This week I want to put up something like the third installment of posts on the necessity for Christians to forgive. As I mentioned in the second installment, I was surprised that my first post, which came about as the result of an experience I had praying the Our Father while praying the Rosary, prompted some argument from a few other Christians.
In this installment, I simply want to invoke some words of Jesus as handed on by Saint Luke. These are words from last Sunday's very challenging Gospel: "Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36). Since this passage parallels Matthew's Sermon on the Mount, we can see it as Luke's way of stating what Matthew states when he has Jesus saying: "So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt 5:48).
It bears repeating that, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, God's defining characteristic is hesed. In short, to be holy is to be merciful. While mercy extends, at least for a Christian, to all aspects of life, it certainly includes forgiving those who've wronged you. It even means forgiving your enemies. Jesus takes it further: Christians don't just forgive their enemies, they do good for them, pray for them, and, yes, even love them. Way easier said than done! What a provocation!
Just like the purpose of the Law is to lead those who sincerely follow it to greater love of God and neighbor, the disciplines we elect to practice, or engage in with more intensity, during the "time gift" of Lent should serve the same purpose. Maybe a good preparation for Lent is to spend some time thinking about who you need to forgive. This can be followed by engaging in the work of forgiveness, perhaps, in some appropriate instances, prudentially initiating a path to reconciliation. This can be the beginning of a thorough examination of conscience that can help you confess well before Easter.
This Friday's traditio is a very penitential song by Tom Waits, one from his brilliant album Mule Variations: "Get Behind the Mule"-
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