Tuesday in Holy Week

When Jesus had thus spoken, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was lying close to the breast of Jesus; so Simon Peter beckoned to him and said, "Tell us who it is of whom he speaks." So lying thus, close to the breast of Jesus, he said to him, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the feast"; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel, he immediately went out; and it was night. When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified; if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going you cannot come.' A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "Where I am going you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow afterward." Peter said to him, "Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow, till you have denied me three times."

- St. John 13:21-38

O God, who by the passion of thy blessed Son didst make an instrument of shameful death to be unto us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Pictured: "The Last Supper" by Carl Bloch (1834-1890)

Monday in Holy Week

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at table with him. Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was to betray him), said, "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" This he said, not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box he used to take what was put into it.  Jesus said, "Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me." When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came, not only on account of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus also to death, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. 

- St. John 12:1-11

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Pictured: "Mary anointing the feet of Jesus"

by Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836-1902)

Second Sunday in Passiontide: Palm Sunday

From palm branches to passion, from hosannas to heckling, from majesty to mockery. This is the Sunday of the Passion, and the blood of Jesus Christ is the scarlet thread running throughout the entire passion history. As God said to the Israelites (Leviticus 17:11), "…the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life." So then, throughout this holiest of all weeks, we are carried upon the river of the Most Precious Blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

What had been the cup of the Passover is now the Cup of our salvation, transformed by Jesus when He said, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is the Cup of my blood in the New Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." The God who turned the water of the Nile into a river of blood in Egypt, the God who made water into wine at Cana, now makes Passover wine His own blood. It is the Lord's Passover, and such a Passover there had never been before.

At the first Passover, it was the blood of the sacrificial lamb, smeared upon the doorposts of the houses, which protected the lives of the first-born from death. The Angel of Death “passed over” where the blood was. But now, at this Passover, the Lamb is not only the sacrifice, but He is the Lord to whom the sacrifice is offered. His blood, the Blood of the Lamb, no longer smeared on doorposts, now is drunk from His Chalice, and it covers our sins and shields us from death. His blood is the blood of the covenant, both ancient and new. The covenant is God's claim on His people. "I will be your God, and you will be my people." At Mt. Sinai, Moses sprinkled the covenant blood upon the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” In the upper room, Jesus gave His blood of the new covenant to His Twelve, His new Israel. “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus binds Himself to His people in every generation by His blood.

On the cross, Christ’s blood was shed, once for all people. It is Covenant blood; innocent blood; cleansing blood; poured out for you and for all mankind. It was the blood of God’s Passover Lamb which stained the wood of the cross, and it’s the cross which is the doorpost of the Church – and death passes over the house where the Passover Lamb’s blood has been smeared. And so, the blood is for us.

In the Mass, we come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and we come through the blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel. Here Christ delivers, offers and applies His blood to us. And we must receive the blood of the Lamb in all the ways He promises to give it to us - in baptism, in confession and absolution, in the Mass. For completely different reasons than they were for that crowd in Jerusalem screaming for his death, we say, “Let His innocent and cleansing blood of the covenant be upon us and upon our children,” because there is life in His blood, and there is forgiveness.

Almighty and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the Cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility: mercifully grant that we may follow the example of his patience, and so be made partakers of his Resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Painting: "Entry Into Jerusalem"
by H. Siddons Mowbray(1858-1928)

Our Lady in Passiontide

Friday of the Fifth Week in Lent is a day traditionally set aside to honour Our Lady in Passiontide, which is to remind us of the special role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is day when we remember Mary as the Woman of Compassion. In our culture, compassion is often thought of as kindness, or mercy. But there is more to it. It comes to us from two Latin words (cum= "with” and passio= "to suffer”) and literally means "to suffer with." So to be a person of compassion means that we share in the sufferings of another person. It is not simply empathy, but it means that we see the other almost as an extension of ourselves.  If they are suffering, we, too, experience their pain.

This commemoration helps us to remember Mary’s sacrifice for our salvation, and also the importance of avoiding things in our own lives which would cause further sorrow to Mary, who is our Mother.

