Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr A
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr A
17 Sep 2017
Homily
It is a cliché of today that we seem to be an angrier society than we used to be. I am not sure whether that is in fact accurate – or is it only that we are more aware of it now with social media? Whichever is the case, anger is certainly an issue in our society.
It seems that we cannot debate anything now without it becoming winner take all, with no nuance or uncertainties allowed. Yet, uncertainty is a part of our humanity.
Today’s Readings touch on issues of anger and forgiveness. The Gospel particularly is following up on what we heard last week. Where there we heard of the processes to be followed to bring someone back to the community, today we look at the next step.
Forgiveness was not regarded as a particularly good thing in the Ancient world. They were far more a revenge/retaliation based culture. You have probably all heard of the text “ an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”; what is worth remembering though is that its origin was meant to be a limiting one – no more than an eye for an eye.
The recent history of their world would also reinforce the idea of revenge. Julius Caesar had forgiven many of his foes – who subsequently murdered him – which led to two decades of civil war with thousands of deaths. Augustus did not forgive however – he had hundreds of opponents killed, sometimes before they knew that they were opponents –and the Roman world had subsequently had 60 years of peace. So, you could argue that real world experience showed that it was better to retaliate and first – than to forgive.
Rabbis of the time stated that forgiveness came from God, but that one should forgive personal harms and hurts – once! Some were more generous and allowed for three occasions. Thus when Peter here states seven times, he is going way beyond what most thought. The Jews saw seven as a “perfect” number. Can you imagine how shocked and flattened Peter, and Jesus’ audience, would have been to hear Jesus’ response?
However, what both our first reading and the Gospel point out is our own need to forgive, if we are to be healthy. Forgiveness is not about forgetting the hurt or harm done. It is about remembering it differently.
God’s mercy is not contingent upon our forgiving others as the first reading can seem to imply – but we are not in a fit condition to act on God’s grace and forgiveness while we still hold the grudge. Especially if we do not simply choose to hold it, but actively nurse and nourish it!
Forgiveness is not easy. Depending upon the hurt, it may take a lifetime for someone to learn to forgive; some may never reach that point – but for our own spiritual, emotional and physical health we need to try to be open to that grace from God. Is there anyone we need to begin to forgive?