Forgive and be forgiven

Homily for September 19, 2019 | Dominican Sister Tagaytay City

HOMILY | 1 Timothy 4:12-16 | Luke 7:36:50

I believe the hardest of all virtues is the virtue of forgiveness; to forgive those who trespass against us. In as much as we pray for that gift everyday, it is a struggle to forgive. But I think that is the point why we pray forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And may be, the Lord taught us that prayer because he knew that forgiving someone who err us is an everyday struggle. It is something we work for in ourselves all the time. It is hard to forgive because hatred comes to us in many faces. Why? Because we are aggrieved in many manners, by different people, in different degrees, at different circumstances. Hatred comes to us in different faces in different context.

Most often, it feels good to be angry and unforgiving. Clinging to our hatred inside us, and not letting it go makes us feel powerful. It makes us feel justified. It makes us feel relevant. It makes our ego shine, and presume a false construct of pride. Our first reading enumerates values countering hatred and unforgiveness, which is love, faith and purity.

• Love is the foundation of forgiveness. We forgive because we are people destined to love

• Faith is the nourishment of forgiveness. We forgive because we hope for the best.

• Purity is the fruit of forgiveness. We forgive because we want peace.

On the character of the woman in the Gospel, we see the effect of the invitation for conversion. Without saying anything aside from her tears, we are given the idea that the woman approached Jesus with much eagerness for forgiveness, initiative for conversion. In a way, her confession was her tears, and we cry only when we can no longer carry the burden of our sinfulness and the call for conversion strikes us so hard.

If on-going conversion is demanded from the people, how much more to us religious and the clergy? If forgiveness is taught and preached to people, should we not be forgiving ourselves? Should we not be men and women of love, faith and purity? There is so much hatred in the world today. The terrorist attacks, the killings of erring citizens, refugee and immigration rejection, and hate speech.

We are invited to be faces of love and a strong message of holiness, but in order not to blur the message of our witnessing and the charism we stand for, we must fight hatred at all fronts especially within us.