O Lord in whose Passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, the sword of sorrow did pierce the most loving soul of thy glorious Virgin Mother Mary: mercifully grant that we, who devoutly call to mind the suffering whereby she was pierced, may, by the glorious merits and prayers of all the Saints who have stood beneath the Cross, obtain with gladness the benefits of thy Passion; who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Image: "Mater Dolorosa"

by Rogier van der Weyden (c.1399-1464)

St. John Baptist de La Salle

St. John Baptist de La Salle was born at Rheims in 1651, became a member of the cathedral chapter at Rheims when he was sixteen, and was ordained a priest in 1678. Soon after ordination he was put in charge of a girls' school, and in 1679 he met Adrian Nyel, a layman who wanted to open a school for boys. Two schools were started, and Canon de la Salle became interested in the work of education. He took an interest in the teachers, eventually invited them to live in his own house, and tried to train them in the educational system that was forming in his mind. This first group ultimately left, unable to grasp what the saint had in mind; others, however, joined him, and the beginnings of the Brothers of the Christian Schools were begun.

Seeing a unique opportunity for good, Canon de La Salle resigned his canonry, gave his inheritance to the poor, and began to organize his teachers into a religious congregation. Soon, boys from his schools began to ask for admission to the Brothers, and the founder set up a juniorate to prepare them for their life as religious teachers. At the request of many pastors, he also set up a training school for teachers, first at Rheims, then at Paris, and finally at St.-Denis. Realizing that he was breaking entirely new ground in the education of the young, John Baptist de la Salle wrote books on his system of education, opened schools for tradesmen, and even founded a school for the nobility, at the request of King James II of England.

The congregation had a tumultuous history, and the setbacks that the founder had to face were many; but the work was begun, and he guided it with rare wisdom. In Lent of 1719, he grew weak, met with a serious accident, and died on Good Friday. He was canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1900, and Pope Pius XII proclaimed him patron of schoolteachers.

O God, who for the Christian education of the poor, and for the confirmation of the young in the way of truth, didst raise up the holy Confessor John Baptist de la Salle, and through him didst gather a new family in the Church: graciously grant that by his intercession and example we, being kindled with zeal for thy glory in the salvation of souls, may be enabled to be made partakers of his crown in heaven; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

A Visible Sign of God's Mercy

The LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."

- Numbers 21:8

God had no more rescued the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt before they started to complain because the journey was difficult, and they didn’t like the food, the manna, which God provided for them. As a result of their sin they were afflicted with serpents in the wilderness. But God showed mercy, and He instructed Moses: "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”

The visible sign of the "fiery bronze serpent" being lifted up in the sight of the people reminded them of two important facts: that sin leads to death, but repentance leads to God's mercy and healing. And, of course, the lifting up of the bronze serpent on a wooden pole points to Jesus Christ being lifted up on the wooden cross at Calvary where He took our sins upon Himself to make atonement to the Father on our behalf.

The sacrifice of Jesus' life on the cross is the ultimate proof of God's love for us. The cross broke the curse of sin and death and won pardon, healing, and everlasting life for all who believe in Jesus, the Son of God and Saviour of the world.

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Pictured: "The Brazen Serpent" by James Tissot (1836-1902)

St. Vincent Ferrer

St. Vincent Ferrer is the patron saint of builders because of his fame for "building up" and strengthening the Church, through his preaching, missionary work, in his teachings, as confessor and adviser. 

Born in 1357, when he was eighteen years old he entered the Order of St. Dominic. He was a brilliant student, and soon after his profession he was commissioned to deliver lectures on philosophy while continuing his studies, and eventually he received his doctorate, all the while growing in his spiritual life. In 1390, he entered the service of Cardinal Pedro de Luna, and this developed into a very difficult situation, because this was the time when a claim was made by Cardinal de Luna that he was the legitimate pope. St. Vincent felt a loyalty to his friend the Cardinal, but he realized that truth was more important than mere human friendship, and he felt obliged to go against his friend.

