OURS FOR THE DOING ^_[1]

COMFORTING SIGN

1.  In the fullness of time, in a stable at Bethlehem, the Son of God was born a human being like us in all things but sin. [cf. Phi 2:6-7] His mother Mary laid him to bed in a feed trough. Within a mere handful of years, this poignant irony would be cherished as a comforting sign by a hungry world.

2.  Jesus sought solidarity with the poor. He loved those for whom the world's misery was perpetual. He became poor for those who had nothing. He suffered for the sake of the afflicted. He offered himself in atonement for all who were condemned.  [cf. Isa 61:1-3]  His enemies said he was self-tormented.

MORNING SUN

3.  Born in Bethlehem under the sign of rejection, he would die as an object of contempt in Jerusalem:  "Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; it read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."  [Jn 19:19]  Jesus said, "No one takes (my life) from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again".  [Jn 10:18]  In the eyes of the world Jesus squandered his life for an absurdity--to gain the whole world.

4.  He contended "against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places".  [Eph 6:12] His mission was to gather a people to himself. He would sanctify them in the new covenant of his name. These elect he would present to his eternal father as a sign that the ancient breach (Gen 3) between God and man was now healed. The hope of eternal life rose like the morning sun in human hearts.  

UNDERSTOOD AS HUNGER 

5.  Moreover, Jesus Christ offered his suffering and death as a pledge to induce men to receive what he desperately sought on their behalf. He would lead whoever followed him to his heavenly father. Who would accept his mediation and the promise of a new relationship with God? The poor who were the first to receive the Word of God would encourage human beings everywhere to discover a new way of life. A life of meaning. Life to the full. And most important, everlasting life.  [cf. Mk 8:35-37] 

6.  Jesus taught, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."  [Mt 5:6]  The human experience of suffering, extraordinarily complex and expressed in bewildering variations, may be understood as hunger.  Hunger is suggestive of need, urgency, and survival. But hunger also refers to the human desire for the good--acceptance, security, rewarding work, meaningful opportunities, good health and a long life.

CONFLICTING HUNGERS

7.  To be relevant, however, any discussion about hunger must be disinterested, that is to say, situated in the context of justice--giving to another what God has determined to be his due. What does God desire for all human beings but to live in freedom, the essential condition of which is reconciliation?

8.  Indeed, reconciliation is the food for which humanity hungers most. Reconciliation, like its opposite war, is an activity unique to the human creature. Man finds within himself a desire for the good and simultaneously a temptation do do evil. These conflicting hungers are always personal and touch on the integrity of one's defining possession, his or her personhood. St. Paul commented on the human dilemma in explicit terms: 

FOR I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.  [Rom 7:19-21] 

 WHO IS THIS JESUS?

9.  The apostle frankly acknowledges his and everyone else's failure in providing a solution to overcome human discord: "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"  [Rom 7:24]  St. Paul certainly knows the answer to his own question.

10.  It is Jesus Christ who will deliver him from "this body of death". Who is this Jesus? asks the hungry man. Jesus, himself, replies in his parable of the blessed servant.  [cf. Mt 14:42-51]  The hungry man's deliverer is faithful and wise. He is a good servant. The master has entrusted the welfare of his household to him. He has been charged to provide for its members, "to give them their food at the proper time".

 11.  The wise and faithful servant resolves any conflicts between the household's members. His intentions are pure. He will not exploit his position. He insists that peace characterize the household. He insists on the personal moral behavior of all residents. All are to be prepared for the day of the master's return.

"PROPER TIME"

12.  The Lord captured the urgency of the human predicament in the solemn prayer he taught to his apostles. That urgency has neither diminished with the passing of the centuries or the self-referential sophistication of the present generation. Hence, now is the proper time for the gathered Church to collaborate with Jesus the Anointed One, who feeds his people through the experience of grace. What we undertake in the Lord's name, let us accept. For our Divine Lesson today, let us consider how "we forgive those who trespass against us".  [Mt 6:12] 

13.  Now is the time of our Lord's decisive and unmistakable intervention. The eternal Father has given the Son sovereignty over the world's affairs. The "proper time" speaks of the absolute, unchanging and eternal reality of God's Kingdom. The "proper time" proves the unsurpassed love of our Father for all humankind now, in every place, time and season. The "proper time" guarantees with certainty the Lord's integrity. What God says he will do, he will do. "Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I have answered you, in a day of salvation I have helped you."  [Isa 49:8]  

GATHERING WORDS

14.  Recall the Church's communal entreaty to God:  Forgive us our trespasses. Christ teaches his apostles that a human response to God's mercy is necessary. God who grants mercy to sinners expects sinners to forgive one another. "As we forgive those who trespass against us" becomes the measure of our sincerity. God wills that divine forgiveness for sins be dependent on our practice of forgiving others.

