[stephenkhoo]

Monday, 05 March, 2012, 2nd Week of Lent
FORGIVENESS IN THE CONTEXT OF LENT’S INVITATION TO PRACTICE THE CHARITY OF GOD

SCRIPTURE READINGS: DAN 9:4-10; LK 6:36-38

We are now entering into the second week of Lent. However, we are still in the first part of Lent, which is focused on the need for deepening our spiritual life. Holiness is the perfection of Christian life, and includes almsgiving, besides prayer and fasting. Almsgiving sums up the meaning of charity. Without charity, the spiritual exercises would be in vain. The purpose of prayer and fasting is to lead us to the love of God and our fellowmen.

But what is true charity? Charity means the capacity to give. But giving is more than the gift of material items or the offer of our services. Of course, charity includes these as well. But there is a greater charity that is required of us, which is not simply giving something that is external to us but something that is within us; it is forgiveness. The word “forgive” means that we are for-giving. It implies that we can give.

Why is forgiveness so central in the season of Lent? It is because forgiveness is fundamental to the proclamation of the gospel. At the beginning of the Lenten programme, we read the words of the gospel, “Repent and believe in the Good News. TheKingdom ofGod is near at hand.” To believe in the kingdom is to believe that we are forgiven and now reconciled with God and with each other. To enter the kingdom is to be reconciled and to live in unity and love. Indeed, the whole purpose of Jesus’ paschal mystery is to reconcile us with the Father and with each other so that we are all united in communion. Through His death and sacrifice on the cross, our sins are forgiven and through His resurrection, we are given a new life and through the Holy Spirit, we become the people of God, the Church of Christ.

This explains why last Saturday’s gospel, taken from St Matthew, reminds us to love our enemies and those who are strangers or excluded from our society. Jesus asked, “For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not?” There are two kinds of enemies; those who make us their enemies for reasons that we do not know, and those whom we regard as our enemies because they have done injury to us.

The first kind of enemy is mentioned in Friday’s liturgy. We are reminded that if our brother has something against us, we must leave our offerings before the altar, and be reconciled with our brother first, “and then come back and present your offering.” In other words, we must be proactive in promoting unity and love.

We must take the initiative of reaching out even when we are not in the wrong, or we are not aware that we have done something to have caused hurt to our brothers and sisters. Of course in reality, most of us would not take the initiative of mending the relationship because we feel we have done nothing wrong against that person. We would wait for the person to come to us, rather than humble ourselves in reaching out to that person.

But today, we are given an even taller order. We are called to love our enemies by forgiving them when they have hurt us. Forgiveness is therefore a further elaboration of what it means to perfect our Christian life of charity. This is perhaps the acid test of our love for God; forgiving those who have hurt us. It is at the same time the surest proof that we love our fellowmen unconditionally.

Forgiveness is so difficult, even when we rationally want to. This is because the heart cannot let go. Consequently, forgiveness is possible only if we deal with the levels of the head and the heart, but never one without the other. How do we bring these two levels together, which is necessary for real forgiveness to take place?

We must contemplate on the forgiveness of God. Jesus said to His disciples: “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves.” Yes, the Father is compassionate and merciful to us. Very often, we think the Father is waiting to judge us and condemn us. But Jesus makes it clear that it is not the Father who will judge and condemn us but rather, we will judge ourselves against the Father’s mercy and forgiveness. And if we fail to measure up to the Father’s forgiving love, we will judge and condemn ourselves!

However, this compassionate love of the Father cannot be thought of philosophically, but existentially and historically. For the exhortation of Jesus to forgive in imitation of the Father’s compassionate love must be seen historically in that Jesus Himself forgave His enemies in that manner. This is particularly true when He was at the cross and instead of cursing His enemies, or even simply forgiving them, He was asking the Father to forgive them. He was making excuses for His enemies for “they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) It is this experience of Christ’s forgiveness that will give us the strength and the wisdom to forgive.

Consequently, what we can learn from this example of Jesus is that authentic forgiveness can come about if we understand the weaknesses of our fellow brothers and sisters. It is Jesus’ solidarity with us that enables Jesus to understand our weaknesses and sinfulness. Jesus was tempted like us, but He did not sin. Jesus surely must have understood how easy it is for us to fall into pride, selfishness and materialism since He Himself was tempted by Satan throughout His ministry.

Therefore, to forgive requires that we understand ourselves and acknowledge our own sinfulness. This is what the first reading from the book of Daniel is teaching us. If we were to forgive others, we must first acknowledge our own sinfulness. We cannot forgive others unless we understand why we have fallen into sin ourselves, and what sin has done to us and to others.

Once we realize our sinfulness, then just as we seek pardon from God and from those whom we have hurt, we can now impart the same forgiveness to those who have hurt us. Accordingly, like Jesus, we can make excuses for those who have hurt us. However, unlike Jesus, the excuses we make for them would be the same excuses we make for ourselves when we ask for forgiveness. Only when we are able to make excuses for them, that is, understand their predicaments, internal and external struggles which have caused them to sin, can we then become more compassionate and forgiving like Jesus.

No longer do we judge their intentions or condemn them, but we leave the judgment to God. As Vatican II says, “We must distinguish between the error (which must always be rejected) and the person in error, who never loses his dignity as a person even though he flounders amid false or inadequate religious ideas. God alone is the judge and the searcher of hearts; He forbids us to pass judgment on the inner guilt of others” (Vatican II, “Gaudium Et Spes”, 28).

But forgiveness does not end here. Like Jesus, we know that forgiveness is complete only when we are able to pray for our enemies as Jesus did. When we can pray for their well- being just as Jesus did, we know that we have no more ill feelings towards them. By praying for them, we show our sincerity in love. Forgiveness is the height of charity and unconditional love. As we pray for them, we too become liberated. To wish our enemies well is true charity and love.

Yes, forgiveness is not easy. But with God, all things are possible. Our contemplation of the crucified Christ will give us the power and grace to love. The Holy Spirit, which is the love of God poured into our hearts, will heal all our hurts, fears, prejudices and pain. Only with the experience of God’s love, can we overcome hatred, revenge and resentment. In this way, we have become perfect like our heavenly Father, since we have restored God’s likeness in us. For to be created in His image means that our essence and nature is to love and forgive ourselves and others without reserve like the Father.

One final reason why forgiveness is something to pray for and to act upon is Jesus’ assurance, “Grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.” In other words, forgiveness is ultimately for our own good. God will not allow Himself to be outdone in generosity. When we imitate Him in forgiveness, we receive forgiveness ourselves and most of all, we receive the mercy and love of God that will fill us to the brim.

So long as we harbour hatred and un-forgiveness, we prevent God from acting through us because there is no peace, love and joy in our hearts. But when we forgive and when there is peace within us, God’s grace, as the gospel says, will overflow from our very being to others, “a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap”.