He then began those labours that made him the most famous missionary of the fourteenth century. He evangelized nearly every province of Spain, and preached in France, Italy, Germany, Flanders, England, Scotland, and Ireland. Many conversions followed his preaching, which God Himself assisted by the gift of miracles. Though the Church was then divided by the great schism, the saint was honorably received in the districts subject to the two claimants to the Papacy. He was even went to Granada, which was under the rule of Islam, and he preached the gospel with much success. He lived to see the end of the great schism and the election of Pope Martin V. Finally, having given his life to the preaching of the Faith, he died April 5, 1419.

O God, who didst vouchsafe to illumine thy Church by the merits and preaching of blessed Vincent thy Confessor: grant to us thy servants; that we may both be instructed by his example, and by his advocacy be delivered from all adversities; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

False Witness

It’s upsetting to most people if they find out that others have been talking about them in a bad or false way. When lies are spread around about us, it’s one of the most difficult and devastating things that can happen. It has been rightly said that “a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its boots on.”

At Mass on Monday in the fifth week of Lent we hear the story of Susanna, from the Book of Daniel. Susanna was a woman who loved God. She was unjustly accused of adultery by two elder judges who had tried to force themselves on her. Since adultery was a serious offense punishable by stoning to death, the law of Moses required at least two witnesses, rather than one, to convict a person. Susanna knew she had no hope of clearing her good reputation and escaping death unless God Himself intervened. God in His mercy heard the plea of Susanna, and Daniel was the instrument God used, resulting in punishment for the two elders who had given false witness.

When we consider the great damage that can be done, either by telling outright lies, or by spinning things to make someone look bad, it’s apparent just how sinful that kind of behaviour is. When it comes to saying anything about anybody, we need to think very carefully before speaking, and often it’s better not to say anything at all.

St. James in his epistle says that the tongue is only a small part of the body, but then he reminds us that a very small flame can set a whole forest on fire. That’s something for us to consider seriously when it comes to our conversations.

Don’t abuse others with your words. Don’t pass along to others what seem to be juicy tidbits about someone. That little feeling of dark pleasure which so often accompanies your judgement on someone else will return as God’s judgement upon you.

St. Isidore of Seville

St. Isidore of Seville was born into a family of saints in Spain in the sixth century. Two of his brothers, Leander and Fulgentius, and one of his sisters, Florentina, are revered as saints in Spain. His two brothers served as bishops and his sister was an abbess.

But it’s not always easy to live with saints. In fact, although Isidore’s brother Leander is venerated as a saint today, the way he treated his younger brother Isidore was shocking, even to people who lived at that time. Leander, who was much older than Isidore, took over Isidore's education and Leander’s idea of education involved force and and lots of punishment. We know from Isidore's later accomplishments that he was very intelligent and hard-working, so it’s difficult to understand why Leander thought abuse would work instead of patience. One day, the young Isidore couldn't take any more. He was frustrated by his inability to learn as fast as his brother wanted him to, and he was hurt by his brother's treatment, so Isidore ran away. As he stopped to rest, he noticed water dripping on a rock near where he sat. He noticed that the small drops of water that were falling weren’t very forceful, and seemed to have no effect on the solid stone. And yet he saw that over time, the water drops had worn holes in the rock.

He took this as an important lesson. Isidore realized that if he kept working at his studies, bit by bit his small efforts would eventually pay off in great learning. He also wanted his brother Leander to see that he was really trying, so he went back. When he returned home, his brother wasn’t any more understanding or any more kind than he had ever been, and in fact Leander sent Isidore off to a monastery where he was confined to a cell so he wouldn’t run away again, and there he was to continue his studies.

Either there must have been a loving side to this fraternal relationship, or Isidore was remarkably forgiving even for a saint, because later he would work side by side with his brother and after Leander's death, Isidore took his place as the bishop of Seville, and would complete many of the projects his brother had started.

In a time where everybody wants to blame the past hurts for their present problems, Isidore didn’t fall into that trap. He was able to separate the abusive way he was taught from the joy of learning. He didn't run from learning after he left his brother but embraced education and made it his life's work. Isidore rose above his past to become known as the greatest teacher in Spain.

