Spirit of Forgiveness

“If you forgive others their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

Mt. 6:14-15

Below is an excerpt from the entry “Be Patient with Me.”

We are told that we ought to forgive others because God forgives us. Forgiveness is not just something that is received. It must be given too. When we reflect on our own lives, how often have we asked for forgiveness and it was granted to us? And, how often have others begged us for forgiveness and we have denied it? Our God and Father is the model of how we ought to forgive. When we think about all of the sins and wrongs we have committed, big or small, and reflect upon how when we sought God's forgiveness it was given to us without any conditions (other than to be sorry), shouldn't that move us to forgive others? To us it seems like sometimes certain people do not deserve our forgiveness, but forgiveness isn't given because someone deserves it. If we only gave things to people because they deserved it, where is the compassion and patience in that? We give because we do not need to. We give because our hearts move us to do so.

In the same way there is nothing we can ever do to justly earn forgiveness from God or from others. God forgives out of love, and we ought to do the same. God does not withhold His mercy from us until we have repaid everything because if that's the case, we would never be forgiven. However, we are told in today's Gospel that if we do not forgive others just as the Father forgives us, neither will we be forgiven.

Let us bear patiently with one another, treat one another with compassion, and allow God to move our hearts and turn our hearts into hearts of love so that we can give to others the gift that He so generously gives to us: forgiveness. Let us to remember that God knows all that we need and all that our hearts desire. Oftentimes we may ask for one thing, but in turn God gives us something so much better, something that goes beyond our imagining. Today let us meditate and give thanks for the forgiveness we have received and ask the Lord for the grace to forgive others as well as ask the Lord for a open heart to receive all that He wishes to give to us, even those we dare not ask.

Giving Cheerfully

“…for God loves a cheerful giver.
Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need,
you may have an abundance for every good work.”

2 Cor. 9:7b-8

How do you give? Do you give for the sake of giving or do you give for some other reason? In other words, do you give to get something in return? To truly give we must give cheerfully and freely, without the need to be given anything in return.

If we give with conditions, what does that really say about us? When we write out a check to a particular charity or when we put in some amount of money in the collection basket in church, what’s on our minds? Do we think about the sacrifice we are making or do we think about the people who may benefit from our donation? If we feel good, do we feel good because we did something good or do we feel good because we know someone less fortunate will be helped? Perhaps there is not right or wrong answer and maybe sometimes it is both. But at the heart of our giving, if we judge while we give, then I think we are giving for the wrong reasons. We ought to give because we know we have been given so much. If we do not think that we have been given much, then we ought to look around and count the blessings in our lives.

We can only be cheerful givers if we are first cheerful receivers.

Afflictions of Love

“But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father.”

Mt. 5:44-45a

True love isn’t easy, and perhaps you’ve experienced this yourself. Loving someone takes a lot of time and energy, but it shouldn’t be a chore or should it be pressured. Love is a choice that takes one’s entire being. Maybe it is a easy choice to love someone who you like or who loves you back, but what about someone who does not? That is our invitation and challenge from the Lord: to love our enemies.

Why? Why should we love our enemies? Just because we are told to? It may be difficult to accept that, but we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us because Jesus did while here on earth and does now at the right hand of the Father. Moreover, because of this, it is the right thing to do, it is the Christian thing to do. It is what Jesus would do. Jesus tells us that by doing so — loving our enemies and praying for our persecutors — we will truly become the children of God.

Just verses before we hear Jesus telling His disciples to go the extra mile, to be extra generous, and to be extra patient. This was to set the foundation for today’s dramatic and countercultural command. Loving is not easy. Sometimes loving hurts (and this when we love those who we care about). Imagine the pain or affliction it must cost to love those who dislike us, despise us, or hate us. Isn’t that what Jesus did? He loved those who persecuted Him and put Him to death, and He really hurt. He was truly afflicted. Look at the Cross. Despite the hurt and affliction, He did not lose hope and He did not stop loving. Jesus loved in His hurt and affliction. We too are invited to do the same. People hurt us and afflict us because deep down they too have been hurt and are wounded. They hurt us in their woundedness and brokenness. As Christians, we must not hurt, but rather love in our woundedness and brokenness. That is what Jesus did. Again, look at the Cross. That is the affliction of love. And to Jesus, it was all worth it.

There will be people who will disrespect us for the things we do and say and those who will laugh at us and ridicule us for our beliefs. But the question is how will you choose to respond? Will you follow the old law, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” or will you follow the fulfillment of the Law, loving your enemies and praying for your persecutors?