DAILY HOMILIES #forgiveness

Our failure to forgive people puts a big question mark on our baptismal certificate. Our failure to be merciful to people as God was merciful to Ahab makes us no better than Jezebel. It is horrible for someone to kill another person (because of land or anything whatsoever) but it is even more horrible for a Christian to partake in jungle justice which has now become the order of the day today.

When Jesus was asked to summarize the ten commandments, He said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” (Luke 10:27, Cf. Matthew 22:37-40 & Mark 12:29-31). Take note, Jesus said, ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ but now Jesus is saying, ‘love one another as I have loved you.’ While the previous commandment depends on yourself, this new commandment is based on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for us. The newness of this commandment is that even if you don’t love yourself, you should try to love others by sacrificing for them.

We cannot claim to love God if we are not willing to suffer even a single insult on behalf of God. We cannot claim to love God if we are not willing to abandon our dreams of becoming rich and wealthy in life to answer our calling. Of course, not all of us have been called by God to become ministers like Peter and the other apostles but each of us has been called to love God with all our minds, our hearts, and our strength.

When we go for confession, God so forgives our sins and washes us that we can confidently say we become new creatures. God does not remember our sins because the moment we offload them at the confessional, our old self dies and we leave as newborn babies. Just as you cannot accuse a newborn baby of sin, God no longer accuses us of the sins that we have dropped at the confessional. Never be too shy to go to confession; it is not the priest who forgives us but Jesus Christ himself who gave the priest the power to retain or absolve sins in His name.

Each of us has a past. You may see yourself as a desert, God is saying, I will make rivers flow from you. You may have gone deep in sin, yet God is saying: “my child, you can still be a Saint.” The God who called a murderer and changed his name from Saul to Paul is the same God we serve.

Peter’s question was with regard to a brother who admits his faults and comes begging for forgiveness. Jesus is teaching us today to always forgive, especially when the offender comes to beg for pardon. Honestly, forgiveness is one of the most difficult things to do even for a devoted Christian.

Has the past been painful? Then why are you still holding on to it?

Imagine you have only forty days left to live on earth? How would you spend your last forty days? Wouldn’t you rather seek reconciliation with God?

Physical healing is always a consequence of spiritual healing; healing from within. Sin is a wound that must be treated first so as to allow physical healing to take place.

Repentance brings healing. Repentance is saying “No” to the devil so as to allow God to come into your life and where God is, sickness, disease, stagnation, demonic possession etc. cannot remain

Just as one cannot walk far in the night when it is dark, we cannot go far in life with hatred in our hearts. The person you hate right now may be your saving grace tomorrow. Hatred is a sign of unforgiveness and a betrayal of our Christian faith.

One of the easiest way to forgive is to consider the fact that the person(s) I am angry with still has some good potentials. I only need to overlook the bad side and pay some attention to the good that person(s) is able to do.