The Divine Mercy

 

 Most of us are aware that Our Lady has appeared many times over the past 200 years in places such as Lourdes and Fatima. What we may not be aware of is that, over that same period of time, Jesus has also appeared.

 One of his recent appearances took place less than one hundred years ago in Poland to a young woman named Faustina Kowalska. Between 1931 and 1938, Jesus revealed to her that she was chosen to spread the message of His Divine Mercy. He wanted her to tell the whole world how great His love was for mankind and that if we would only turn to Him we would experience forgiveness and limitless blessings. At the urging of her superiors and spiritual director, Sister Faustina kept a diary of her conversations with our Lord. They are available in a book entitled, Divine Mercy in My Soul.

 In one appearance, Jesus asked that the Sunday after Easter be celebrated as “Divine Mercy Sunday.” It would be a blessed day when sinners would find relief from their transgressions and grace to live holy lives. Jesus describes this feast to Sister Faustina in these words recorded in her diary: “On the day of my feast, the feast of mercy, you will go through the world and bring fainting souls to the spring of my mercy. I shall heal and strengthen them.”

And so, on April 30, 2000, Saint John Paul II honored our Lord’s request by declaring that the first Sunday after Easter be celebrated by the whole Church as Divine Mercy Sunday.

 We often hear people say, “If I walked into church, the ceiling would cave in.” There is nothing sadder that a person can say. It shows a total lack of trust in Jesus and His mercy. Jesus came to save sinners. He died on the cross so that all of us could find forgiveness. There is no sin so great that God cannot forgive it. And no one is so sinful that they cannot turn to Jesus and through His grace become a great saint. Jesus said as much to us through Sister Faustina when He said: “The greater the sinner, the more right he has to my mercy.

The Resurrection - Today

 

 How do we experience the Resurrection of Jesus for ourselves today?

 First of all, we experience the Resurrection in our lives by the forgiveness of our sins. 

Saint Peter teaches us in Sunday’s first reading that “...everyone who believes in [Jesus] has forgiveness of sins through His name.” All of us have experienced the shame, discouragement and suffering that come with sin. We have made bad choices and brought pain into the lives of others. With the Resurrection of Jesus, there is hope for us. We can be forgiven. He has taken upon Himself all our sinfulness. We can put our weakness, sin and guilt into His hands and be assured that He will erase it from our conscience through the blood He spilled for us on the cross and the new life He holds out to us in His Resurrection. Jesus, risen from the dead, has conquered sin and offers all of us who turn to Him with real sorrow in our hearts the gift of forgiveness

 Secondly, we experience the Resurrection in our lives through hope in everlasting life.

As believers in Christ, we no longer need to fear death. It is not the last word on our lives. Rather, because Jesus conquered death, we can be assured of everlasting life if we believe in Him and follow His commandments. Death now is the means by which we enter the inheritance that is ours as sons and daughters of God

 Finally, we experience the Resurrection in our lives through the good works we perform for others.

  It is natural for us to put ourselves and our needs before others. We fear that if we do not watch out for ourselves, no one else will. However, through the power of Jesus’ Resurrection, we receive power to overcome our selfishness and pride. As we ponder all that He did to save us, we cannot but be filled with the love of God. And that love energizes us to serve others through works of mercy. We put aside our own needs trusting that God will meet them for us and so are open to the work of the Spirit within us calling us to feed the hungry, to visit prisoners and to pray for the needy. All this is a result of the new life that flows into our hearts because of Jesus’ victory over sin

The Lie At The Core Of Every Temptation

 

Temptation and sin are realities that all of us face, no matter how far along we are on our spiritual journey. The devil tempts us because he wants us to fall away from God and lose our hope. However, that doesn’t have to happen if we keep turning to our Heavenly Father with confidence in His mercy.

 In Sunday’s gospel, Jesus goes to the desert to confront Satan. Throughout Scripture, the wilderness is the place of temptation and testing. During their wanderings in the desert, the people of Israel fell to the temptation to worship a false God and to lose hope that He would provide for them during their journey. Though Saint Mark doesn’t tell us how the devil tempted Jesus, we know from the other gospels that they were similar to the ones the people of Israel and all people face - namely, to turn to something other than God for our well-being, security, and hope. Jesus does not fall to temptation but vanquishes the devil. In doing so, He gives us assurance that we can do the same.

So, we can face temptation with confidence. It doesn’t have any power over us because Jesus has already conquered Satan not only in the desert but by His cross and resurrection. Temptation only has power over us if we give in to it. If we resist it, push it out of our minds, and remind ourselves that Jesus has power over it, we will conquer our temptations. As Saint James tells us, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

 When we are tempted, we should always remember that Satan is the father of lies. At the core of every temptation is a lie. We might be deceived into thinking that giving in to sin will relax us and make us feel better. However, all sin can do is leave us feeling empty and guilty. Satan might whisper into our ear that it is only a small sin and nobody will get hurt. Then, consequences we didn’t anticipate arise from our sinful acts and innocent people are hurt in the process. In any case, our relationship with God is always damaged whenever we give in to sin. So, whenever we are tempted, we should ask ourselves, “What is the lie that Satan wants me to believe?” When we bring that temptation into the light of truth, we will see it for what it really is and it will lose its power over us.

This beautiful season of Lent is an opportunity for us to face our sinful selves and turn to Jesus with confidence and trust. As we prepare for the celebration of Easter, we spend these weeks renewing our baptismal vow to reject Satan, and all his works, and all his empty promises. We reject the glamor of evil and refuse to be mastered by sin. Standing up to temptation, arming ourselves with the word of God, and staying close to Jesus in the sacraments will ensure that we will share His victory over sin and one day reign with Him in heaven.

