Monday, June 23, 2008

5th Sunday after Pentecost 15.6.08 Sermon

5th Sunday after Pentecost 15.6.08 Perfect Offering

I suggested one time that there should be a brass band playing when a sinner emerges from the confessional, because we can celebrate the return of a prodigal son, or the finding of a lost sheep.
Well, if that is too noisy for you, how about each penitent breaking into a highland jig in sheer joy for being forgiven from a terrible debt they would never have been able to pay?
Neither is likely to become common practice, but we really should make more effort to appreciate the magnitude of the blessing we receive when God removes our sins.

It is the difference between eternal death and life. We can get so used to the idea that we take it for granted. Oh yes, God forgives my sins... We say it like, Oh Uncle Charlie never expects me to repay him money... We don’t normally get such gentle treatment from our creditors, like the phone company and the electricity company, even the government. Somehow they expect us to pay up.

What if you put in your tax return and the government wrote to you and said, You owe us $2000, but we forgive you; you don’t have to pay it!

God runs His own economy, the economy of grace, where things are given but not paid for.

More accurately, there is a payment made, but by Someone else – the Paschal Lamb, the Saviour who died in our place. We incurred the debt; He paid it.

Knowing that someone else paid our bills should make us grateful to that person, and that is one of the reasons we gather here at Mass, to express that gratitude.

If only we knew... if only we could feel the appropriate relief, we would then be able to do the next thing we have to do, which is to forgive those who offend us.

This we seem to find very difficult.

The Gospel says that we should be reconciled with those who have offended us, and be resolved to live in peace with everyone. How can we offer the sacrifice of reconciliation if we are not intending (or at least seeking) reconciliation within and among ourselves?

We can take some steps towards that before the sacrifice, and we do what we can.
However the sacrifice will itself release the necessary graces in our hearts to be able to forgive.

Come as ready as you can be, but let Christ carry you the rest of the way. He has enough love for everyone and everything - that is everything that anyone has ever done to anyone else.

Just let if flow.
I cannot forgive you, perhaps, but God can, and I agree with Him. I will not stop the flow of the Precious Blood. I will not block that river; I need it too much myself.

Grievances can be petty or major. Either way He can cover it. How? Well, His love is infinite, and infinite must always be enough. There could not be any evil that He was incapable of forgiving. The only limit is lack of contrition.

We can make progress by being more aware of what He has done for us. Let it take hold. The Mass is not just a formal ceremony to be got over with. It is a clearing of debt, my debt, which I could not pay otherwise. I have to pause long enough to realize what that means.

How can I hold to my grudges and grievances in the face of such a torrent of love and mercy? It would be like being caught in a tsunami and still wanting to keep things just the way they were. No time for that now. Get with the flow; this time with a positive meaning that mercy will forgive and reconcile all who want to receive it.