March 8, 2004 - Monday, 2nd Week of Lent

The Sinner Seeks Forgiveness

Readings:
Dn 9:4-10; Ps 79:8, 9, 11 and 13; Lk 6:36-38

Introduction

Acknowledging sin, being sorry for it and seeking forgiveness is a reality that can only exist where there is genuine friendship and the awareness that this friendship has been hurt or even destroyed. Without friendship with God and with people, sin remains only a thing to be wiped off, sorrow is little more than a superficial regretting of something that should not have happened, and forgiveness is erasing the past. Sin, sorrow, pardon are to be seen in the light of the covenant relationship with a merciful God, who loved us first, and with our neighbor, with whom we are taken up in this union of life and love with God.

Opening Prayer

Just and holy God,
our loving Father,
you offered us your hand in friendship
and you sent us your Son Jesus
to go with us the road
of obedience and loyalty.
God, we often hurt this friendship,
we act as if we were not your sons and daughters.
See the look of shame on our faces.
Forgive us, for we count on you.
Accept our thanks
for continuing to take us as we are
and loving us notwithstanding our sins.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.

Scripture Readings

First Reading: Dn 9:4b-10

"Lord, great and awesome God,
you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you
and observe your commandments!
We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;
we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.
We have not obeyed your servants the prophets,
who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes,
our fathers, and all the people of the land.
Justice, O Lord, is on your side;
we are shamefaced even to this day:
we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem,
and all Israel, near and far,
in all the countries to which you have scattered them
because of their treachery toward you.
O LORD, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
for having sinned against you.
But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!
Yet we rebelled against you
and paid no heed to your command, O LORD, our God,
to live by the law you gave us through your servants the prophets."

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 79:8, 9, 11 and 13

R (see 103:10a) Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;
may your compassion quickly come to us,
for we are brought very low.
R Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
for your name's sake.
R Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Let the prisoners' sighing come before you;
with your great power free those doomed to death.
Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
through all generations we will declare your praise.
R Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Gospel Reading: Lk 6:36-38

Jesus said to his disciples, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
"Don't be a judge of others and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back."

Commentary

PEOPLE have preached the most merciless sermons about mercy, "If we refuse mercy here, we shall have justice in eternity." And the most heretical, "A God who is all mercy is an unjust God." And the most stupid, "Mercy is not for them that sin and fear not, but for them that fear and sin not." It makes you long to hear the words of someone who suffered and therefore knew something about mercy:

I say that we are wound
With mercy round and round
As if with air. (G.M. Hopkins)

Yet isn't there some kind of condition built into the phrases of today's reading? "Judge not and you will not be judged." "Forgive and you will be forgiven." "The measure you give is the measure you will get." Don't these phrases suggest that if you do judge you will be judged; if you refuse to forgive you will be refused forgiveness; and that God is only as merciful as you are? How are we to understand this?

If you cannot give you cannot receive either. The measure you give is the measure you are capable of receiving. A saint would give you his or her life, but a louse can only give you the itch. "With every creature, according to the nobility of its nature, the more it indwells in itself, the more it gives itself out," wrote Meister Eckhart. If I refuse to give (or forgive), this shows that I have not entered into the human and divine mystery of what we are. God does not limit his mercy; we do.

General Intercession

–   That each of us may have the courage to say, “Sorry, I am wrong, forgive me,” not only to God when we have sinned but also to people we have hurt, we pray:

–   That we may never gloss over any evil but voice our disapproval without condemning the wrongdoer, we pray:

–   That we may not pay back evil with evil but listen to the Spirit who wants us to pay back evil with good, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God, in this eucharist
your Son Jesus comes among us
to bring us your pardon and peace.
Remind us of what he went through for us,
that we may be converted to you
and be your holy people,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
your forgiving love is without measure.
May our hearts become as large as yours,
that we too may learn to forgive one another,
and stop from judging and condemning.
May we too take people as they are
and continue offering our friendship
even when it is abused,
by the strength of him
who has given himself to us in this eucharist,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Blessing

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Words to remember and to practice, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the holy Spirit.

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