We live in a chaotic world, in a society where the differences between people are growing wider and louder. It doesn't take much to remind us of the terrible destruction that flows from anger - wounded hearts, broken homes and families, ruined relationships and shattered lives. Anger so often leads to hatred and suspicion. It blinds our judgment. It festers, makes us petty and spiteful and destroys our peace of mind. Anger such as this can kill us, and yet we will not let it go.
The author of the Book of Sirach understood this very well. In today’s first reading he says, “Wrath and anger are hateful things, but the sinner hugs them tight.” Even though it drains our energy, compromises our effectiveness, and makes us miserable, we continue to feed our anger to make it grow.
Anger is the raw material of cruel prejudice, of civil and national strife, of religious fanaticism and of terrorism and war.
There is no more important lesson for us to learn as followers of Jesus than that of giving and accepting forgiveness - lovingly, totally, unconditionally. If we haven't learned that then we really haven't begun to learn the meaning of being Christian.
This is what makes today’s gospel so challenging. Letting go of anger, forgiving and being reconciled is the hallmark of the Christian. Jesus made a point of this over and over again in his discourses and parables. He was relentless in his insistence that we do not forgive people once, or seven times, but seventy times seven times (i.e. an infinite number of times!)
“Seventy times seven times.” This is a tough phrase to digest when every instinct in our nature cries out for vengeance at the sight of hatred and injustice. But justice is not based on vengeance. It is rooted in restorative forgiveness.
So it is important to understand what forgiveness is and what it is not. Forgiveness does not imply that a fault or sin does not matter. Nor does it mean that the offense is forgotten, because sometimes this is impossible. It is not pretending that everything is fine. It is not making an excuse for the person who offended us. And it is certainly not putting ourselves back into the same situation where we can be hurt again.
But rather forgiveness means realizing that we cannot change the past and refusing to let what we cannot change control us. If we want to be free, if we want to be at peace, if we want to live, we must forgive. And we do so because we have first been loved and forgiven ourselves.
There can be no compromise when it comes to the message of Christ. If we pick and choose who we will forgive - and how often - we end up betraying the entire message of the Gospel. If we are faithful only when it is easy to be, we run the risk of ultimately denying Him. With Jesus, it's all or nothing. His invitation to follow is one that requires both courage and generosity. And it requires the ability to accept forgiveness, and to give absolution.
It is precisely the challenge of forgiveness that keeps us fresh, alert, open, joy-filled and hope-filled. It is this that allows us to see clearly, and to understand that a faith which does nothing or costs nothing or suffers nothing or forgives nothing, is a faith worth nothing.