15.  Jesus says:  "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."  [Mat 6:14]  Make no mistake, however. The teaching is a commandment:  "But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  [Mt 6:14-15]  Third person pronouns are a powerful reminder of man's orientation to community. These "gathering" words are shunned by people who hate each other. If we fail to forgive even one person, we cannot speak credibly about unity.

"WE" AND "US"

16.  The Evil One continues to divide and conquer. He wants to convince us of the constancy of fear and hatred, that these corrupt impulses are dynamic and self-sustaining, that they are appropriate within a barely functioning human regime sitting on top of chaos. It is forgiveness, Satan rasps, that is capricious and irrational in the face of brokenness. If you forgive, you weaken yourself. You become a victim of the truth. You are paralyzed by the ultimate power strategy. God in heaven merely had to say "we" and "us", and evil angels were condemned.

17.  The Word of the World denounces forgiveness as an act of cowardice and voluntary servitude to an oppressive regime. This is the lie, the perversion of the devil which beguiles a multitude of people with his cunning. The devil hates legitimacy. He hates anything accomplished by hard work. The Word of the World teaches us elaborate and convoluted ways of forgetting, including turning on one another, revenge and destruction.

 "LAW OF DESCENT"

18.  Pope John Paul II warned that the white-hot core of all sins large and small is the denial of God and simultaneously an attack on one's own humanity:

NO ONE wishing to investigate the mystery of sin can ignore this link between cause and effect. As a rupture with God, sin is an act of disobedience by a creature who rejects, at least implicitly, the very one from whom he came and who sustains him in life. It is therefore a suicidal act. Since by sinning man refuses to submit to God, his internal balance is also destroyed and it is precisely within himself that contradictions and conflicts arise.

WOUNDED IN this way, man almost inevitably causes damage to the fabric of his relationship with others and with the created world. This is an objective law and an objective reality, verified in so many ways in the human psyche and in the spiritual life as well as in society, where it is easy to see the signs and effects of internal disorder.^[2]   

Indeed, the denial of sin and its concomitant rejection of God opens up a horrifying "law of descent"^[3] to all human beings:  "... man can build a world without God, but this world will end by turning against him".^[4]   

BREAD AND WINE

19.  Jesus Christ accepted the cross to restore the legitimate order of forgiveness in the world and to grant it primacy in Christian life:  "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."  [Jn 3:17]  Until Christ returns in glory, all generations must grapple with the arduous work of reconciliation. This present generation cannot absolve the next from this excellent challenge, nor can it erase the meaning of forgiveness from its collective memory.

20.  The faithful disciple of Jesus Christ willingly shoulders--for his good and that of the entire faith community--a part of the Lord's mission of reconciliation. Is it better to offer forgiveness than to receive it? By no means. Giving and receiving forgiveness are equally important as is offering and accepting love. Neither is superior to the other. They are like good bread and fine wine. The hospitality of the table achieves fulfillment by the presence of both. Likewise, the work of unity is not greater than the power of the Spirit. In fact, the task of unity is made possible by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXCUSES

21.  For the person who is unable or unwilling to accept unity, the prospect of exhaustion on a treadmill of anxiety and hopelessness awaits. Apart from the Holy Spirit, Christians can do nothing.  [cf. Jn 15:5]  In the Holy Spirit, however, the faith of a single believer can move mountains:  "Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him."  [Mt 11:23]  Therefore, when speaking of personal reconciliation and Christian unity, it is perfectly reasonable to expect the brick-maker to be responsible for the pyramid as well.

22.  A sin is a trespass against the dignity and well-being of another person. All sins testify of the renunciation of justice. Whereas justice properly serves the person receiving it, sin victimizes him to serve the selfishness of the sinner. For every wrong we commit, the Word of the World offers us an encyclopedia of excuses by which we may deny and evade personal responsibility. Many people improperly conclude that because an individual can choose not to forgive that the virtue of forgiveness itself is optional. They further argue that mercy is not indicative of any particular excellence in man nor is it a necessary activity of human reason. Still less should a life dedicated to mercy make the cut as a rationally ordered habit.