Reflecting The Compassion Of God

About half of the New Testament is made up of the letters of Saint Paul. Unlike those written by Saint James, Saint John and Saint Peter, Saint Paul's letters are addressed to specific Christian communities in the areas that are now Turkey, Greece and Italy. In effect, the letters to the Romans, the Galatians, the Corinthians and others are written to communities which we today would call "parishes" to instruct them on the mystery of Christ and how they might live the faith they have received in a fuller and richer way.

Our second reading today is taken from Saint Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus. Ephesus was an important seaport city with a rich diversity of people, and like the city, the church there was made up of people of very different backgrounds. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that Ephesus was one of the earliest Christian communities to be established after Pentecost and that there were even disciples of John the Baptist there. Nonetheless, like the parishes of our own day, it was a church that suffered many divisions, a community torn apart by conflict among its different groups. We can tell by the words Saint Paul uses in today's reading that their gatherings were marked by shouting, fury and anger. Someone looking in from the outside would not recognize them to be a church marked by the love of Christ. And so one of the purposes of Paul's letter is to remind them that loving Christ means also loving our neighbor and that our worship of the living God is useless if it is not making us kind, compassionate and mutually forgiving. 

Today's reading gives us as a parish an opportunity to ask ourselves whether we are a community marked by the love of Christ. Are we a reflection of the compassion of God or are we here to meet our obligation and go home? These are important questions because our success as a parish depends not on how much money we raise or on how many children we graduate from our religious education program but on how we imitate the love, compassion and forgiveness of the God we worship. 

Every parish, like every family, suffers from infighting, jealousy and gossiping. We cannot claim to be any different. To the extent that each of us participates in it or allows others to participate in it, we are all to blame. The root cause of any divisions in our parish is really our unwillingness to forgive. We work closely together as a parish community, and it is inevitable that someone is going to say something thoughtless which will hurt our feelings. There are times when we will feel that our work is taken for granted and not appreciated. Or there are people who for whatever reason just get under our skin. As long as we are a parish made up of human beings, we will offend each other from time to time. By holding on to our grudges, however, we are only allowing bitterness to take hold of our hearts and poison our community. When we are unwilling to forgive, we give the person who hurt us power to steal our inner peace and hinder our relationship with God. It is imperative that each one of us forgive one other from the heart for our own sakes and for the sake of our parish community. Only then will our worship be pleasing to our heavenly Father who has so richly forgiven us in Christ.

If we are to grow as a community which models the love and compassion of Jesus, then we must also be a welcoming community. Everyone should feel as though they have a place at the table with us - the poor man, the homeless, the immigrant, the sinner and the saint. Jesus tells us in today's gospel that no one comes to him unless he is drawn by the Father. Do we accept and welcome those who are drawn to our community by the Spirit? Do we marshal their gifts and talents in service of the gospel? Can we look around this church and recognize God at work in each of us so that we are not just a nameless bunch of people but a community of faith and love called together by the Spirit? Our answer to these questions will determine just how effectively we are living the gospel message.

The story is told of a priest stationed at a parish in a popular beach resort area. There was a strong community of year round parishioners who served the parish well. However, during the summer months, the number of parishioners would swell with those who had seasonal residences in the area and tourists. One Saturday afternoon, a young man walked into the church for Mass straight off the beach with just a bathing suit on and a towel draped over his shoulder - no shirt, no shoes and his long, dirty blond hair still dripping wet. He walked straight up the center aisle and sat on the floor in front of the first row of pews. Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do.  The priest was about to send an altar boy over to invite him to at least sit in a pew, when one of the oldest members of the parish got up to approach the young man. Everyone in the church started to tense up as they expected the older man to scold the young man for being inappropriately dressed for Mass. But instead, the older man walked over and sat on the floor next to the younger man. The whole church burst into applause and laughter at what was so obvious a display of the all-embracing love of our heavenly Father.

I'm not suggesting that we should encourage people to come to Mass in bathing suits! But just such a welcoming spirit is required of us if we are to grow as a community marked by the presence of Christ.

We gather in this place today to worship a God who sent his only Son to die for us. We gather at this table to receive the living bread come down from heaven. Each of us is  drawn hear by our heavenly Father and called to be a reflection of his love, compassion and forgiveness. By putting away our bitterness, jealousy and grudges we can become a community of believers wherein each person feels welcomed and challenged by the gospel message. It is the life that we are called to as followers of Christ.

The Junkie Saint

On this day, seventeen years ago, Pope St John Paul II canonized one of the most unusual saints in Church history.

Saint Mark Ji Tianxiang was a doctor who lived in China during the late 1800’s. Compelled by his faith, he served the poor people of his community free of charge.

However, when he came down with a stomach ailment, he was given opium to soothe the symptoms. Within time, he became addicted to the powerful narcotic. And, for the rest of his life, he would struggle with this addiction.

At the time, not much was known about addiction. It was assumed that those who fell into its grips had weak wills or were simply unwilling to change. Because Saint Mark went to confession every time he got a “fix”, the priest came to believe that he was not sufficiently sorry for his sin and did not have a sincere enough desire to amend his life. Eventually his pastor told him to stop going to confession or to communion until he had finally kicked his habit for good.

A lesser person may have been offended by the priest’s words and given up practicing the faith all together. However, Saint Mark continued to go to Mass regularly even though he couldn’t receive communion. Though he never was freed from his addiction, despite his fervent prayers, he trusted in God’s mercy. Even though the people in his community looked down on him and though he no doubt carried a heavy burden of shame, he continued to believe in God’s love for him.

For thirty years Saint Mark continued to practice his faith without ever receiving the sacraments. Because he could not free himself from his addiction, he believed that his only hope of attaining heaven would be to die as a martyr. So, he began praying that, if God did not see fit to heal him of his addiction, that he would grant him the grace to give his life in witness to the faith.

During the 1890’s, a group of nationalists called “the Fists of Righteous Harmony” or “the Boxers” began a rebellion to drive foreigners out of China. The violent uprising also became a persecution against Christianity which was judged to be a foreign religion. In time, Saint Mark and his family were rounded up and told that they would be beheaded if they did not renounce their faith. Of course, after thirty years of being treated as an outcast, Saint Mark could have easily renounced Christianity. However, he stood firm to the end. His only request to the executioner was that he be killed last so that none of his family would have to die alone.

