How much forgiveness is too much?

readings for sunday october 26, 2014

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

                        

It-30 Ħadd ta' Ħadd ta'Matul is-Sena – Sena 'A'

Messalin A 405

Reading 1                                                         EXodus 22:20-26

Thus says the LORD: "You shall not molest or oppress an alien,  for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.  You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry.  My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.  "If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body.  What else has he to sleep in?  If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."  This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Ewwel Lezzjoni   -  mill-Ktieb ta' l-Eżodu 22, 20-26

Dan jgħid il-Mulej:  "La taħqarx il-barrani, u la tgħakksux, għax intom ukoll  kontu barranin fl-art ta' l-Eġittu. La taħqrux l-armla jew l-iltim, għax jekk  taħqruhom, u huma jsejħuli, jien żgur nismagħha l-għajta tagħhom;  u l-qilla tiegħi tixgħel, neqridkom bix-xabla; u n-nisa tagħkom jormlu u wliedkom jisfaw iltiema.  Jekk inti tislef lil xi fqir mill-poplu tiegħi, iġġibx  ruħek miegħu bħal wieħed sellief, u teħodlux imgħax.  Jekk lil għajrek teħodlu l-libsa tiegħu b'rahan,  agħtihielu lura qabel inżul ix-xemx;  għax hu dik biss għandu biex jitgħatta, dik biss l-għata ta' ġismu; inkella fiex tridu jorqod?   Għax jekk isejjaħli, jiena nisimgħu, għax jien ħanin." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm                   PSalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

R/ (2) I love you, Lord, my strength.

I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.                      R/

My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.                                              R/

The LORD lives and blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed.                               R/

Salm Responsorjali    -    Salm 17 (18)

                R/  Inħobbok, Mulej, qawwa tiegħi.

Inħobbok, Mulej, qawwa tiegħi!

Il-Mulej blata tiegħi,

fortizza u ħellies tiegħi.                                                    R/

Alla tiegħi, sur tal-kenn tiegħi u tarka tiegħi,

qawwa tas-salvzzjoni tiegħi u kenn tiegħi!

Insejjaħ lill-Mulej, li hu ta' min ifaħħru,

u nkun meħlus mill-għedewwa tiegħi.                 R/

Ħaj il-Mulej!   Imbierek hu, il-blata tiegħi!

Ikun imfaħħar Alla tas-salvazzjoni tiegħi!

Hu jkabbar ir-rebħ lis-sultan tiegħu,

Juri mħabbtu mal-midluk tiegħu.                           R/

Reading 2                                                         1 THESsalonians 1:5C-10

Brothers and sisters:  You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake.  And you became imitators of us and of the Lord,  receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit,  so that you became a model for all the believers  in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.  For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you,  and how you turned to God from idols  to serve the living and true God  and to await his Son from heaven,  whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath. This is the Word of The Lord.

It-Tieni Lezzjoni   -   mill-1 Ittra lit-Tessalonkin 1, 5c -10

Ħuti, intom tafu kif ġibna ruħna meta konna fostkom għall-ġid tagħkom.  Intom sirtu tixbħu lilna u l-Mulej, billi lqajtu  l-kelma fost ħafna taħbit bil-ferħ ta' l-Ispirtu s-Santu. Hemm intom sirtu mudell għal dawk kollha li emmnu fi;-Maċedonja u l-Akaja.  Mhux biss il-kelma tal-Mulej ħarġet minn għandkom u xterdet fil-Maċedonja u l-Akaja, imma l-fidi li għandkom f'Alla xterdet ma' kullimkien b'mod li aħna ma għandna għalfejn ngħidu xejn. Huma stess jgħidu x'laqgħa kellna għandkom, u kif dortu lejn Alla u tlaqtu l-idoli biex taqdu lil Alla ħaj u veru u tistennew ġej mis-sema lil Ibnu, li hu qajjem mill-imwiet, Ġesu' li  ħelisna mill-korla li ġejja. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel                                                MatThew 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them,  a scholar of the law tested him by asking,  "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"  He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God,  with all your heart,  with all your soul,  and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and the first commandment.  The second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as Yourself.  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

