Walking Consistently in the Presence of God, in the Light of the Living (Ps 56:14); Homily – Saturday of the 24th Week of Ord. Time, Yr. B.

 

Homily – Saturday of the 24^th Week of Ord. Time, Yr. B. Fr. Udoekpo, Michael

v 1 Cor 15:35-37, 42-49

v Ps 56:10c-12,13-14

v  Luke 8:4-15

Walking Consistently in the Presence of God, in the Light of the Living (Ps 56:14)

 Today’s responsorial Psalm, Ps 56:14 “I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living” (Lәhithhallēk lipnê ‘ĕlohȋm bә’ôr hahayyȋm), captures the essence of today’s scripture readings. It is not just a poem, but, an individual lament and prayer of hope, love and trust in God’s word. It expresses a commitment in the saving teachings   and mysteries of  God, manifested in  Christ( life, death, and resurrection).

Interesting to me in this poetic- prayer is the choice of the words and verbs used in this prayer.  Uppermost in my mind is the verb halak (to walk)” in the presence of the Lord”: to obey him, to listen to him, to adore him, to believe in his teachings, laws and directions. In this case, the Psalmist particularly the hithpael infinitive of halak (to walk) which grammatically, spiritually and theologically convers a sense of repetitiveness, back and forth, over and over again. In other words, the psalmist will walk (Lәhithhallēk), trust, keep God’s commandments (love of God and neighbor), and believe in the Lord, not once, not twice, but “to and fro,” consistently “back and forth,” listening to God and keeping his words with consistency and continuity.

Similar consistency and continuity is expected of those address (all of us) in the parable of the sower of today’s gospel (Luke 8:4-15). Its parallels are also found in Mark 4:1-9 and in Matthew 13:1-9. The sower and his seeds (words) felt on the first three bad soils: path, rocky soil and thorns and were distracted and destroyed by birds, heat and sharp chokings, and rendered useless, fruitless.  Those that fell on the fourth, and good soil( believers, God’s obedient children, male and female, young and old), go through the process of seed- germination, and then producing hundredfold of new crops. They are the “ones who, when they heard the word of God (verbum domini, cf. VD; DV, EG etc), embrace it with faith, and a generous and good hearts, and bear fruit through perseverance.”

This is who we are called to be: walking, listening, trusting, keeping, hoping, interacting with one another, consistently with a good, kind, merciful, compassionate and generous and honest heart, with perseverance in faith in divine mysteries, including the resurrection that Saint Paul addresses in the first reading.

Like, the seed of the parable, Paul explains, we must die first, or we must be sown corruptible like seed, first, then be raised incorruptible in the resurrection (1 Cor 15:35-37,42-49). Paul wants to make clear to the divided, boastful and quarrelling Corinthian community, the mysteries of Christ’ saving events, particularly, the resurrection.  As a sense of continuity is conveyed in the hithpael verb, used by the psalmist,  in 1 Corinthian 15, the body is presented by Paul as a principle of historical continuity to the resurrection of believers.

Those, who keep the faith, who walk (halak) in the light  and presence of Christ: kind, forgiving, generous, loving, compassionate, humble, truthful, honest and charitable, in the resurrection, in God’s wisdom (not the Corinthian/Greek Hellenistic sophia), in the Parousia, their bodies will transform from perishability to imperishability. All spiritual bodies!  They will have eternal life, no more sufferings, no enmities, no racism, no ethnocentrism, no division, no tribalism, no discrimination, no segregation and no corona virus?

Reflection Questions:

1.     How often do we walk in the presence of the Lord as just explained?

2.     What prevents us from believing, loving, hoping, trusting, living, hearing and practicing God’s word consistently?

3.     What Gospel soil are you; first, second, third or fourth?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Male and Female- called to Witness Christ’s Resurrection (1 Cor 15:12-20; Luke 8:1-3); Homily- Friday of the 24th Week In Ord. Time Yr. B.

 

Homily- Friday of the 24^th Week In Ord. Time Yr. B. Fr. Udoekpo, Michael

v  1 Cor 15:12-20

v  Ps 17:1bcd,6-7,8b and 15

v  Luke 8:1-3

Male and Female- called to Witness Christ’s Resurrection (1 Cor 15:12-20; Luke 8:1-3)

In the past few days, and weeks we have celebrated the memorials and feasts/solemnities, including not only of the Assumption of Mary, the Holy name of our Blessed Virgin Mary and of Our Lady of Sorrows, but in the coming days and weeks we will celebrate the Feast of the Holy Rosary on October 7, and many more. These generally not only point to the virtues, roles and participation of Mary in the mysteries of her Son Jesus, but reminds us of the role of many other women, like her whose stories and virtues are applauded in the Bible, for God created us, male and female in his own image (Gen 1:26-31) for a reason, for a purpose, to love and to serve him and to bear witness to the truth and the resurrection, preached by Paul in the first reading ( 1 Cor 15:12-20).

 Along this line, women, like Mary, I am thinking of women, such as Sarah, Rachel, Rebecca, Rehab, Ruth, Naomi, Esther, Judith, Deborah,  Anna, Martha and the woman with the ointment of yesterday’s gospel (Luke 7:36-50), who anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair, because of that “great love” in her heart. We can learn from many women in and outside the Bible who dedicated their lives, witnessing the Gospel!

Along this line, still are women mentioned in today’s Gospel (Luke 8: 1-3).  Luke 8:1-3 recalls not only the itinerant character of Jesus’ preaching, teaching and healing, but, his ministerial entourage including male and female. We are told accompanying, Jesus “were the twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources.”

Many of these people including the women mention here followed Jesus to Jerusalem and witness his arrest, crucifixion, death, burial, empty tomb, and resurrection appearances, preach by Paul in 1 Corinthian 15 to the skeptical Corinthian community, influenced by the Alexandrian Jewish teacher, Apollos- who led the skeptical Corinthians to believe that their souls were separable from their bodies, hence, their souls being immortal, their bodies could not be raised at the resurrection, as was the case with Christ!

This is why Paul, narrated step- by –step the mysteries of the Christ passion and resurrection- all because of our sins and because of his great love for us. Paul says “if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching, empty too, is your faith.”

We are all called, male and female, young and old to witness to this truth- after the examples of not only Paul and those generous women mentioned in today’s Gospel, and in other biblical texts. But women like Mother Teresa of Calcutta and many of our other, hardworking, humble, faithful and virtuous women in our teaching and pastoral institutions, homes and families, can continue to inspire us- male and female- to love, to serve, to believe an to witness the Christ’s Resurrection.

Reflection Questions;

1.     What have we learned from those women who accompany Jesus in his ministry in today’s Gospel ( Luke 8:1-3)

2.     What other women, in or outside the Bible and Church’s documents, can we draw inspiration from?

3.     In what ways have we witnessed in the truth of the mystery of the Resurrection?

4.     Do we promote the role and greater participation of women in our faith, educational, social, political and pastoral communities, and how?

 

Believing In Love that Wipes Away Multitude of Sins; Homily- Thursday of the 24th Week of Ord. Time, Yr. B./Saint Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

 

Homily- Thursday of the 24^th Week of Ord. Time, Yr. B./Saint Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

v 1 Cor 15:1-11

v Ps 118:1b-2, 16ab-17, 28

v Luke 7:36-50

 Believing In Love that Wipes Away Multitude of Sins

Yesterday we learned from Saint Paul’s 1 Cor 12:31-13:13 that there are hierarchies of gifts. For, If we, or “I speak in human an angelic tongues but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”   In other words, granted that some of us can see visions and speak in tongues, love is the greatest, for “love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealousy, love is not pompous, and it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interest, it is not quick –tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrong doing, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”

Today’s Bible Lesson emphasis is still on other forms and practices of love. The woman with ointment in today’s Gospel is forgiven of her many sins, because Christ, testified to her great and sincere love (Luke 7: 36-50). We are call to be like this woman, not necessarily like Simon the Pharisee, and other Pharisees who  were often, among other things, known for externalism without depths of love and mercy for one another. Unlike Simon the Pharisee, the woman wept at the feet of Jesus, as well as bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair kissed them, and anointed them—the feet, with the ointment. While she was doing this, with genuine love and faith, that led to the forgiveness of her many sins, Simon the Pharisees was busy judging her, as some of us would do! Truly, as Paul mentioned yesterday in I Corinthian 13, it love that matters most, not sumptuous and external display of dinners, without love, mercy and compassion to the poor, sinners and the marginalized, in particular!

It is the same love that Christ reciprocated in his journey to the cross, in his death and resurrection, that Paul continues to preach to the Corinthians, and to us today, in the first reading (1 Cor 15:11). No doubt, the Corinthian Community as we have seen thus far, were not only divided, boastful in talents, indifference in attitude to the poor during means and last supper. They were “infants” in matter of faith as well as cling to Hellenism and human philosophy, as some of may still be doing today.

 Many of them were also influenced not necessarily by the type of love displayed by the woman with ointment in today’s gospel, but by the Alexandrian Jewish teacher, Apollos- who led the skeptical Corinthians to believe that their souls were separable from their bodies, hence, their souls being immortal, their bodies could not be raised at the resurrection, as was the case with Christ! This is why Paul, narrated step- by –step the mysteries of the Christ passion and resurrection- all because of our sins and because of his great love for us.

Just as the woman with the ointment’s sins were wiped away because of her faith and great love, our sins our wiped away because of Christ death and resurrection, preached by Saint Paul.

Today’s scriptures challenge us not to be, just like Simon the Pharisee, but to imitate the woman in the gospel, loving, caring, supporting, soothing, wiping the feet of neighbors, serving the poor and the needy, both within and outside the church.

Today’s Bible passages also call our attention to Christ’s love for us, who is always ready to say to each of us, whenever we go to him with our problems, challenges, difficulties, omissions, mistakes and sins, “because of your great love and faith your many sins are forgiven.”

Reflection Questions

1.     Do we believe in Christ’s resurrection and trust in his healing power of mercy and love?

2.     Do we love as the woman with the ointment of today’s Gospel or are we like Simon the Pharisee?

3.     How often do forgive with love, those who may have offended us?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faith, Hope and Love- the Greatest!; Homily- Wednesday of the 24th Week in Ord. Time Yr. B./ Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs

 

Homily- Wednesday of the 24^th Week in Ord. Time Yr. B./ Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs

v  I Cor 12:31-13:13

v   Ps 33:2-3,4-5,12,22

v  Luke 7:31-37

Faith, Hope and Love- the Greatest!

Yesterday we celebrated the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows and contemplated Mary’s role in saving passion of her Son, Jesus Christ. Today we join the Church universal to celebrate the memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope and Cyprian, Bishop. Both were not only Martyrs, but defended the faith. As noted in the opening prayer” both spent themselves (lovingly) and without reserve (unselfishly) for the unity of the Church, something, that we have heard echoing into today’s Bible readings as well!

In the first reading Saint Paul continues his admonition and call for unity and love in the Corinthian Church, began in I Corinthian 1: 10. Here, Paul having been informed of the problem in the community of Corinth, wrote to them, “for it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sister,” as is common today in our various communities, homes, parishes, institutions and dioceses.

In the case of Paul and the Corinthians, their problems spilt from spiritual infancy to empty boastings, and from arrogance, to mere human philosophy (Sophia), and from mere pursuits of Hellenism to disregard to  the divine  and  God- given diversity in the community; and from this lack of acknowledgement to communal diversity to acute division even during worship and Eucharist, and boasting about gifts ( 1 Cor 12:31-13:13)  with lack of true love and readiness and courage to spend ones’ life for the good of the community, as Saint Cornelius and Cyprian did during their times.

How many of us today are willing to leave their comfort zones, homes, apartments, towns, villages, cities, communities, families, familiar territories and courageously embark on missionary life, like Paul, and many others for the sake of the Gospel, or of the community. What responsibilities have we shouldered before, with love, for the sake of others?

To the Church in Corinth, and perhaps to each of, we must listen to Saint Paul. There are hierarchies of gifts. If we, or “I speak in human an angelic tongues but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”  Paul reminds me of Amos 5 (Hosea 6:6) that rejects empty songs, noises, and hymns (chamon shirim) and sacrifices, without mercy, kindness, patient, forgiveness, righteousness, justice and love, especially of the poor and those on the margins, which Pope Francis, the current “Pope of Mercy” recommends!

No wonder, the summary of the greatest commandments by Christ would always be “love God, and neighbor as oneself,” (Matt 22:37-40). For Paul, granted some of us can see visions and speak in tongues, love is the greatest, for “love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealousy, love is not pompous, and it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interest, it is not quick –tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrong doing, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things,” like Saint Cornelius and Cyprian and of course, our Mother Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, whom we celebrated yesterday!

As the Lukan Jesus also noted in the today’s Gospel (Luke 7:31-35), certain mature behavior is expected of all God’s children. They must not be pursuing frivolous and shallow things, thoughts and values like children. The relationship, between Jesus and John the Baptist had been settled, just as that of Paul and Apollo should not divide us, nor the sentiments of the polarized words so common in our society today. Rather, mature Christians in the light of Saint Cornelius and Cyprian’s  virtues' commemoration today, must not just pursue faith and hope, but all their actions must be guided by love of God and ones’ neighbor!

 

Reflection Questions

1.      How often do we not spent our time and energy commenting or pursuing shadows, or that which does not really matter in faith community, like Love?

2.      What are your gifts and what are your priorities in light of today’s Bible lessons?

3.      Like Saint Cornelius and Cyprian in what way have you spent life, time, energy, gifts and talents without reserve, for the unity of the Church and your community, as stipulated in the opening prayer today?

 

 

Mary Teaches Us How to Live with and Endure Suffering; Homily- Tuesday of the 24th Week Ord Time Yr . B. / Our Lady of Sorrows

 

Homily- Tuesday of the 24^th Week Ord Time Yr . B. / Our Lady of Sorrows

v 1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31a

v Psalm 100:1b-2,3,4,5

v Luke 2:33-35

Mary Teaches Us How to Live with and Endure Suffering

Yesterday we celebrated the Exaltation of the Cross of Christ! Today we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, an “appreciation of Mary’s unique role in the Passion of her Son, Jesus. Her role in the Glory of the Cross of Christ.  Pope Pius VII extended this traditional devotion to the whole Church in 1814.

She accompanied her Son, Jesus patiently from conception, birth and throughout his ministry. As narrated in the infancy narrative in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2, Mary listened patiently to the voice of the angel Gabriel. She went to see Elizabeth with that pregnancy.  She brought Jesus for circumcision and presentation in the temple (Luke 2:22-23), which we celebrate on February 2.

Simeon and Anna, especially in the fourth hymn, the “Nunc dimittis” acclaim Jesus as the savior and the redeemer to the listening patience of Mary. This Child, Simeon told Mary, “is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed, so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed- and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Throughout the ministry of Jesus a “sword” as predicted by the prophets, pierced Mary’ souls. Think of the story of the young Jesus staying back in the temple in Luke 2:41-52. After the visit to the Jerusalem as was customary the boy Jesus stayed back. Joseph and Mary reach home, he was nowhere to be found. Worried they walked back on foot miles, looking for the child. Finding him they asked, “Child why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been looking for you in great anxiety” (vv.48ff). He said to them “why were you looking for me, did you not know that I must be in my father’s house?”(v.49).

A “sword” pierced Mary’s heart as she lived through the five sorrowful mysteries. Think of the events of the 14 stations of the cross (Jesus receiving the cross, Jesus falling the first time, Jesus meeting the mother, the cross given to Simon of Cyrene, Veronica wiping the face of Jesus, Jesus falling the second time, women of Jerusalem mourning Jesus, Jesus falling the third time, striped of his garments and nailed to the cross, dies, taken down and buried in the Holy Sepulcher etc). She accompanied her son through these mysterious events!

Mary’s son, Jesus ,went through all these, that gave sorrow to Mary, the mother, because he preached love, a new way of loving, mercy, forgiveness, humility, and unity( John 17), that Paul mentions in today’s reading, that the Corinthians and all of us are Christ’s Body ( 1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31; cf. I Cor 1:10).

In our difficulties and challenges: poverty, oppression, threats of terrorism, corona virus, instability in our political capitals, illnesses, sufferings of our children and loved ones’, and even loss of our loved ones etc., we what to learn from Mary, how to endure and ponder everything in our hearts, bring them to the Lord in prayers, faith, hope and love.

Reflection Questions

1.     What are our daily sufferings and challenges?

2.     How do we handle our challenges and sufferings or do we accompany our children and our friends and neighbors in their sufferings?

3.     Do we bring everything to God in prayer and encourage others to do the same?

 

 

 

 

 

Christ’s Cross: A Symbol of Hope and Salvation; Homily-The Exaltation of the Holy Cross/September 14

 

 

Homily-The Exaltation of the Holy Cross/September 14

Christ’s Cross: A Symbol of Hope and Salvation

v  Num 21:4b-9

v  Ps 78:1bc-2, 34-38

v  Phil 2:6-11

v  John 3:13-17

Today’s feast reminds us that the events of the Passion Week recorded in John 18–19, especially Christ’s death on the cross, was not a defeat, but a victory. Christ’s cross is a symbol of hope and freedom for all. The early Christians embraced this. Its public veneration spread from east to west, especially during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine. We are told that Constantine’s mother, Helen, went to Jerusalem, where she discovered the cross of Christ and brought it to Rome, sparing it from the enemies’ desecration.

 This cross is sacred, powerful, and salvific. It is the center of our Christian faith. We make the sign of the cross during worship, at baptism, and when we receive other sacraments in the church. We begin every Mass with the sign of the cross. Athletes—even those who aren’t practicing Christians—sometimes sign themselves with the cross for success and protection at the beginning and end of their competitions. Christ’s journey to the cross teaches us some fundamentals of our faith: courage, endurance, hope, patience, humility, and appreciation of all that the Lord has done for us in the past.

 Psalm 78 drums this home: “[do] not forget the works of God” (Ps 78:7). To what works of the Lord is the psalmist referring? I believe he refers to the cross of the exodus—the freedom from Pharaoh’s tyranny, when he alleviates the Israelites from their pain, feeds them when they are thirsty and hungry in the desert, and liberates them from various exiles during the course of their relationship with him.

 How easy it is to forget the goodness of the Lord, to murmur and complain, as was the case in today’s first reading, the book of Numbers. The same people that God had liberated said to Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food” (Num 21:5). God sent a snake to challenge them. But when they finally repented, God instructed Moses to put up a bronze serpent so that the afflicted—those who had been bitten—could be saved by looking up to the serpent on the tree. The bronze snake is a symbol of life and wisdom. It is a symbol of Christ, who did not consider himself equal to God, but humbled himself on the tree of the cross to save us. His humility, courage, and endurance exalted him (Phil 2:6-11). And his volitional journey to the cross raised us and our loved ones from the death.

 Many of us have watched the passion of Christ reenacted in movies. Some of those scenes are brutal. The weight of the cross, the blood, the nails, the violent soldiers, the dusty road, the thorns and crowns, those who spit on cross, and those who shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” All these remind us that there are different forms of crosses in our lives. Our cross could take the form of an illness, poverty, the threat of terrorism, violence, war, tiredness, pain, heart problems, kidney failure, high blood pressure, or sugar in our blood. It could take the form of anger, bad habits, lack of team spirit, the inability to live or work with one another, lack of tolerance, gossip, or lack of self-control.

 All these can lead us to whine, murmur, and complain like the Israelites in the desert. But the good news is that these bitter experiences can also be handled with faith and trust in the goodness of the Lord. We can always look back and trust in his work, knowing that the Lord has dealt with these types of problems. It requires our patience, courage, and endurance to embrace the cross of Christ. It also takes humility to raise our eyes and look to that cross hanging above our pain and sorrow. Christ’s cross is superior to our failures, setbacks, and sufferings.

 This is the same conversation that Christ is having with Nicodemus in today’s Gospel (John 3:13-17). The Lord is good, merciful, and loving. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert so those who were bitten and afflicted could be saved, so must the Son of Man be lifted up so that each of us who look upon him in our sufferings and illnesses, in our bitterness, in our sorrows, in our disappointments, loneliness, and uncertainties, may be saved. Christ’s cross is a symbol of hope and salvation for all.

Reflection Questions:

1. What prevents you from seeing the hidden glory in the cross of Christ?

2. Do you see glory, exaltation, and hope for salvation in the midst of suffering?

3. How do you bring hope and consolation to the suffering members of your faith community?

 

God Is Slow to Anger, Rich in Love, Mercy, and Compassion (A);Homily- Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Year A

  

Homily- Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Year A

God Is Slow to Anger, Rich in Love, Mercy, and Compassion (A)

v  Sir 27:30–28:7

v  Ps 103:1-4, 9-12

v  Rom 14:7-9

v  Matt 18:21-35

Today’s Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,” captures the essence of today’s worship and scriptural reflection on the nature of God, sin and sinners, forgiveness and reconciliation, and divine virtues, especially the virtues of charity, love, and care. If God’s nature, going back to Exodus 34:6-7 (cf. Jonah, Ps 85, Micah), is mercy, kindness, forgiveness, infinite love, boundless charity, and unlimited care, every generation throughout the history of human salvation, including today’s generation, is expected to imitate God, in whose image they are made.

 Ben Sira’s audience in today’s first reading—the book of Sirach, a wisdom book—is familiar with the usual human problems. They experienced injustice, debt, loan, anger against one’s neighbor, the appetite for vengeance, and the difficulty of forgiving those who have offended us. But the good news is that Ben Sira is wise, and he is aware of the nature of God: God’s mercy, love, joy, care, and divine compassion in history. He admonishes his audience, saying: “Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done” (Sir 28:2). He rhetorically asks, “Does anyone harbor anger against another, and expect healing from the Lord? If one has no mercy toward another like himself, can he then seek pardon for his own sins?” (Sir 28:3-4). He then goes on to say, “Remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook faults” (Sir 28:7).

 Christ, his disciples, and those who heard Christ’s teachings were also familiar with the human problems we listed earlier. This is reflected in today’s Gospel parable, which was prompted by Peter’s question, “‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times’ ” (Matt 18:21-22)—meaning an infinite number of times.

Having proposed unlimited forgiveness, Jesus, God’s incarnate, follows up with a parable that we can understand. Here is a servant whose huge debts the king has forgiven. The servant is happy and likely feels a sense relief. But he is unable to forgive his friend. Instead, he has his friend thrown into prison for a debt worth the tiniest fraction of what he had been forgiven of. The king punishes him for his actions, and ultimately the servant pays back his huge debt.

 In our daily lives, forgiveness must not have any boundary. It must go beyond seven times, to the divine seventy-seven times. As we forgive seventy-seven times, we must look at the face of God, the face of Jesus, the king of mercy, whom Pope Francis also sees as mercy, love, and compassion in his pontificate. God chose Pope Francis because he was merciful to him, as expressed in his motto: Miserando atque elegendo. How different would the modern world be if we were to imitate even half of the pastoral approaches or the theology of mercy proposed by Pope Francis?

 How different would our world be if we were to take seriously both forgiveness and reconciliation? For “where there is no reconciliation or at least hope of reconciliation there cannot be forgiveness in real sense.” This is the case of the wicked servant of today’s Gospel parable. He refuses the king’s forgiveness by refusing to reconcile with his friend, who owed him a tiny debt.

 How different would the world be if we were to realize that God and the church can forgive sinners, but they cannot condone evil behavior that causes suffering and injustice to others—behavior that is offensive to truth, love, and charity, or a sinner who chooses to stay in sin. How different would the world be if we were to imitate Christ’s acts of forgiveness in the Bible, be it the woman caught in adultery, Matthew the tax collector, Zacchaeus, Thomas the doubter, or the denying Peter.

 At this Mass and worship, may we acknowledge that we are sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. May we also go out to the whole world, a changing world, and serve wherever we can as agents of God’s love, boundless charity, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness.

Reflection Questions:

1. Have you ever owed a debt or felt indebted?

2. What lessons have you drawn from today’s parable and Scripture passages?

3. How do you help to foster healing and reconciliation in your faith community?

4. Are there moments that you feel unforgiven? How often do you reflect on the nature of God and his merciful face or consider yourself forgiven?