FORGIVENESS!

MARCH 15, 2011

by Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.

MATTHEW 6: 7 - 15 

7 "And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread; 12 And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; 13 And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

PERSONAL REFLECTION:

A BLESSED TUESDAY TO ALL!

HURTING someone or doing something WRONG against anybody is an experience common to us all. If we truly examine ourselves we cannot avoid feeling sad remembering those times that we were hurt, betrayed, maltreated by someone. But we might also be haunted with regret for having hurt someone. In remembering those whom we did hurt, we might also awaken our suppressed anger and hatred towards them. Hurting and being hurt can destroy harmonious relationships. Anger and hatred certainly prolong and complicate, and even make more difficult to bear, any broken relationship.

In the Gospel today, Jesus is teaching us on how to PRAY that reveals how we can mend and restore back broken relationships. Part of the prayer highlights the importance of having a HARMONIOUS RELATIONSHIP. Sin destroys our relationship with God. It creates a gap that makes us be apart from God. Such gap needs to be bridged in order for us to be reunited with the source of all that is good. God’s forgiveness will reconcile us back to him. What seem to be intriguing, however, is the thought that this forgiveness of God is something that is easy to obtain for God is gentle of heart, slow to anger and compassionate. One would simply think of kneeling down and close one’s eyes and pray that God will forgive one’s sinfulness. And by faith one believes that he/she will be forgiven based on the guarantee that God is a forgiving God. Or, when one feels the guilt of having committed a serious sin, one will just avail of the sacrament of Reconciliation for having faith in the apostolic ministry of the Church to minister forgiveness of sin. These are just but SHORT-CUT and SELF-SERVING attitudes towards God’s grace of forgiveness.

The prayer that Jesus taught us would correct what appears to be a “short-cut” and a SELF-SERVING way of claiming God’s forgiveness. One cannot just claim forgiveness by faith in God or by faith in the apostolic ministry of the Church. The Gospel today would show that forgiveness is not just something that we can CLAIM without accomplishing a very important REQUISITE. Jesus said, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you DO NOT FORGIVE men their trespasses, NEITHER will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

God’s gift of forgiveness has an apparent social demand of FORGIVING others FIRST. This is just a question of what right do we have to ask God to forgive us if we ourselves cannot give to others what we ask from Him. If we seek forgiveness from God, we must first show to God that we know how to give to others what we ask for in order to deserve it to be given unto us by God. The prayer then is not just a formula that we have to memorize and use, but it is meant primarily as an instruction on how we have to work for a harmonious relationship with each other. The prayer reveals the possibility of hurting (sinning against) each other that would cause tension and even destruction of relationships. But the Lord wants us to own the prayer and make it form a RECONCILING ATTITUDE in us than vindictiveness and unkindness. The prayer leads us to acknowledge and practice a responsibility that we have for others, “And forgive us our debts, As we ALSO have forgiven our debtors…” So the Lord warns us sternly not to become like the pagans who just murmur empty phrases when they pray. The Lord simply wants us to walk what we talk about in our prayer. This season of Lent is a momentous time for reconciliation and forgiveness. It is a time for us to forgive to heal a broken relationship and to heal ourselves from the destructive sensation of anger and hatred.