His love of learning made him promote the establishment of a seminary in every diocese of Spain. He didn't limit his own studies, nor did he want limitations on others. In a unique move, he made sure that all branches of knowledge including the arts and medicine were taught in the seminaries.

His encyclopedia of knowledge, the Etymologies, was a popular textbook for nine centuries. He also wrote books on grammar, astronomy, geography, history, and biography as well as theology. In fact, the great breadth of Isidore’s learning meant that Pope John Paul II named him Patron of the Internet.

He lived until almost 80. As he was dying his house was filled with crowds of poor to whom he was giving aid and alms. One of his last acts was to give all his possessions to the poor. When he died in 636, this Doctor of the Church had done more than his brother had ever hoped; the light of his learning caught fire in Spanish minds and held back barbarism from Spain. But even greater than his outstanding mind must have been the genius of his heart that allowed him to see beyond rejection and discouragement to joy and possibility.

O God, by whose providence blessed Isidore was sent to guide thy people in the way of everlasting salvation: grant, we beseech thee; that as we have learned of him the doctrine of life on earth, so we may be found worthy to have him for our advocate in heaven; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Lent V: Balancing Justice and Mercy

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?" This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.

- St. John 8:3-6

If you are a parent, or if you deal with children in any way, you know this dilemma: when they do something wrong, how do you discipline them in a way that’s serious enough to teach them the lesson they need to learn, but which isn’t so harsh that it discourages them or just makes them rebel against the discipline? How do you make them understand that there are certain things that are always wrong, and yet still allow for the fact that we all make mistakes? Often it is a difficult call – we want to be gentle and loving and merciful, but we don’t want them to fall into the danger of confusing what is objectively right and wrong.

For guidance we can look to the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His encounter with the woman taken in adultery we see our Lord dealing with someone breaking God’s Law, and yet He balanced His response with a wonderful combination of justice and mercy.

This was the situation: a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery was dragged by the scribes and Pharisees into the presence of Christ. This wasn’t accidental – they had timed this confrontation very carefully. Jesus had just spent the whole night before in prayer on the Mount of Olives. At dawn He returned to the temple, and as usual, the people crowded around Him to hear His teaching. Christ’s popularity was a very upsetting thing to the scribes and Pharisees. Repeatedly they have tried to destroy His reputation, or to catch Him in some breach of the Law, so that they could show the crowds that He was a phony, and so get the people to stop listening to Him. But every time they tried, they failed. They just can’t seem to get rid of Him.

But this time, the whole situation seems to be in their favour. This time, they’re sure they’re going to succeed, because the circumstances provided a perfect trap for them to spring on Him.

They bring the woman to Him. They pretend to be respectful by addressing Him as “Teacher.” “Teacher,” they say, “this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?” It is the perfect trap. They would force Jesus either to obey or disobey the law of Moses in full view of people. The scribes and Pharisees are certain they’re going to win this round, because they don’t see how He can possibly win, no matter which choice He makes. If He goes along with the punishment of stoning, He’s contradicting the message of mercy which He had been preaching, and which was a large cause of His popularity. But if He rejects the penalty of stoning, then He’s disobeying the law, and they’ll be able to bring Him up before the authorities as a law-breaker. This is a moment of high drama, and it looks like the whole ministry of Christ is hanging in the balance.

So what does He do? By all appearances, nothing. In fact, He doesn’t seem to show very much interest at all in what the scribes and Pharisees have said. Instead, He bends down and traces with His finger on the ground. But the scribes and Pharisees aren’t going to be put off that easily. They press for an answer. So He gives them an answer: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

It is the perfect answer – not because it’s clever, not because it puts the scribes and Pharisees in their places – no, it is perfect because not only does Jesus not reject the law or disobey any part of it, but the answer gives the law its real meaning. Until this point the law had been used as a way of lording it over others; it had been turned into something that divided people between those who kept the law, and those who didn’t. But Jesus lifts the law up to the level of carrying out God’s plan for each person. He’s making the point that to break God’s law doesn’t hurt the law; rather, when we break God’s law we’re really hurting ourselves. When Jesus said to the woman, “Go, and do not sin again,” He wasn’t dismissing the sin; rather, He was dismissing those who were trying to use the occasion of someone’s sin as a way of making themselves appear to be holier than they really were.

