Homily Delivered by Fr. Joey Cruz, SJ 6 Mar 23, Monday of the Second Week of Lent
It has been four years since a woman’s husband abandoned the family, but sadness and befuddlement still bring her down. The Gospel this morning tells her to forgive. It is a big ask. Friends counsel her to move on; urge her to allow fresh aspirations and responsibilities to shape life. She says she is now slowly discovering that forgiveness is somehow curative – capable of releasing her from being weighed down by the past. With courage, she does try to live by that truth, but there are times still when without much warning the heart aches.
The Gospel invites us to be merciful and forgiving. How might we respond? There are no clear answers. We might begin perhaps by recalling how we have been forgiven. In 2013, shortly after being named pope, Francis was asked by a reporter: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergolio?” Francis stared long at the interviewer. In the silence, the interviewer began to feel uneasy, unsure whether the question may have been inappropriate to ask. Francis eventually spoke: (quote) “I do not know what might be the most fitting description.... I am a sinner. This is a most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner. I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.” (close quote). It is difficult to forgive, but even more difficult it seems to own up to our need for forgiveness. At this Mass, we ask for the grace to know keenly that the fabric of our lives is woven with the thread of God’s forgiveness. On realizing that forgiveness is tirelessly in pursuit, we shall by then be only a quarter of an inch away from being ready in turn to forgive.
When Alexander Solzhenitsyn was incarcerated in a Russian gulag, he saw prisoners bludgeoned and deprived. He felt that evil had enveloped the world and imprinted itself on everything, including his own heart. He obsessed on taking revenge. At some point, however, he paused and said to himself: “If only it were all so simple. If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through every human heart.” Once Solzhenitsyn recognized that darkness lurked in his own heart, it occurred to him that other hearts were likewise beset with inner demons and that these like his yearned for calm and wholeness.
The call for us to be perfect might not exactly be a call to be perfect as God is perfect, but to live our lives in witness to his perfection - to live in a manner that speaks of the God who sent his only son to share our humanity, so that our sorrows and pain do not discourage us from yearning for a heaven that abounds in mercy and forgiveness.
It is hard to fathom the why of forgiveness. But by listening intently to God’s word today, may we feel the tightness of his embrace that speaks of his deep affection.
Radyo Katipunan 87.9 FM
Homily Delivered by Fr. Joey Cruz, SJ
6 Mar 23, Monday of the Second Week of Lent
It has been four years since a woman’s husband abandoned the family, but sadness and befuddlement still bring her down. The Gospel this morning tells her to forgive. It is a big ask. Friends counsel her to move on; urge her to allow fresh aspirations and responsibilities to shape life. She says she is now slowly discovering that forgiveness is somehow curative – capable of releasing her from being weighed down by the past. With courage, she does try to live by that truth, but there are times still when without much warning the heart aches.
The Gospel invites us to be merciful and forgiving. How might we respond? There are no clear answers. We might begin perhaps by recalling how we have been forgiven. In 2013, shortly after being named pope, Francis was asked by a reporter: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergolio?” Francis stared long at the interviewer. In the silence, the interviewer began to feel uneasy, unsure whether the question may have been inappropriate to ask. Francis eventually spoke: (quote) “I do not know what might be the most fitting description.... I am a sinner. This is a most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner. I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.” (close quote). It is difficult to forgive, but even more difficult it seems to own up to our need for forgiveness. At this Mass, we ask for the grace to know keenly that the fabric of our lives is woven with the thread of God’s forgiveness. On realizing that forgiveness is tirelessly in pursuit, we shall by then be only a quarter of an inch away from being ready in turn to forgive.
When Alexander Solzhenitsyn was incarcerated in a Russian gulag, he saw prisoners bludgeoned and deprived. He felt that evil had enveloped the world and imprinted itself on everything, including his own heart. He obsessed on taking revenge. At some point, however, he paused and said to himself: “If only it were all so simple. If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through every human heart.” Once Solzhenitsyn recognized that darkness lurked in his own heart, it occurred to him that other hearts were likewise beset with inner demons and that these like his yearned for calm and wholeness.
The call for us to be perfect might not exactly be a call to be perfect as God is perfect, but to live our lives in witness to his perfection - to live in a manner that speaks of the God who sent his only son to share our humanity, so that our sorrows and pain do not discourage us from yearning for a heaven that abounds in mercy and forgiveness.
It is hard to fathom the why of forgiveness. But by listening intently to God’s word today, may we feel the tightness of his embrace that speaks of his deep affection.
#KeepTheFaith #DailyMass #Jesuits #KTFHomilies
2 years ago | [YT] | 27