One of the most recurring and understandable of human shortcomings involves taking things and people for granted. We often get it backwards - whereas people are to be loved and things are to be used all too often we are guilty of switching the two around - and things are loved and people are used. It is a temptation and we must constantly be on our guard against it...because it undermines human dignity and seeks to keep us walled in on ourselves. It also tends to make us think more highly of ourselves than really merited.
The gospel today asks us to consider the one who refuses to extend forgiveness to another...in a sense taking for granted the forgiveness routinely extended to us by God; in doing so we hold ourselves above others, seeing ourselves as more worthy and more upright and more deserving of God's time and affection. And yet Jesus today points out that this attitude instead leads us away from God - it's a self-righteousness that fails to impress God at all - and instead alienates us from God. The God that Jesus presents in today's Gospel is one who longs for us to see our own need for understanding and forgiveness - and urges us to extend this understanding and forgiveness to our fellow man - rather than getting wrapped up in our own accomplishments, holiness and influence.
As we continue our Lenten pilgrimage there are many areas of our lives that are in need of God's healing power and forgiveness - let us not be stingy in extending this very healing forgiveness to other who are in need of experiencing God in this blessed and powerful way.
Jesus, heal our sinfulness, help us to walk more in line with the path you mark out for us - even when this involves extending forgiveness to others or to ourselves. - homily for Tuesday Feb 24, 2005
The gospel today asks us to consider the one who refuses to extend forgiveness to another...in a sense taking for granted the forgiveness routinely extended to us by God; in doing so we hold ourselves above others, seeing ourselves as more worthy and more upright and more deserving of God's time and affection. And yet Jesus today points out that this attitude instead leads us away from God - it's a self-righteousness that fails to impress God at all - and instead alienates us from God. The God that Jesus presents in today's Gospel is one who longs for us to see our own need for understanding and forgiveness - and urges us to extend this understanding and forgiveness to our fellow man - rather than getting wrapped up in our own accomplishments, holiness and influence.
As we continue our Lenten pilgrimage there are many areas of our lives that are in need of God's healing power and forgiveness - let us not be stingy in extending this very healing forgiveness to other who are in need of experiencing God in this blessed and powerful way.
Jesus, heal our sinfulness, help us to walk more in line with the path you mark out for us - even when this involves extending forgiveness to others or to ourselves. - homily for Tuesday Feb 24, 2005
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