And so, on June 8, 1900, Saint Mark, an opium addict, joined the rank of martyrs.

The story of Saint Mark Ji Tianxiang teaches us that no one is beyond hope. No matter what cross we may bear in life - even drug addiction - God can make a saint of us. Though he was outcast by his Church and insulted by his fellow Christians, he did not make it an excuse to stop practicing his faith. Though he could never attain sobriety, he did not make it an excuse to stop seeking God and hoping in his mercy. He refused to give up and God rewarded him with sainthood. He was the good son who seemed to be saying “no” to God’s will but, in the end, said “yes” when it mattered most.

All of us have a personal, private struggle. For many of us, that struggle is hidden from others. We are wrestling with God, wanting to do His will but also feeling pulled by other desires. We carry a burden of shame and confusion that often makes us want to run and hide. Though we earnestly want to live our faith, we find ourselves falling so often that we want to give up. We try to put on a happy face so that everyone will think we are fine, but inside we are suffering.

Even though others may not be aware of our struggles, God is aware. He sees right into our soul. He knows us better than anyone ever can and He still loves us. God knows my pain and He knows your pain. It will not surprise or shock our Heavenly Father if we bring our struggles to Him in prayer. In fact, He is longing for us to entrust all our cares to Him so that we can learn to rely on His mercy.

Many times, we avoid going to confession because we think we are confessing the same old sins over and over again. We wonder what good it will do us to confess our sins when we know we will commit them again.

Though it is understandable why we might feel this way, we cannot allow such thinking to keep us from experiencing God’s love and mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is not a bad thing that we keep confessing the same sins over and over again. It means that we have not discovered new ways to sin! And, as long as we are truly sorry and desire to some degree to stop sinning, we have sufficient contrition to be forgiven. Finally, confessing our sins relieves us of the burden of guilt and shame and gives our hearts peace. With time, we will find ourselves becoming free of our destructive habits and making progress in our relationship with Jesus.

No matter how many times we have said “no” to God in the past and no matter how many times we may say “no” to Him in the future, one “yes” can wipe our slate clean and put us back on the path of righteousness. Everyone of us falls from time to time. We become saints not by never falling but by relying on God’s grace to pick us up each time and carry us forward. 

A Second Chance

What would you give for a second chance? What would you do to have a fresh start in which all the mistakes of your past were forgotten? What would it mean to you to have your slate wiped clean and be returned to innocence?

That is exactly what God offers us at the beginning of each day. With the rising of the sun, we have a chance to start over again, to learn from the mistakes of our past and make healthy, holy choices. Every minute of every day, we can turn to Him, ask for forgiveness and rely on Him for the strength to do good. When we repent, God forgives the wrong we have done, picks us up, cleans us off and sets us back on our feet. The fresh start we need is as simple as turning to our Heavenly Father with a sincerely sorrowful heart.

That is the promise of today’s readings.

Through the prophet Ezekiel, God teaches us that He does not want the sinner to die but to live. No matter what choices we have made in the past, no matter what sins we have committed, no matter what may have happened to us as a result, we can find forgiveness in our Heavenly Father. As a good and loving Father, He is not eager to punish us but desires to restore our friendship with Him and to give us all we need to live a full and abundant life.

In today’s gospel, Jesus carries the same message forward in the parable about the two sons. One said “no” but changed his mind and went into the vineyard. The other said “yes” but, then, did not obey his father. The meaning is clear. If we have failed in the past, if we have said “no” to God, we can still change our answer. Today we can decide to say “yes” and change the course of our lives. In fact, Jesus explains that even tax collectors and prostitutes - who were considered the greatest of sinners - were entering the Kingdom of God because they believed in Him. The same is true for us.

If you are looking for that fresh start, if you sincerely desire a new beginning, our Heavenly Father is offering it to you today. Simply turn to Him in your heart and let Him know that you are ready to change. Let Him know how tired and fed up you are with the choices you have made and the consequences of your sinfulness. Ask Him to be the center of your life and real change will begin to happen. Today can be the beginning of a whole new life for you.

The next step to take would be going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. God offers confession to us not as a way for us to relive all the sinful choices of our past but as a means for us to be relieved of them. Jesus gave His apostles and those who would follow them the power to forgive sins in His name precisely for this reason. That is why we have understood the Sacrament of Reconciliation to be a “second baptism.” It cleanses us of our guilt and restores the innocence of our baptism. It also heals the wounds that sin has created within us and strengthens us to make good and holy choices going forward. No matter how firm our resolution to change may be, if we do not turn to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we are bound to fail. We need the strength that is given to us in this beautiful sacrament to make any real and lasting renewal in our lives.

Our “yes” to God cannot only be a one time event. It is something which we have to renew on a daily basis. That way we can make progress not only in avoiding bad choices but in making good and holy ones. It can be as easy as saying to God, “I say ‘yes’ to you today, Lord.” By calling to mind our commitment every day and several times during the day, we are strengthened in our resolve to follow Jesus.

One great spiritual practice that helps us with this is called the “morning offering”. As soon as we wake up in the morning, we offer the day to God, commit ourselves to giving glory to Him and ask for the strength to make holy choices. Any good prayer book should have a morning offering in it or one can be found online. Along with daily prayer, reflection on Scripture and Mass, it is an indispensable way for us to remain firm in saying “yes” to our Heavenly Father.

Finally, it will happen from time to time that we will fall. We can be dragged down by the people around us or our old habits can return. Even the holiest of people can fail. When that happens, God does not want us wallowing in guilt or, even worse, giving up and returning to our old way of life. Instead, we should turn immediately to Him, ask for forgiveness and go to confession as soon as possible. As Pope Francis says continually, “God never tires of forgiving us”. We may feel frustrated that we are confessing the same sins over and over again, but God understands our weakness and willing offers us the chance to begin again.

