369. Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)

Meditations no. 604 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Christ on the Cross teaches us to forgive.

MARVELLOUS is the simplicity with which St. Paul tells Philemon the reasons why he must take in his former slave, Onesimus, who had run away from home some time ago. Even though I have full freedom in Christ to command you what is convenient,” he says, “I prefer to pray to you in the name of charity. He begs me to forgive and welcome the former slave as a brother in the faith. He could have imposed it on him, since Philemon had also received the gift of faith through the ministry of the Apostle. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your good action would not be forced, but voluntary. Perhaps that is why he went away for a while, so that now you can recover him forever, not as a servant, but more than a servant, as a brother who is very dear to me, but how much more so for you, not only in the human sphere, but also in the Lord. Saint Paul asks Philemon to welcome Onesimus as if he were himself.

The Lord wants us to forgive wholeheartedly, from the first moment, without holding grudges or letting resentments nest in our hearts. We are all aware of how difficult it can be at times due to our weakness. Sometimes because of tiredness; other times, because of unexpected coldness or indifference, or because of the repetition of what we dislike. The truth is that forgiveness is sometimes costly.

Tongues have been untied and you have suffered slights that have hurt you more because you did not expect them.

Your supernatural reaction should be to forgive - and even ask for forgiveness - and to take advantage of the experience to detach yourself from creatures, our Father recommended to us. But to forgive from the depths of the heart, with true forgetfulness of oneself in the face of the injury received, real or imagined, requires great faith, nourished by charity, and much humility. Humility leads each soul not to be discouraged by one’s own mistakes.

True humility leads … to ask for forgiveness!

We must look to Christ, who always forgives and invites us to forgive not once, not seven, but seventy times seven: always. Because “the Lord did not enclose forgiveness in a certain number, but made it clear that we must forgive promptly and always”.

The words of Christ on the Cross. “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing, they are especially significant.”Let us ask ourselves immediately,” John Paul II said, “‘Is it not, perhaps, the word that we all needed to hear spoken about us?’ (… ). The Gospel gives us this certainty: From the top of the cross the word forgiveness resounded! (… ). The Lord not only forgives, but asks the Father’s forgiveness for those who have given him up to death and, therefore, also for all of us.”

On the Cross, next to the Lord, two evildoers were crucified. One of them reviled him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” But the other rebuked him, “Do you not even fear God, who are in the same torture? We are here justly, because we have received what we deserve for what we have done; but this man has done no evil.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” The Lord’s answer is not long in coming: truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.

The early Christians learned this lesson from the Lord.

FULL OF joy to see how the message of forgiveness was received by the first Christians, imitating the prayer of Jesus on the Cross. This is what St. Stephen, the first martyr, did: when he died, he asked the Lord not to take into account the sin of those who stoned him. In view of the actions of those first brothers of ours, we should feel ashamed to see how often we resist forgiving the offenses or contempt that we may receive. On the other hand, the souls who have been very close to the Lord, the saints, have not even had this need: no matter how great the injuries, the slanders, the offenses received, they did not feel personally offended, because they knew that the only evil is the moral one, sin; the other offenses did not hurt them. And so an ancient ecclesiastical writer wrote: “We must forgive those who claim to be sorry for the offenses they have done to us, even if this attitude is repeatedly adopted by those who owe us something.”

We have many examples in the life of our Founder, who always forgave from the heart those who offended him. Every day, at least in the Prayers, he once said, “you pray for our benefactors. Among them are those who hinder us, those who defame us, those who slander us, who are very few. I love them very much. They are all benefactors: benefactors on the one hand … and on the other.

In this time of prayer, we can examine whether we harbor in our hearts grievances or resentments, some attitude of contempt toward someone, because of injuries that often occur only in the imagination. Let us see if our forgiveness is quick, sincere, from the heart, and if we pray for the people who, perhaps without realizing it, or by giving it to them, caused us some harm or offended us. Always forgive, St. Josemaría insists; you will save him a lot of inconvenience, you will not be angry, and you will be happy. You will not be happy to be insulted or slandered, or to be slandered by the people you love, but you will know how to forgive immediately.

Far be it from our conduct, therefore, to remember the offenses that have been done to us, of the humiliations we have suffered-however unjust, uncivil, and crude they may have been-because it is unbecoming for a child of God to have a register ready, to present a list of grievances. We cannot forget the example of Christ, and our Christian faith is not changed like a garment: it can be weakened or strengthened or lost. With this supernatural life, faith is invigorated, and the soul is terrified when it considers the miserable human nakedness, without the divine. And forgive, and thank: my God, if I contemplate my poor life, I find no reason for vanity, and still less for pride: I find only abundant reasons to live always humble and sorry. I know well that the best lordship is to serve.

Charity impels us to overcome a state of mind that is not very optimistic, which necessarily influences others; to smile, even when we have difficulties; to avoid that - even small - that may bother those closest to us; to excuse, to forgive. … In this way we also die to self-love, so intimately rooted in our being, and we learn to be humble. God wants his children of Opus Dei to live in this way. The Lord wants his children in all the honest ways of the earth, sowing the seed of understanding, forgiveness, coexistence, charity, and peace.

God’s forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance is a school for learning to forgive.

IN THE Gospel of today’s Mass, the Lord poses a question waiting for the right answer: Which of you, when you want to build a tower, does not first sit down to calculate the expenses to see if he has enough to finish it? Lest all who see him begin to mock him and say, “This man began to build and could not finish.”

The foundation of our spiritual life is divine filiation: knowing that we are children of a Father who always forgives. And Jesus Christ, aware of our fragility, has left us the sacrament of Penance, where the soul is not only restored, but - if it had lost grace - resurfaces with a new life. If you ever fall, son, go promptly to Confession and spiritual direction: show the wound, so that you may be healed thoroughly, so that all the possibilities of infection may be removed, even if it hurts as in a surgical operation.

The Church teaches that one must go to this sacrament with full, humble, contrite sincerity, with a desire to make reparation. A well-made Confession involves a profound examination, if possible before the Tabernacle, and naturally seeking the presence of God. In the examination of conscience, the Christian sees what the Lord expected of his life and what it really was; the goodness or malice of his actions, the omissions, the missed opportunities … , the intensity of the fault committed, the time he remained in it before asking for forgiveness. God be blessed!, you said to yourself after finishing your sacramental Confession. And you thought it was as if I were born again.

Then you continued calmly: “Domine quid me visis facere?” “Lord, what do you want me to do?”

“And you gave yourself the answer: with your grace, above everything and everyone, I will fulfill your Most Holy Will:”serviam!” “I will serve you unconditionally!”

Considering that God forgives us so many times! in the sacrament of Penance will help us to be more diligent in forgiving the offenses we have received. In the end, what we do is very little compared to what God has forgiven us. Strive, if necessary, to always forgive those who offend you, from the first moment, because, no matter how great the injury or offense they do to you, the more God has forgiven you.

The things that hurt us are often the result of susceptibility: a favor that is not thankful, a reward that does not come, a word that is said to us at a bad time, because of tiredness or because we have suffered a setback. Sometimes it will be something more important: slander, twisted interpretations of what we have tried to do with rectitude of intention. … Whatever it is, it is worth forgiving quickly, without anything being hidden in the soul. Thus the Lord forgives our sins, whether minor or serious, and our faults.

Let us listen to our Father’s confidence: I did not need to learn to forgive, because God has taught me to love. May the Blessed Virgin, who welcomed us as beloved children at the Cross of Jesus, teach us to forgive everyone always and immediately.