FLESH AND BLOOD

23.  They think that forgiveness and time are the same thing, the operations of both may be presumed and that death is the great equalizer. Expressed another way, not even a court-ordered apology requires the one apologizing be remorseful at heart and committed to meaningful change. The wise and the clever might be fooled by double-talk, but a child knows hypocrisy when he sees it.  [cf. Mt 11:25]  A mere child knows that forgiveness is a uniquely human experience. Apart from the persons intimately involved, so-called forgiveness of one's circumstances or environment or memory is meaningless.

24.  If forgiveness is to be genuine, it cannot become disassociated from the humanity of the persons giving and receiving it. Reconciliation is intimately concerned with the welfare of real persons. The greatest need of all human beings is to be released from the sins that throttle their humanity. It is not ideas or concepts or institutions that will seek forgiveness but flesh and blood. For one man sins against another even as he is sinned against. "Wretched man that I am!" cries St. Paul. "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" "Thanks be to God," he rejoices, "through Jesus Christ our Lord!"  [Rom 7:24-25] 

 HEALING OF LIVES

25.  Our Saviour offers us this welcome invitation, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."  [Mt 11:28]  We go to Christ not because we are overworked but because sin has worked us over. All men groan under the burden of sin, and all men beg that this crushing weight be removed. When Jesus speaks of rest, he refers to a healing power, the Spirit of peace. We have been given the Holy Spirit for our instruction and for the power of our reconciliation. Hence, for the Christian, any act of reconciliation must be complete, whole and perfectly intended at the "proper time", that is to say, when God says, now! 

26.  The peace of Christ releases the human heart from the powers of evil. It breaks the strongholds of human fear.  [cf. Jn 14:27]   Forgiveness makes possible the healing of lives and human distortion of faith, hope and love. What can man offer in thanksgiving for Christ's forgiveness of his sins? Nothing but his sincere imitation of Our Lord who forgave his accusers while nailed to the cross. Forgiveness is the consummate activity of human beings who desire authentic freedom. It reveals the spiritual nature of man and points him to reconciliation with God. Inherently extravagant, its profuse liberality is incompatible with cagey stipulations and artificiality. I forgive another person, whether in humble or heroic circumstances, to lay down the burden neither of us has a right to carry. Forgiveness kindles hope and invigorates love, making one's journey in faith easier. 

CROSS OF MERCY

27.  Should a Christian never receive forgiveness from any man--we remember with startling clarity the sufferings of the martyrs--he is to forgive always even to the moment of his own death. When Jesus Christ exhorts the vast crowds and his disciples, saying, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me"  [Mt 8:24], he is not advertising the absurdity of a cross of aches and pains. Nor is he equating the cross to any situation of suffering that preceded his own passion, death and resurrection. The disciple's cross to which Our Lord refers is the imitation of his very own. Each and every one of the Church's members is to carry the cross of mercy!

28.  This is the yoke of our gentle and humble Lord.  By taking this teaching to heart and putting it to practice, the yoke of mercy is made light and easy.  [cf. Mt 11:29-30]  Chief among the spiritual and temporal works of mercy are the works of reconciliation. Indeed all the works of mercy--feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned and burying the dead (corporal) and admonishing the sinner, instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtful, bearing wrongs patiently, forgiving all injuries, and praying for the living and the dead (spiritual)--are acts of reconciliation! These form the cross that Christ commands us to carry! Our reward? To know ourselves as "brother, and sister, and mother"  [Mk 3:32-35]  of Jesus Christ.

 PRESENT CENTURY

29.  At the end of the day, when human speech is silenced and no work remains to be done, the unrepentant sinner will not be remembered for having broken this law or that commandment. He will be remembered for having chosen hell and eternal separation from the God the Father and the elect of heaven. Nor will his alter ego--the proud self-righteous man--be remembered for having kept this law or that commandment. Concerning the hardened sinner and his self-righteous confident, it will be said, His heart turned to stone. Let us instead ask God for a time of favor as we forgive those who trespass against us. 