Today is a new day filled with possibilities. This can be the day we say “yes” to God and experience all the graces and blessings He has to offer us. No matter how we may have responded in the past, no matter how often we may have said “no” to all that God was offering us, today can be the day all that changes. Today can be the day we say “yes”. And if we do say “yes” not only with our lips but with the choices we make, we can be sure that our lives will never be the same.

Welcoming Those Who Hurt Us Back Home

In his book, Everybody Needs To Forgive Somebody,  Dr. Allen Hunt recounts one of the most powerful stories of forgiveness he had ever heard.

It is the story of Millie, a young woman who married at eighteen years old and had three children with her husband. After ten years of taking care of a home and three active children, she began to wonder what it would be like to be single and carefree again. Often, when the cares of married life became too much for her, she would wonder whether she had made a mistake getting married so young.

Believing she had fallen out of love with her husband and aching for adventure, Millie soon fell in love with another man. For four months they had a clandestine affair meeting in hotel rooms whenever they had free time. Millie became so enthralled with this relationship that she left her husband and children to move in with her lover.

Millie’s husband was desperate to have her back. Every day he would send her notes begging her to return home. He even drove by her lover’s house and asked her to go with him to talk to their pastor. He told her how the children cried for her at night but even that would not move her heart. She was determined to start a new life with her lover and leave her old life behind.

A year went by and still Millie was determined not to return to her marriage despite her husband’s earnest attempts to reconcile with her.

Then, one Wednesday morning, she woke up and the realization of what she had done to her family dawned on her. She began to sob as she thought about the heartache she caused her husband and children. There and then, she realized she had to end the dead end affair she was involved in and return to her home.

Of course, she worried how her husband would react to seeing her again. Would he scream at her and slam the door in her face? What would her children say? Would they turn their backs on her for having abandoned them when they needed her the most?

Despite her fears, she knew she had to go home and face what she had done.

And so, she pulled into the driveway, walked up to the door and knocked. As she waited for her husband to answer the door, her body was shaking uncontrollably. As soon as she saw him, she said, “I want to come home.” Her husband smiled and embraced her saying, “Welcome home.”

The days that followed seemed like a dream as Millie and her husband tried to put their life back together. It took a lot of honesty and prayer, but they were making progress putting the past behind them and starting fresh.

Then, Millie got what seemed to be the worst news possible. She was pregnant with her lover’s child. How could her husband forgive this? How could he not see it as another slap in the face? And what would their families say? How could they ever welcome this child who would be a constant reminder of her infidelity?

Looking at her face, Millie’s husband knew something was wrong and asked her what it was. As she said, “I’m pregnant,” she began to sob uncontrollably. Just as he had before, her husband took her in his arms and told her that everything would be alright. He reassured her that he would welcome the child as if it were his own and that he would always love and care for her.

Of course, not only was Millie amazed by her husband’s ability to forgive her but so were their family and friends. When people asked him how he could welcome her home after all the pain she caused him and their children, he said: “You know, with all that Christ did to forgive me, how could I look at my wife, the woman He gave me to love, and say, ‘You know, you’ve done something so horrible that I can’t forgive you.’”

If you are like me, you cannot help but be astounded by this husband’s almost boundless ability to forgive his wife. His secret, however, is not that he has a short memory or that he doesn’t have a lot of pride. Rather, his secret is that He understands how much God has forgiven him and he is willing to share that forgiveness even when he has had to suffer the worst of betrayals from his wife.

As the title of Dr. Hunt’s book suggests, all of us have someone we need to forgive. It could be that our parents did not give us everything we think we needed. Maybe we were picked on and bullied throughout our school years. Many of us have been betrayed by friends and family. The people we cared about the most often took advantage of us or showed little regard for our feelings. Though it may be many years later, those wounds are still fresh. They still sting when we touch them. We are finding it hard to move on. We are finding it hard to trust others again.

It is not easy for us to forgive. In fact, in some circumstances, it may seem absolutely impossible. However, we do not have to be doomed to bearing a burden of resentment for the rest of our days. We do not have to relive the wrongs done to us. It is possible to let it all go, to get over our hurt feelings and to finally let our wounds heal. And it all starts with reflecting on how much God loves and how much He has forgiven us.

If each of us would sit down every day and reflect on our loving God who never turns us away, who does not hold our sins against us and who loved us enough to send His Son to die for us, our hearts would begin to melt. As we come to understand how much mercy God has shown us, we will begin to show mercy to others. Our hearts will grow to understand that the people who hurt us in our past were themselves carrying a burden of pain. And, with God’s grace, we will begin to heal.

Forgiveness is possible and it can begin for us today. On this altar, along with the bread and wine, let us offer our hurts, disappointments and pain. Let us allow God to take them up into the heart of Jesus and return peace and calm to us. It will not happen overnight, but it will happen. We can be free from the shackles of our past and open our hearts to a future full of promise. It all begins with acknowledging that we are sinners in need of forgiveness and with our willingness to share that forgiveness with others.

Heroic Forgiveness

Many horrible and heart-wrenching stories have come out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Death, destruction and suffering take place there on a daily basis and on a level that most of us cannot even begin to imagine.

At the same time, when faced with horrible circumstances, we often discover examples of bravery and heartfelt charity. Even in the midst of chaos and savagery, we are reminded of the goodness of human nature and the power of God’s grace.

Just such a story of magnanimity in the face of tragedy is told in the book, The Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Clairborn.

During the height of sectarian violence in Iraq between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, a woman’s husband and only son were shot to death by a young man. It was her worst nightmare come true. Now alone with no means of support and no one to protect her, she was devastated. No one would have blamed her for feeling outraged and bitter. No one would have blamed her for demanding vengeance. However, at the trial during the sentencing of the man who had taken her family away from her, she stunned the judge and the courtroom by requesting that the young man not be sent to jail. Instead she requested that she be allowed to adopt him. Thinking that in her grief she might have lost her mind, the judge asked her to repeat her request. She explained that she was now alone but that she still had much love to give. The young man who killed her family obviously had not been loved enough. She wanted to bring him into her home to teach him how to love rather than hate.

