23rd Sunday

Pope John Paul the second wrote about family in the following words: “As a natural institution, the family community was willed by God in the "beginning", with the creation of man and woman, for the good of humanity. Family’s identity and mission is willed by God to ‘guard, reveal and communicate love’. Every family must be a true communion of persons, with respect to the dignity of the members who compose it. Family for the people of our time is a "sanctuary of life". Christian family is a "domestic church". The family that lives the requirements of love and forgiveness to the full becomes the main bulwark of the civilization of love and the hope for the future of humanity.” (Familiaris Consortio).
Some people say that the happiest marriages, happiest families are built on the foundation of forgiveness and to not forgive is a decision to suffer. That is absolutely true. If we love Jesus or profess to love Jesus, our commitment to the virtue of forgiveness is as important as that of the virtue of love. Most often we witness the dangerous shadow of the "culture of death" to creep into our homes. By contrast, the failure to forgive, especially when it serves to prolong conflict, is extremely costly in terms of human development. Resources are used for weapons rather than for development, peace and justice. What sufferings are inflicted on humanity because of the failure to reconcile! What delays in progress because of the failure to forgive! Dangerous designs to undo the family, the Society, humanity. Doctors say that if we nurture the feeling of hatred and not forgiveness, we develop headaches, backaches, pains in the neck, stomachaches and ulcer-like symptoms, depression, lack of energy, anxiety, irritability, tenseness and being ‘on edge’, insomnia and restlessness: all resulting in unhappy life. Our immune system can become stronger when we forgive.
Church teaches us that after his Resurrection, Christ sent his apostles "so that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations." (Lk 24:47). The apostles and their successors carry out this ‘ministry of reconciliation’. [The Church] has received the keys of the Kingdom of heaven so that, in her, sins may be forgiven through Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit's action. There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. "There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest. Christ who died for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin.(Mt 18:21-22)
Buddha inspired by the logic of non-violence, compassion and love says, "Among those who hate, blessed are we who live without hatred; in the midst of people who hate, we remain free from hatred" (Dh. 197); and again, "the winner engenders hatred and the loser dwells in distress; peaceful man rests tranquil abandoning simultaneously both winning and losing (Dh. 201).
1. Forgiveness is above all a personal choice, a personal initiative, a decision of the heart to go against the natural instinct to pay back evil with evil. It has its perfect exemplar in the forgiveness of Christ, who on the Cross prayed: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34).
2. Forgiveness has a divine source and criterion.
3. Peace is essential for development. True peace is made possible only through forgiveness.
Today’s gospel talks a great deal about forgiveness at home circles, finding samples of Christian purity at home. We are called to share our life with the Church by our showing our solidarity with our spirit of forgiveness. Are we the first to take initiative to forgive our brothers and sisters or wait for them to make the first move? Do we feel the love of God to move forward, take efforts, to feel the urgency in a spirit-filled relationships with our family members, our friends, our significant others in life and the so-called enemies of ours? People should witness in us the love of God, and our encounters with people should reflect that.
Forgiveness is the shortest route to God. It is necessary to find that forgiveness at home. Families glow of God’s love and be a sacrament of Christ’s love. Let us pray that we open our hearts to the need of forgiveness in our communities and particularly in our families. Amen.