Hello, you Christians! Are you conscious of the fact that our Jewish brothers and sisters are celebrating the great feast of Rosh Hashanah? This is the High Holy Day feast that begins the celebration of the Jewish new year, and I have to tell you honestly that I think that the Jewish mode of expressing this day is much better than a common one we hear in our country on New Year’s Day. The dominant expression here is simply “Happy New Year!” There is nothing wrong with that. We certainly want everyone we know to be as happy as possible, and receive and utilize the blessings that come from God.

But the Jews approach new year with a true desire to eliminate past failures in human relationships and to achieve forgiveness. They are ready to wipe the slate clean and start anew. I think that we are all aware that we have little cancers in our personal lives, and one of the most widespread is the failure to forgive- the desire to hold on to grudges. The Jews recognize this, and strive to eliminate it. Shana Tova! [A good year (to you)]
God Bless them for it!
Let’s gather together now in these difficult times, saying “please forgive me for any wrongs I may have done to you, and truly, happy new year!”

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Forgiveness is one of the countless gifts given by God to the human condition. Life is difficult. Mistakes are made. Errors committed. Sinfulness happens. And much of this happens at home, with our families and the ones we love the most.
Forgiveness is the gift that allows us to get past these hurdles.
Let’s keep it simple, and If we want advice in this area, take it from Jesus, who said “Forgive, forgive, forgive.”

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September 11, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The texts in today’s Mass point us forcefully towards the need to develop within ourselves the virtue of forgiveness. The Gospel is wonderful. It is all about an evil servant who, although he is forgiven a great debt by his master, turns on a fellow servant who has failed to repay but a pittance that was owed. As good as that is, I prefer to touch on the first reading from the book of Sirach, which speaks beautifully and poetically to the need to be forgiving persons. Sirach tells us:

“Wrath and anger are hateful things and yet the sinner hugs them tight.”

Isn’t that marvelous? Don’t we all know people, and maybe even occasionally ourselves, who hug tightly to our anger and hate instead of letting it go, and experiencing the joy and freedom that comes with forgiveness. The text goes on,

“The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance for He remembers their sins in detail. Forgive your neighbors injustice and then when you pray your sins will be forgiven.”

In my opinion, one of the keys to day-to-day happiness is not carrying about anger and bitterness inside our minds and hearts. Today, the voice of Sirach leaps across the centuries and tells us that we need to try to do the same… although today in particular, forgiveness can be very challenging.

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Many times when we are reading sacred scripture the words and the ideas flow gently over us with soothing and gentle caresses.  The sacred texts are loaded with sections about God’s infinite love for us and the need to respond to that love, and the courage we have seen in scripture in terms of both God’s people in the Old Testament and the New.  Overall, it makes very easy listening.

Then comes today’s Gospel excerpt!  There is Matthew having Jesus still up on the mountainside unveiling his overall teaching, most especially about God’s love, our need to love God and, because of our love for God, our need to love each other.  It is in that context that in the fifth chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells us that we should not seek revenge but that we should help others in every way that we can, that we should lend to the poor freely. That is all easy enough but he doesn’t stop there.  Jesus tells us that we must “love your enemies…pray for our persecutors.”  This is not easy but it is absolutely logical.

Human beings are creations of God’s infinite power and are part of his overall purpose.  All of us are invited to eternal life.  That means, regardless of where we are politically or theologically, we are journeying together.  Everyone is our brother and sister.  We are not in a position to judge or complain about the evil qualities that we think we see in another person that cause us to be their enemy.  We are in a position, however, to pray for each other as we journey together towards Judgment.  It is not easy but he never promised us a rose garden!

Remember, he said love not like!

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Tomorrow I will begin tackling the tough issues again, but today let’s go with a few simple yet powerful thoughts.

Forgive everyone everything.

Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does!

Believe in miracles.

God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

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Forgiveness is one of the countless gifts given by God to the human condition. Life is difficult. Mistakes are made. Errors committed. Sinfulness happens. Forgiveness is the gift that allows us to get past these hurdles. If we want advice in this area, take it from Jesus, who said “Forgive, forgive, forgive.”

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