Reading 1, SIRACH 27:30- 28:7, Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight… The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail… Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven… Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the LORD? **Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself, can he seek pardon for his own sins? **If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath, who will forgive his sins? **Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin! **Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.
No matter your age ‘now’, we have all had some one try to teach us right from wrong. Part of that lesson is apologizing (asking for forgiveness). Furthermore a really good parent or mentor could tell if you apology was sincere, even challenging with those very words. “that didn’t sound like you meant it.” Forcing you to apologize again, ‘like you mean it’. For me what gets lost in the lesson is the injured party then replying with the magic words, “I forgive you.” Not yeah, it’s o.k.! NOT don’t worry about it. Say the words, “I forgive you.”
Maybe the same mentor could’ve focused on that, and then we all would have a better idea of ‘actual’ forgiveness. NOT walking away until you cool off. NOT half handedly brushing the offense under the rug. NO, Forgiveness! Will it be any wonder then, when we reach the pearly gates and there’s subsequently a hesitation in extending the forgiveness you desire, but never gave.
I can hear it now, “Yeah, but,…” “Yeah, but, you don’t understand.” And the Lord will convict you, using your own words against you… “Yeah, but, you didn’t understand.”
Psalm, 103:1-12, The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion. “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits… He pardons all your iniquities, heals all your ills… He redeems your life from destruction, Crowns you with kindness and compassion”.
All I can say is, “Thank God, that God is more merciful than we are!” Otherwise, when He ‘crowns’ you, you won’t like it too much.
Reading 2, Romans 14:7-9, Brothers and sisters: None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord,
and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s… For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
OKAY, this will sound like the opening line of a joke… A priest, a writer, and a Cursillo group! NO, they don’t walk into a bar, Sheesh! I had lunch with the priest and the writer, then I ‘grouped with my Cursillo dudes on Thursday. Since we were talking about faith, when it came to my turn to speak, I told about the website I’m tring to get started and etc! All three occasions I said, “At 67 years old, what better way is there to spend out my lifethan to serve God?” I mean it! That’s all I want to do! Bro. BLU & Joy-Joy-Joy, my book soon to be released, and now I’m working on a website dedicated to the OUTward flow of ministry, me in ministry. For me there is no better way, “Die for the Lord.” Praise you Lord God, I Love you Holy Spirit.
Gospel, Matthew 18:21-35, Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? **As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. **Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers, until he should pay back the whole debt.. (abbreviated…) So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
OH, how closely-tightly our Gospel today, runs parallel with our first scripture from Sirach. God’s Justice will be ‘true justice’. Remember the Lord’s Prayer, “As we forgive those who trespass against us!” Words to live by. **JOY- JOY- JOY… THANK YOU for you for visiting with me here. Watch this space for Good News yet to come. Mark Gates… aka: BRO. BLU
