of confession). Those sins have been absolved by Christ through the ministry of the priest, but their use belongs only to Christ, not even to the minister, who then does not divulge or act on those sins in the future. It is the sacrifice of Christ which washed away the sins of the world, the sacrifice of the unblemished Lamb of God. We cannot add to that, but we can participate in it.
But, as with so many aspects of life, God allows us to participate in His work. We see this in the garden of Eden, as God calls Adam and Eve, not only to continue to care for the garden of Eden, but to create with Him and order with Him, and even to create new life (procreation). God, further, calls humans to speak for Him when He calls prophets to proclaim His Word, both of comfort and of conversion. We see that especially with Moses, Samuel, and the prophets that follow them. God also allows men to exercise governance over His people, as seen through Kings David and Solomon, and the kings of their line. God shepherds His people through kings who cooperate with His will.
But God also allows us to participate in His forgiveness. He gives us the gift of saying “I forgive you” to a person, and not having it be empty words, detached from reality. When we forgive someone, something in that person changes, and something in us changes. We participate in the mercy of God. It may not eliminate that sin (because a person has offended not only us, but also God), but it does eliminate the attachment of that sin that exists between the two or more people. God’s mercy flows through us, and the burden of sin can be lifted from hearts.
To be Catholic is to be a person of forgiveness, because Christ tells us that the measure we measure out to others, will in turn be measured out to us. He calls those who show mercy blessed because they will be shown mercy. And He condemns the servant who was forgiven a great debt, but who could not forgive others their smaller debts. We are merciful because God was first merciful with us, just as we love God because He first loved us.
And the easiest way to forgive others is to first recognize that we need to be forgiven, not only directly by God, but also by our neighbor. I wish that I could tell you that I’m a perfect priest, that I always make good decisions, that all my words are the words that our Blessed Savior would speak. But that would be a lie. I myself am beset by weakness, and sometimes I act out of my pride; or choose a hurtful word when a loving one works much better; or I choose the easier path instead of the virtuous one; and so many other ways that I fall short of the image of the Good Shepherd, to whom I am configured by sacred orders. I am a sinner; sometimes it is hard to admit that I am wrong and have followed the wrong path. And so I ask your forgiveness, as your brother and your father. For any ways I have hurt you, or not demonstrated the love of Christ the Good Shepherd, I seek your mercy. And perhaps, to those in your life who have hurt you, you can also show mercy.
One of my favorite quotes from saints is from St. Maximus of Turin, who preached, “Sinner he may indeed be, but he must not despair of pardon on this day which is so highly privileged; for if a thief could receive the grace of paradise, how could a Christian be refused forgiveness?” If our Lord could shower His mercy on St. Dismas, the good thief, in the moments before He died, how could he not have mercy on us whenever we come to Him as He reigns in glory? And, having received that mercy, our Lord also instructs us: “Go, and do likewise” to the praise and glory of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.