Through the grace of God, this woman faced with the most difficult of circumstances found a way to choose forgiveness over vengeance and love over hate. She found a way to look at that young man not as a murderer deserving condemnation but as a lost soul needing mercy and forgiveness. She is an example to all of us that we do not need to be imprisoned in bitterness. Neither do we need to be locked in a vicious cycle of vengeance. We can be free from the pain of our past. With the help of God, we can forgive others from the heart.

Each of us here today can recall at least one person who has hurt us, someone we find very difficult to forgive. That person may have hurt our feelings, betrayed our trust or humiliated us. He or she may have abused us and caused us serious psychological or physical harm. We might live everyday with the scars of their hurtful actions. People can be cruel and heartless. But has any of us had our husband or child murdered as that Iraqi woman did? Has any of us suffered as much loss as she has? If she can forgive and even open her home to the young man who murdered her family, what excuse do we have to not forgive those who have hurt us? Even if we have suffered as much or more than she has, there can be no real, lasting healing for us until, through God’s grace, we find it within ourselves to forgive.

And the truth is that not only have others hurt us, but we have also sinned against our neighbor. We have been careless with the feelings of others. We have said hurtful things. We have looked the other way when our brothers or sisters needed our help. Even worse, we have taken advantage of people when they were weak and helpless. We might have many excuses for acting as we did. We might say that we were young and didn’t know any better. We might claim that we were not aware how much harm we were causing. But we did it anyway, and people are hurting because of the choices we made. Each of us would hope that those we hurt would find some way to understand why we acted the way we did and come to forgive us. Do we not then have to show the same understanding and forgiveness to those who have hurt us?

Forgiveness is not only essential for our peace of mind and general well-being, it is also vital for the salvation of our souls. Jesus makes it very clear that if we are unwilling to forgive those who harm us, then our Heavenly Father will be unable to forgive us. We cannot receive God’s mercy if we are not willing to show mercy to others. All our prayers and good works, all our sacrifices and acts of charity will be for nothing if we are harboring grudges and wishing harm on those who have hurt us.

How can we begin to forgive those who have hurt us? It certainly is not easy, but it is possible with God’s grace. The first step is always to pray for God’s help to open our hearts to be able to love. The next step is to pray for the person who has hurt us. We must ask God to bless that person and make him or her prosper. Whenever bitter thoughts against the person invade our minds, we have to ask God’s help to push them aside. As we do that, we will begin to see the person in a new light. We will understand that like us, he or she is a weak human being. With that, forgiveness starts to take root. It does not happen overnight. But with God’s help it is possible.

Forgiveness is not optional. It is not just a good thing to do. It is necessary for our salvation. As we prepare to bring the bread and wine that will be transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ to the altar, let us call to mind those who have hurt us and those we may have hurt. Let us renew our commitment to forgive everyone who has ever harmed us and offer a prayer for those we have harmed. Let us call to mind the love that Jesus show by dying on the cross so that we could be forgiven. And let us allow the healing rays of the God Who is mercy and love to penetrate deep within us so that we can reflect that love even to our enemies.

I Am A Sinner

It was an interview that grabbed headlines all over the world.

In August, Pope Francis granted an interview to a Jesuit priest, Antonio Spadaro, which was translated and published throughout the world. Within hours, media outlets were reporting on it, looking for clues on how the new pope would lead the Church in the coming years.

Father Spadaro began the interview with a simple question, “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” You will remember that this was the Holy Father’s name before he became Pope Francis. After a long pause, he answered, “I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”

Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular services in the Church year. Even though Catholics are not required to attend Mass today, we come in droves to pray and receive ashes. Many of our Protestant sisters and brothers also observe this day along with us.

Why has it become so popular? Perhaps it is because, like Pope Francis, we all realize in the depth of our beings that we are sinners. In moments of silent honesty, we understand that our lives are not all that God has dreamed they could be. We have not lived up to our God given potential. We have failed to love and show kindness to others. In the depths of our hearts, we are truly sorry.

Most importantly, however, we want to do something about it. We do not take time today to wallow in the guilt of our sinfulness. Rather we gather here today to make a real change, to commit ourselves to making amends. Our celebration today is a reflection of the first reading from the prophet Joel. Like the people of Israel, we have dropped everything to be here, to come into God’s presence and to offer Him our sorrow. Assured of His forgiveness, we promise that we will spend these next forty days in prayer and sacrifice to “rend our hearts” and make them a better reflection of Jesus’ mercy and love.

We are sinners. We have committed sinful acts and our hearts have become hardened because of it. But this celebration today is not about us. Rather, it is about the God who offers us forgiveness. It is about the God who loves us so much that He looks past our weakness and selfishness. It is about our Heavenly Father who stretches His hand out to us just as we are.

Saint Paul in today’s second reading says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” On the cross, Jesus takes our sinfulness and gives us His holiness. He takes our weakness and gives us His strength. He takes our unclean hearts and gives us pure hearts brimming with compassion. He takes the ashes of our burned out consciences and gives us leafy, fruitful branches.

Imagine going to a grocery store that would give you fresh loaves in exchange for stale bread or wine in exchange for vinegar. This is just the marvelous exchange we can expect from Jesus. He takes our sinfulness and offers us His holiness. All we have to do is present ourselves to Him as we are but willing to change, and He will take care of the rest.

In the interview, Pope Francis goes on to say, “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I accept it in a spirit of penance.” At this Mass today our Heavenly Father offers us His love and mercy. A real change is possible in our lives because He makes it possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Saint Paul encourages us in the second reading, “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Marking our foreheads with ashes is a symbolic way of telling God that we are ready to make a change.  The forty days of Lent are held out to us as an opportunity to know Jesus in a new and personal way. In a spirit of faith, let us take full advantage of it through prayer and sacrifice.