This event tells us something important about our own relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We can know that if we commit a serious sin, we shouldn’t feel like outcasts or second-rate Christians; rather, we can go to Christ with a repentant heart and ask for His forgiveness. And as soon as the thorn of sin is extracted, Christ the Great Physician of our souls, will heal the wound. And we can count on that – that’s the promise Christ makes, that if we come to Him with repentance and confess our sins, He’ll always forgive and heal us.

And that’s the way we must act towards those who have wronged us. All too often, people have the heart of the scribes and Pharisees, finding it hard to forget the sins of others, always dredging them up, almost as a way of feeling better about themselves. But Christ shows us how wrong that is, and in fact it’s an echo of what we hear from the prophet Isaiah, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.” To refrain from throwing someone’s sin in their face isn’t sweeping things under the carpet – it’s not a lessening of the seriousness of sin – rather, it’s a way of putting things back into their proper place. If only we were half as merciful towards others as we want God to be toward us!

When it comes to sin and repentance, Christ wants broken hearts from us, not broken hopes. When He hung on the cross, He prayed for His enemies who were filled with hatred towards Him, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Even then, with death close by, Christ showed mercy towards those who had brought Him to the hill and who had nailed Him to the cross.

If we’re supposed to be Christ’s ambassadors in the world, then we certainly must show something of Christ’s mercy in our own attitudes towards others. It is a far greater victory for Christ if His enemies are converted to His truth, than it would be for Him to deliver them over to eternal punishment.

Every single day we pray in the Mass that God will deliver us from eternal damnation and number us in the fold of the elect. We’ve all done evil in God’s sight; we’re all deserving of death. But in His mercy, and by our repentance, He forgives us – not only once; not only seven times; but seventy times seven and even beyond that.

It is a wicked thing to be as the scribes and Pharisees were, to judge and condemn others. We’ve been shown God’s mercy, and we need to show it to others. That’s what it is to have the mind of Christ in us. It is in showing His mercy towards others that will make us more like Christ. That’s what will win people over to Him: to speak the truth and then to show mercy, just as each one of us knows the truth, and still has been shown mercy.

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Painting: "The Woman taken in Adultery"

by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri - Il Guercino (1591-1666)

The Works of Mercy

In an effort to organize ourselves, we sometimes make lists of “things to do,” things we have perhaps put off doing, and we get a real sense of accomplishment as we are able to check them off as being done. The Church, also, gives us such a list which is based upon the teaching of Christ. This list is known as the "corporal and spiritual works of mercy."

The corporal works are: to feed the hungry; to give drink to the thirsty; to clothe the naked; to shelter the homeless; to visit the sick; to visit those in prison; to bury the dead.

The spiritual works are: to convert the sinner; to instruct the ignorant; to counsel the doubtful; to comfort the sorrowful; to bear wrongs patiently; to forgive injuries; to pray for the living and the dead.

Out of our love for Christ, and because of our faith in Him, we should keep before us this list of “things to do,” and although in this life there is always more to do, it is in the doing that we show our love for the God Who loves us.

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Pictured: "The Seven Acts of Mercy"

by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1636)

Lent IV: Lost and Found

One of the truly beautiful stories in the scriptures, perhaps the most effective parable in the entire New Testament, is that of the prodigal son.

It is the story of a prideful young man who decided he knew more than anybody else. It is the story of that same young man who arrives home, shaken and much wiser from his experiences of tending herds of pigs. He is totally prepared to freely admit that he had been a stupid fool. In complete humility he is prepared to say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am not worthy to be called your son.” He knew full well that he had pushed God’s goodness aside, and had allowed pride to take its place, and it had almost wrecked his life. But he was repentant, and he had a desire to make restitution for what he had done.