L-Evanġelju   -  skond San Mattew  22, 34-40

F'dak iż-żmien, il-Fariżej, meta semgħu kif lis-Sadduċej kien saddilhom ħalqhom, inġabru madwaru, u  wieħed minnhom, għaref fil-Liġi, għamillu din il-mistoqsija  biex iġarrbu:  "Mgħallem, liema hu l-kmandament il-kbir, fil-Liġi?"  Qallu Ġesu':   "Ħobb lill-Mulej, Alla tiegħek, b'qalbek kollha, b'ruħek kollha, u b'moħħok kollu." Dan hu l-kmandament il-kbir u l-ewwel wieħed.  U t-tieni jixbhu:  Ħobb lil għajrek bħalek innifsek."  Dawn iż-żewġ kmandamenti huma  l-qofol tal-Liġi kollha u tal-Profeti." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

//////////////

Why Forgive?

 How much forgiveness is too much?

Fr Raniero Cantalamessa responds…..

To forgive is something serious, humanly difficult, if not impossible. One must not speak about it lightly, without realizing what one asks of the offended person when one requests him to forgive. Along with the command to forgive, man must also be given a reason to do so.

It is what Jesus did with the parable of the king and his two servants. The parable makes clear why one must forgive: because God has forgiven us in the past and continues to forgive us!

He cancels a debt of ours that is infinitely greater than the one a fellow human being might have with us. The difference between the debt owed the king (ten thousand talents) and that owed the colleague (one hundred denarii) is equal at the present time to 3 million euros and a few cents ($3.7 million)!

Saint Paul could say: "as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive" (Colossians 3:13). The Old Testament law, "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," has been surmounted. The criterion no longer is: "Do to someone what he has done to you"; but, "What God has done to you, you do to the other." Jesus has not limited himself, however, to order us to forgive, but did so first himself. While he was being nailed to the cross he prayed saying: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!" (Luke 23:34). This is what distinguishes the Christian faith from any other religion.

Buddha also left his own a maxim: "It is not with resentment that resentment is placated; it is with non-resentment that resentment is mitigated." But Christ does not limit himself to point out the path of perfection; he gives the strength to follow it. He does not just command us to do, but acts with us. Grace consists in this. Christian forgiveness goes beyond non-violence and non-resentment.

Someone might object: does not to forgive seventy times seven mean to encourage injustice and to give a green light to abuse? No. Christian forgiveness does not exclude that, in certain cases, you might also have to denounce a person and take them to court, especially when what is at stake are the interests and also the good of others. To give an example close to us: Christian forgiveness has not prevented the widows of some of the victims of terror or the mafia to pursue truth and justice with tenacity in regard to their husbands' death.

However, there are not only great acts of forgiveness but also daily acts of forgiveness, in the life of a couple, at work, between relatives, friends, colleagues and acquaintances. What can one do when one discovers that he has been betrayed by his own spouse? Forgive or separate? It is an extremely delicate question; no law can be imposed from outside. The individual must discover within him what to do.

But I can say one thing. I have known cases in which the offended party has found in the love for the other, and in the help that comes from prayer, the strength to forgive the one who erred, but was sincerely repentant. The marriage was re-born as from the ashes; it had a sort of new beginning. Of course, no one can expect that this could happen in a couple's life "seventy times seven."

We must be alert so as not to fall into a trap. There is a risk also in forgiveness. It consists of the mentality of those who think that they always have something to forgive others -- the danger of believing that one is always a creditor of forgiveness and never a debtor.

If we reflect well, however, many times, when we are about to say: "I forgive you!", we would do better to change our attitude and words and say to the person before us: "Forgive me!" We would then realize that we also have something that the other must forgive. In fact, even more important than forgiving is the humility to ask for forgiveness.

[Italian original published in Famiglia Cristiana. Translation by ZENIT]