The Transformative Power Of Forgiveness

It was a night that would change the lives of Tom Hayes and Ron McClary forever.

On the evening of December 18, 1979, Officer Tom Hayes received a call to check on two teenage boys who were causing a disturbance in front of a convenience store. Upon arriving, he found 16 year old Ron McClary and his friend who had taken LSD and were harassing the store owner and customers. When Officer Hayes attempted to arrest them, the two teenagers resisted and attacked the policeman. In the course of the struggle, Ron McClary pulled out a gun and shot Officer Hayes. The shooting left him paralyzed below the waist.

The next morning, Officer Hayes’s parish priest and close friend, Fr. Kevin Lutz, stopped by the hospital to visit and pray for him. Fr. Lutz asked him if he had forgiven the young man for shooting him. Talking about the incident years later, Officer Hayes recalled, “I thought I was dying, and I didn’t want to go before Almighty God with hatred in my heart. I prayed I would go to heaven and that he would too.”

The young shooter, Ron McClary, was tried as an adult charged with felonious assault and served 24 years in prison.

As a result of the shooting, Officer Hayes endured many complications. He never was able to regain feeling below his waist and, eventually, one of his legs would be amputated. Through it all he prayed for Ron McClary that he would come to faith in Jesus and become Catholic. However, he never saw the young shooter again and did not know what had become of him.

When Officer Hayes passed away on January 20, 2011 at the age of 61, his friend Fr Kevin Lutz celebrated his funeral Mass. Afterwards, he decided he would find out what had happened to Ron McClary and pay him a visit. Eventually, he was able to track him down to an apartment in Columbus, Ohio. Fr Lutz discovered that Ron had developed multiple sclerosis and was living in utter poverty.

During his visit, he let Ron know that Officer Hayes had forgiven him and had been praying for him. Fr Lutz continued to visit, giving him spiritual counseling and comforting him. Eventually, Ron asked to be baptized and they made arrangements to have an ambulance bring him to church so that he could receive his first Holy Communion.

Throughout this process, Fr Lutz had also been in contact with Officer Hayes’s widow, Mary Hayes. He let her know that he had been visiting him and that Tom’s prayers that Ron would convert to Catholicism had been answered. Fr. Lutz asked Mary if she would attend Ron’s first Holy Communion.

She was not quite sure she was ready to see her husband’s shooter, much less forgive him. As she put it, “[When Fr. Lutz called me]...I asked him if this was my test as a Christian, because I wasn’t sure I was going to make it.”

However, she did agree to go to church for Ron’s first Holy Communion. Seeing him in the aisle, she walked up to him, placed her hand on his arm and whispered, “I forgive you.”

During the homily for that Mass, Fr. Lutz said, “In heaven, we will all be perfect friends, and on Earth, Jesus asks us to get ready for that now. That’s why Jesus tells us things like forgive, love your enemies, bless them and all kinds of things. Jesus asks us to carry our cross. He asks us to forgive, and we also have to be sorry for our own sins.”

The story of Officer Hayes gives us an inspiring example of the healing power of love and forgiveness. After suffering so much because of a random act of violence, Tom Hayes could have decided to hate Ron McClary. He could have chosen to spend the rest of his life resenting him for taking away his ability to walk. But he chose another way. He chose the way that Jesus points out to us in the gospel. Rather than hatred and bitterness, he chose to love his enemy and pray for him. He decided not to spend his life stewing in resentment but to let go of his anger and live in peace and serenity through forgiving the one who had harmed him.

Forgiveness is not easy. We do not reach the point of being able to love our enemies, forgive those who hurt us and pray for our persecutors without much soul searching and prayer. Depending on how deeply we have been injured, it may take years of consciously deciding every day to choose love over hate and peace over resentment. And it is quite impossible without prayer. Only the love of God can empower us to love our enemy.

It also requires humility. None of us is perfect. In fact, it is likely that all of us have hurt someone at some point in our lives and have needed to ask for forgiveness. It is even more likely that we have harmed people and do not even know it. When we realize just how in need of forgiveness we are ourselves, it becomes easier for us to extend forgiveness to others. When we understand just how much God has forgiven us, then we find the strength to love our enemies and pray that our persecutors themselves will know the merciful love of our Heavenly Father.

When we die, none of us can stand before Almighty God with hatred in our hearts and expect to be saved. No matter how we may have been hurt - no matter how deep and painful the wounds we carry are - we need to find a way to forgive, if only for the sake of our peace of mind. In God, we can find the strength to do so by deciding every minute of every day to forgo revenge and to refuse to cherish grudges. When we do so, the love and peace of God’s Holy Spirit will flood our hearts. Then we will truly be daughters and sons of our Heavenly Father who “makes the sun rise on the bad and the good and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike.” 

Left To Witness To God's Mercy

Today’s gospel confronts us with the most difficult and challenging words in all of Scripture: “When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn and offer the other....Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Jesus’ words are so pointed and direct that we often think he must be exaggerating to make his point. He cannot possibly expect us to love those who hate us. He cannot mean that we are to allow others to mistreat us without seeking vengeance.

We might be able to accept that we should forgive the small indignities we suffer in day-to-day life such as the co-worker who takes credit for work we have done or the driver who cuts us off during rush hour. But what about the schoolyard bully who tortured us throughout childhood? What about the Wall Street “fat cats” who swindled away the life-savings of the elderly? What about the drug-dealers and gang members who make us fear for the safety of our children? Does God really mean that we should love them? How can that be possible?

It is clear from Jesus’ teaching and from the example of his life that he meant exactly what he said. Just as we accept forgiveness for our own sins, we are to forgive those who sin against us, no matter what they may do. Not only must we forgive them, we must love and pray for them. It is a lot to expect from frail human beings as we are. But it is not impossible. If God expects it of us - and he does - he will give us the power to accomplish it.