30.  In the present century, already stigmatized as a time of enormous global suffering, whetted by its conspicuous devaluation of human life and idolizing the emerging patriciate of profit-driven climate technologies, true religion's indispensable mission of reconciliation is needed as never before. Critical to the Church's mission is the new evangelization of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It cannot be overemphasized that the positive outcome of this new evangelization--comprehensive of normative theology and abundant sacramental opportunities--is dependent on its acceptance by parish families "who hear the word God and do it".  [Lk 8:21]  A Christian will never find a more amicable place for forgiveness than in the Lord's own temple. The journey to forgiveness in the Lord's name begins with the prompting of conscience and its critical examination. 

QUESTION OF JUDGMENT

31.  The grace of the sacrament is indispensable for the "soul that lowers itself through sin, dragging down with itself the Church, and in some way, the whole world".^[5] A Christian must put on the mind of Christ  [cf. 1Cor 2:16]  and submit to the Spirit of Truth. If he truly desires God to wash away his sins, the Christian must be willing to forgive those who offend him. By the works of reconciliation, he proves the discipleship to which he is called by Christ. By reconciling himself to God and neighbor, he assists the Lord in healing mankind's trespasses. Every human being must give an account of his life to God. The question of judgment will be:  How well have you received my love? and its corollary, How well have you shared my love?^[6] The person who forgives, and asks to be forgiven in return, may say, "Here, I have made five talents more!"  [cf. Mt 25:20] 

32.  Hence, both confessor and penitent are bound to uphold the integrity of the sacrament. Nothing can be gained by the individualistic relinquishment of the fullness of truth essential to the sacrament or the imposition of idiosyncratic liturgical celebrations on a trusting and unsuspecting congregation. A confessor has no authority whatsoever to determine for himself the theological and liturgical norms of the sacrament. Consequently, to subject the sacrament to subjective impressions, feelings, or criteria inaccessible to others would be to gravely offend the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church.^[7] 

BLESS YOUR GIFT

33.  The Sacrament of Confession must be preserved from such trivialization. Should pastoral catechesis be sporadic and heterodox, the lay faithful's knowledge of the sacrament will be seriously compromised by sentiment and intuition. Clearly, neither priest or lay faithful can sustain spiritual health apart from the grace of the "...mysteries of Christ faithfully and religiously as the Church has handed them down to us, for the glory of God and the sanctification of Christ's people."^[8]  

34. The Lord's forgiveness is not ours merely for the asking. It is ours for the doing. Our Lord Jesus Christ has prepared a place for you in his father's house.  [cf. Jn 14:2-4]  Therefore, should you not adopt into the fellowship of your heart the one who sins against you?  "So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift."  [Mt 5:23-24]  Bless your gift with simple words and convincing deeds: I am truly sorry, I apologize, I ask for your forgiveness, How can I make things better? How can I make restitution? 

FAVOR ONE ANOTHER 

35.  The hour of decision has unquestionably overtaken the people of this generation. Favor one another with the generous gift of forgiveness. Can a person expect pardon and peace from God if he has no experience of reconciling with his brother? Can one say that he is clean if he has no habit of bathing? Can a person expect mercy if he has never shown mercy?  [cf. Jas 2:13]  Forgive and forgive and forgive yet again if you wish to hear it said of you in heaven, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master."  [Mt 25:21]  

^[1]  Cycle C   /Fourth Sunday of Advent   /Mic 5:1-4   /Heb 10:5-10   /Lk 1:39-45.   

^[2]  John Paul II, Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, no. 15 (1984).

^[3]  Ibid., no. 16.

^[4]  Ibid., no. 18.

^[5]  Ibid., no. 16.

^[6]  WARNKE IBVM, OLGA, University of Toronto, Fall, 1988. Retiring in 1969 from a teaching career at St. Michael’s University, Sr. Olga Warnke IBVM (1911-2000) served countless students in her capacity as a spiritual director. Sr. Olga witnessed love's peerless impressiveness by word and example--"How well have you received God's love? How well have you shared God's love?”--with the unshakable conviction that God's love is the sole means by which the great questions of life and eternity are made comprehensible. How well one receives and shares God's love is the heart of Our Lord's great commandment and the preeminent measure of man's humanity: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind....You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [Mt 22:36-40]     

^[7]  Cf  SACRAMENTARY, "Profession of Faith",  Nicene Creed  (1985).  

^[8]  THE RITES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, "Ordination of a Priest",  v. 2,  no. 15  (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991)  42.