Before the young man could blurt out the last part of his prepared statement, “Treat me as one of your hired servants,” his father orders that the best robe be brought out, along with a ring for his finger, and that the fatted calf be killed for a feast. Of the many things we could say about this story, this is the high point: the forgiveness of the father. The father who loved his son, and who only wanted his son back, no matter how long it took and no matter what the boy had done in the past. And when the son returned, sorry for what he had done, there was forgiveness waiting for him.

Imagine if the father in this parable refused to forgive his repentant son. We would quite rightly think, “Wait a minute! That’s not how the story should go.” There is something in us that knows a lack of forgiveness is contrary to what God intends. To refuse to forgive is a refusal to reflect the image of God, and in fact it becomes a form of slavery. Even if someone has done something serious against us, when we refuse to forgive that person, we are giving them control over our emotions, control over our decisions, control over our actions. They now run our lives. They become our lords, whom we serve with our grudges, hostility, and hatred.

The word "forgive" means to set free, to cut loose, to dismiss. When something is forgiven it no longer has power. When a debt is forgiven, it no longer has any claim over our money. When sin is forgiven, it no longer has any power to condemn. But when we refuse to forgive others, we’re chaining ourselves to them in a perverse and destructive bond that ties up the freedom which is ours as children of God.

To forgive "from the heart," is an act of the will. Forgiveness isn't a feeling. You don't have to be in a forgiving mood to forgive. The essence of forgiveness is first in words, "I forgive you," and then to carry out those words by how we act. Forgiveness means we don’t return evil for evil, anger for anger, or sin for sin.

God doesn't keep track of how many times we come to Him for forgiveness. In baptism and repeatedly in the confessional, God wipes clean the ledgers of our lives. "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." He brings out the best robe. He puts a ring on our finger. He lays on a banquet to celebrate, because we were lost but in Christ we have been found.

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Painting: "The Return of the Prodigal Son (1862)"

by James Tissot (1836-1902)

The Solemnity of the Annunciation

At the Annunciation, God sent His messenger, the archangel Gabriel, to announce to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would bear the Incarnate Son of God, and it would be Jesus who would take human flesh from her, to bring salvation into the world. When Mary heard these words, she was filled with awe and wonder, and she asked for clarification: “How can this be…?” When Gabriel told her that it would be by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded by saying, “Let it be unto me according to thy word.”

That is an important phrase, “Let it be…” It takes us back to creation itself, when by the word of God, all things came into being.

In the beginning, God said “Let there be light,” and there was. God brought into being everything there was – by His word there came into being all of creation, including man himself. In fact, creation itself is the larger context for the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As God spoke His creative word in the beginning, so in our remembrance of the beginning of the Incarnation we call to mind Mary’s words, “Let it be…. Let it be unto me according to thy word.” The Virgin Mary’s words, “Let it be,” echo God’s words, “Let there be.” It is, in a way, the continuation of creation and the beginning of our salvation. God says, “Let there be…” and his word brings forth creation; Mary says, “Let it be,” and her words bring forth the Incarnate God into the world.

We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts: that, as we have known the Incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an Angel; so by his Cross and Passion we may be brought unto the glory of his Resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Pictured: "The Annunciation" by Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898)

St. Turibius of Mogrovejo

Together with St. Rose of Lima, St. Turibius is among the first of the known saints of the New World, serving the Lord in Peru, South America, for twenty-six years.

Born in Spain and educated for the law, he became so brilliant a scholar that he was made professor of law at the University of Salamanca and eventually became chief judge at Granada. He was a great success, but he was about to enter upon a surprising sequence of events.

When the archbishopric of Lima in Spain's Peruvian colony became vacant, it was decided that Turibius was the man needed to fill the post. It was generally agreed that he was the one person with the strength of character and holiness of spirit to heal the scandals that had infected that area. Turibius cited all the canons that forbade giving laymen ecclesiastical dignities, but he was overruled. He was ordained priest and bishop and sent to Peru, where he found colonialism at its worst. The Spanish conquerors were guilty of every sort of oppression of the native population. Abuses among the clergy were wide-spread, and he devoted his energies (and his suffering) to this area first.