Many people have heard these challenging words of the gospel and, rather than writing them off as an exaggeration, have taken them to heart and tried to live by them. One such person was Immaculee Ilibagiza.

Immaculee was a young college student living in the East African nation of Rwanda with her parents and three brothers. Like all young college women, she had many hopes and dreams for her future.

All that changed in 1994 when civil war broke out in her country. The president of Rwanda, a member of the Hutu tribe, was assassinated. Hutu tribesmen wanted revenge against the other major tribe in Rwanda, the Tutsis. Hutu militias handed out machetes, machine guns and grenades to the people urging them to kill every Tutsi they encountered. Over the course of 100 days an estimated 850,000 people were killed.

When the killing began, Immaculee’s father sent her to the home of a friend of his, a Hutu pastor, to see if he would hide her until the frenzy ended. The pastor agreed to hide her and five other women in a small bathroom off his bedroom.

For nearly three months, the women huddled in that bathroom. Gripped with fear and not knowing what had become of the rest of her family, all Immaculee could do was pray the rosary. Outside the window, she could hear people screaming and begging for their lives as they were mercilessly butchered. Bands of killers would search the pastor’s home but, miraculously, they never found the bathroom in which she was hiding. Prayer became the only way she could keep her sanity with so much inhumanity around her.

Eventually she learned that her family had been killed. The only one spared was a brother who had been studying in Senegal when the war broke out. Her father had been killed when he ventured out to get food for people who had taken refuge in a nearby stadium. The killers took his body and used it for a road block. Her mother was captured and killed when she ran out of her house to protect a neighbor who had been confronted by the killers. Finally, her two brothers were killed when their hiding place had been discovered.

As we can only imagine, she was filled with grief and rage. She wished all the Hutus would suffer cruel and humiliating deaths as her family did. At the same time, she understood Jesus’ words calling her to love and forgiveness. During her months of hiding, the rosary had given her tremendous comfort and strength. How could she keep praying the rosary, especially the words of the Our Father: “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” if she continued to harbor hatred in her heart?

This is what she writes in her memoir of her experience, Left to Tell:

In God’s eyes, the killers were part of his family, deserving

of love and forgiveness. I knew that I couldn't ask God to

love me if I were unwilling to love his children. At that moment,

I prayed for the killers for their sins to be forgiven. I prayed that

God would lead them to recognize the horrible error of their

ways before their life on earth ended - before they were called

to account for their mortal sins.

Immaculee’s story is powerful and moving. But she is not alone. Many others have discovered the peace that comes from forgiveness even after suffering the most unspeakable traumas.

Chances are, whatever wrongs others have committed against us were not as heinous as having our family killed in a genocide. If this courageous woman could find it in her heart to forgive those who cruelly tortured and killed her family, we can find it within our hearts to do the same. It is not easy. It requires much prayer. It is not only possible, it is necessary if we are to one day end the cycle of the violence and war which has plagued so much of human history.

Let there be peace on earth; and let it begin with me.

The Other Cheek

Blessed Mother Teresa walked into a bakery one hot afternoon in Calcutta. At her side was a young girl who had not eaten for days. Anxious to get something into her stomach, Mother Teresa asked the baker if he had some left over bread for the girl to eat. With a look of disgust, the baker leaned back and with all the force he could muster, spit in Mother Teresa’s face. Wiping her face, she looked at the baker and said, “Thank you for the gift for me. Now, is there something that you could give this child?” Amazed by her reaction, he reached behind the counter and gave the girl a loaf of bread.

Let us consider all the ways Blessed Mother Teresa could have acted when the baker spit in her face. She could have scolded him for his cruelty and lectured him on how to treat others, especially elderly women and young children. No one would have criticized her for doing so. Considering  her popularity among the people of Calcutta, she could have organized a protest and boycott of the bakery which would have put it out of business. Again, she would have been totally within her rights to do so.

However, she had a greater purpose in mind. Not only was she anxious to find food for the girl, she was concerned for the soul of this baker. Even though he expressed hatred and contempt toward her, she still loved him. She desired not only to feed the young girl but to heal the baker. She wanted him to experience, as she had, the joy of giving to the poor. Rather than seek revenge for the humiliation she suffered, she returned kindness and it made all the difference.

As she did throughout her whole life, Blessed Mother Teresa was seeking to follow the example of Jesus who teaches us: “When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well.”

We do not know what became of the baker. I would like to think that Blessed Mother Teresa’s example of love helped to soften his heart and make him more generous to the needy.

Violence plagues our society. It takes place on a large scale through wars and organized crime. Sadly, it also plays itself out on schoolyards, office buildings and parking lots all throughout our country. At times we can feel utterly helpless, unable to do anything about it. We feel compassion for the victims and sometimes even fear that we could be targeted. However, we are not sure if we can do anything to make a difference.

If history teaches us anything it is that violence only leads to more violence. When we react to the injustice of the powerful with force of arms, it only leads to more injustice. When we seek revenge, it only leads to more bloodshed. Unfortunately, it is the poorest among us and often the most innocent who bear the brunt of the brutality.

Thanks be to God, there is a better way. It is the way that Jesus showed us, the way of love.

Jesus lived in a time when the Roman Empire was occupying the Holy Land. It was not uncommon to be slapped by a soldier, to be made to carry heavy loads for them or to have soldiers break into their homes and take their goods. Often these soldiers wanted Jews to react violently so that they would have a pretext to beat them, imprison them or even kill them. What Jesus asked his followers to do was not to retaliate. Not only would this keep the soldiers from having a pretext to inflict further harm on them, it would also surprise them, make them wonder how someone could forgo vengeance and, hopefully, make them reconsider the way they treated others.

