From Forgiveness to Forgiveness, Healing to Healing.

Introduction

Lord how many times must I forgive? We are so familiar with this passage that we may miss St. Peter’s underlying question about a very real human condition of being repeatedly offended, sinned against, that leads one to get angry, loose control, , get even, teach a lesson, take vengeance make it stop! How many times Lord?

Body

In our 1st reading Sir says “The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail.” And in Deuteronomy “Vengeance is mine” says the Lord.” Now we don’t have a vengeful God, who is waiting to take vengeance, we have a just loving merciful God who knows all the facts in every situation, and always forgive a repentant heart for the asking. It is not about Vengeance but about accountability and submitting to higher authority. In the Gospel when the fellow servant of that unforgiving servant, who put his fellow servant in jail, saw the gravity of the situation, did not take matters in their own hands, but appealed to their Master. All are accountable to God, must come to God 1st t ask for forgiveness, receive forgiveness, and then be willing to freely forgive.

Conclusion.

Forgiving and forgetting is easier said than done. But not forgiving has serious consequences. again SIR says, “could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the LORD?” Nelson Mandela imprisoned by the Apartheid for many years said, “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemy”. Rev Martin Luther King Jr. is quoted saying, ‘Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude. a constant attitude, every time the pain comes up we go from forgiving to forgiving, from healing to healing, surrender to the Love, mercy and justice of God, a point of conversion. My Brothers and sisters, if God forgives who are we not to forgive, after all that sin you are holding on to may have already been confessed and forgiven by God. “could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the LORD?” Mother Theresa is quoted saying, “if we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive”