HOMILY FOR TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (A)

Fr Billy Swan

Dear friends. On Friday, 11^th September, the world remembered the terrible events that took place 25 years previously in New York, Washington and when the plane crashed in Pennsylvania, that was destined also for death and destruction. Almost 3,000 people were killed that day.

The memory of 9/11 is seared in my mind because I visited New York ten days previously and admired the stunning views from the top of the Skydeck of the South tower on Saturday 1^st September 2001.

In the aftermath of the disaster, a photograph emerged from Ground Zero of a metal cross that somehow formed after the towers collapsed and stood in the middle of the rubble and twisted debris (see the photo above). It became a symbol of hope at a time when evil seemed to have the upper hand; it was a message of resilience when it was most needed; that the cross of Christ, his love and his forgiveness, always has the last word.

The Readings this Sunday are all about forgiveness. There are two aspects of this art that we must keep in view. The first is to know how much we have been forgiven by God and the second is to pass on that gift of forgiveness to those who have hurt us – something that the servant was unable to do in the Gospel today and for which we was condemned.

First, when it comes to forgiveness, we Christians must keep before us the example Jesus and his extraordinary forgiveness of those who inflicted pain and death on him.  As they were crucifying him, Jesus was mercifully interceding for them: ‘Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing’. Remember too that after he had risen from the dead, his first words to those who had abandoned him were ‘Peace be with you’. He then proceeded to share the Eucharist with them in prayerful joy (Luke 24) and offered Peter forgiveness and healing (John 21), even assuring him that his choice of Peter was not overturned because of his denial of him.

If you or I are struggling to forgive someone and nurture a grudge or a resentment, can I suggest a powerful spiritual exercise? – to contemplate for a few minutes the person of Jesus on the cross. Because in that prayerful time, we receive a grace and an ability to forgive in a way that we would never be able to do by ourselves. In that prayer, we come to see how Jesus reveals the depths of God’s mercy, what it cost him and how generously he wants us to have that mercy.

But there is another effect of contemplating the cross. In the mystery of the Lord’s cross the same healing mercy is stirred up in us because of the love of God within us. It is then that we see how we are called to offer to others what we have generously received first. For in the words of the first reading: ‘If someone nurses anger against another, can he then demand compassion from the Lord?’ That is the point of the Gospel story of the servant who was forgiven much but could not forgive, even a small amount himself.

That’s why the ‘Our Father’ is such a dangerous prayer. Think about it. Every time we pray it, we are asking the Father to forgive us in the measure that we forgive those who sin against us. And so let the Word of God make a difference today. If there is someone we hold a grudge against, consider some gesture of outreach like a phone call, a text, a card, a conversation or even a smile. And do it always, in Jesus’ name.

As you read this, perhaps your wound is more serious. Perhaps you have suffered abuse or serious hurt in your life. We think of the families of the victims of 9/11. Forgiveness is not easy but it is impossible without this religious and spiritual dimension. The execution and death of Jesus was the greatest injustice ever committed. Yet, it ended in freedom for him and us. There is hope.

Friends, forgiveness is one of the most demanding aspects of our Christian commitment and most important. God never tires of forgiving us but wants that we pass on that freedom and blessing. Important? Absolutely! Easy? No! Yet today’s first reading and Gospel show us how it is possible – by contemplating how much we have been forgiven by God and the price that Jesus paid on the cross so that we might enjoy the forgiveness that leads to healing and joy.

I conclude with profound words from the Catechism that comments on the line of the ‘Our Father’ where we ask God to ‘forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’. It says: ‘It is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offense; but the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2843).

'Give us the grace Lord to forgive as we have been forgiven, to let go and to be free. In your great mercy, forgive those who have killed and maimed others. Give those who have been hurt the grace to forgive the unforgivable and to be healed with the power of your love. May the metal cross at Ground Zero be a sacramental sign of your cross on which hung the Saviour of the world; the One who forgives and teaches us how to do the same. Amen'.