The gift of forgiveness

Gospel Reflection
  

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.

Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.

Forgive and you will be forgiven.

Give and gifts will be given to you;

a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,

will be poured into your lap.

For the measure with which you measure

will in return be measured out to you.”

Luke 6:26-38

The following reflection was read at a mass with the student friars of the Order of Carmelites in the Philippines.

We are all sinners. All of us have, one way or the other, separated ourselves from God and it doesn't matter how grave our sin may be. Grave or light, we separated ourselves from God.

But our God is a good God, he is a father who only desires to be close to us. 

In our first reading, we hear the prayer of Daniel who discerned the continued destruction of Israel. Seventy years to stay in ruins. 

He sought God for help through prayer and petition, "with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." 

He confessed of his sins and that of his people. He admitted that they have not kept their covenant with God. They have not listened to the prophets. He admitted that only God could keep the covenant and that God is merciful especially to those who love him, who keeps his commandments and precepts. 

Lent is not just a time for us to do penance, it is a time for us to reflect on our ways for the past year. How are we, as God's children? Have we been keeping his commandments to love Him and to love our neighbor? 

Daniel was able to discern through the teachings, especially of the prophet Jeremiah. 

We have a lot of resources to help us in our reflection. The teachings and traditions of the Church and most importantly, Holy Scriptures. And we have our experience to show us where we are in our relationship with the Father. But after discerning, did we listen? 

In today's Gospel, Luke pointed out how Jesus wanted his disciples to behave towards each other - be merciful, stop judging, stop condemning, forgive, give. 

We ask the Father for forgiveness for the sins we have committed against him, but do we also forgive our brothers and sisters who have caused us pain? How about those whom we feel has not realized the pain that he or she has caused us, those who have not asked for our forgiveness, can we forgive them? Well they did not ask for it right? 

Love your enemies, Jesus said in the previous verse of this Gospel (v. 27). Do to others as you would have them do to you (v. 31), it further said. We hear this so often, but do we live it? 

A friend once joked that he does not call the devil his enemy, so he does not have to love the devil. Duterte is not our enemy so we don't need to love him, right? 

In the context of formation, one of the most beautiful gift that I received is the gift of forgiveness. Well, there are still moments when I cause others pain, I am a pain in the ass, but one moment, I truly experienced genuine forgiveness when I opened up to a brother as to why he does not relate well with me. You see, every time we relate with each other, it feels like there is competition, and regardless if I try to please him, he doesn't seem pleased, and when he does something good to me, I don't recognize it. 

It seemed that there was no hope with our relationship, so I resolved to make extra effort, but then our effort is useless if it does not have the blessing from God. 

I prayed for our relationship to be restored and this helped me to experience a change of heart; and this allowed me to become less prideful with him, to be more humble; and this allowed me to open up to him and for him to also respond well, until forgiveness was reached. 

Still there is so much work to be done. Forgiveness does not end there, there has to be an effort to ensure that it stays there. 

Let us continue to pray for God's forgiveness, with all our heart, with utmost sincerity. 

Let our lives be a message of hope, a testament of God's reconciling love, that others may find comfort, may find kaginhawahan, that despite there sinfulness, at the end of the day, God will always be there to embrace them and to tell them, your sins are forgiven, for as the first letter of John reminds us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 

Let this be our prayer. Amen.

Photo by Adrianna Geo | Unsplash