The same is true for us today. Thankfully, we do not suffer the indignities that the people of Jesus’ day did. However, we are often insulted, offended or even cheated by others. Can we take a step back, forget our pride for a minute, and consider what made them act as they did? It could be that they are suffering in ways we cannot see or understand. It could be that they are just plain ignorant. Whatever the case may be, could we find a way of addressing them not to hurt them but to help them see why what they said or did was hurtful and to invite them to change?

At the very least, could we find it within ourselves to pray for them? As Blessed Mother Teresa sought to do, we should be concerned not only with righting wrongs but with righting hearts.

The way of love works if only we have the humility and courage to try it. Every human person has a heart that was made for love and not for hatred. When we see love in action we are instinctively drawn to it. If a person’s heart is calloused from many acts of violence and abuse, it may take that much more love to begin to chip away at it. But love never fails. Eventually it heals, corrects and soothes any human heart that experiences it.

In a world as jaded as the one we live in, these words of Jesus could sound unrealistic and impossible. In fact, without God’s grace it is impossible to love our enemies and show compassion to those who persecute us. But in a world in which violence and vengeance are wreaking havoc, it is the only way forward. It is the only way that we can put an end to the brutality all around us. It is up to us, as followers of Jesus, to make it happen.

The Dalai Lama who himself has witnessed injustices against his native land of Tibet wrote: “The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kind.” The vengeance, the retaliation, the hatred has to stop. However, it can only stop if we decide it will and if we choose a better way. Jesus offers that better way to us and gives us the power to live it. We need only turn our cheek to Him and ask him to lead us.

The Thief Who Stove Heaven

He has been called “the thief who stole Paradise.”

The good thief, as he has also been called, was one of the criminals crucified with Jesus. Since crucifixion was reserved for the worst offenders such as murders or terrorists, we know that he must have been more than just a simple thief. The gospels do not tell us his name, but the tradition has referred to him as Saint Dismas. He has been invoked to give hope to us that no matter what our sins may be, we can always turn to Jesus and expect to find mercy and forgiveness.

In Saint Matthew’s gospel, we are told that both criminals condemned with Jesus began mocking him along with the religious leaders and soldiers. However, something happened to the good thief. Something changed Saint Dismas? What could it have been?

We know that the good thief must have been a hardened criminal. During his infamous career, he would have known many other lawbreakers like himself. As he looked upon Jesus, he must have known that He was different. Unlike the felons Saint Dismas knew, Jesus did not curse, did not protest His innocence and did not show disdain or hate for those who condemned Him. The good thief must have known in his heart that Jesus was no criminal and did not deserve to be put to death.

The turning point for Saint Dismas must have been when, in the height of agony, Jesus cried out from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” An innocent man, put to death unjustly and subjected to the cruelest of tortures, forgives those who persecute Him. The good thief lived in a world that thrived on violence and revenge. Forgiveness was a concept He could not grasp. In his mind, it was for the weak and the powerless. But now He sees a man forgiving others out of love. Maybe Saint Dismas had never been shown love by those around him. Now he was seeing a divine love capable of embracing the worst of sinners - those who would put the Son of God to death.

Seeing Jesus willingness to forgive must have given the good thief great confidence. “If He can forgive His persecutors, then He can forgive me.” Summoning whatever strength was left in his crucified body, he turns to Jesus and cries out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he hears the words that all of us would also rejoice to hear, “...today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Jesus is a King who conquers hearts not through violence but through love. His strategy is to offer mercy and forgiveness rather than condemnation. Our Lord longs for us to love Him rather than fear Him. He wants us to run to Him rather than run from Him. He desires to comfort us rather than judge us. Now matter how great our sins may be, no matter how far we may have drifted from the path that God would have us walk, we can always come back to Jesus. We can always be forgiven. We can always change.

It is natural for us to be skeptical when we hear that prisoners have “found Jesus.” We cannot help but wonder whether their sudden conversion is just a ploy to get sympathy from judges and juries. However, the experience of the good thief may challenge us to reconsider our attitudes. Could it be that because murderers, thieves and sex offenders are rejected by society and held in scorn that they have no one else to turn to except God? Could it be that because their crimes are so savage and brutal that any notion that they could be forgiven melts their hearts? As Jesus tells us, “those who have been forgiven much, love much.”

Furthermore, if we claim that we are followers of Christ, if we want a share in His Kingdom, then do we not have to follow His example of forgiveness? If we want to spread His Kingdom, then will it not be by our willingness to extend a hand of friendship, comfort and support even to the worst of people?

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has given us so many wonderful images of this love of Jesus that goes out to sinners. One of the most beautiful was on Holy Thursday when he celebrated Mass at the Casa del Marmo youth penitentiary in Rome. With tender love and humility, he washed the feet of the young offenders offering them mercy as Jesus did to the good thief on the cross. A Vatican spokesperson commenting on the event told BBC news, “It is a gesture of humility and service....It teaches that liberation and new life are won not in presiding over multitudes from royal thrones...but by walking with the lowly and poor and serving them as a foot-washer along the journey.”

If we are to have a share in Jesus’ Kingdom, if we are to join Him one day in Paradise, we have to show the same love, forgiveness and mercy to everyone without exception.

Like the good thief, it begins with our acknowledging our sinfulness before the cross of Jesus. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God. None of us is the person God dreamed we could be when He created us. We allow our hearts to be hardened by bitterness, we allow our relationships to be corrupted by selfishness and we allow our choices to be determined by narrow self-interest. If we cannot recognize our own sinfulness, then we will be like the thief who mocks Jesus because he does not believe he deserves to be condemned. On the other hand, if we admit our need for forgiveness, then we will not be willing to offer it to others.

Jesus is a King who offers love and mercy to us, especially to the most hardened of sinners. The greater our sins are, the greater our right to turn to Him. It was for sinners that Christ came to the world and unless we go to Him as sinners we cannot expect to receive anything from Him. At the same time, He expects us to extend that mercy to everyone, especially to the greatest of sinners. Then His Kingdom will be a reality on earth and our hope for Paradise.