Seeking Forgiveness

Nelson Mandela sought forgiveness with one another

In today’s news, we sometimes hear of corruption: for example, funds sent for disaster relief, yet rebuilding seems mysteriously slow.

The word of God today takes us back to Abraham, who is talking/praying with God about the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah: cities symbolizing corruption. Abraham engages in a spirited conversation with God about justice: why should the innocent suffer? Abraham’s openness indicates his close relationship with God.

We know the end of those two corrupt cities. Some scholars say they were destroyed in a catastrophe, probably an earthquake. Anyway, the story challenges us to ask ourselves about our relationship with God. How do we pray? As a close friend? A distant relative? A stranger?

Paul, in his letter to the Christian community at Colossae, speaks of the new identity we have through baptism. We have become sons and daughters of God our Father, heirs to the kingdom of God, graced by God. Paul may be asking whether we live a life worthy of our calling.

In the Gospel of Luke, the disciples ask how Jesus talks to his heavenly Father. Jesus speaks to God like a trusting son or daughter with a parent, like a close friend. Jesus urges us to be persistent in prayer, to go on asking, seeking, knocking, even though our heavenly Father knows what we need. God likes to hear our voice.

There’s a pattern to prayer that Jesus taught us. Here’s a paraphrase:
Our Father, because we are family, heirs to God’s kingdom; Your name be honored and reverenced; May your kingdom of justice and peace and freedom permeate everyone; May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Satisfy our basic needs. Forgive us for the things we do wrong as we forgive those who wrong us. And protect us from evils that jeopardize our relationship with you.
This is the pattern Jesus gave us.

When I think of modern examples of forgiveness, I recall Nelson Mandela. For nineteen years as a political prisoner in South Africa, he was forced to do hard labor, ate little and slept in a six by five cell. That he overcame hardship, that he saw the glory of God in his fellow prisoners and in his jailers was remarkable. When Mandela was released, he asked all South Africans to seek not vengeance but to seek reconciliation and forgiveness with one another.

We are all sinners, Pope Francis reminds us. The third chapter from the book of Genesis, the so-called fall from grace, is a sketch about how we sin: through ingratitude, self-absorption/narcissism, the arrogance that believes that we can get along without God.

It’s interesting that the people who really upset Jesus were not sinners but hypocrites, those who refused to see anything wrong with their own prejudices, those who had no sense of a need for repentance, those who were smug.

But Jesus offered forgiveness aplenty to those who admitted they needed it. May that forgiving hand change us. And may our active forgiveness change our fellow human beings.

Pray Each Day

Vermeer's "Christ in the House of Martha and Mary."

50 years ago, on July 2, 600 million people world-wide watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. It was a remarkable moment of national confidence and national unity, two attributes American politicians desperately need today.   Confidence to meet the challenges the nation faces and the unity to resolve them.

Sunday's word of God takes us back over thirty-five hundred years ago   to a biblical legend about hospitality.  Here Abraham, a man of extraordinary faith, sees three strangers traveling out of the desert. He treats them like family. He serves them a great meal. Abraham and Sarah welcomed the strangers as though they were welcoming God. The legend invites us to welcome those who enter our lives.

In the Gospel according to Luke, we have the story of Martha and Mary. How many are sympathetic to Martha? Martha and Mary can symbolize the dual dimensions within each one of us: serving and praying. We have to be a combination: listening to the word of God in prayer, on the one hand, and doing good for others, on the other.

Often, we fret or worry. We’re busy shopping, chauffeuring, doing chores, working long hours. We often forget the one necessity: our relationship with God. Do we have our priorities straight? Mary certainly did.

Some of you may have read Rick Warren’s popular book The Purpose-Driven Life. Life isn’t simply a matter of acquiring and spending. Our ultimate purpose is to live in a right relationship with God and one another—yes, eternal life.

The Martha in us challenges us to actively reach out with our gifts and talents and treasure. Become involved, for example, in some volunteer service in the parish or community.

And the Mary dimension challenges us to pray. There are many different ways to pray, to bring to consciousness the awesome presence of God in our lives: familiar prayers like the Our Father or the Rosary, prayers of praise like the Psalms, slowly meditating on a biblical text, petitioning God for a favor, sitting quietly and feeling God’s presence within us (through, for example, a mantra), actively participating in Sunday liturgies.

Almost anything can be a pathway into the awesome presence of God. But there is one common denominator: prayer lifts our minds and hearts up to God. Begin every day by spending at least ten to fifteen minutes in prayer, in the presence of God. People find ways to tune into God’s presence as they go about their daily routine. Yes, take time to slow down and tune into the presence of God. And on the weekend, gather with our community to celebrate the liturgy, the mass, the source and summit of the Christian life.

By all means, God is the center. The word of God invites us to reflect on praying and serving. At least efifteen minutes a day in the presence of God is a good start for deepening our relationship with God, a God who assures us, "do not be afraid; I am with you always."

Forever Gloriously Alive

Raphael's Transfiguration

This second Sunday of Lent, the liturgical color at church is purple. But the “wearing of the green” is common as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day today, honoring Ireland’s patron saint and indeed Irish and Irish-American culture. The legends about Patrick are many. The facts are few. But one fact stands out: the missionary Patrick preached the good news, the Gospel, to Ireland. Jesus Christ is alive. And because He lives, we live.

 Perhaps you have read “The Irish in America” or have seen the PBS film. Both begin with a riveting account of the Irish potato famine of the 1840's. An estimated 1 million people died and another 1 million went to America. These “huddled masses” enriched our politics, literature, music, and much more. It's a fascinating story.

The word of God today takes us back almost four thousand years to the land we know as Iraq. Abraham hears the call of God. And because he trusted God, he set out for an unknown land.

Many of us can relate to this challenge. Going off to another state, another nation? We didn’t quite know how things will work out. I’m sure Abraham was anxious. And yet because he trusted completely in God, God made a covenant with him and promised Abraham would prosper.

God also speaks to us and calls us to be men and women of faith, to trust in God, especially as we face everyday challenges.

In the Gospel according to Luke, the disciples experienced the transfiguration of Jesus; they saw the unique and awesome presence of God in Jesus of Nazareth. They saw a vision of the “glorious” Jesus beyond the flesh and blood Jesus of their everyday lives. They saw the face of God in their midst: the Father’s beloved Son.

The Jesus of the Gospels was a real historical person like ourselves. He experienced fatigue, hunger, joy, friendship, disappointment, and loneliness as we do.

But he was more than human. He had a unique relationship to the God of ancient Israel; he was one with God. And what did Jesus teach? That the kingdom of God was breaking into our midst and that you and I can share in this kingdom by living a life of discipleship with Jesus here and now: a life of regular prayer; a life of fasting or giving up attitudes and behaviors that can break or fracture our relationship with God and with one another; and a life of almsgiving or generous service to one another.

And finally, Jesus taught that God is our Father. The God of this magnificent universe, who became flesh in Jesus and is alive in our midst by the power of the Spirit—yes, this triune God--creator, redeemer and sanctifier-- lives and breathes within us by virtue of the waters of baptism.

Let us rededicate ourselves to Jesus the Christ in regular prayer and attitudes and behaviors. Let us live life in generous service to one another so that we can participate fully in the kingdom of God—yes, forever gloriously alive with the glorious transfigured Christ.