Ordinary 24

The Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2020 – Cycle A; Sirach 27:30-28:7; Psalm 103; Romans 14:7-9; Matthew 18: 21-35

The bitter anger in people’s faces as protesters rage at fellow citizens who oppose their political point of view over issues like the Confederate flag, kneeling during the National Anthem, the taking down of statues, the Black Lives Matter movement, a political candidate. The in your face attitude of many people over wearing masks rooted in the misunderstanding of Constitutional freedoms versus communal care and responsibility. The extreme and vicious Twitter debates and aggressive and abusive online commentaries on Facebook that are meant to destroy another person’s reputation or employment. It took the Internet to add the word “trolling” to our vocabulary; the purposeful posting of inflammatory messages with the intent of provoking anger and wrath. Isn’t sad that every November there are talk show segments and articles dealing with avoiding Thanksgiving Day table argumentative conversations.  At a Thanksgiving Day table! How easily thanks and God get pushed to the side.

Basic humanity, not to mention fear of consequences, would prevent anyone from talking this way face-to-face. But it no longer does, does it. The world, our society, our families seem to be filled with anger, wrath and vengeance. Hateful things, the Book of Sirach declares.

Often this anger is diffuse. Understandable is the fear of the future, of losing employment or a business, the fear for your children and their future. Some issues are very crucial like racial justice that, yes, people feel very strong about because it seems like a threat to their self-identities; personal and cultural. But as Christians, where is our trust in God especially in these uncertain times and our respect for the dignity of every human being, the foundation of Catholic Social Teaching rooted in the Scripture? Does this explain why Pope Francis has had to urge Catholics to stop gossiping which divides the Church and complaining which closes the door to the grace of the Holy Spirit?

How will we step back from this precipice of incivility, lack of reason, extreme positions, hate, the labeling and judgement of others with no possible release from our prison, anger, the unwillingness to compromise, the unwillingness to even listen to another position?!

Are we not destroying ourselves from within? As Jesus taught, “Do you not realize that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart; they defile”. Wrath and anger that come from the heart are hateful things.

Is there no antidote to our anger and wrath? What will walk us back from the precipice?

Sirach anticipates and echoes Jesus, “Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven”. Sound familiar? “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us…” It is the “as we forgive” that should stick in our throat. And so Sirach pummels us with reflective questions:

“Can you nourish anger against another person and expect healing from God?

Can you refuse mercy to another person and then seek pardon for your own sins?

If you cherish wrath, who will forgive your sins?”

The psalm for today we have sung many times, “The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger…” Our anger on the other hand is described as hot, blazing, bitter and vengeful. It is characterized by shouting, the silent treatment, slamming of doors, and curled fingers into a fist. Slow to anger we are not!

Consider today’s parable of the unjust and unforgiving servant. Both he and his debtor in turn ask for what? Patience. “Be patient with me…”  Is not forgiveness a form of patience?

We are all sinners. We are all in need of forgiveness. We all desire patience.

Forgiveness does not mean pretending that nothing happened. There was pain caused. There are wounds that need healing. Forgiveness is not forgetting about the incident. Forgiveness means loving a person beyond the offense that was done. It means understanding that this is a sister or brother that God cares about and for that reason alone we must also care about them. Forgiveness means wanting and doing good to the person who has inflicted evil upon us.

No one deserves forgiveness. God forgives because God is a forgiving God and so it must be the same with us.  Forgiveness allows us to step back from the precipice.

Overlook faults. Be patient with others. It is our only hope.

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PLEASE NOTE: Homilies presented here are also being videotaped and put up on the Saint Mary, Oneonta website: http://www.SMCCOneonta.org.