He began the long and arduous visitation of an immense archdiocese, studying the language, staying two or three days in each place, often with no place to sleep, and little or no food. He made his confession every morning to his chaplain, and he would then celebrate Mass with tremendous devotion. Among those to whom he gave the Sacrament of Confirmation was Saint Rose of Lima, and most likely Saint Martin de Porres. After 1590 he had the help of another great missionary, Saint Francis Solanus.

His people, although they were very poor, also had a sense of personal pride, and they were unwilling to accept public charity from others. Turibius solved the problem by helping them himself, anonymously.

When Turibius undertook the reform of the clergy, along with unjust officials, he encountered tremendous opposition. Some tried to "explain" God's law in such a way as to make it appear that God approved of their accustomed way of life. He answered them in the words of Tertullian, "Christ said, 'I am the truth'; he did not say, 'I am the custom."'

O God, who gavest increase to thy Church through the apostolic labours and zeal for truth of the Bishop Saint Turibius: grant that the people consecrated to thee may always receive new growth in faith and holiness; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Seventy Times Seven

[At that time] Peter came up and said to Jesus, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”

- St. Matthew 18:21, 22

Jesus goes right to the heart of the question of how many times forgiveness should be given.  His answer is like an arrow into the unbelieving, calculating, unforgiving heart. "Not seven times but seventy times seven." That’s the answer: give perfect forgiveness and multiply it without measure.

After all, that’s what we ask from God, isn't it? We who confess that we have sinned in “thought, word and deed…" We certainly don’t want limits on God's forgiveness, and so we’d better not place limits on the forgiveness required of us.

And then Jesus tells a parable about the king who forgave a servant’s huge debt, but that same servant refused to forgive a small debt owed to him by a fellow servant. When the king heard about it, he had that first servant thrown into jail until he paid off all the debt. And then Jesus makes His point: “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."

They sound like harsh words – startling words – and if we were harboring a grudge against someone and withholding forgiveness from someone, these words of Jesus are words that would convict us.

But we need to understand. With those words Jesus isn’t intending to hurt us or make us feel badly about ourselves; actually, He intends to stop us in our tracks; to crush those hardened, unforgiving hearts of ours so that His forgiveness can come first to us, and then through us to our neighbour. Jesus wants to rescue us from a lack of forgiveness.

Why is that important? An unwillingness to forgive hurts most the person who refuses to forgive. We may well think that we’re hurting those who have hurt us, but we wind up only hurting ourselves. It’s rather like punching yourself in the nose because someone insulted you. “That'll teach them,” as we wince in self-inflicted pain. Unwillingness to forgive is a spiritual cancer that eats away at our bones, it demeans us, it robs us of vitality and joy, it drives us to say and do things that are beneath our dignity as God's children. It diminishes us, it makes us small.

Marriages are diminished when husband and wife don’t forgive each another on a daily basis. Families are diminished when parents and children don’t forgive each another. Our schools and workplaces and communities are diminished when we don’t forgive our neighbors and co-workers. Parishes are diminished when those who come together to receive the Lord Himself are, at the same time, at each other's throats, trying to get even for some perceived slight or injustice.

A lack of forgiveness is a hardening of the heart, a clog in the artery of faith. When we refuse to forgive, we put ourselves in opposition to God and we destroy our own desire to be forgiven. People who harbor grudges are not often found on their knees confessing their sins before God. People who try to settle the score for every wrong done to them rarely acknowledge the score God settled when He hung on a cross to pay the price for their sinfulness. Those who refuse to be reconciled with others ultimately refuse to be reconciled God.

We should remember this: Jesus forgave those who plotted to kill Him. He forgave the soldiers who spit on Him, He forgave those who slapped Him, who pulled at His beard and who whipped Him. He absolved those who crucified Him. "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."

And He forgives us. It’s in the strength of His forgiveness that He sends us out as instruments of His forgiveness, conduits of His undeserved kindness to sinners, to let His forgiveness flow freely to others through us, just as we have been forgiven by God.

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Painting: "The Return of the Prodigal Son"

by Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1617-1682)